1776-1861

1. Manifest Destiny

1.1. Allowed America to transport resources swiftly, and communicate further distances

1.2. The acquisition of large amounts of land turned into political quagmires

1.3. Land was an efficient tool in developing national unity in America

1.4. The conflict was primarily between the North and the South, in which the South was pro-slavery, and the North was anti-slavery

1.5. The white man was destined to conquer the west and this meant subduing anyone else who happened to live there

1.5.1. White man alone was entitled to this "destiny". It used the ideas of Jacksonian democracy of a "white man's democracy" to develop these beliefs

2. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

2.1. Ended the Mexican-American War in favor of the United States

2.1.1. Set new boundaries between the countries

2.2. Was defeated by a wide margin in the U.S. Senate because it would upset the slave state-free state balance between North and South and risked war with Mexico

2.3. Fulfilling Manifest Destiny to spread the benefits of U.S. democracy to the lesser peoples of the continent

3. Emancipation Proclamation

3.1. The importance of slavery to the war effort on both sides

3.2. Lincoln’s hopes that the rebellious states could somehow be convinced to reenter the Union

3.3. The role of black soldiers

3.4. Paved the way for African-Americans to fight for their freedom

3.5. Led the way to total abolition of slavery in the United States.

4. A War of Violence and Violations

4.1. The U.S.-Mexican War was about violence, territory, continental expansion, access to the ports of the Pacific, and access to and ownership of all of the wonderful minerals and riches that were in the subsoil

4.2. Families were literally split in half

4.3. We can make an analogy of the end of the United States' war with Mexico as being very similar to the European conquest of the Americas