Pre-Columbian America to Post Cold War America

Pre-Columbian America: Aztec & Incan Empires

• Large empires in central & south America.
• Rivaled European powers in size and influence.
• Cahokia
  • Large city near modern day St. Louis.
  • Center of trade.
  • Had labor, wealth and class differentiation.
• Maize
  • Corn production allowed Indian societies to stay in one place longer.
  • Didn't need as much land as hunting & gathering societies.
  • Allowed urbanization to grow.
• Clovis Technology
  • Use of flint for arrowheads.
  • Allowed for hunting of big game.
• Role of geography & climate in early Indian civilizations:
  • Native people adapted to their environment to live.
  • Examples:
    • Building of adobe dwellings in the SW and usage of irrigation where water was scarce.
    • Warm wet SE climate good for large scale farming, develop commercial centers.
    • NE hunting, smaller farms, allows for urbanization.

Europe in the 15th Century

• Compass
  • New tech to gauge direction.
  • Helped Euros travel farther.
• Sugar
  • Cash crop that caused Euros to want to expand.
• Caravel
  • New kind of ship that could sail into the wind easier.
• Sextant
  • Device that allowed navigators to keep track of their global positioning.
• Absolute Monarchs
  • Rulers who had absolute power and competed with other monarchs.
• Capitalism
  • Free market economics.
  • Part of Euro expansion is the need for resources and wealth.
• Henry VIII
  • King of England who brings about the protestant reformation.
• Protestant Reformation
  • Started by Luther who believed that you could get to heaven by faith alone.
  • People critical of the corruption in the Catholic Church, like indulgences.
• Martin Luther
  • Brings about the protestant reformation.
• John Calvin
  • Swiss Theologian who wrote about pre-destination.
• Conditions in Europe that made colonization possible:
  • People suffered in rural poverty, religious & political oppression, life expectancy was short, few people owned most wealth, etc…

Spanish Colonization

• Encomienda
  • Spanish labor system that used Native people for labor for a short period of time.
• Role of the Catholic Church
  • Many Catholics believed in “civilizing” native people, which essentially meant treating them inferior and justified using some as slaves.
  • Many reformists also came from the Catholic Church.
• Mercantilism
  • Economic system where colonies were used to enrich the mother country.
  • Colonies were required to produce raw materials and buy back finished goods.
• Triangular Trade
  • Trade between Africa, Europe & the new world.
  • Africa sold the labor, Colonies provided raw material & the mother country produced finished goods.
• How were the Spanish able to conquer native civilizations?
  • Fear: They rode horses and dressed in shiny armor.
  • Technology: Use of armor & firearms.
  • Disease: Microbes brought by Europeans to the new world had devastating effects on native populations.
• Spanish motivations for colonization:
  • Mostly obtain wealth, with by mining for gold or establishing cash crop agriculture that would

Compare & Contrast English, French & Spanish colonization

• France
  • Few colonies and few people.
  • They tended to get along better with the Indians because they showed less interest in acquiring native land.
• Britain
  • Britain settled her colonies.
  • Large numbers of British subjects (and other NW Europes) came to establish colonies for varying reasons: religion, cash crop agriculture, etc…

