Expert Academic Assistant

THE POLITICAL SYSTEM AND THE BALANCE OF SECTIONAL INTERESTS (1820–1850)\n\n* The Federal Government and the States\n * The USA was a union of states with a national (federal) government based in Washington, D.C., located between the slave states of Virginia and Maryland.\n *

The White House: Home of the President, who is both head of state and government. Indirectly elected by the people via an electoral college. Holds power to approve or veto laws created by Congress.\n *

The US Congress: Comprised of two distinct institutions:\n * House of Representatives: Directly elected adult white males; representation is based on state population. Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution (the 3/5ths Clause) allowed states to count 60% of their slave population for representation purposes. In 1819, there were 156 representatives.\n *

The Senate: Represents the states; each state has exactly two senators regardless of size. Senators were chosen by state assemblies for six-year terms. The Senate was more effective at protecting slave states' rights than the House.\n * Separation of Powers and Checks/Balances: Intended to ensure accountability and prevent tyranny, though it often made decision-making long and difficult during sectional conflicts.\n\n* The US Supreme Court\n * Interprets the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments protecting individual freedom). Nine judges, including one Chief Justice, nominated by the President and approved by the Senate for life terms. While legally authoritative, enforcement depends on other branches of government.\n\n* Slavery and the American South\n * Known by the 1830s as \"Our Peculiar Institution\" (meaning unique to the South). Existing for nearly 200 years since the British colonial period.\n * Demographics (1860): 4.4 million black people in the USA; 3.9 million were slaves. Over half of the 500,000 free blacks lived in the South.\n * Slavery Distribution: By the 1820s, all Northern states banned slavery. In the Lower South (lower Mississippi), cotton production driven by slave labor grew rapidly. An internal slave trade moved slaves from older states to the Lower South. Slave prices doubled from $200 in the 1820s to $400 by the 1850s.\n * Abolitionists: Emerging in the 1830s, they viewed slavery as a moral insult and a threat to free labor/the Constitution.\n\n# TERRITORIAL EXPANSION AND ATTEMPTS AT COMPROMISE\n\n* The Missouri Compromise (1820)\n * Missouri applied for statehood in 1818. James Tallmadge proposed an amendment based on the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to prohibit slavery introduction and free slave children at age 25.\n * The 1820 Compromise (led by Henry Clay):\n 1. Missouri admitted as a slave state.\n 2. Maine admitted as a free state to maintain balance.\n 3. The 36˚ 30' line: Slavery was banned in Louisiana Purchase lands north of this latitude (except Missouri).\n\n* Manifest Destiny and Texas\n * Manifest Destiny: Term coined by John O’Sullivan in 1845; the belief that the USA was destined to overspread the continent for the \"experiment of liberty.\"\n * Texas: Declared independence from Mexico in 1836. Annexed as the 28th state. It joined directly as a state rather than a territory, meaning its borders could only be changed with consent.\n\n* The Wilmot Proviso and Mexican Cession\n * James Polk: Southern Democrat and expansionist; sparked war with Mexico in 1846 over border disputes.\n * Wilmot Proviso (1846): Proposed by David Wilmot (D-PA) to ban slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. It failed twice in Congress but marked the first division along sectional rather than party lines.\n * Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848): Mexico ceded over 1 million km² to the USA (modern-day California, etc.). Gold discovered in 1849.\n\n* Compromise of 1850\n * Key points negotiated by Stephen Douglas:\n 1. California admitted as a free state.\n 2. Utah and New Mexico created as territories with \"Popular Sovereignty\" (people choose their status).\n 3. Texas border set at 36˚ 30'; Texas public debt paid by the federal government.\n 4. Slave trade abolished in the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), though slavery remained legal.\n 5. Fugitive Slave Act: Radically strengthened; federal officials were compelled to arrest fugitives; runaways denied trial by jury; citizens assisting escapes were penalized.