western expansion and the rise of the slavery issue

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1、WesternExpansionandtheRiseoftheSlaveryIssue18914WESTERNEXPANSIONANDTHERISEOFTHESLAVERYISSUETHECHAPTERINPERSPECTIVEAmericanstraditionallylinkedwesternmigrationwiththepreservationofopportunity.Therevolutionsinmarketsandtransportationgreatlyacceleratedtheprocessofwhitesett

2、lementbeyondtheAppalachianMountains.Similarly,thespreadofcottonproductionandthequestforeconomicsuccesshadcarriedsoutherners,whiteandblack,freeandslave,westward.Thus,whitesouthernerslinkedwesternexpansionwithnotonlythepreservationofwhiteopportunitybutalsothepreservationo

3、fslavery.AsthelinesofsettlementspreadacrosstheMississippiRiverintotheLouisianaPurchase,Americansincreasinglycasttheireyesonneighboringlandstothewestthatseemedripeforacquisition.Theywerealsoinspiredbyalongstandingsenseofmission,withitsvisionoftheUnitedStatesasabeaconfort

4、heworld,andthewidespreadbeliefintheimpendingmillenniumthatfosteredsomanyreformmovementsinthisperiod.Economic,political,andintellectualforcescombinedtoproduceanewexpansionistsurgeinthe1840sthatpushedtheRepublic’sboundariestothePacific,aprocessthatbroughtAmericansintocont

5、actwithotherculturesandpeoples.OVERVIEWThischapterexaminestheRepublic’sexpansiontothePacificOcean,itstransformationintoacontinentalnation,andhowthatdevelopmentinjectedtheslaveryissueintonationalpolitics.ItbeginswiththeexpansionoftheSiouxontothePlains,asareminderthatwest

6、wardexpansioninAmericanhistoryinvolvedmorethanAngloSaxonwhites.Moreover,thecaseoftheSiouxillustratestheimportanceofdifferentkindsoffrontiersintheprocessofexpansion.TheSioux’sconquestofthePlainsultimatelydependedontheacquisitionofgunsandhorses,andtheoutbreakofdiseaseepi

7、demicsthatweakenedenemytribesandshiftedthebalanceofpowertotheSioux.Furthermore,HispanicculturesoftheSouthwest,aswellastheChineseimmigrantsofthe1850s,wereallapartofthefrontiermix.Destinies:ManifestandOtherwiseInthe1840s,AmericansproclaimedthatitwastheUnitedStates’“Manife

8、stDestiny”toexpandacrosstheNorthAmericancontinent.Thisdoctrinecombinedidealisticmotiveswithattitudesofracialsu