History of the United States

History of the United States (1789-1849)

For details, see the main History of the United States (1789-1849) article.

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The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 gave Western farmers use of the important Mississippi River waterway, removed the French presence from the western border of the United States, and provided U.S. farmers with vast expanses of land.

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Within weeks of the United States gaining control of the territory, war broke out between Britain and Napoleonic France. The United States, dependent on European revenues from the export of agricultural goods, tried to export food and raw materials to both warring great powers and to profit off transporting goods between their home markets and Caribbean colonies. Both sides permitted this trade when it benefitted them, but opposed it when it did not.

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Following the 1805 destruction of the French navy at the Battle of Trafalgar, Britain sought to impose a stranglehold over French overseas trade ties. Thus, in retaliation against U.S. trade practices, Britain imposed a loose blockade of the American coast.

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Believing that Britain could not rely on other sources of food than the United States, Congress and President Jefferson suspended all U.S. trade with foreign nations in 1807, hoping to get the British to end their blockade of the American coast. The embargo, however, devastated American agricultural exports while Britain found other sources of food. Also, luxury type goods such as cotton, indigo, and sugar were not as widely avaliable.

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Led by Southern and Western Jeffersonians, Congress declared war on Britain in 1812 under the pretext of opposing British interference with American shipping as well as British aid to Native Americans in Canada and west of the Mississippi. Westerners and Southerners were the most ardent supporters of the war, given their concerns about expanding settlement in Native American lands beyond the Mississippi and access to world markets for their agricultural exports. The New England Federalists opposed the war, and their reputation consequently suffered in its aftermath.

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The War of 1812 essentially resulted in the maintenance of the 'status quo ante' after bitter fighting, which lasted until January 8, 1815 (after the peace treaty) on many fronts. Crucially, the Treaty of Ghent which officially ended the war saw the end of the British alliance with the Native Americans.

Related Topics:
War of 1812 - Treaty of Ghent

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After Napoleon's defeat and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, an era of relative stability began in Europe. U.S. leaders paid less attention to European trade and conflict, and more to the internal development in North America. With the end of the wartime British alliance with Native Americans east of the Mississippi River, white settlers were determined to colonize indigenous lands beyond the Mississippi. In the 1830s the federal government forcibly deported the Southeastern tribes to less fertile territories to the west. The Supreme Court had actually ruled in support of native claims to land, but was ignored by Andrew Jackson, president at the time, in favor of his own agenda.

Related Topics:
Napoleon - Congress of Vienna - Mississippi River

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Americans did not question their right to colonize vast expanses of North America beyond their country's borders, especially into Oregon, California, and Texas. By the mid-1840s U.S. expansionism was articulated in terms of the ideology of "manifest destiny."

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In May 1846 Congress declared war on Mexico. The U.S. defeated Mexico, which was unable to withstand the assault of the American artillery, short on resources, and plagued by a divided command. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 ceded Texas (with the Rio Grande boundary), California, and New Mexico to the United States. In the next thirteen years, the territories ceded by Mexico became the focal point of sectional tensions over the expansion of slavery.

Related Topics:
War on Mexico - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

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