\n\n# THE WIDENING SECTIONAL DIVISIONS (1850–1856)\n\n* The Fugitive Slave Act Reaction\n * Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852): Bestseller by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Reached millions; Abraham Lincoln famously called her the \"little woman who wrote the book that made this Great War!\"\n * The Underground Railroad: Informal networks (not centralized) helping slaves escape. Harriet Tubman (\"Moses of her people\") led many to freedom. Estimates suggest 1,000–5,000 escapes annually (1830–1860).\n * Resistance: Christiana Riot (1851) resulted in a slave-owner's death. The Jerry Rescue in Rochester (1851). The Boston Slave Riot (1854) involving Anthony Burns; required federal troops to return Burns to his owner.\n\n* The Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854)\n * Proposed by Stephen Douglas to facilitate a transcontinental railway. It repealed the Missouri Compromise line (36˚ 30') and replaced it with popular sovereignty.\n * Result: \"Bleeding Kansas.\" Sacking of Lawrence (May 1856) by border ruffians. Pottawatomie Massacre led by abolitionist John Brown. Fighting lasted two years.\n * Political Fallout: The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner by Preston Brooks in the US Senate chamber (May 1856).\n\n* The Emergence of the Republican Party\n * Formed in 1854 (WI and MI) by Conscience Whigs, Free Soilers, and Northern Democrats. Purpose: Contain \"Slave Power.\"\n * 1856 Platform: \"Free Speech, Free Press, Free Soil, Free Men, Frémont and Victory.\"\n\n# THE ELECTION OF 1860 AND SECESSION\n\n* Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)\n * Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled: 1) African Americans are not citizens. 2) Dred Scott cannot sue. 3) Congress cannot restrict slavery in territories. It overturned 40 years of compromise.\n\n* Lincoln–Douglas Debates (1858)\n * Lincoln: \"A house divided against itself cannot stand.\" Douglas: \"Freeport Doctrine\" (claimed local law enforcement could exclude slavery despite Supreme Court).\n\n* John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)\n * Attempt to seize a federal arsenal (100,000 rifles) to arm a slave revolt. Brown executed for treason; became a North martyr but horrified the South as \"Black Republicanism.\"\n\n* The 1860 Election\n * Candidates: Lincoln (Republican), Douglas (Northern Democrat), Breckenridge (Southern Democrat), Bell (Constitutional Union).\n * Result: Lincoln wins with 40% popular vote, 180 electoral votes (all Northern). Zero slave states voted for him.\n * Secession: South Carolina seceded Dec 1860. Followed by MS, FL, AL, GA, LA, TX (The Deep South/Lower South). Formed the Confederate States of America (CSA) under Jefferson Davis.\n\n# THE CIVIL WAR (1861–1865)\n\n* April 1861: Fort Sumter\n * Lincoln tried to resupply the fort in Charleston harbor. CSA bombarded it for 36 hours. Major consequence: Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee seceded. Border states (MO, KY, MD, DE) stayed in Union.\n\n* Military Strategies\n * Anaconda Plan (Union): Naval blockade + control of Mississippi River to cut South in two. Devised by Winfield Scott.\n * Offensive-Defensive (CSA): Robert E. Lee believed in direct battles (Antietam 1862, Gettysburg 1863) to force Union recognition.\n * Total War (Union 1864): Grant and Sherman implemented \"Scorched Earth.\" Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley; Sherman's March to the Sea.\n\n* The Emancipation Proclamation (Jan 1, 1863)\n * Declared slaves in rebel-held areas \"forever free.\" Allowed black soldiers (180,000 served in Union army). Shifted war aim from restoration of Union to abolition.\n\n* Resources and Finance\n * Population: North 18.3m vs South 12.2m (incl. 4m slaves).\n * Iron/Manufacturing: South produced only 5% of US iron. Firearms primarily made in North (Connecticut factories).\n * Rail: North had 34,000 km of track; US Military Rail Road (USMRR) coordinated logistics.\n * Finance: North successful with income tax (1862 Revenue Act) and bonds (Jay Cooke). South suffered runaway inflation; tax-in-kind failed due to rotting supplies.\n\n# RECONSTRUCTION (1865–1877)\n\n* Constitutional Amendments\n * 13th (1865): Banned slavery.\n * 14th (1868): Citizens born in US have equal protection; disqualified ex-Confederates from office.\n * 15th (1870): Right to vote based on race/color/former servitude.\n\n* Presidential vs. Radical Reconstruction\n * Andrew Johnson: Succeeded Lincoln. Favored leniency for Southerners; vetoed Civil Rights Bill and Freedmen's Bureau expansion. Impeached (but not convicted) by one vote in 1868.\n * Radical Reconstruction: Led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner. Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 divided South into 5 military districts. Focused on black enfranchisement.\n\n* White Responses and Resistance\n * Black Codes: State laws restricting black freedom (vagrancy arrests, servitude). \n * The Ku Klux Klan (KKK): Founded in TN (1866) by Nathan Bedford Forrest. Campaigns of lynching and intimidation.\n * The \"Lost Cause\": Romanticized view of the South's struggle for states' rights.\n\n* The End of Reconstruction\n * Panic of 1873: Shifted Northern focus to economics. \n * Compromise of 1877: Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) becomes President in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South. Redeemer governments (Democratic) took control, ending efforts for black rights.\n\n# THE GILDED AGE AND RAPID INDUSTRIALIZATION\n\n* Factors of Growth\n * Immigration: Supply of cheap, unskilled labor from Southern and Eastern Europe (Italy, Russia, Balkans, etc.).\n * Railroads: 48,000 km in 1860 grew to a national network by 1900. Transport costs fell from 2 cents/mile (1865) to 0.75 cents/mile (1900).\n * Tech: Edison (light bulb, industrial research lab), Bell (telephone - 5.8m by 1910).\n * Capital: Wall Street turnover $6 billion by 1865.\n\n* The Robber Barons\n * Andrew Carnegie: US Steel; implemented Bessemer process, cut steel prices by 80%. Made $42m profit in 1900.\n * John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil; by 1880 controlled 90% of US refining. First American billionaire.\n * J.P. Morgan: Investment banker; formed US Steel as first billion-dollar corporation.\n\n* Economic Setbacks (Panics)\n * 1873: Caused by speculative railroad expansion. 14% unemployment.\n * 1893: 15,000 businesses closed; unemployment reached 13 million.\n * 1907: \"Rich man's panic\"; Knickerbocker Trust collapse. Led to creation of Federal Reserve in 1913.\n\n* Urbanization and Bossism\n * Dumbbell Tenements: Poorly ventilated (\"Poverty Gap\"). NYC child mortality: 25% of children died before age 5.\n * Political Machines: \"Boss\" Tweed (Tammany Hall) stole $45m from NYC via corruption and patronage.\n\n# THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT (1890s–1920)\n\n* Key Leaders\n * Jane Addams: Founded Hull House (1889) in Chicago; training ground for social workers.\n * Florence Kelley: Championed child labor laws; first female factory inspector.\n * Ida Tarbell: Muckraker; wrote \"The History of the Standard Oil Company,\" exposing Rockefeller's illegal practices.\n\n* Policy Successes\n * 16th Amendment (1913): Federal Income Tax.\n * 17th Amendment (1913): Direct election of Senators (ended appointment by state legislatures).\n * 18th Amendment (1919): Prohibition of Alcohol (Volstead Act enforcement after 1920).\n * 19th Amendment (1920): Women's Suffrage.\n\n* Progressive Presidents\n * Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909): \"Trustbuster\"; Prosecuted Northern Securities and Standard Oil under Sherman Act. Conservationist (National Parks). Pure Food and Drugs Act (1906).\n * Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921): Federal Reserve Act (1913). Underwood Tariff (reduced rates). Clayton Act (1914) to break monopolies.\n\n# THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND NEW DEAL (1920–1941)\n\n* 1920s Boom and Agriculture Disparity\n * Automobiles: 4.5 million cars produced in 1929 ($260 Model T). \n * Agriculture: 25% of jobs; exports dropped post-WWI; prices fell 60%. Dust Bowl followed.\n\n* The Great Crash (1929)\n * Dow Jones Index rose 400% (1921-29). Buying \"on the margin\" (10% down). Black Tuesday (Oct 29): 16 million shares sold. $33 billion lost in late 1929.\n\n*

Herbert Hoover's Failure\n * Smoot–Hawley Tariff (1930) collapsed world trade. RFC gave loans to banks (Dawes Bank $90m) but no direct relief for 25% unemployed. Bonus Army (1932) veterans violently expelled from DC.\n\n* Franklin D.

Roosevelt (The New Deal)\n * First 100 Days (1933): Emergency Banking Act (Bank Holiday). AAA (Agriculture prices). CCC (Jobs for 300,000 men). TVA (Regional development). Glass-Steagall (Securities regulation).\n *

Second New Deal (1935): Social Security Act (Pensions/Unemployment). WPA (Employment for 8.5m). Wagner Act (Union rights).\n * Opposition: Huey Long (\"Share Our Wealth\"), Father Coughlin (Radio priest), Dr. Townsend (Old age pensions). Supreme Court struck down NRA and AAA.\n *

Roosevelt Depression (1937–38): GNP dropped 6%; corporate profits down 40% when government spending was cut too early. Economy only fully recovered with war mobilization in 1941.",

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