Unit+7-+Expansion+and+the+rise+of+Sectionalism

In this unit we will explore the expansion of the United States from east to west and the positive and negative impact this expansion had on the the United States economically, politically, socially, and economically.

__Chapter 17: Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy, 1841-1848__

 * Theme 1:** American expansionism gained momentum in the 1840s, leading first to the acquisition of Texas and Oregon, and then to the Mexican War, which added vast southwestern territories to the United States and ignited the slavery question.


 * Theme 2:** American international prestige grows as the United States expands. Successful military campaigns against Mexico along with well negotiated treaties with Britain force Europe to respect America more while Latin America begins to be wary of the "Colossus of the North."

[|PBS: Mexican War]

__Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional Struggle, 1848-1854__

 * Theme 1:** The sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery that erupted after the Mexican War was temporarily quieted by the Compromise of 1850, but Douglass Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 exploded it again.


 * Theme 2:** In the 1850s American expansionism in the West and the Caribbean was extremely controversial because it was tied to the slavery question.

__Chapter 19: Drifting Toward Disunion, 1854-1861__

 * Theme 1:** A series of major North-South crises in the late 1850s culminated in the election of the antislavery Republican Lincoln to the presidency in 1860. His election caused seven southern states to secede from the union and form the Confederate States of America.