Chapter 13 1.) The westward movement entangled the United States in the affairs of foreign powers when we came into contact of previously existing Natives and Spanish that lived on the land that we were expanding towards. That involved us in military affairs with other countries. On page 424, it explains that Spain held title to most of the trans-Mississippi west property and that for the last hundred years or so were expanding and settling, and tried only to fail to keep people from migrating to that area. It goes on to explain that Americans before the great migration of the 1840s migrated for the attraction of fur businesses.
They engaged Mexican troops in October of 1836, starting the first official battle pf the Texas Revolution. Hell bent on extinguishing any existing spark of the rebellion, Santa Anna started assembling the Army of Operations in Texas in an effort to restore order. Nearly all of his soldiers were raw recruits. A lot of them were also forced to enlist. The Texians went about cleaning up the Mexican troops that were already positioned in Texas.
The Europeans introduced a deadly wave of small pox and the measles, where slaves from Africa were brought over to grow and harvest sugar cane. These factors resulted in cultural and biological changes to the Americas. These transformations that took place between the Old World and the New is named the Columbian Exchange by historians. The Columbian Exchange resulted in the introduction of rice, wheat, oats, barley, and sugar cane to the New World. Horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and chickens were some of the animals that were brought as well.
------------------------------------------------- “The Ignominious Origins of Ethnic Pluralism in America” ------------------------------------------------- “The Ignominious Origins of Ethnic Pluralism in America,” written by Stephen Steinberg, published in 2001, explores the history of America’s immigrants from the late 18th Century through the early 20th Century. Steinberg divides this period of time into four different phases. According to Steinberg, the first phase was settlement. While Native Americans had inhabited America, the Englishmen were the first to settle and drive out the Natives. He briefly touches on the fact that America was predominantly composed of Englishmen up until the end of the 18th Century.
The Battle of San Jacinto The Struggle for Texas’ Independence Abstract The Battle of San Jacinto: The Struggle for Texas’ Independence Sam Houston’s outstanding leadership and immediate action led the Texas Army to ultimately defeat the larger Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. During the early 1820’s, numerous Anglo-American colonists came to Mexico. Their goal was to set up house on the rich, fertile lands of the Gulf Coast region. These settlers arrived as free men in search of opportunity and affordable land provided by the Mexican government for farming and raising cattle. Over time, the Mexican government became more centralized, less federalist, and eventually steered the Texans to call for independence.
Mississippi was admitted as a slave state to the union because of the intense profitability of cotton and the use of slaves. The war of 1812 would drastically change the relationships of plantation owners and the slaves that they owned. The owners begin to realize if they treated slaves like humans it would likely decrease the odds that the slaves would rebel against them. Slaves begin to migrate into Mississippi very heavily during this time also. The slave trade saw massive amounts of slaves being brought into this area at this time.
Even though the North and South tried to reconcile their differences on the issue of slavery by implementing compromises in the 1820’s and 1850’s, both attempts failed, leading up to the Civil War. On March 14, 1794, Eli Whitney’s was granted a patent for the cotton gin. The cotton gin made the job of separating cotton from its seed much easier. The ease of separating the cotton fiber from the seed meant that more raw cotton would be needed to keep up with increased demand. Therefore, a large amount of slaves were needed in the south to work the fields as fast as the cotton gins could separate
What Caused the Civil War? From 1861 to 1865, civil war broke loose and resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of American lives; forever changing the history of the United States. The causes of the Civil War are plenty, but the three main causes of the bloodshed in America can be classified into economic, political, and moral reasons. The South’s economic strengths were largely agricultural; specifically the growing of tobacco, wheat, and cotton. Between 1790 and 1861, the year in which the Civil War began, plantation agriculture expanded, therefore, the demand for slaves increased.
Other Texans wanted complete and total freedom from Mexico; they wanted Texas to be its own independent country. In order to address these issues, The Convention of 1836 was called. Most of the attendees, delegates, were young transplants that had only recently arrived in Texas, but most had already been involved in one of the battles of 1835. Most of the delegates were members of the War Party and demanded that Texas declared its independence from Mexico. On March 1, the convention began in Washington-on-the-Brazos.
The Spaniards came and conquered Mexico, and the Indian population was reduced to one-and-a-half million pure-blooded Indians. The year of 1521, marked the birth of a new race, the mestizo, mixed Indian and Spanish blood. The mestizo explored parts of what it is now Texas. This move up north created an even stronger blend, the mestizaje, due to a mix of Mexicans, American Indians, and Spaniards. In the 1800s the Anglos took the mestizaje’s land and Mexico was forced to give up what it now is Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California.