4.1 Contextualizing Period 4

• America expanded:

  • Economically by taking advantage of new lands, forms of transportation, & industries

  • Politically by allowing more people to participate in the democracy

    • e.g) Property ownership was dropped as a requirement to vote

  • Culturally through American literature and art

• A market economy emerged as ppl focused more on buying & selling goods

4.2 The Rise of Political Parties and the Era of Jefferson

• G. Washington warned against forming political parties, however…

• Federalist (A. Hamilton) & Democratic-Republican (T. Jefferson) parties emerged

The Election of 1800

• Adams’s presidency —>Federalists = less popular

  • e.g) Alien and Sedition Acts

• This election provided a clear distinction b/t the parties:

  • Federalists = strong nat’l gov’t & leaned towards Britain in int’l affairs

  • Democratic-Republicans = powers reserved to states & leaned towards French

• Both parties supported tariffs —> largest source of revenue for nat’l gov

  • North industrialists = high tariffs to protect their companies from foreign competition

  • Southerners = low tariffs to encourage trade (since they exported crops)

• Each electoral college member cast 2 votes

  • President = 1st place

  • VP = 2nd place

• T. Jefferson & Aaron Burr tied in the electoral college —> HOR made final decision & Jefferson won

  • D-R lawmakers took control of the HOR & Senate in 1800 —> Federalists swept from gov’t power

• The passing of power from Adam to Jefferson was peaceful

  • Change of Federalist to D-R control = Revolution of 1800

Jefferson’s Presidency

• T. Jefferson aimed to win the trust of Federalists by maintaining Hamilton’s nat’l bank and debt-repayment plan + he remained neutral in foreign policy

  • Retained loyalty from D-Rs through limited nat’l gov → reduced the size of the military, lowered nat’l debt, & repealed excise taxes → only appointed D-Rs to cabinet

Louisiana Purchase

• MOST important achievement of T.J. presidency → contained Mississippi River w/the port of New Orleans

  • Due to Napoleon’s lost interest in trying to restore the French empire in America

• The W. frontier expanded into Indiana territory during Jefferson’s presidency → settlers depended on the Mississippi River rivers for trade

  • Alarmed when the right of deposit from the Pinckney treaty prevented Americans from using the Port of New Orleans in 1802

    • Jefferson sent ministers to France to offer up to $10 million for New Orleans to FL → Napoleon’s ministers sold N.O. + the Louisiana Purchase for 15 million

• Since Jefferson believed in a strict interpretation of the constitution, which didn’t explicitly state the president could purchase lands

  • He submitted a purchase agreement to the Senate, who ratified the purchase

• This purchase doubled the size of the USA & removed the presence of a European power

  • Increased Jefferson’s popularity & showed Federalists as weak

• Lewis & Clark scientifically explored the western frontier → gave a greater geographic & scientific knowledge of the area, better relations w/Natives, & more accurate maps

Judicial Impeachments

• Jefferson suspended the Alien & Sedition Acts + freed those jailed under them

• Impeachment campaign mostly failed, but judges were more cautious & less partisan

Jefferson’s Reelection

• Jefferson won again 1804 & he faced a plot from Aaron Burr → D-R party split with the ‘Quids’ accusing Jefferson of abandoning the party’s principles

Aaron Burr

• Wasn’t nominated for a second term as VP

• Burr planned to win the governorship of NY & secede from the Union → lost to Hamilton

  • He ended up shooting Hamilton in a duel in 1804

• Burr planned to take Mexico from Spain & unite it with Louisiana → Jefferson discovered these plans & ordered his trial for treason

  • Justice John Marshall acquitted Burr

John Marshall’s Supreme Court & Federal Power

• Marshall was a Federalist official — chief justice who influenced many D-Rs

Influential Cases

• Marbury v. Madison (1803):

  • Adams appointed Marbury last-minute, but Jefferson wanted to block this appointment

    • Marshall ruled the Judiciary Act of 1789 (which allowed Marbury to be appointed) as unconstitutional, & established judicial review, which gave the Supreme Court the power to decide whether an act made by Congress/the President was constitutional

• Fletcher v. Peck

  • Allowed the Supreme Court to declare a state law invalid and/or unconstitutional

• Martin v. Hunter’s Lease

  • Supreme Court had jurisdiction over state courts in cases involving constitutional rights

• Dartmouth v. Woodward

  • Marshall argued that a contract for a private corporation couldn’t be altered by the state

• McCulloch v. Maryland

  • A state couldn’t tax a federal institution since federal laws are supreme over state laws

    • Marshall established that the nat’l bank was an implied power in the constitution

    • National law > state law, when they contradict

• Cohens v. Virginia

  • Supreme Court could review a state court’s decision involving any of the powers of the federal gov’t

Madison’s Presidency

• Madison worked heavily alongside Jefferson to establish the D-Rs, but he was a weak public speaker & lacked Jefferson’s political skills

  • In 1808, however, Madison managed to win a majority of electoral votes

4.3 Politics and Regional Interests

The Era of Good Feelings

• Describes Monroe’s two terms in office —> the D-Rs adopted some Federalist policies

• During this period there were many debates over topics like tariffs, the nat’l bank, & internal improvements + regional tension over slavery were increasing

James Monroe

• Became prominent in politics: Jefferson’s minister to G.B. & Madison’s secretary of state

• He won the elections of 1816 & 1820 + he represented the growing nationalism

  • USA acquired FL, agreed on the Missouri Compromise, & adopted the Monroe Doctrine

Economic Nationalism

• One impact of the War of 1812 was the movement to support the nation’s economic growth

  • It involved subsidizing internal improvements (building roads & canals) + protecting U.S. industries from European competition

