A Difficult Past-How The Americas Change

Hannah Houze

The Americas in the 19th CenturyMany Chinese men were called to California by the enticing aroma of the gold rush. When hunting gold failed their expectations, they opened up restaurants selling their native food and prospered as the owners of these restaurants.Western expansion after American freedom from England resulted in tension from the Natives of the land. Also, the idea of equality clashed with slavery and caused confusion in politics on whether slaves were “private property” or free men who were forced to work for others.

ContinuedAlthough Canada was made up of two ethnic groups, French and English Canadians, Canada was united for fear of U.S. expansion into their territory.In Latin America, elites concentrated on claiming American land for farming and ranching. However, there was much civil unrest and discontent. So, caudillos became leaders and established terror in government to control the populous.

The Little Ice AgeThe Little Ice Age began in the 14th centuryCharacterized by snow falling in unusual months (June/July), birds falling dead out of the sky due to frigid temperatures, and people freezing as early in the year as SeptemberThe ice age came on with out warning and in the villages surrounding the Alps, the villagers, along with the priests of the village, believed that the glaciers surrounding their village were possessed by demons and that was why they were advancing on their townScientists believe that the little ice age is part of a pattern of climate events and that it can predict another drastic climate change that could occur (another little ice age is possible!)In addition to global cooling, the little ice age had sudden and intense storms that ruined the crops and a starvation set in and millions diedParents were forced to kill or abandon some of their children to reserve food for others. Most people actually died from plagues and diseases as a result of famine rather than the starvation itselfThe Black Death (bubonic plague) set in and ravaged during the ice age because people, and rats, lived together in small places to stay warm and the plague struck an already weak people. 25 million people died

Frontiers of the AmericasIn 1803, the United States nearly doubled in size due to the Louisiana PurchaseThis purchase was an accident that change the history of the U.S The Louisiana territory was “owned” by the French and was regarded as a useless, wild piece of land and was given to the Spanish after the French and Indian warAlthough the 14 states of the time were united for liberty, during the time of Spanish owned Louisiana, individual states began to separated from each other to become friendly with Spain, France, or even BritainWhen King Louis of France died, France decides to take back Louisiana from Spain and to do this France tell America that if Louisiana was French owned, New Orleans would be open to Americans. This plan did not workNapoleon gains Louisiana from Spain, but this is kept secret from AmericaNapoleon had his eye on Haiti, but he could not attain it so he had no use for Louisiana. He sold the Louisiana Purchase to America for 15 million dollars

The Crossroads of FreedomPrince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied was interested in natural history and ethnologyIn 1832, he went to the Great Plains of North America with painter Karl Bodmer They traveled up the Missouri River and Maximilian studied tribes such as the Mandan and collected many specimens of plant lifeKarl Bodmer painted what he saw on the expedition and he is well known for his pictures of Indian life

ContinuedThe Peninsula Campaign was launched by the Union Army (McClellen) as an amphibious movement to capture the Confederate capitol of RichmondThe Union attack was initially successful, they had a huge force and a gun battery that issued 7,000 pounds of ordinanceAs McClellen’s forces approached Richmond, a surprise attack by the Confederates (Johnston) led to heavy casualtiesJohnston was replaced by general Lee and he reorganized the army and began the Seven Days Battle which caused the Union army to retreat from taking Richmond

ContinuedThe Seven Days Battles were fought in Virginia. The Confederates (Lee) fought the Union (McClellen) in a series of six battles fought over seven daysLee’s army advanced on the Union soldiers starting on June 25 1862. They pushed the Union towards the James River after McClellen lost the initiative in the Battle of Oak GroveWhen finally McClellen’s army found safety by the river, they had suffered over 16,000 casualtiesLee’s army also suffered many casualties, and on July 1 1862, he fell back towards the North Virginia Campaign and the Maryland Campaign

ContinuedThe Maryland campaign was a turning point in the war and eventually led to the Battle of AntietamMcClellen’s army tried to move through the South Mountain pass which separated him from Lee’s armyUnfortunately, the Battle of South Mountain delayed McClellen, giving Lee sufficient time to concentrate most of his armyThis then led to the Battle of Antietam, when McClellen advanced after South Mountain towards Lee’s Confederate forces

ContinuedThe Battle of Antietam was a very important battle that made up the beginning of the American Civil War

It was fought on September 17, 1862 and was one of the bloodiest battles that occurred in a single day

The Union (McClellen) forces advanced on the Confederates (Lee), and although they had the advantage, they used caution and the delay caused the Confederates to have more time to prepare

This delay may have cost the battle. The to sides ended the battle in a truce, but the casualties and injuries were immense

President Lincoln was disappointed in the outcome, and in McClellan’s delay because it may have cost the victory of the Union army