Unit 4 - History of American Expansion, Politics, and Reform 1800-1848

Foundations: Post-Revolutionary America focused on territorial expansion through buying land, winning land, and displacing internal populations to establish a unique identity.
Federalists: Led by Hamilton and Washington. This elite class favored a strong central representative government and initially disregarded the need for a Bill of Rights.
Democratic Republicans: Also known as Anti-federalists, led by Jefferson and Madison. They prioritized individual state rights and the Bill of Rights.
Washington's Farewell: Warned that political parties were evil due to potential for corruption and foreign influence.

Election of $1800$ : Contest between Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and Adams. After an Electoral College tie and $35$ votes in the House, Hamilton influenced the vote in favor of Jefferson because he viewed Burr as a greater threat.
Significance: Marked the first peaceful transfer of power between parties in America.
Marburry vs. Madison: Case overseen by Chief Justice John Marshall, asserting the Supreme Court’s right to Judicial review.

Louisiana Purchase ( $1803$ ): Land acquisition from France that doubled the size of the U.S. and secured the New Orleans port and the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
Executive Power: Jefferson made this decision without Congress, causing concern among Federalists about the safety of settlers, safety from Native tribes, and the weakening of the central government.
Lewis and Clark: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led an expedition of $20+$ people to trace the Missouri River. Notable members included York, an enslaved man, and Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman who served as a translator.

Causes: The Napoleonic Wars interrupted American trade. Britain practiced ‐impressment‐ (kidnapping sailors) and blocked ports.
Events: Britain burned the White House and freed thousands of slaves.
Outcomes: The Treaty of Ghent ended the war in $1814$ . While no one truly won, the Battle of New Orleans made Andrew Jackson a hero and led to increased nationalism and the creation of the Star Spangeled Banner.

Conflict: Missouri applied for statehood as a slave state, threatening the balance between the $11$ free and $11$ slave states.
James Tallmadge's Resolution: Proposed prohibiting new slaves in Missouri and freeing current slave children at age $25$ . The House accepted, but the Senate rejected it.
Solution: Maine was admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state, preserving a $12:12$ ratio in the Senate.

Background: Nicknamed ‐Old Hickory,‐ Jackson was a self-taught lawyer, military leader, and owner of over $100+$ slaves.
Election of $1824$ : Jackson lost due to a ‐corrupt bargain‐ in the House, which favored Adams.
Election of $1828$ : Jackson won following a campaign characterized by mudslinging and high voter participation. This era marked the birth of grassroots democracy for white men regardless of class.

Democrats: Represented the ‐producing class‐ (farmers, militia). Focused on individual and state freedoms and Jeffersonian populism.
Whigs: Businessmen and professionals who wanted to use the national government to manage the economy and maintain social hierarchy.
Nullification Crisis ( $1832$ ): South Carolina, supported by VP Calhoun, attempted to nullify federal tariffs. Jackson sent troops to enforce federal law, narrowly avoiding civil war through a compromise.

Bank War: Jackson viewed the National Bank as a monopoly for the wealthy. He vetoed the charter and dismantled the bank, earning him the nickname ‐King Andrew.‐
Indian Removal: Despite Supreme Court rulings, Jackson enforced removal. The Trail of Tears involved the forced relocation of Cherokees over $800$ miles to Oklahoma, resulting in thousands of deaths.

Innovation: The steam engine, canals (Erie Canal), and locomotives increased transportation efficiency. The Transcontinental Railroad expanded the network from East to West by $1869$ .
Cotton Gin: Invented by Eli Whitney in $1793$ . It allowed cotton production to increase by $380\%$ , which directly led to a surge in slave labor. Slaves increased from $700,000$ in $1790$ to $3,200,000$ by $1850$ .
Lowell Mills: Urbanization in New England led to the rise of textile mills powered by the Merrimack River, employing young women seeking education or dowries.

The Cult of Domesticity: A social system defining women’s roles through four virtues: Purity, Piety, Domesticity, and Submissiveness.
Social Realities: Richer women focused on the home, while poor women worked in dangerous mill conditions. Material culture (corsets and large Crinolines) reinforced these restricted roles.

Planter Elite: At the top of society, this $1\%$ owned $1000+$ acres and $40+$ slaves.
Ownership: Slave ownership was concentrated; $75\%$ of white families owned no slaves.
Enforcement: Slave Codes restricted slave movement, grouping (no more than $3+$ people), and literacy. Slave Patrols used violence and intimidation to enforce these laws.
Survival: Slaves faced physical abuse and the emotional trauma of family separation. Marriage vows often included ‐Till death or distance do us part.‐

Abolitionist Movement ( $1830-1870$ ): Initiated by Quakers in the $1750s$ . Divided into radical, moderate, immediate, and gradual camps. Notable states included Vermont ( $1777$ ) and Pennsylvania ( $1780$ ) which passed gradual abolition acts.
Women’s Rights: Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The Seneca Falls Convention ( $1848$ ) produced the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence.
Key Figures: Sojourner Truth, known for her ‐Ain’t I a woman?‐ speech, and the Sarah and Angelina Grimbe sisters, who wrote the ‐Appeal to the Christian Women of the South‐ against slavery.