• Prior to the War of 1812, Congress levied low tariffs to raise gov’t revenue

  • During the war, many factories that were imported from Britain arose → Congress raised tariffs to protect American markets (Tariff of 1816)

    • N.E. opposed the tariff, but S + W supported it

• Henry Clay (leader of the HOR) proposed the American System:

  1. Protective tariffs → promote American manufacturing + raise revenue for a nat’l transportation system

  2. Nat’l bank → provide a nat’l currency + the Second Bank of the US

  3. Internal improvements → Monroe + Madison argued that the constitution didn’t explicitly provide for money to be spent on roads & canals; left states to make their own internal improvement

The Panic of 1819

• 2nd Bank of the US tightened credit to control inflation → state banks closed, unemployment, bankruptcies, and imprisonment for debt increased sharply

  • Many Westerners hit the hardest → Nat’l Bank foreclosed lots of western farmland

    • Shook nationalistic beliefs, causing Westerners to believe in land reform & opposed the nat’l bank

Political Changes

• Federalist Party declined due to its opposition to the War of 1812, leading a secessionist convention at Hartford, & it was out of step with the nationalistic temper in the US

  • Ceased to be nat’l party & nominate a presidential candidate by 1820

• The D-Rs faced internal struggles:

  • Members like John Randolph clung to old ideals (e.g. limited gov’t & strict interpretation of the constitution); other members, however, adopted previously Federalist ideas (e.g. large army & nat’l bank)

• During Monroe’s second term political factions & sectional differences became more intense

Western Settlement & the Missouri Compromise

• By 1822, the Western population past the App. Mountains had doubled

  • Many nationalist & economic interest of the country was focused on this area

Reasons for Westward Movement

• Acquisition of Lands: Generals W. Harrison for Indiana Territory & A. Jackson for FL + South over Natives → new opportunities for White settlers

• Economic Pressures: Difficulties in the Northeast from embargo + war → people sought new futures in the West; Tobacco/cotton planters in the S. needed new land

• Improved transportation: Road, canals, steamboats, & railroads

• Immigrants: More Europeans came to America due to cheap land in the West

New Questions and Issues

• Western states were smaller than others → W. reps bargained with other representatives over:

  1. “cheap money” from state banks rather than Nat’l Bank

  2. Low prices for land sold by nat’l gov’t

  3. Improved transportation

• Slavery was heavily debated on (S. = need; N = unnecessary)

Missouri Compromise

• Congress attempted to maintain sectional balance over slavery (Vermont = free, Kentucky = slave)

  • Balance in the HOR was uneven due to growing N. population, but Senate was even

• As Missouri applied for statehood, it would cause unequal representation in terms of slavery

• James Tallmadge from NY proposed an amendment that:

  1. Prohibited the further introduction of slaves into Missouri

  2. Required children of Missouri slaves to be emancipated at 25 years old

  • It would led to the gradual elimination of slavery → angered Southerners

  • Ultimately didn’t pass

• In the end, Henry Clay won support for 3 bills (Missouri Compromise/Compromise of 1820):

  1. Admit Missouri as slave-holding

  2. Admit Maine as free

  3. Prohibit slavery in the rest of LA territory N of the latitude 36 30

  • Preserved sectional balance for 30 years, but this period damaged the era of good feelings → led to feelings of sectionalism

4.4 America on the World Stage

Jefferson’s Foreign Policy

• Jefferson = experiences → foreign minister in Europe & secretary of state prior to 1800

  • He aimed to avoid war by rejecting permanent alliances & maintaining U.S. neutrality

Difficulties Abroad

• Jefferson’s first major foreign challenge was Barbary Pirates:

  • Presidents Washington & Adams paid tribute to Barbary gov’ts to protect U.S. merchant ships

    • A higher sum was demanded → Jefferson refused & sent a fleet of the U.S. Navy to fight → U.S. = respected & U.S. vessels were protected

• Napoleonic wars impacted the U.S. economy → ships & their cargoes were confiscated; Britain even captured U.S. soldiers and forced them to serve in the British Navy

  • In 1807, British warship Leopard fired on the U.S. ship Chesapeake, killing 3 americans and impressing 4 others → many had anti-British feelings

• Embargo Act (1807): prohibited American from sailing into any foreign port - repealed in 1809

  • Jefferson hoped Britain would stop violating the rights of Americans, rather than lose trade

    • Ultimately caused economic hardship in America & caused depression in N.E. due to a lack of shipbuilding

President Madison’s Foreign Policy

• Aimed to use diplomacy & economic pressure to deal w/Napoleonic wars

Commercial Welfare

• Implemented the Nonintercourse Act of 1809: allowed Americans to trade with all nations except Britain & France

• Macon’s Bill No. 2: restored U.S. trade with Britain & France, but if either Britain or France agreed to respect the U.S. neutral rights, then the U.S. wouldn’t trade w/that nation’s foe

  • Napoleon claimed to revoke decrees that violated U.S. neutral rights → didn’t fulfill his promise

The War of 1812

Causes of the War

• U.S. depended on shipping across the Atlantic, but Britain + France didn’t respect their neutral rights

  • British violations = worse → would impress American soldiers

• W. Americans longed for lands of British Canada & Spanish FL

  • Britain + Indians & Spanish in the way

• As Native Americans had been gradually pushed West, Shawnee brothers (Tecumseh & Prophet) attempted to unite all tribes East of the Mississippi

  • White settlers became suspicious → General William Henry Harrison took action

    • Battle of Tippecanoe (1811): Harrison destroyed Shawnee headquarters

    • Americans on frontier blamed Britain for instigating rebellion, due to their alliance with Native tribes

