214 ChaPTer 9 | expansionism: part 1 | period Four 180 0 –1848 ToPIC I | expansion, Compromise, and Conflict^215

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hroughout the first half of the nineteenth century, US policy makers

sought to expand American power both internally and abroad. Many

American citizens supported this expansion in hopes of expanding their

markets and opportunities to exploit land and resources west of the Mis-

sissippi River. Many other Americans dissented from these plans and felt

that American expansion threatened to provoke internal conflicts and erode the

universal human rights that were described in the Declaration of Independence.

As expansion continued westward, the debate over the fate of enslaved Amer-

icans became increasingly heated. American policy makers and citizens debated

the expansion of slavery into new territories, especially because if slavery was

allowed in a new territory, it would become a slave state with corresponding

power in Congress. Compromises over the expansion of slavery proved success-

ful in the first half of the nineteenth century but became increasingly difficult

toward the middle of the century.

Seeking the Main Point

As you read the documents that follow, keep these broad questions in mind. These

questions will help you understand the relationship between the documents in

this chapter and the historical changes that they represent. As you reflect on these

questions, determine which themes and which documents best address them.

•   

What were some of the reasons behind American expansion westward?

What were some of the debates that it inspired? In what ways did these

debates manifest themselves?

•   

How did economic and environmental factors influence American

expansionism?

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