Lecture 13: Testing the American Dream
Key Learnings
Democracy expanded in America during the first half of the 19th century, but social mobility shrank.
Expansion included:
Increased suffrage (voting rights) for white men.
Rise of popular political culture.
Shrinking social mobility:
Widening gap between the rich and poor.
Limited opportunities for upward mobility.
It was ironic that America was gambling on a system that granted people the right to choose their government, yet they were also socially impaired.
Social impairments included:
High rates of alcohol consumption.
Economic inequality.
The early 19th century was the peak of alcohol consumption in US history.
Factors contributing to high consumption:
Availability and affordability of alcohol.
Social acceptance of drinking.
Testing the American Dream
Historians challenge assumed facts, such as social mobility and the American dream, by examining statistical evidence.
Assumed facts:
Belief in equal opportunity.
Possibility of upward mobility through hard work.
Primary sources used to test the American dream include:- Wills: Legal documents with instructions for wealth disposal.
Provide insights into how wealth was passed down through generations.
Probate records: Official distribution of wealth; both wills and probate records contain itemized information and total estate value.
Offer a comprehensive view of an individual's assets at the time of death.
Censuses (after 1850): Include wealth statistics.
Provide demographic and economic data, including information on occupation and property ownership.
Logic Problem: Was American Society Becoming More Equal?
Proposition: In the first half of the 19th century, American society was becoming more equal.
Test 1: Tax Lists
Tax lists include names of property owners and their assessed wealth.
Used to assess property taxes.
Provide a snapshot of wealth distribution within a community.
Method: Compare the total value of property held by the wealthiest 10% to the community's total wealth over time.
Track changes in wealth concentration over the years.
If the proposition is true, the proportion of wealth held by the richest 10% should decrease over time.
Indicates a more equitable distribution of wealth.
Result: Historians found that in 1774, the top 10% held about 50% of the nation's wealth. By 1860, this increased to 73%, disproving the proposition
Demonstrates increasing wealth inequality during this period.
Test 2: Biographies of Rich People
Historian Edward Pessen studied 2,000 wealthy individuals between the 1820s and 1850s, primarily in Northeastern New England cities.
Focused on urban elites in a specific region.
He examined their backgrounds and family wealth.
Investigated the sources of their wealth and social origins.
Findings:- 2% came from poor backgrounds.
Indicates limited opportunities for upward mobility from poverty.
7% rose from the middle class.
Suggests some mobility from the middle class to wealth, but still limited.
91% were born into wealth and remained wealthy.
Highlights the persistence of wealth across generations.
Conclusion: It takes money to make money, indicating limited economic mobility.
Reinforces the idea that wealth is often inherited rather than earned.
Test 3: Studying the Poor
Historian Seth Rockman studied laborers in Baltimore, focusing on unskilled workers who:-
Dug canal ditches.Shoveled coal.
Unloaded ships.
Crewed vessels.
Rockman traced the lives of hundreds of laborers from 1790 through wage books, tax rolls, court documents, census manuscripts, city directories, and almshouse records.
Used a variety of historical sources to reconstruct the lives of ordinary workers.
He discovered that laborers faced significant obstacles to social mobility, including:- Declining wages.
Real wages for unskilled workers decreased over time.
Grueling work conditions.
Laborers faced long hours and dangerous working environments.
Systematic efforts to keep them at the bottom.
Social and economic structures that reinforced inequality.
Example: Michael Gorman, an Irish immigrant, experienced economic backslide and died poor in an almshouse at age 41.
Illustrates the struggles of upward mobility for immigrants and the working class.
Another study found that only 5% of laborers moved into non-laboring occupations.
Confirms the limited opportunities for occupational mobility.
Persistence of the American Dream
Despite the lack of economic mobility, the American dream persisted due to:- Hope and the desire to believe in opportunity.
The belief that hard work could lead to success, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
A focus on social obstacles and poverty in Europe, while ignoring domestic issues.
Comparing the U.S. favorably to Europe, despite its own problems.
Modest improvements, such as:- Improved diets due to better transportation of food.
The market revolution led to increased availability of food and goods.
Increased home ownership.
More people were able to own their own homes, even if they were modest.
Greater access to manufactured goods, even as inequality increased.
The rise of consumer culture made goods more accessible, masking underlying inequality.
High Alcohol Consumption
The 1830s marked the peak of American alcohol consumption.
Known as the "booze decade."
Americans consumed approximately six gallons per capita of pure alcohol annually.
Significantly higher than modern consumption rates.
Typical laborer's annual consumption:-
34 gallons of beer and cider.5 gallons of distilled spirits.
1 gallon of wine.
Both commoners and elites drank heavily, though they consumed different types of alcohol.
Different social classes consumed different types and quantities of alcohol.
Seven Reasons for Boozes Popularity
Cheap Booze: Grain was inexpensive due to high production, making alcohol affordable.
Surplus of grain due to agricultural advancements.
Low production costs made alcohol accessible to all social classes.
No Refrigeration: Fermentation was necessary to preserve drinks.
Fermentation prevented spoilage and made beverages safer to consume.
Water Quality Concerns: Water was often unsafe, making alcohol a safer alternative.
Water sources were often contaminated with bacteria and pollutants.
Alcohol offered a safer, if not healthier, alternative.
Dietary Habits: Alcohol was used to settle stomachs due to heavy meat consumption and fast eating.
High-protein diets were common, and alcohol was believed to aid digestion.
Work Culture: Employers provided alcohol as part of wages or rations.
Alcohol was seen as a motivator and a way to reward workers.