• 1810 Congressional election = new, young D-Rs gained significant influence in the HOR

  • “War hawks” = eager for war w/Britain

  • Henry Clay + John C. Calhoun argued that war would defend American honor, gain Canada, and destroy Native American resistance on the frontier

• British delays in U.S. demands for neutral right + pressure from war hawks → Madison sought to declare war against Britain in 1812

A Divided Nation

• Congress + American ppl disagreed about war

  • Pennsylvania + Vermont + South & West states = support

  • New York, Jersey, and England = opposed

• 1812 Election: D-R strength in the South overpowered Federalist opposition to war

  • Madison won reelection

• Those who opposed war called it “Mr Madison’s War”:

  • N.E. merchants - repeal of Embargo Act, which allowed them to profit from Euro. war

    • Impressment = minor inconvenience

  • Federalists - viewed the war as a D-R scheme to conquer Canada + FL

  • Quids/old D.R.s - criticized traditional D-R view to maintain peace

Military Defeats and Naval Victories

• U.S. hope for victory based on Napoleon’s continued success in Europe & U.S. land campaign against Canada

• There was a 3 part invasion of Canada that was easily repulsed by British defenders - encouraged retaliation by Britain

• U.S. had superior shipbuilding + powerful sailors = notable victories

  • Constitution/Old Ironsides ship sank a British ship → boosted American morale

  • Most notable battle on Lake Erie (1813): Oliver Perry declared victory → Battle of the Thames (1814) where W. Henry Harrison killed Tecumseh

  • Ships led by Thomas Macdonough defeated British fleet on Lake Champlain; protected NY + NE

• Napoleon was defeated in 1814 → more British troops in N.A.

  • Summer: British marched through the U.S. capital & set fire to the White House + Capitol

  • Star-Spangled Banner created when the U.S. held out at Fort McHenry

• Southern troops → led by Andrew Jackson

  • Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814): Jackson ended the power of the Creek nation (an important British ally) → new land to White settlers

  • Battle of New Orleans (1815): British effort to control the Mississippi river was halted

    • Happened 2 weeks after Treaty of Ghent

The Treaty of Ghent

• British were weary from war + Madison was doubtful about victory

• Christmas Eve 1814: fighting was halted, all conquered territory was return to the prewar claimant,+ the boundary b/t Canada & the U.S. was recognized

The Hartford Convention (Dec. 1814)

• N.E. states threatened to secede from Union due to opposition to war + D-Rs in gov’t in Washington

• In the end, they adopted proposals to limit the growing power of D-Rs

  • e.g) two-thirds vote of both houses for a future war declaration

• Jackson’s victory + Treaty of Ghent → weakened Federalists = unpatriotic

The War’s Legacy

1. U.S. gained respect of other nations, due to surviving 2 wars w/Britain

2. Federalist party ended as a nat’l force

3. British naval blockades → U.S. factories were built + Americans moved toward self-sufficiency

4. War heroes (e.g. Andrew Jackson + William Henry Harrison) → new gen of political leaders

5. Nationalism grew stronger

Weaknesses from War:

• Without a national bank (charter expired 1811), the U.S. lacked a reliable source of credit to raise funds

• How weak U.S. systems of infrastructure & transportation were → difficult to move men + supplies

  • Both led to Henry Clay’s American System

Monroe and Foreign Affairs

• After the war, the U.S. adopted a nationalistic approach w/other nations

• President Monroe + JQ Adams advanced American interests + maintained peace

Canada

• Rush Bagot Agreement: British + American negotiators agreed to a major disarmament pact

  • Limited naval armament on border fortifications → Border b/t U.S. and Canada = longest unfortified border in the world

• Treaty of 1818: Improved relationships b/t U.S. and Britain

  • e.g.) joint occupation of Oregon territory + set N. limits on Louisiana Territory (49th parallel)

Florida

• U.S. troops occupied Western FL + Spain had difficulty governing the entirety of FL, due to moving out troops to South America

  • Seminoles, runaways slaves, & white outlaws conducted raids into U.S. territory and retreated safely into FL

• Monroe commissioned A. Jackson to stop the raiders & pursue them across the border (if necessary)

  • Jackson led a militia into FL → destroyed Seminole villages, killed 2 Seminole chiefs, attacked 2 Spanish forts, & drove out the Spanish governor of Pensacola

  • Britain + Spain were upset, but moved on — to avoid war

• 1819: Spanish turned over all of its possessions in FL + Oregon territory to the U.S. for $5 million and for the U.S. to give up claims to Texas (Adams-Onis Treaty)

The Monroe Doctrine (Dec. 1823)

• Many South American countries (e.g. Columbia, Peru, & Chile) had thrown off European colonial power by 1822 → Monroe recognized their independence + built diplomatic relations

• As European monarchies were restored, there was a backlash in republican movements, and Russia had a presence in Alaska, Britain + U.S. wanted to protect N. and S. America

  • British naval power deterred the Spanish from a comeback in Latin America

    • Britain proposed to U.S. to warn European powers to not intervene in S. America

    • JQ Adams disagreed - believed that joint action w/Britain would limit opportunities for U.S. expansion

• Monroe declared U.S. policy to Europe + Latin America: due to the rights & interests of the United States, the American continents are not to be considered subject for future colonization by any European powers

  • U.S. opposed European attempts to interfere w/affairs in the W. hemisphere

• At the time, the Doctrine wasn’t super significant & it only upset some European monarchs

  • Later it was impactful for foreign policy toward Latin America + referenced by James Polk

Trade

• U.S. built a trade relationship with Mexico → NE manufacturers were happy to find a new market for their goods

• U.S. merchant ships carried goods across the Pacific + established trade in Chinese porcelains & silk