Development of the Chesapeake Region

• Headright System
  • Gave 50 acres of land to property owners who brought over indentured servants.
  • This created a large landed aristocracy.
• Freedom Dues
  • Land (25-50 acres) given to Indentured Servants after their indenture was up.
• Jamestown
  • First permanent settlement in English America.
  • Began to prosper with the introduction of tobacco.
• Indentured Servitude
  • Predominant form of labor in the colonies in the 1600s.
  • People would agree to serve 5-7 year indentures in exchange for passage to America.
• Bacon’s Rebellion
  • 1676 rebellion in Virginia that saw frontier settlers march on Jamestown and burn it down.
  • They felt ignored by the colonial government.
  • This helped grow slavery because elites in Virginia began to fear mob rule.
• Slavery
  • Labor system that emerged in the western hemisphere.
  • In the 1600s in British America.
  • Chattel slavery stripped slaves of all rights.
• Cash crops
  • Crops grown on a large scale in the south that could fetch heavy profits (tobacco & sugar especially, but also indigo, cotton in the 1800s)
• Maryland
  • Catholic colony that eventually was overrun by protestants
• Slave Codes
  • Developed in the 17th century.
  • Restricted the rights of black slaves by taking away civil and economic rights.
• Stono Rebellion
  • Rebellion in 1739 in South Carolina that caused colonies in the south to further limit freedoms for slaves, especially literacy and movement.
• Explain the development of slavery in the second half of the 17th & early 18th centuries:
  • Slavery expanded in the southern colonies as cash crop agriculture expanded.
  • When life expectancy expanded it made investing in slaves more sense economically.
  • Coupled with the rising price of Indentured servants and the fear of mobs created by Bacon’s Rebellion, slavery grew in the last quarter of the 1600s.
• Compare & Contrast life in the Chesapeake to life in New England:
  • Life in NE was longer, but the growing season was shorter.
  • Slavery was legal in NE but not terribly prevalent.
  • People immigrated as families to NE and learned how to read and write.
  • NE was also more religious (puritanism vs. Anglican) and democratic than the south.

Development of New England

• Pilgrims
  • Puritan separatists, they were the first to come to the colonies
• Puritans
  • Most Puritans wanted to purify the Anglican Church, not get rid of it.
  • Believed in pre-destination and getting rid of any remnants of Catholicism.
• Half-Way Covenant
  • Puritans agreed to baptize young people into the church without communion or full membership in 1662.
  • Shows them losing their grip on their conformity.
• Salem Witch trials
  • Sign that society had deep conflict and was changing.
  • Was more prosperous and growing away from their original religious mission and deeply conflicted.
• John Winthrop
  • First Governor of Massachusetts Bay, he wanted to make it a “Shining City Upon a Hill”
• Rhode Island
  • Colony founded by Roger Williams that became a bastion for dissenters
• Anne Hutchinson & Roger Williams
  • Religious dissidents in Mass Bay who left for Rhode Island
• Role of religion in New England society:
  • Not a theocracy but the church sets the standards and rules for society and government, which was democratic, and governments job was to uphold those values.
  • People were literate because they needed to read the bible. etc…
• How does the economy in New England develop differently than in other parts of British North America and why?
  • The soil is rocky and the weather is cold so cash crop agriculture never really took root.
  • Slavery was legal but rare.
  • New Englanders diversified their economy.
  • Most were small farmers but they developed iron foundries, fishing, timber, shipbuilding, ect…

Middle Colonies

• Quakers
  • Settled in Pennsylvania & other middle colonies.
  • Practiced tolerance & golden rule.
• Religious toleration
  • William Penn had been persecuted for his beliefs so he believed in religious toleration.
• Commerce
  • Two largest ports in the colonies (Philly & NY) were in the middle colonies.
  • They exported food, cash crops, etc…
• What characteristics of the middle colonies made them different from New England and the South?
  • More religious toleration because it was much more diverse than New England.
  • Also, were able to grow some cash crops but not as much as the southern colonies, but slavery was less prominant than in the south.

Colonial Governments

• House of Burgesses
  • Assembly in Virginia, it was the first democratic institution in the new colonies, helping set a precedent for democratic rule.
• Town Meetings
  • Direct democracy practiced in New England, probably most democratic in the world
• Mayflower Compact
  • Agreement between colonists on the Mayflower to live by a set of rules.
  • Helps set precedent for Constitutional government.
• Colonial legislatures
  • democratically elected lower houses of colonial governments.
  • In most colonies they levied taxes and paid officials, giving them enormous power.
• Royal Governor
  • Typically appointed by the King and was chief executive for a colony
• Council
  • Upper house of legislature as well as the Court in some colonies.
  • Many times appointed by the Governor.
• 3 Branches of Government
  • Most colonies believed in dividing government between 3 branches.
• How did the British policy of Salutary Neglect influence the development of colonial governments?
  • The British left Americans alone for much of the 1600s and early 1700s which
• allowed the colonists to develop their own ideas about government and to usurp power at the legislative level to be able to thwart the Crown when it tried to end Salutary Neglect after 1763

