Westward Extension, 1841-1850

By George Pierce Garrison

This book explains the people, politics and intrigue as Americans pushed westward to occupy its present borders.  The pre-Civil War period was most contentious as the nation struggled to solve problems that the Constitution left undone.  From Andrew Jackson’s war with a national bank to the South’s defending the “peculiar institution” of slavery, Americans were in constant political conflict.

The author details the boundary disputes that Americans faced on all of its borders, with England on the North and Northwest, with Spain, later Mexico, to the West, Southeast (Florida) and Southwest.  Americans had the advantage of both population and proximity.  It is easier to defend a border when you have your people there and you can move armed defenders in place.

The over-riding issue with all the movement westward was, in a word, slavery.  The young nation survived because of the willingness of its politicians to compromise, but slavery was threatening to divide the country.  Each major addition to the country brought the possibility of extending slavery to the fore.  Slavery was banned in the Northwest Territory (current Mid-West) and the Compromise of 1820 created a demarcation line, north of which slavery would be prohibited.

The U.S. had its eye on California early in the 19th Century and was willing to buy it from Mexico.  Real politics intervened.  The residents of Texas revolted and created a separate republic.  The decision by the U.S. to annex Texas angers the Mexicans and tipped an already precipitous situation.  The was with Mexico enabled the U.S. to finally buy the territory it wanted, as the U.S. acquired most of its West and Southwest.

The docent at the Homestead Museum will be provided with an in-depth analysis of how the U.S. moved westward and acquired California as part of the Compromise of 1850, all with the backdrop of slavery.  The country would soon fight to enforce its political beliefs.