4.5 Market Revolution

• Political conflicts over tariffs, internal improvements, and the Bank of the U.S. reflected the increasing importance of a nat’l economy

• Overall, the Market Revolution linked Northern industries with western + southern farms

Development of the Northwest

• Old NW: Six states that joined the Union before 1860 (due to NW Ordinance)

  • Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota

  • Early 19th century = mostly unsettled; relied on Mississippi river to trade w/South

  • Mid 19 century = tied to other N. states by military campaigns that drove Indians from the area & canals + railroads that established common markets

• Corn + wheat were profitable

  • Steel plow (John Deere) + Mechanical reaper (Cyrus McCormick) allowed farm families to plant more acres

  • Part of the crop was used to feed cattle & hogs + supply distillers/brewers

Transportation

• PA’s Lancaster Turnpike (1790): connected Philadelphia w/farmland around Lancaster

  • Stimulated construction of other short toll roads that connected many major cities

• Highways that crossed state lines were unusual due to states’ rights advocates

  • However, National/Cumberland Rd was a major route to the West from Maryland to Illinois

• Erie Canal in NY (1825) help linked western farms + eastern cities

  • Within a decade, canals connected all major rivers + lakes east of the Mississippi

• Steam-powered engines revolutionized the location of factories that had to previously be located by moving water

• Steam-powered transport began w/Robert Fulton’s ‘Clermont’ steamboat

  • Faster & cheaper

• First U.S. railroad lines in 1820s; competed w/canals for carrying freight + people

• Improved transportation transformed small western towns (e.g. Cleveland) into commercial centers

  • Helped to link the Midwest + North; South continued to rely on rivers

Communication

• Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrated a successful telegraph in 1844, which transmitted messages across wires nearly instantaneously

  • Government officials + military leaders could direct people from thousands of miles away

Growth of Industry

• By the end of the 19th century, the U.S. was the world’s leader in manufacturing

• Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin (1793) & interchangeable parts (War of 1812)

  • Interchangeable parts standardized how rifles were made & allowed for mass production

    • One of the leading factors of the Factory System

• NY passed a law in 1811: allowed business to incorporate + raise money by selling shares of stock

  • Changes in state corporation laws → more capital for building factories, canals, and railroads

• Samuel Slater memorized the British factory system & their technology in cotton mills → helped him establish the first U.S. textile factory (1791)

  • Factories prospered due to War of 1812 + protective tariffs passed by Congress

• 1820s: New England = country’s leading manufacturing center due to its abundant waterpower & seaports for shipping goods

  • Decline of its maritime industry + farming = capital for manufacturing & labor supply

• The lure of cheap land in the West was more appealing than factory work

  • However, textile mills (e.g. Lowell, MA) recruited young farm women & housed them

  • Lowell System was imitated by many factories

• Child + immigrant labor were also popular

• Trade/craft unions increased as a result of the factory system

  • Skilled workers had to seek employment in factories due to their shops failing

  • Workers = mad → long hours, low pay, and poor working conditions

• Obstacles to union success include:

  1. Immigrant replacement workers

  2. State laws banning unions

  3. Frequent economic depressions w/low unemployment

Commercial Agriculture

• Commercial farming replaced subsistence farming — focused on growing cotton + tobacco

• Farming became more profitable by the 1800s due to:

  • Large areas in the West being sold for cheap prices

  • State banks providing loans to farmers at low interest rates

  • Development of canals + railroads opened new markets for transporting goods

Cotton and the South

• Since the cotton gin made cotton more profitable than indigo & tobacco, it was the leading crop of the century

• Capital was invested in enslaved African Americans & new land

• Cotton growth → connected the South with a global economy

  • States in North + Europe relied on cotton in textile mills

  • Southern farmers that devoted land to cotton need to buy pork, corn, and other food from states in the Midwest

4.6 Effects of the Market Revolution on Society & Culture

• Market revolution = overall improvements (e.g. standard of living increased)

  • However, the fast changing economy presented problems

Women

• Industrialization → many women stopped working next to their husbands on family farms

• Women seeking employments in cities often did teaching or domestic service

  • Most working women were single; if they married they took up duties at home

• Men worked away from home → women took on new responsibilities within the home: the cult of domesticity

Economic and Social Mobility

• Urban workers = improved wages

  • Gap b/t very wealthy & very poor increased

• As economic opportunities increased, social mobility (moving up or down the social pyramid) tended to occur

Population Growth and Change

• Population growth = necessary # of consumers and laborers

• B/t 1800 and 1825 → population doubled; it doubled again in the following 25 years

• From the 1830s through the 1850s , nearly 4 million ppl from N. Europe came to the U.S.

  1. the development of cheap & rapid ocean transportation

  2. famines + revolutions in Europe (esp. Irish & Germans)

  3. the growing reputation of U.S. for offering economic opportunities + political freedom

• The North’s urban population grew from 5% of the pop. in 1800 to 15% by 1850

  • Resulted in crowded housing, poor sanitation, infectious diseases, and high crime rates

  • New cities that became transfer points & distributed manufactured goods to the east include: Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago on the Great Lakes; Cincinnati on the Ohio River; and St. Louis on the Mississippi

Organized Labor

• Manufacturing → goods were less expensive; improved standard of living

• Economic shift → small class of very wealthy people (e.g. factory owners) & a growing middle class

  • Middle class included people like shopkeepers, businessmen, and doctors

    • They prioritized education, temperance, & Protestantism

• 1st U.S. labor party was founded in Philly (1828); increased # of urban workers joined unions throughout the 1830s

  • Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842): peaceful unions had the right to negotiate labor contracts with employers