First Great Awakening

• Less emphasis on predestination and more on personal salvation through Jesus Christ and repentance of ones sin.
• George Whitefield
  • British minister who came to America and helped spread the Awakening.
• Expansion of higher education
  • Colonists saw an increase in church membership and a need to train more ministers so they formed more universities.
  • The Awakening was also questioning existing doctrine, which helped set the precedent for questioning Royal authority later.
• new religious sects
  • Baptist, Methodists, other older denominations like Prebyterians and Congregationalists split over the Awakening.
• Old & New Lights
  • Old Lights rejected the evangelical nature of the Awakening and New Lights embraced it.
• To what extent was the Great Awakening a unifying force in American society?
  • Not everyone agreed with the doctrine of the Awakening, but all Americans experienced the Awakening as a social phenomenon.
  • It led to increased literacy, more training in higher education, and a questioning of established authority.

French & Indian War

• Ft. Duquesne
  • French fort in modern day Pittsburgh.
  • Both Britain & France were interested in controlling the trade in the area.
• Fall of Quebec
  • British victory that helps turn the tide in the war.
• Louisbourg
  • Capture of Louisbourg, mostly by Americans, gave colonists a sense of pride in helping with the war.
• Proclamation of 1763
  • After the war Americans hoped to head west for new land but the Proclamation said they could not go.
  • Americans resented this as they saw the land as being bought with their blood.
• Pontiac’s Rebellion
  • Indian rebellion in the Great lakes region that convinced the British to pass the Proclamation of 1763 to stop settlers from going over the mountains.
• In what ways did the British & American colonists find that they were different during the war?
  • Americans were more pious and typically more middle class than their British counterparts.
  • Americans also were not trained soldiers like the British and had a reputation for doing poorly on the battlefield.
  • Americans also deeply believed in self government and limited government, resenting the strict rules of the regular British army.
  • Americans also smuggles supplies in during the war while Britain suppressed supplies, demanded colonial service in the army and demoted colonial officers, all creating animosity.

American Revolution

• Stamp Act
  • 1765.
  • Tax on printed items in the colonies.
  • Affected everyone and was passed without colonists consent.
  • Also, sending violators to Admiralty courts was seen as a miscarriage of justice
• Sugar Act
  • 1764.
  • Act for raising revenue in the colonies who paid little in taxes.
  • Taxed molasses and impacted mostly merchants, but passed without colonial consent and Admiralty courts applied here too
• Quartering Act
  • Forced colonial communities to house and feed British soldiers.
  • Standing armies were seen a instruments of tyranny and were resented by colonists
• Stamp Act Congress 1765-
  • Colonial response to the Stamp Act.
  • Argued against taxation without representation and said only external taxes were acceptable.
  • Colonies resisting together.
• Townshend Duties 1767
  • External tax on glass, paper, tea, etc…
  • American colonists resisted this as well as a tax passed without their consent
• Boston Massacre
  • 1770 shooting of colonists that is portrayed as a massacre by American propaganda.
  • In order to show the British as tyrants.
• Boston Tea Party
  • 1773
  • Following the passage of the Tea Act, Colonists dumped the tea into the Harbor in opposition to a British monopoly.
  • This leads to the passage of the Coercive Acts.
• Intolerable Acts
  • 1774
  • Americans called them the Intolerable Acts.
  • Closing of Boston Port, shutting down government in Massachusetts, and a new Quartering Act was confirmation to many colonists that the British were out to take away their liberties and rights as Englishmen.
• Opposition thinkers
  • British thinkers who believed that there was a conspiracy in the British government to take away the liberties of common people through taxation and increased bureaucracy.
  • Saw taxes as a way to take property from people, therefore it required their consent.
  • Argued that direct, not virtual, representation was the only acceptable way to tax people.
• Enlightenment
  • Ideological movement that embraced science, reasoning & rationality.
  • It influenced the founders view of government.
• John Locke
  • Scottish philosopher who believed in the consent of the governed and that taxation could only come from representatives directly elected by the people.
• Consent of the Governed
  • Government had to come from the votes of the people.
  • Majority rule.
• Committees of Correspondence
  • Committees in the colonies that communicated with each other in order to resist together.
• Continental Congress
  • Most colonies sent representatives to the CC which advocated for moderation until 1776.
  • This is the colonies coming together to resist the British.
• Quebec Act
  • 1774.
  • Took away representative government in formerly French Canada & made Catholicism official.
  • Horrified the colonists as another example of the conspiracy to crush their liberties.
• Admiralty Courts
  • Courts of the empire that colonists despised because they were not representative of the their ideas about juries of their peers.
• How did British policies strengthen colonist’s views of republicanism?
  • Colonists believed deeply in self government and limited government by principled people (people that were disinterested).
  • British policies all seemed to be designed to take away property or liberty of colonists without their consent.
  • They were opposed to monarchy and believed that power came from citizens through their consent.
• What role did Opposition thinkers play in how Americans understood British policies?
  • Americans widely read Opposition thinkers from Britain.
  • Taxation policies as well as Quartering Acts and things like the Boston Massacre confirmed to many colonists that their was a conspiracy in the British government to take away the liberty of Americans.
• In what ways had Americans developed their own identity by the 1770s?
  • Americans began to believe that they were different from the British.
  • The French & Indian War had brought the two sides into direct contact for the first time and Americans tended to be more middle class and pious than their British counterparts.
  • In America, there was also more religious
• freedom, no hereditary aristocracy, land was easily available, and very few barriers to prosperity.
  • Americans also embraced ideas of self government, and limited government, and began to see their society as better than that of the mother country.

