Unit 4 Review (1800-1848) Flashcards

The Big Picture of American Identity ($1800$–$1848$)

• Time Period Chronology: The unit spans from the election of Thomas Jefferson in $1800$ to the Seneca Falls Convention in $1848$.
• Central Theme: The overarching theme is the emergence and development of the United States' identity. Specifically, the question is: "Who is the United States becoming?"
• Structural Approach: Rather than a single identity, multiple concurrent and often competing identities emerged during this era.
• Dual Framework: The unit is organized around two massive themes that answer the identity question:     * Expansion and War: Focusing on foreign policy and territorial growth.     * Economic Policy: Focusing on the internal development of a modern commercial economy.

Foreign Policy: The Quest for World Power Status

• Global Standing: During this period, European world powers viewed the United States with very little respect, likening it to a "feral raccoon" that, while playing a role in the ecosystem, is ultimately viewed as a scavenger eating others' trash. The US sought to rise above this "trash panda status."
• Strand 1: Promoting Foreign Trade and Neutrality:     * Conflict Context: France and Great Britain were at war and consistently ignored United States neutrality.     * The Embargo Act ($1807$): Passed under Thomas Jefferson, this act cut off all foreign trade. It was intended to pressure Britain and France but primarily damaged the American economy and is considered a "big whiff."     * The Non-Intercourse Act ($1809$): Passed by Congress just before James Madison took office to replace the Embargo Act. It limited the trade ban specifically to Great Britain and France. While it helped the economy slightly, it failed to resolve the nation's broader economic woes or secure respect for neutrality.
• Strand 2: Claiming North American Territory:     * Adams-Onís Treaty ($1819$): Spain officially ceded Florida to the United States and established a firmer western border for the Louisiana Territory.     * Anglo-American Convention ($1818$): An agreement with Great Britain providing for the joint occupation of the Oregon Country.     * Oregon Treaty ($1846$): Established United States possession of the Oregon Territory below the $49^{\text{th}}$ parallel.
• Strand 3: The War of $1812$:     * Context: Often referred to as "American Revolution $2.0$."     * Causes: Mounting tensions included economic policies like the Non-Intercourse Act, Britain's refusal to evacuate frontier forts, and the practice of impressment (the seizure of American merchant vessels and forcing sailors to fight for the British Navy).     * Outcome: The war lasted two years with victories and defeats on both sides. It ended in a stalemate with the Treaty of Ghent, returning everything to status quo ante bellum.     * Significance: Despite the stalemate, defeating Great Britain a second time triggered a massive wave of nationalism, leading into the "Era of Good Feelings."
• Strand 4: The Monroe Doctrine ($1823$):     * Context: Issued by President James Monroe ($1816$ election) following the nationalism of the War of $1812$ and territorial expansion.     * Declaration: Monroe proclaimed the Western Hemisphere a U.S. sphere of influence. He warned European powers that intrusion in the Americas would not be welcome. In exchange, the U.S. pledged not to meddle in European affairs.