  • Some N. states passed laws for 10 hour workdays

• Improvements for workers limited by: periodic depressions, employers & courts that were hostile to unions, & abundant supply of low-wage immigrant labor

4.7 Expanding Democracy

• The Panic of 1819 led to decrease in demand for exported American goods → unemployment

  • Laboring men (esp. in the West) wanted to hold politicians accountable

Greater Equality

• Men of all backgrounds wore dark trousers & jackets; women often emulated fanciful styles from magazines — equality was becoming a governing principle of American society

The Rise of a Democratic Society

• Many believed in the equality of opportunity for White males — ignored the enslavement of many African Americans + discrimination against those who weren’t white

  • There were legal and cultural restrictions about what women could do

Politics of the Common Man

• Politics left rich southern planters & northern merchants who had dominated gov’t → middle & lower class homes

  • Due to: new suffrage laws, changes in political parties + campaigns, & increased newspaper circulation

• Western states (e.g. Indiana + Illinois) adopted state constitutions that allowed White males to vote & hold office — omitted religious or property qualifications for voting

  • Prior to this, free black people with land could vote in 5 states & women with land could vote in New Jersey (until 1807)

  • Most eastern states followed

  • Voting rose from 350k (1824) to 2.4 million (1840), as a result

Changes to Parties & Campaigns

• Prior to the 1830s, candidates for office were nominated by state legislatures or King Caucus (closed-door meeting of a political party’s Congressional leaders)

  • Replaced by nominating conventions — party politicians + voters would nominate the party’s candidates

    • Anti-Masonic Party was the first to hold one

• Election of 1832: every state - except for SC - allowed voters to choose a state’s electors

• Campaigns for presidents had to be conducted on a national scale - needed large political parties

• Anti-Masonic + Workingmen’s Party were some of the first third parties

  • Reached out to ppl who’d shown little interest in politics

• Jacksonian era → more state & local officials were elected, rather than appointed

• During this period, candidates directed their campaigns to the interests of common ppl

  • Form of entertainment: parade floats, marching bands, & large rallies

  • However, issues were typically ignored & candidates only attacked their opponents

• Spoils system: dispensing gov’t jobs in return for party loyalty

  • A. Jackson believed in appointing ppl to federal jobs based on if they’d actively campaigned for the Democratic Party

• Rotation in office: limiting a person to one term in office, then appointing another Democrat

  • This + spoils system → affirmed that ordinary Americans could hold gov’t office

4.8 Jackson and Federal Power

• Age of the Common Man/Era of Jacksonian Democracy: emergence of popular politics in the 1820s & Jackson’s presidency (1829-1837)

Jackson vs. Adams

The Election of 1824

• The Era of Good Feelings ended around this period; the Federalist party had died & therefore 4 candidates ran under the D-R party

• D-R party was split into

  • National Republicans: had an expansive view on federal power + loose interpretation of the Constitution

  • Democrats: limit federal power + strict interpretation of Constitution

  • Jackson won more popular + electoral votes (99) than the other candidates, but lost since no candidate had a 131 vote majority in the electoral college

  • HOR made decision (12th amendment) → Henry Clay used his influence to get John Q. Adams elected, who then made Clay his secretary of state

    • “Corrupt bargain”

President John Quincy Adams

• Adams asked Congress for money for internal improvements, aids to manufacturing, etc

  • Jacksonians viewed these as a waste of money + unconstitutional

• Tariff of 1828: satisfied N. manufacturers, but upset Southern planters

• SC declared this “tariff of abominations” unconstitutional & affirmed the nullification theory — each state had a right to obey a federal law or declare it null and void

  • Webster-Hayne debate: Hayne argued for states’ rights, but Webster attacked the idea that states could defy/leave the union

    • Jackson believed the Union should be preserved

  • In 1832, SC held a convention to nullify the tariffs of 1828 & 1832 → passed a resolution forbidding the collection of tariffs within the state

    • Jackson persuaded Congress to pass the Force Bill (to act against SC), and he issued a Proclamation to the People of SC (stating that nullification and disunion were treason)

  • SC rescinded its nullification after Congress enacted a new tariff to appeal to the south + Northern industrialists

The Revolution of 1828

• Although Adams sought reelection in 1828, Jacksonians resorted to a ‘mudslinging campaign’

• Jackson won, carrying every state west of the Appalachians → due to rep. as a war hero

The Presidency of Andrew Jackson

• Jackson = symbol of the common man

  • Born in a frontier cabin, gained fame as an Indian fighter + hero at the Battle of New Orleans, & no college education

  • He was a Jeffersonian — opposed increased federal spending + national debt

• Jackson’s advisors → “kitchen cabinet” who didn’t belong to his official cabinet

• Peggy Eaton (wife of Jackson’s secretary of war) was the target of gossip by the wives of his cabinet → most of the cabinet resigned when Jackson tried to make them accept Eaton socially

  • As a result, his VP: John C. Calhoun resigned in 1829 → replaced by Martin Van Buren for his second term

• Jackson sympathized with land-hungry citizens who wanted lands held by Native Americans

  • Indian Removal Act (1830): forced thousands of American Indians to resettle west of the Mississippi

    • Most tribes compelled and there was even The Bureau of Indian Affairs created to assist the resettled tribes

• Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831): Georgia passed a law requiring the Cherokees to migrate west, but the Supreme Court rule the Cherokees weren’t foreign and had a right to sue

• Worcester v. Georgia (1832): Georgia’s laws had no force within Cherokee territory

  • Jackson sides with the states & the Court was unable to enforce its decision

• Treaty of New Echota (1835): exchanged Cherokee lands in the East for reservation territory W. of the Mississippi