The Revolutionary War

• Declaration of Independence
  • Formally declared America’s independence using the argument of the consent of the governed
• Saratoga
  • American victory in 1777 that convinced France to join the war on our side
• Franco-American Alliance
  • The French were instrumental in helping the US win the war.
  • They provided, money, men, arms and ships to the US cause.
• Yorktown
  • US laid siege to Yorktown and forced Cornwallis to surrender, convincing the British to sue for peace.
• Treaty of Paris 1783
  • Formally ended the war and gave America everything east of the Mississippi and north of Florida
• Loyalists
  • Tories/Loyalists were colonists who remained loyal to Britain.
  • They made up about 20% of the population and many of them were forced out of the US after the war.
• Common Sense
  • Widely read pamphlet printed by Thomas Paine that argued for American Independence in early 1776 as common sense that and island should not rule a continent.
• Regulators (east/west conflict)
  • Regulator movements were westerners who spoke out against the influence of easterners in colonial governments.
  • In many cases they openly rebelled against the colonial government because of grievances.
  • Examples are the Paxton Boys in PA, Shay’s Rebellion in MA, or the Green Mountain Boys in VT.
• How revolutionary was the American Revolution?
  • The Revolution did little in the short term for women and minorities, but unleashed a flurry of democratic impulses that eventually swept the nation (and the world to some extent).
  • The idea that all men were created equal and that US society offered immense opportunities meant that the US was developed with deep democratic ideals that are shared among all citizens eventually.
• What role did Ben Franklin & George Washington play in winning American independence?
  • Franklin was the diplomat who convinced France to enter the war on America’s side, and GW is the indispensable man of the Revolution.
  • His leadership helps get America through the revolution, but also in the formative years of the Republic.

