American history: key periods and events

¶ … history between 1800 and 1850, and how it affected Indians, Blacks, Whites, and Mexicans. Eighteen-hundred through 1850 was a crucial time in American history. The fledgling nation was going through the painful process of defining itself, creating a workable government and refining it, and learning how to function as a democracy.

This was also a time when America was expanding its borders. The Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early part of the century identified land all the way to the Pacific Ocean, and with the Louisiana Purchase, the United States doubled in size. People were moving west, and as they moved, they displaced the Native Americans along the way. The polices about the Natives at the time were mainly to round them up and herd them to reservations farther and farther west, and farther from their native lands. Treaties were often broken, hostilities broke out between the settlers and the Natives, and the Natives were consistently subjugated and abused. This was the time of the Trail of Tears and many other Indian removals, and a low point in Native history.

The War with Mexico also added territory from Texas to California during this time, and the Native Mexicans living in the area underwent tremendous changes. California especially was largely Mexican, until the rush to find gold in California occurred in 1848-9, and their lifestyle went from Mexican authority over broad ranchos and towns, to the sudden spurt of growth that occurred in Northern California when gold was discovered. Thus, this was a period of great expansionism and growth in the nation's size and population. Many Mexicans resented the intrusion and the loss of their territory to the United States.

This was also the time when many Americans began to call out for an end to slavery, and the government attempted to regulate and control slavery. The Missouri Compromise allowed slave states to join the Union as long as there was a corresponding free state, showing the government was attempting to do "something" about thee slave trade, and it outlawed slavery above a certain measurement in the country. The slave trade and the cotton economy grew during this time, but many Northerners wanted the practice to stop. This would ultimately lead to the Civil War, along with other events that boiled up during this time. Blacks were subjugated, had no rights, were often cruelly beaten, or whipped for any infraction, and it was a low point in their history as well.

This was a time of great strides in transportation, with the first railroads developing, canals constructed, roads built, and the growth of industry and business. It became possible to ship goods for long distances, and with the invention of the steam engine and other technologies, it became possible to automate many factories, creating more jobs in the industrial North and drawing labor from the farms to the cities. It was a time when immigration was extremely high, too, bringing the famous "melting pot" to the country, from Ireland, Europe, and around the world.