A Difficult Past…How the Americas Change

Alexis Gibson

History 141

The Americas in the 19th Century

The United States is a land full of diversity, a lot of that diversity caused conflict in many

ways.

The gold rush brought people to CA to become minors in search of great fortune.

Many of them opened up their own businesses and stayed in the U.S. because it offered a lot of incentives financially.

The increase of the population of migrants contributed greatly to the diversity of America and had a big effect on major issues.

Building American States

The United States

Won Independence from Britain and created a government.

Slavery became a big topic of disagreement amongst the American people.

Had a civil war in 1860

The enlightenment granted the right to vote to all white males.

Americans began westward expansion forcing many natives out of their homes.

Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation in 1863.

Canada• Won independence from Britain.•Canada and Britain established an autonomy.•Slavery was not a big issue here•Did not experience a civil war•French Canadians and Britain Canadians did have some conflict.•The U.S. tried to invade Canada but was defeated. This event helped the British and French Canadians settle their differences.

Latin America

•Fragmented into many

independent states.

•Each independent state

had their own leaders.

•They we unsuccessful in

forming a stable

government

The Little Ice Age

Temperature dropped dramatically in 1653. The rivers and farmlands were covered in ice.

Fish and many other hunting animals migrated to find warmer climates and people experienced starvation and famine.

The natural forces that caused the little ice age are still unknown. Scientists believe that history will in fact repeat itself and we will experience this climate fall again.

Scientists study this by taking sediment cores that determine the temperature that it was.

Theories of what caused this:

1. The sun’s rays decreased slightly which had a big impact on the climate

2. Volcanoes erupted releasing sulfuric acid into the upper atmosphere

The Story of the Louisiana Purchase:

Spain joins forces with France and France gives Louisiana to Spain as a gift of gratitude.

Louisiana was viewed as a no mans land, many native Americans lived there. It was however very close to the Mississippi river which was used for trade.

• Many U.S. settlers went to Louisiana because of it’s proximity which caused Spain to close the Mississippi river to foreigners in 1783.

• It is reopened up to the Americans soon there after.

• Spain and France make a secret treaty hidden from the U.S. Spain grants Louisiana to France on the condition that it is never sold to another country. Napoleon in return grants Spain the entitlement to a principality in Italy. (this was a sham)

• The president at the time was Thomas Jefferson. He finds out about this secret treaty.

• Napoleon and his troops tried to invade Haiti which caused the Haitian revolution and weakened his army.

• Monroe is sent to purchase New Orleans and is offered the whole land of Louisiana because Napoleon needed money due to the defeat in Haiti.

North & South American Frontiers

Much of Native American Indians history had been lost and their decedents did not have much knowledge of their ancestors.

In 1833 an artist named Bodmer and a journalist named Maxamillian set sail on the Missouri river to conduct a case study of native Americans.

Bodmer painted landscapes and portraits of important Native American figures.

He found most of his inspiration from Saint Louis. He was able to paint portraits of the Omaha Indians very accurately. He was also able to illustrate many of their customs such as the Omaha dance.

These illustrations and journals were a great gift to to the Native Americans today.

*There was a lot of violence in Brazil concerning politics and other issues.

*The Gaucho society consisted of men who competed against each other killing using knives. They did it for honor and as retaliation.

*In Brazil politics was a very complicated issue

* Emperor Pedro II caused a big conflict by calling on the conservatives to govern Rio de Janeiro. There was violence between the liberals and conservatives

“The 7 Day Battle”

There were 6 major battles that started on June 25th until July 1st during the American Civil war.

These battles started as an attempt to capture the confederate capital of Richmond in order to end the war.

The attacks include the Beaver Dam creek, battle of Oak Grove, attack of the Union at savage’s station and many more.

The last battle was the Peninsula Campaign.

Thomas J Jackson

Confederate general that went against the North (Nathaniel Banks.)

He was known as “Stonewall.”

Became very feared in the North because of his successful attacks.

His troops were very small, usually outnumbered by their enemies but they were smart about their attacks.

The Victory at Winchester was one of the many famous attacks.

The Battle of Antietam September 17th, 1862 near Sharpsburg, Maryland. It was the first battle

in the American civil war.

It was the bloodiest day in American history.

George B. McClellan attacked General Robert E. Lee’s army

Although Lee’s army was outnumbered, McClellan’s army was unsuccessful. He withdrew his army back to Virginia.

The Aftermath of the Battle of Antietam

The army was badly hurt but was not completely destroyed.

Lee was very anxious to go back to Maryland and try again but his troops needed time to rebuild.

Many newspapers commented on how disgraceful and humiliating the surrender was.

The battle was a sign to Lincoln that he needed to establish the Emancipation Proclamation and he did so 5 days after the battle.