Expansion and The South
(Lecture Notes from Mr. Kersey's 8th Grade U.S. History Class)Manifest Destiny
- Between 1803 and 1853 our country grew in size tremendously.
- The US added The Louisiana purchase, the Oregon Country, Texas, and California during these years.
- By 1840, many Americans shared the idea of Manifest Destiny, or the idea that Americans were meant to spread to the Pacific Ocean.
- By 1853, with the Gadsden Purchase, our continental borders were fixed.
The Southern Way of Life
- During these same years the Southern economy had grown, and cotton was king.
- A social order had developed:
- Growers, or plantation owners
- Small farmers, or yeomen farmers
- Poor whites
- Slaves
- The South had become dependent on slavery for its economic success.
- Slavery, however, was unacceptable to many people and the debate raged across the new nation as it expanded.
Urban Southerners
- Many urban Southerners owned slaves as well. These were usually wealthy business owners.
- Slaves did much of the work in Southern cities.
Free African Americans
- There were free African Americans in the South.
- These people lived mostly in the cities and worked as skilled labor.
- Discrimination was always a problem though.