Social Bonding: Alcohol eased tensions and was part of nearly every social activity.
Taverns and saloons were central to social life.
Alcohol fostered camaraderie and social connections.
Stress Relief: Competitiveness and rapid social changes led people to seek relief through alcohol.
The market revolution and social transformations created stress and anxiety.
Alcohol offered a temporary escape from these pressures.
Consequences of Excessive Drinking
Abuse of women and children (domestic violence).
Alcohol contributed to increased rates of domestic violence and abuse.
Workplace accidents leading to injuries and fatalities.
Intoxication impaired judgment and coordination, leading to accidents.
Financial strain due to money spent on alcohol.
Workers often spent a significant portion of their wages on alcohol.
Crime and public disorder (tavern brawls).
Alcohol fueled violence and disorderly conduct in public spaces.
Temperance Movement
The initial goal was moderation, but it shifted to advocating for no alcohol consumption.
Moderation was initially promoted as a way to curb the negative effects of drinking.
The movement gradually embraced abstinence as the only solution.
It drew in other social causes, such as the women's movement and abolitionists.
The temperance movement became intertwined with other reform movements.
Arguments for coalition:- Republican womanhood: Women as keepers of moral fabric.
Women were seen as moral guardians of the home and society.
Abolitionists: Sober slave masters would recognize the evils of slavery.
Temperance was linked to the abolitionist cause as a way to promote moral reform.
By the 1840s, alcohol consumption began to decline.
The temperance movement had a significant impact on drinking habits.
Reasons for Success
The Second Great Awakening: Evangelical Christian expansion and fervent activity.
Religious revivalism fueled the temperance movement.
Promoted personal responsibility and moral reform.
Industrialization: Factory owners encouraged sobriety among employees to lower costs and increase productivity.
Sobriety was seen as essential for a disciplined and efficient workforce.
Limitations
Strongest in the Northeast, weakest in the South and West.
Regional differences in culture and attitudes toward alcohol.
Limited appeal to immigrants, particularly Catholics, and those with strong drinking cultures, such as the Irish and Germans.
Immigrant communities often had different social norms and traditions related to alcohol consumption.
Political and Legal Prohibition
The movement shifted towards political and legal prohibition.
Advocated for laws banning the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol.
Maine was the first state to prohibit alcohol production and consumption in 1851.
Maine became a model for other states seeking to ban alcohol.
By 1860, 14 other states had passed prohibition laws.
The temperance movement gained significant political influence.
The Whigs favored temperance, while Democrats opposed it.
Political parties took distinct stances on the issue of alcohol.
Election of 1828
Andrew Jackson (Democrat) vs. John Quincy Adams (Whig).
A pivotal election in American history.
The campaign was filled with personal attacks on the candidates and their families.
Marked by mudslinging and character assassination.
Jackson won by a sizable majority, opening the door to key events during his presidency, including the Petticoat Affair, the Nullification Crisis, the Bank War, and Indian Removal.
Key Events During Jackson's Presidency
The Petticoat Affair: A social scandal involving the wives of Jackson's cabinet members.
Led to divisions within the administration.
Highlighted the role of social dynamics in politics.
Nullification Crisis: South Carolina declared federal tariffs null and void, leading to a showdown with the federal government.
Raised questions about states' rights and federal authority.
Jackson threatened military action to enforce federal law.
Bank War: Jackson opposed the Second Bank of the United States, believing it favored the wealthy elite.
Vetoed the re-charter of the bank.
Removed federal deposits and placed them in state banks.
Indian Removal: Jackson pursued a policy of removing Native American tribes from their ancestral lands.
Led to the forced migration of tribes, such as the Cherokee, on the Trail of Tears.
Origins of the Civil War
The expansion of slavery was a major point of contention between the North and the South.
The issue of slavery intensified political divisions.
Each new state threatened the power balance in the senate.
Admission of new states depended on popular sovereignty (people vote).
Missouri Compromise (1820):
Admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.
Established a line dividing free and slave territories.
Did not resolve the underlying issue of slavery.
John C. Calhoun argued that slavery was a positive good, not a necessary evil.
Defended slavery on economic, social, and moral grounds.
Consequences of Slavery
Plantation owners' wealth depended on:
Stealing humans.
Torture.
Free Labor
Labor for yourself and your family.
Based on individual effort and reward.
If you work hard, you deserve the profits.
Emphasized the importance of hard work and personal gain.
Slave Labor
Labor extracted through violence from people who aren't paid.
Based on coercion and exploitation.
You are not entitled to the fruits of your labor.
Denied enslaved people the right to own property or earn wages.
Owners invest in people with whips.
Enslaved people were treated as property and subjected to violence.
Owners didn't reinvest back into the slaves' well being.
Enslaved people were denied basic necessities and healthcare.
Free vs. Slave Labor
Free labor drives the economy while slave labor is extracted through violence.
Slave labor drives up the price of everything else.
The North out produced the South because slavery gave no financial incentive to be better.
Owners extracted the product through violence.
How Wealthy Was the South?
The South was not a wealthy region despite plantation owners living in luxury.
Most southerners did not own slaves and lived in poverty.
By 1860, the South produced 75% of the world's cotton.
Cotton production fueled the Southern economy and depended on enslaved labor.
Of the 4 Billion produced that year only 1\% of southerners received the money.
Southern wealth was concentrated among a small elite of plantation owners.
The difference between the North and South
The North embraced technological advancement.
The South was stuck using old technology.
The North embraced education.
Education was seen as dangerous to the South.
People of the South wanted to be chivalrous.
The North was more diverse.