The Market Revolution: Building a Modern Economy

• Definition: The transition of the United States from a primarily agricultural, subsistence-based economy to an industrial, commercial economy. It shifted the nation from self-reliance to market reliance.
• Cause 1: The Rise of the Factory System:     * Samuel Slater: A British immigrant who established the first textile factory in the U.S., capable of producing yarn at a pace exceeding hand-spinning.     * Eli Whitney: Revolutionized manufacturing with interchangeable parts. This process allowed manufactured goods to be fabricated piece-by-piece and assembled.     * Implications: This enabled precise machining where parts could be exchanged and moved the labor force toward "unskilled" workers, as machines did the complex work previously done by artisans. This formed the "American System of Manufacturing."
• Cause 2: New Technologies:     * Steam Engines: Powered industrial machines, allowing factories to be built away from water sources, leading to a rapid multiplication of industrial sites.     * The Telegraph ($1844$): Used short electrical signals for instant long-distance communication, tightening regional business relationships.     * Agricultural Tech: Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical reaper allowed one farmer to do the harvesting work of $5$ people, increasing western agricultural productivity.
• Cause 3: Government-Sponsored Infrastructure:     * Roads: The Cumberland Road (National Road) was a rare federally financed project. State projects included the Lancaster Turnpike in Pennsylvania.     * Canals: The Erie Canal linked Albany to Buffalo, New York, facilitating massive trade.     * Railroads: By the $1830\text{s}$, railroads began competing with canals. Steam-powered locomotives allowed for fast, cheap transport of goods and people.
• Cause 4: Urbanization and Immigration:     * Urban Growth: Subsistence farmers moved to industrial cities to seek work as commercial farming rendered their old lifestyle unviable.     * Immigration Spike: Between the $1820\text{s}$ and $1840\text{s}$, over $2\,\text{million}$ European immigrants (primarily Irish, German, and Scandinavian) arrived.     * Labor Connection: Immigrants, especially the Irish in northern cities, provided the influx of cheap labor necessary to power the Market Revolution.

The Transformation of American Democracy

• The Revolution of $1800$: The election of Thomas Jefferson marked the first peaceful transfer of power between rival factions (Federalists to Democratic-Republicans), proving the Republican system could survive political disagreement.
• Perennial Political Debates:     1. Relationship to European Powers: Illustrated by the Embargo Act of $1807$. While it ultimately "wrecked" the U.S. economy, it sparked debate over whether federal power could shut down trade entirely.     2. Limits of Federal Power (The Louisiana Purchase, $1803$): Napoleon Bonaparte sold this massive territory to the U.S. Jefferson, a strict constructionist, struggled because the Constitution did not explicitly grant the power to buy land. However, his vision of an agrarian future for "Jeffersonian farmers" won out. He commissioned Lewis and Clark (Northwest) and Zebulon Pike (Southwest) to map the territory.     3. Judicial Power: Chief Justice John Marshall led the Supreme Court to claim "beast mode" status as an equal branch.         * Marbury v. Madison ($1803$): Established judicial review, the power of the Court to declare laws unconstitutional.         * McCulloch v. Maryland ($1819$): Declared federal laws supreme over state laws; states cannot overrule or interfere with federal powers.
• Expansion of the Franchise:     * The Panic of $1819$: A nationwide depression caused by irresponsible practices of the Second Bank of the United States. Many who suffered could not vote to hold officials accountable.     * Universal White Male Suffrage: Led by figures like Martin Van Buren, states began removing property qualifications for voting. By $1825$, most eastern states had enacted these changes spite opposition from the landed elite.

The Age of Jackson

• Birth of Modern Parties: By $1815$, the Federalists were dead. The Democratic-Republicans split into the Democrats (led by Andrew Jackson) and the National Republicans (led by Henry Clay).     * Democrats: Favored less government power (Democratic-Republicans $2.0$).     * National Republicans: Favored more government power (Federalists $2.0$).
• Election of $1828$: Jackson used a "popular appeal" to the common man, directly campaigning to the people, whereas John Quincy Adams remained "cold and aloof." Jackson's victory signified the power of the expanded electorate.
• Jackson and Executive Power:     * The Nullification Crisis: South Carolina, led by John C. Calhoun, termed the protective tariff the "Tariff of Abominations" and claimed the right to nullify it. Jackson passed the Force Bill, authorizing federal troops to collect taxes in South Carolina, while simultaneously working to reduce the tariff to diffuse the situation.     * The Bank War: Jackson vetoed the re-charter of the Second Bank of the United States, calling it a "monster." He moved federal deposits to state-level "pet banks."     * Indian Removal: Despite the Supreme Court ruling in Worcester v. Georgia that removal was unconstitutional, Jackson ignored John Marshall and enacted the Indian Removal Act ($1830$). This led to the Trail of Tears, a $1,000\text{-mile}$ forced trek resulting in thousands of deaths.     * Overt Resistance: The Blackhawk War ($1832$) featured Chief Blackhawk leading the Sauk and Fox nations in a violent but unsuccessful attempt to resist removal, ending in a massacre at Bad Axe.     * Limiting Power: Jackson opposed federally funded internal improvements, such as the Cumberland Road, believing interstate roads were unconstitutional as they were not explicitly granted to Congress.