Confederation Period

• Whig Principles
  • Idea that a strong central government in a far away place was dangerous.
  • The Founders believed that smaller government, closer to he people was better.
• Republicanism
  • Belief that leaders needed to sacrifice their own self interest for the good of the whole, or good of the nation.
  • This is “disinterestedness”
• Articles of Confederation
  • First federal government was set up using this.
  • It was founded on Whig Principles where most of the power remained with the states
• Shay’s Rebellion
  • Rebellion of farmers in western Massachusetts that the federal government could not put down.
  • This helped lead to the movement to write a new constitution with a stronger central government
• Northwest Ordinance
  • Passed by the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, it organized the area then considered the NW (OH, MI, WI, IL, IN).
  • It laid out requirements for statehood (all states came in as equals), banned slavery, and required funding for education.
• What foreign policy issues concerned many Americans?
  • The British refused to leave forts in the Great Lakes regions as well as harassed merchant ships and impressed US sailors.
  • The Spanish would close off New Orleans to trade and incite Indian violence in the SW.
• What economic issues concerned many Americans?
  • Inflation after the war caused prices to soar.
  • Conflict between states caused trade barriers.
  • The federal government could not get a tax passed and could not get credit.
• What were state governments doing that elites thought violated principles of republicanism?
  • Middle class people came to power and the nation became more democratic.
  • New state legislatures passed laws that helped debtors over creditors, printed their own money, and placed tariffs on other states.
  • States also fought over western lands.
  • To elites this was not disinterested republicanism, it was states being selfish.

The Constitution & Ratification

• Virginia Plan
  • Proposed a bicameral legislature with three branches of government where both houses of Congress were based on population.
  • This was approved by big states.
  • It becomes the blueprint for the Constitution.
• New Jersey Plan
  • Counterproposal by small states to have a unicameral legislature where each state was even but give more power to the federal government.
• Connecticut Compromise
  • The compromise that combined the two plans, essentially taking the VA Plan and making the upper house even for all states, which protected smaller states.
• Bill of Rights
  • Anti-Federalists, who opposed the Constitution, thought that putting power in the hands of a strong central government was dangerous and demanded a federal Bill of Rights to protect individual liberties from tyranny.
• Federalism
  • Idea ingrained into US institutions where there are different levels of government that share power.
  • Local, state and federal governments each play a role in governing.
• Checks & Balances
  • The Three branches of government can check the power of each branch.
  • The executive has a veto, the legislative branch consents to nominees or can override the veto, and the judicial branch rules on the constitutionality of laws.
• What argument did Federalists make for why the Constitution was necessary?
  • They argued that the nation needed economic stability and cohesion that states could not offer alone.
  • They also argued that presently there was too much chaos and instability, including unrest like Shay’s Rebellion.
  • They also argued that the nation was defenseless in foreign policy.
• What reasons did anti-Federalists give for not wanting the Constitution ratified?
  • They were particularly concerned with the consolidation of power with a federal government that was not close to the people. (Whig Principles)
  • They believed that governments that were too big and too strong could take away the rights of citizens.
• How did the Founders address slavery in the Constitution?
  • Generally they ignored it in the open, as the Constitution does not even say the word slave.
  • They did stick provision like the ⅗ clause and fugitive slave clause to give credence to the institution.
  • But the Founders knew that trying to address the issue would break up the union before it started so generally they tried to ignore it, or attack it on the periphery.
• What steps did the Founders take to put slavery on the defensive in the future?
• The Founders did attack slavery where it was weak.
  • They banned it in the NW Ordinance and gradually abolished it other northern states, which made it peculiar to the South.
  • They also cut off the importation of slaves by banning the International slave trade in 1808 which raised the value of slaves.
  • This led to slavery being forced even deeper into the south as more and more people escaped to freedom in the north.
  • Lastly, the rhetoric of the Revolution put slavery on the defensive!

