The United States grew rapidly after the Revolutionary War. It was met with several challenges in its first half century, some of which it handled well (the procedure for admitting new states) and some which it handled horribly (the forced relocation of the American Indians). Sadly, what turned out to be the biggest challenge was the one not handled at all - human slavery.
In segment 04b: The Northwest Ordinance, we examine a political decision which was crucial to America's success. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 allowed the admission of new states to the Union on a fully equal basis with the existing states. Any new territory acquired by the United States would not become a colony or provinces; instead new territory would be fully integrated. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, even though its constitutionality was doubtful, nearly doubled the nation's size. Thanks to the Northwest Ordinance, it was settled (for the most part) in an orderly manner. Yet America remained hungry for more land, causing, in part, the War of 1812. After the bombs were done bursting in air and the torpedoes had been damned, the United States made a peace with Great Britain which has lasted to this day.
In segment 04c: The Monroe Doctrine, America becomes entangled in foreign affairs. Spain's American empire had fallen by 1815, presenting the United States with a dilemma. The rise of Central and South American republics where Spain once ruled was a tribute to the American experiment. The new republics wanted not only American recognition, but American aid. But Spain was still strong, and interested in recapturing her old American empire. Soon France and Russia started making noises about helping Spain do just that. Despite the War of 1812, Britain sided with the American republics against its fellow monarchies. They suggested joining with the US to protect the republics' sovereignty. President James Madison was conflicted, but his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams persuaded him to take on this foreign entanglement. Under the so-called Monroe Doctrine, the United States unilaterally (that is, on its own) forbade other nations to intervene with sovereign North or South American countries.
Segment 04d: Trails of Tears introduces the United States's shabby treatment of its Indian population. Once the trickle of Americans settling west of the Appalachians turned into a flood, the white Americans determined to clear the Indians out. Even though many Indians, most notably the Cherokee, sought to strike a balance between tribal ways and living within the Constitution, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 meant to drive all Indians west of the Mississippi. A particular lowlight was the "Trail of Tears" of the 1830s in which thousands of Choctaw and Cherokee were forced to walk from Georgia to Oklahoma. A decade later, the Mormons were driven from the Midwest, and forced to begin their great series of treks from the Midwest to Utah. With the end of the Civil War, the United States once more resumed its campaign against the Indians, eventually penning most of them into reservations. The tactics used by the US in managing the Indians, the Mormons, and other minorities are today known as "ethnic cleansing."
