| A miner strikes gold in California |
|
Presidents Andrew Jackson, James
Polk, and John Tyler, like many Americans of this time, embraced
the notion of enlarging the "empire for liberty."
In other words they wanted to expand the borders of America
westward. While some pioneers headed west to California, others
attempted to expand the idea of what "liberty" in
America meant. Abolitionists opposed laws that kept African
Americans enslaved, and advocates of women's suffrage argued
that wives, mothers and daughters should play a more significant
role in society by voting, holding office, and working outside
the home. |