Social Changes and Cultural Expression

• New Social Classes:     1. Business Elite: Smallest, wealthiest class (factory owners, shipping executives).     2. Middle Class: Professional class (lawyers, teachers) emerging post-industrialization. Defined by "separate spheres" (men in public work, women in domestic work) and the Cult of Domesticity (raising virtuous children).     3. Working Class: Urban factory workers often called "wage slaves." Included many immigrants and Lowell Girls (young farm girls in factory towns like Lowell, MA). The Lowell Female Labor Reform Association became the first women's labor union.
• Cultural Movements:     * Romanticism: An emphasis on emotion, spontaneity, and imagination over Enlightenment rationalism.     * Hudson River School: Visual artists who painted majestic American landscapes to evoke emotional responses.     * Literature: James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans romanticized the frontier.     * Architecture: The Greek Revival style emerged, reflecting a mutual love of democracy inspired by the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire.     * Transcendentalism: Led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. They believed truth "transcended" the senses and could be accessed via communion with nature.

Religious Revival and Social Reform

• The Second Great Awakening: Unlike the First (reform the self), this movement focused on reforming society.     * Causes: Spread of democratic beliefs (camp meetings for all races/classes) and Romantic-era emotionalism.     * Charles Grandison Finney: A key preacher who used plain language and emotional appeals to urge Christians to usher in the Kingdom of God by reforming evils like alcohol and slavery.
• New Denominations: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) founded by Joseph Smith. Following persecution over doctrines like polygamy, Brigham Young led them to the Utah Territory to establish a theocracy.
• Utopian Societies: The Oneida Community ($1848$), founded by John Humphrey Noyes, practiced communal property and "complex marriage."
• Reform Movements:     * Temperance: The American Temperance Society ($1826$) aimed to curb drinking among the working class. It was a middle-class effort that often targeted Irish and German cultures.     * Women’s Rights: Born out of the abolitionist movement. Activists like Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention ($1848$).     * Declaration of Sentiments: Signed at Seneca Falls, it demanded full equality, including employment, education, and the franchise (right to vote).

National Unification vs. Regional Sectionalism

• Henry Clay’s American System ($1824$): A plan to knit the nation together via:     1. Federally funded infrastructure (roads/canals).     2. Protective Tariffs (e.g., Tariff of $1816$) to bolster domestic industry.     3. The Second Bank of the United States to regulate credit and issue a national currency.
• Regional Specialization:     * South: Specialized in cotton agriculture.     * North: Specialized in manufacturing.     * West: Specialized in food production.
• The Issue of Slavery:     * The Missouri Compromise ($1820$): Settled the crisis of Missouri's statehood. Missouri entered as a slave state, Maine as a free state. The $36^{\circ}30'$ line of latitude was established as the boundary for slavery in western territories.
• Southern Identity: Defined by white supremacy (uniting poor whites and elite planters) and the shift from viewing slavery as a "necessary evil" to a "positive good" (argued by John C. Calhoun).
• Abolitionism in the North:     * David Walker: Published An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, calling for immediate abolition and hinting at violent resistance.     * William Lloyd Garrison: Published The Liberator, advocating for immediate abolition through moral persuasion without compensation to enslavers.
• Black Resistance:     * Covert: Breaking tools, slowing work, and maintaining cultural norms/African names.     * Overt: Nat Turner’s Rebellion ($1831$). Turner, believing he was a prophet, led a revolt in Virginia that killed over $50$ white people. The rebellion resulted in much harsher "slave codes" across the South to restrict and control the enslaved population.