• In 1838, the U.S. army forced 15k Cherokees to leave GA → Trail of Tears, caused 4k deaths

• Jackson appealed to southerners by banning antislavery literature from being sent through the U.S. mail

• Jackson vetoed the Bank of the U.S. (1832)- after Henry Clay tried to get Congress to recharter it - calling it a private monopoly that enriched the wealthy at the expense of common ppl

  • He was suspicious of the bank’s president - Nicholas Biddle - whose arrogance caused popular suspicion that the bank abused its powers + only served the wealthy

The Two-Party System

• Supporters of Jackson = Democrats

  • Resembled the Democratic-Republican party

  • Supported limited power in federal gov’t, free trade, and local rule

  • They were against corporate monopolies, high tariffs, and the national bank

• Supporters of Henry Clay = Whigs

  • Resembled the defunct Federalist party → supported spending federal money for internal improvements like roads & canals

  • Against crimes being committed by immigrants

• Both parties were challenged in their response to westward expansion & the emergence of an industrial economy

• Not a division based on the area

Jackson’s Second Term

• Jackson withdrew all federal funds from the Bank of the U.S. after reelection

  • He was aided by secretary of the treasury - Roger Taney - who transferred this money into state/”pet” banks

• There was heavy inflation due to Jackson’s financial policies + the feverish purchase of W. land

  • Specie Circular: future purchases of federal lands be made in gold/silver

    • Jackson hoped to reduce inflation, but this made paper banknotes worthless

    • After he left office, there was an economic depression → The Panic of 1837

The Election of 1836

• Martin Van Buren was nominated for the Democrats

• The Whig party nominated 3 candidates from 3 different regions to try and throw the election into the House of Representatives → failed, as Van Buren won 58% of the electoral vote

President Van Buren and the Panic of 1837

• Jackson’s closing of the national bank was one of many causes of the Panic

  • Whigs blamed it on the Democrats’ laissez-faire economic style (little federal economic involvement)

The “Log Cabin and Hard Cider” Campaign of 1840

• Whigs were in a better position to beat the Democrats in 1840

  • Voters were unhappy about the poor economic state

  • Whigs were better organized & had William Henry Harrison as their candidate

  • Campaigned to a new extent

    • Passed out cider, buttons, and hats + had name-calling propaganda like “Martin Van Ruin”

• A month after WHH was elected, he died of pneumonia → John Tyler succeeded the presidency

  • Tyler vetoed Whigs’ nat’l bank bills & favored southern + expansionist Democrats

The Western Frontier

• Although the definition of the West constantly changed, attitudes toward the land and Native Americans remained constant

American Indians

• By 1850, most American Indians lived west of the Mississippi

  • Those to the east were killed by disease or in battles, or were forced to leave

  • The Great Plains were only a temporary safe haven

• Horses were revolutionary and allowed some tribes (e.g. Cherokee & Sioux) to become nomadic hunters

The Frontier

• The West represented the possibility of a fresh start & was typically beckoned as promising greater freedom for all ethnic groups

• Mountain men: the earliest White people in the area who’d followed Lewis & Clark + explored American Indian trails → served as guides for settlers crossing the Rocky Mountains

White Settlers on the Western Frontier

• Lived in log cabins/sod huts + disease & malnutrition were greater threats than Natives

• Pioneer women performed myriad daily tasks (e.g. doctor, teacher, and cook)

  • The endless work + rigors of childbirth = short lifespan for frontier women

• Entire forests were cleared after only two generations, soil was exhausted from poor farmings, and beavers + buffalos became nearly extinct

4.9 The Development of an American Culture

• America’s early culture → reflected Britain + European countries settlers came from

• By the early 19th century, American culture had a strong nationalistic tone

  • Still looked to Europe for new ideas

Cultural Nationalism

• Ideas of the 19th century differed from those of the nation’s founders:

  • The young were excited about the prospects of Westward expansion; cared less about European affairs after the Napoleonic Wars + War of 1812

    • Believed the U.S. was entering an era of prosperity

  • Patriotic beliefs infused all aspects of American society (e.g. art to schoolbooks)

    • Revolutionary heroes were in paintings by Gilbert Stuart, for instance

    • Biography about G. Washington was widely read

    • Public schools → Noah Webster’s blue-backed speller (promoted patriotism)

A Changing Culture: Ideas, the Arts, and Literature

• Artists and writers → intuition, feelings, individual acts of heroism, and nature

  • Romanticism → express by transcendentalists

  • Shift from the Enlightenment (reason, order, balance, etc)

The Transcendentalists

• Questioned the doctrines of established churches & the business practices of the merchant class

  • Argued for a mystical & intuitive way of thinking to discover one’s inner self & looking for the essence of God in nature

• Challenged the materialism of American society by suggesting that artistic expression was more important than wealth

• Supported a variety of reforms, like the antislavery movement

• Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): his essays + lectures expressed individualistic & nationalistic spirit urging Americans to create a distinctive American culture

  • Argued for self-reliance, independent thinking, & the primacy of spiritual matters over material ones

  • He was a leading critic of slavery

• Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862): conducted a 2 year experiment of living in a cabin in the woods outside of town → used nature to help him search for the essential truths of life + the universe

  • Published a book: Walden + known for his “On Civil Disobedience” Essay (broke a tax law in opposition to war against Mexico)

• Brook Farm: a communal experiment led by George Ripley (a Protestant minister), to achieve a natural union b/t intellectual & manual labor

  • Hosted transcendentalists like Emerson & Margaret Fuller (a feminist writer)

  • Ended in 1849 due to a fire & heavy debts

Other Communal Experiments

• Over 100 experimental communities during the antebellum (pre Civil War) years that attempted to create an ideal community/utopia

