James Monroe's Presidency

Context 1817-1823

Federalist Party dissolved → Dem. Reps. govern

• Spirit of seemingly nonpartisan harmony

• Cultural Nationalism: Patriotism

• Political Nationalism: Supreme Court decides support of national government over states

The American System

Henry Clay proposed system inspired by Hamilton’s economic plans

• Protective Tariffs

• National Bank

• Internal Improvements/Infrastructure

Protective Tariffs

American System— Promote domestic industries + generate federal revenue

→ Northern industries expanded: Raw materials w/o high tariffs → low input costs

• → Revenue subsidized infrastructure

  • → South and West now benefitted from North consumption of raw materials and crops

→ West/South bought high-priced manufactured goods: Little tariffs on raw materials (cotton) → foreign competition → less profits

→ South paid federal tariffs: Domestic manufactured shipping > Imported costs

Bank of the United States (BUS)

American System— Manage federal revenue: National credit + Risky local banking + Trade + Stable Currency

→ Democratic Credit System: Eastern bankers + credit-seeking West/South farmers

→ Avoid speculation and economic panics

→ Constitutional legitimacy

• → Perceived wealth hoarding: Industrialists and bankers 

Internal Improvements and Infrastructure

American System— Efficient + Connected Transportation = (Roads, canals, turnpikes, harbors) + (Regional markets) + (Land sales + tariffs = federal revenue)

→ Public good: Erie Canal + Cumberland Road

• → Wealthy benefits > common man

→ Expanded federal power over states

Foreign Policy

1. 1817-1818 Rush-Bagot Agreement: British treaty to share Oregon territory for 10 years

• Set Louisiana Territory’s north limits

2. Adams-Onis Treaty: Problems w/ Seminoles → Florida joins US

Monroe Doctrine

US Declaration that the Americans are off-limits to Europe

1. Response to Europe possibly aiding Spain to regain Latin American colonies

2. US wants to protect new republics and democracies of West Hemisphere

Sectionalism

US divides into 3 separate sections that each attempt to promote self-interest

1. Northeast Business/Manufacture: Nationalists

• Anti-slavery

• Tariffs + Internal improvements

2. West Frontier Agriculture: Loyal to USA

• American System (es-. internal improvements)

• Cheap land

• Anti-slavery: Let ppl decide

3. South Cotton Plantations: Opposition

• Anti-American System (esp. tariffs)

• States’ rights

• Pro-slavery

Missouri Compromise

1. Causes: 1819 Missouri’s application for statehood threatens Congress balance of power (11 free states + 11 slave states)

2. Compromise: Arkansas Territory = Open to slavery

   1. Unorganized Territory = Closed to slavery

The Market Revolution

do it at home baka

Population Increases

1. (1790) 3.9M x 10 = (1860) 31M

2. More White: Anti- and Pro-Immigration Movements

Industrialization

Transformed north from Jeffersonian small farmers to…

• Wage laborers: Cheap, organized labor under factory owners

  • Women in the workplace

  • Immigrants: large political role

• South economy: remains agrarian 

The Westward Movement 

Demographic center keeps moving west

• 1850: 50% under 30

• Frontier Life: Isolation + “rugged individualism”

Impact of Growing Cities

Westward Movement— Growing Cities → Urbanization

• Slums

• Sanitation hazards

• High Crime / Inadequate police

• Disease

Impact of Immigration

1830s-1850s: 3M Irish & German Immigrants come to US

• Europe: Not enough space

  • Ireland: 1840s Potato Famine → Poor immigrants stayed East (NY + Boston)

    • New York: Politicians fight for Irish vote, who helped thru political machines + prevalent in law enforcement

    • Anti-Irish Sentiment: Factories refused to hire Irish

  • Germany: Economic/political changes → Displacement + pro-democracy + anti-slavery + More money = More west

Anti-Catholicism in America

Exceptionally strong during Monroe era

• “Native” Americans: Strong Protestant presence

  • Irish: “stole jobs” + “depressed city wages”

  • “Know Nothing Party”: Platform of rigid restrictions on immigration, naturalization, deportation of poor immigrants

Industrial Revolution

1750s Britain → Secretiveness → Slow spread of tech to America

• Embargo of 1807 + War of 1812: Boosted US factories

• Samuel Slater: Father of Factory System in America

  • Fled England w/ British Factory System

• 1793 Eli Whitney— Cotton Gin: Cheaply processed cotton → Increased demand for slavery

  • “King Cotton” (Gin): Cotton profits > Factories

  • Interchangeable Parts/Assembly Line: Basis on modern mass-production

    • North made more weapons → Defeated Confederacy

Communication Technology

1. 1844 Samuel Morse— Telegraph: Instant communication

   1. Northern advantage in Civil War

Commonwealth v. Hunt + Work Conditions

1842 Legalized unions because…

• Change in Environment: Small shops → large city factories

• Child workers

• New England Textile Mills: Employed women

  • ex. Lowell Factory Girls: Bad Conditions = Independence

Cult of Domesticity

Women run home, no rights/influence outside of it

• Industrial Revolution separated work + “women’s sphere”

• “Republican Motherhood”: Women responsible for raising good, moral citizens

Infrastructure Advancements

Northern technology + Undeveloped South = North wins Civil War

• Turnpikes: Invest in roads → Return from tolls

  • 1811 Cumberland: Federal funded road from MD to IL

• 1807 Robert Fulton— Steamboats: Steam power → Hudson River = Two-Way Streets”

  • West economic development

• (Erie) Canal: Linked Hudson River (Atlantic) to Great Lakes (Midwest) to transport western crops to eastern cities

  • Grew Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland

  • Froze in winter

• Railroads: Fast, reliable + cheaper than canals