• Shakers: early religious communal movement w/6k+ members

  • Held property in common & strictly separated men & women (no marriage)

• The Amana Colonies: Germans who settled in Iowa & belonged to the reform movement called Pietism — emphasized simple, communal living; allowed marriage

• New Harmony: led by Robert Owen (industrialist + reformer), this nonreligious experiment in Indiana hoped to find an answer to problems of inequity & alienation due to the Industrial Revolution

  • Failed due to financial problems & disagreements

• Oneida Community: John Noyes led this cooperative community in NY in 1848

  • Ideal of perfect social & economic equality — members shared property & even marriage partners → attacked by critics

  • Produced & sold high quality silverware

• Fourier Phalanxes: led by theories of French socialist Charles Fourier

  • advocated that people share work & housing → died out due to Americans being too individualistic

Arts and Literature

• Painting portrayed everyday life of ordinary people (e.g. riding riverboats & voting in elections) — George Caleb Bingham was popular, for instance

  • Many painters emphasized sentiment & emotion at the expense of accuracy

• American architects adapted Greek styles to emphasize the democratic spirit of the republic

• Other writers created literature that was Romantic & distinctly American

  • Due to the War of 1812, Americans were more nationalistic & eager to read works by American writers

  • Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828; helped to standardize spelling & pronunciation of American English

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne — questioned intolerance & conformity in American life

  • Edgar Allen Poe — focused on irrational aspects of human behavior & even portrayed mysterious + horrifying events (e.g. Tell-Tale Heart)

4.10 The Second Great Awakening

• Examples of religious revivals include: traditional Calvinist/Puritan teachings of sin & predestination, as well as new development in Christianity

Causes of Religious Reform

1. Growing emphasis on democracy & individuals who influenced politics + the arts — worshippers preferred services that were informal & participatory

2. Rational approach to religion, more emotional expressions of beliefs in worship services

3. Market revolution → ppl feared industrialization = increased greed & sin

4. Disruptions of the market revolution + mobility of ppl = informal worship settings that weren’t in urban areas

Revivals

• 2nd Great Awakening began among highly educated people (e.g. Timothy Dwight from Yale)

  • Saw themselves as Calvinists leading against emerging liberal views of the 1790s

  • Based on the opportunity for salvation for all

• On the frontier, Charles Finney led a series of revivals in upstate NY — he appealed to emotions & fear of damnation

  • Preached that every individual could be saved by faith & hard work — appeal to middle class

• Baptist + Methodist preachers (e.g. Peter Cartwright) traveled around the South & on the W. frontier to host outdoor revivals/camp meetings

  • Activated the faith of many who hadn’t previously been in churches

  • Large black & enslaved following

New Denominations

• Millennialism: William Miller predicted that the world was going to end with a second coming of Jesus, which attracted thousands of followers

  • Nothing happened — Millerites turned into Seventh-day Adventists

• Mormons/Latter-day Saints: Founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in NY — originally supported polygamy (prohibited in 1890)

  • Beliefs based on: The Book of Mormon — traced a connection b/t American Indians & lost tribes of Israel

  • Smith was persecuted & died in Illinois → members (led by Brigham Young) migrated to Utah in the Western Frontier, their community was called New Zion

Reforms Backed by Religion

• 2nd Great Awakening → divisions b/t newer evangelical sects & older Protestant churches

• Social reform: reduced drinking, ending slavery, and better treatment for people with mental illness

• Many Christians viewed slavery as a sin

4.11 An Age of Reform

• Reform movements evolved as leaders initially tried to persuade people based on morals, sermons, and pamphlets, but then moved on to political action & creating new ideas to replace old ones

  • These were also popular due to things like, the Enlightenment belief in human goodness, the Jacksonian emphasis on democracy, social classes, and religious beliefs

Improving Society

Changes in Families & Roles for Women

• America was still mostly rural by the mid-19th century

• Industrialization reduced the economic value of children

  • Middle-class families used birth control to reduce avg. family size

  • Affluent women had leisure time to devote to organizations based on religion/moral uplight

• Cult of Domesticity: idealized view of women as moral leaders in the home

  • When men took jobs outside of the home & were typically absent, women took charge of the household & children

• Women’s Rights:

  • Women reformers resented the way men put them in secondary roles in the antislavery movement, for instance

  • Sarah Grimke: wrote the Letters on Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Women (1838)

  • Lucretia Mott campaigned for women’s rights after being prevented from speaking at an antislavery condition

• Seneca Falls Convention (1848): leading feminists met in NY; 1st women’s right convention in American history

  • Declaration of Sentiments declared “all men and women are created equal” & listed women’s grievances against laws & customs that discriminated against them

• Post-convention, women like Susan B. Anthony led the campaign for equal voting, legal, and property rights for women

  • The issue was overshadowed by slavery in the 1850s, however

Antislavery Movement

• American Colonization Society: transporting free slaves to an African Colony

  • Appealed to opponents of slavery + White Americans who wanted to remove free Black Americans from U.S. society

  • Established an African American settlement in Liberia → many didn’t want to leave America & only about 12k moved to Africa

• American Antislavery Society (1833): a radical abolitionist group led by William Lloyd Garrison

  • William Lloyd Garrison (1831): began an abolitionist newspaper The Liberator

    • He advocated for immediate abolition of slavery in every state & no compensation for slaveowners

  • Garrison & others condemned and burned the Constitution as a proslavery document

    • Argued: “no Union with slaveholders”

• Liberty Party (1840): led by Northerners who believed political action was the way to reform

  • James Birney was their presidential candidate in 1840 + 1844

  • Aimed to end slavery by political & legal means

• Black Abolitionists

  • Individuals who escaped enslavement = outspoken & convincing

    • They could speak about the brutality of slavery from firsthand experience

  • Frederick Douglass: supported Garrison, advocated for both political & direct action to end slavery, and he started The North Star antislavery journal in 1847

  • Other people like Harriet Tubman & Sojourner Truth helped fugitive slaves escape to free territory in the North or Canada

• Violent Abolitionism

  • David Walker & Henry Grant advocated for radical solutions to end slavery

    • Argued that the enslaved should take action & revolt against their owners

  • Nat Turner Rebellion (1831): 55 Whites were killed in Virginia; led by Nat Turner, who was a slave

    • In turn, hundreds of African Americans were killed to put down the revolt

• Antislavery talk ended in the South after the Nat Turner Rebellion & Garrison’s rhetoric

Others Reforms

1. American Peace Society: aimed to abolish war; protested war with Mexico in 1846

2. Laws to protect sailors from being flogged

3. Dietary reforms: eating whole wheat bread or graham crackers, to promote good digestion

4. Dress reforms for women, so they could move more easily

5. Phrenology: a pseudoscience that studied the bumps on one’s skull to asses their character & ability

4.12 African Americans in the Early Republic

• Many believed slavery would gradually disappear due to soil exhaustion in coastal lands of Virginia & the Carolinas + the constitutional ban of importing & enslaving Africans after 1808

  • The growth of the cotton industry & expansion of slavery into new states ended this belief

Free African Americans

• 1860: 500k free African Americans living throughout the U.S.

Resistance by the Enslaved

• Conditions of slavery each plantation varied; all suffered from being deprived of freedom

  • Families could be separated at any time

  • Women = vulnerable to sexual exploitation

  • Enslaved A. Americans maintained a strong sense of family & religious faith

• Examples of restrained actions include work slowdowns & equipment sabotage

• Runaways faced organized militia patrols & hunters who were paid a bounty

  • It was difficult for women caring for children or pregnant

  • Those returned to owners = physically mistreated

  • Underground Railroad + demands of Southerners for stricter fugitive slave laws prove the increased number of slaves wanting to escape

• Rebellions

  • Gabriel Prosser led an uprising in Richmond, VA in 1800

  • Denmark Vesey (1822): in Charleston, SC, due to readings from the Bible & discussions about the Missouri Compromise, Vesey & members of a large African Methodist Church forged a plan to seize ships in the harbor & sail away to Haiti for freedom

    • Ended by informers; Vesey & over 30 conspirators were hanged

  • Nat Turner Rebellion (1831): in Virginia, over 50 white ppl were killed & the militia killed Turner, his followers, and innocent A. Americans

  • Organized rebellions had a lasting influence: gave hope to enslaved A. Americans, drove southern states to strictly enforce slaves codes, & demonstrated the evils of slavery

• Culture maintenance

  • Many slaves would address each other by their African names

  • Kept alive West African + Caribbean languages among themselves

  • Told folktales + danced & sang

    • White plantation owners aimed to suppress cultural expression to prevent rebellions as a result of the Haitian Revolution

4.13 Southern Society in the Early Republic

Agriculture and King Cotton

• Agriculture was the foundation of the Southern economy

  • Tobacco, rice, sugarcane, and cotton

  • Small factories in the area made ~15% of the nation’s manufactured goods

• Textile mills + Eli Whitney’s cotton gin → made cotton cloth affordable

  • British mills relied of the American South for cotton fiber

  • 1850s: cotton provided 2/3 of all U.S. exports & linked the South w/G.B.

Slavery, the “Peculiar Institution”

• Southern wealth was based on land & enslaved people

• Peculiar Institution: referred to the system of slavery in the South

• Population: cotton boom grew the # of slaves from 1mil (1800) → 4mil (1860)

  • Mostly came from natural growth; some Africans were smuggled into the South

• Deep South: enslaved African Americans made up to 75% of the population

  • Lower Mississippi River Valley

  • Southern legislatures created slave codes to increase restrictions on movement & education

• Economics

  • Enslaved workers labored in fields, as house servants, in factories, or learned skilled crafts

  • Slave owners in Upper South sold their slaves to owners in the cotton-rich Deep South

  • An enslaved field hand = ~$2000

  • Heavy capital investment in slaverin South → less capital than the North for industrialization

White Society

Social Hierarchy:

1. Aristocracy: South’s elite of wealthy planters w/100+ slaves and 1k+ acres of land; dominated Southern legislatures & favored large landholders’ economic interests

2. Farmers: less than 20 slaves + several hundreds acres of land; produced the bulk of the cotton

3. Poor Whites: ¾ of households in the South didn’t own slaves; couldn’t afford farmland & lived as subsistence farmers - defended slavery & felt superior to Black ppl

3. Mountain people: Small farmers who lived in frontier conditions — isolated from the South; disliked planters & slavery

• Cities: few large commercial cities; largest city was New Orleans

  • Unique culture due to cotton-based economy → white southerners defended slavery, northerners grew hostile towards it

• Code of Chivalry: adhered to by Southern gentlemen

  • Strong sense of personal honor, defense of womanhood, & paternalistic attitudes towards ppl deemed inferior

• Education: slaves weren’t taught how to read or write

  • Upper class → college education for children

    • Acceptable professions: farming, law, the ministry, and the military

  • Lower class → often didn’t have schooling beyond elementary grades

• Religion:

  • Baptists + Methods = biblical support for slavery

  • Unitarians challenged slavery & some Catholics + Episcopalians took a neutral stand

• Social reform:

  • Mostly in North & West — worked to perfect society

  • Southerners = committed to tradition & slower to support education + humanitarian reforms

    • Saw social reform as Northern threat