The Early Republic 1788-1800

• Federalist (political party)
  • New political party led by Hamilton what believed in a stronger central government and a more commercial economy.
• Democratic-Republican
  • Jefferson’s party that believed in limited government and a stronger agrarian economy because yeoman farmers were the ultimate republicans.
• Strict v. Loose Constructionism
  • Difference of opinion on how to interpret the Constitution.
  • Jefferson believed in strict interpretation, meaning that the federal government could not do anything unless the Constitution gave it permission to do so.
  • Hamilton believed in loose construction, meaning that if the constitution did not prevent something then it was allowed.
  • Hamilton used things like the “Necessary and Proper” clause to justify the Bank of the US.
• Jay’s Treaty
  • Treaty with Britain that does very little to fix issues with the Brits.
  • It does give them preferred trade status and they do leave the forts in the north east, but the treaty is seen as pro-British and is wildly unpopular in the US, especially among Democratic-Republicans.
  • It, along with the French Revolution, helped split the US up into a two party system.
• Funding & Assumption
  • In an attempt to establish credit, Hamilton proposed that the federal government assume all state debts and pay off all US debt at the federal level.
  • This would unify states behind the federal government and help the US establish credit.
• 1st Bank of U.S.
  • Part of Hamilton’s Plan.
  • Jefferson argued it was unconstitutional and gave too much power to the federal government.
  • Hamilton wanted a place to put revenue that he brought in to create capital for commercial investments.
• XYZ Affair
  • US diplomats that went to Paris during the Adams Adm. and were snubbed by Talleyrand and the French Government.
  • They came back to the US and the public was outraged calling for war.
• Pinckney’s Treaty
  • Treaty with the Spanish, fearing an alliance with Britain after Jay’s Treaty, that opens up the Mississippi River and New Orleans, as well as ceding territory in the SW to the US.
• Quasi-War with France
  • Naval war fought with France during the Adams administration.
  • Adams achieved building a more formidable navy during his presidency.
• Alien & Sedition Acts
  • Federalist feared losing power so they passed the A&S Acts to make it a crime to publish harsh criticisms against the government and also expand the time out to become a citizen so that less immigrants would become D-R’s.
• Kentucky Resolutions
  • Jefferson opposes the Alien & Sedition Acts as unconstitutional and lays out the Compact Theory of the Constitution which says that states can nullify laws passed by the federal government if the states deem them unconstitutional.
  • (Not specifically written in the Constitution)
• Election of 1800
  • Jefferson wins a contentious election and ushers in the first real transition of power in US history from one party to another.
  • Jefferson calls it the Revolution of 1800 because he brings his ideas of small government and agrarianism to the federal government.
• What issues led to the formation of the first political parties in U.S. history?
  • Issues about how to interpret the Constitution and whether the nation should be more commercial/industrial or remain agrarian.
  • So the bank, funding & assumption and loose v. strict interpretation were contentious issues.
  • The French Revolution solidifies the political party system as the Jeffersonians supported the French Revolution as an extension of the American Revolution and the Hamiltonians thought the French Revolution was dangerous and anarchic.

Jeffersonian Era

• Louisiana Purchase
  • US bought in 1803 from France.
  • Jefferson saw this as a way to expand farmland for his agrarian principles.
  • Critics pointed out that it may have been unconstitutional under a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
• Embargo
  • 1807 response to British and to a lesser extent French harassment of US shipping.
  • Jefferson declared that the US would stop selling goods to Europe.
  • This was in an effort to avoid war but ends up hurting the US economy instead.
• Marbury v. Madison
  • Supreme Court decision that establishes the precedent of judicial review, the idea that the Courts have a right to declare the constitutionality of laws.
• Midnight Judges
  • Were Federalist judges like John Marshall, who were appointed by Adams in the last few weeks of his presidency in order to solidify Federalist ideas in the judicial branch.
• How could the election of Jefferson be characterized as a revolution in 1800?
  • Jefferson believed in a small government and agrarian principles, which was different from Adams and Washington.
  • Jefferson cut the military and slashed the US budget, but did keep paying Hamilton’s debt and did not get rid of the bank that he had opposed as unconstitutional.

Market Revolution

• Commercial farming
  • The transportation Revolution allowed farmers to ship products further and have access to more markets, which caused them to specialize in crops that could maximize their profits.
• Technology
  • Farm technology helped farmers specialize in certain crops and to do more work in less time.
• Transportation Revolution
  • Building of roads, canals & railroads increased the speed in which goods could travel, which dramatically lowered transportation costs as well as access to more goods.
• Erie Canal
  • Built by the state of New York and finished in 1825.
  • It opens up trade between New York City and the Great Lakes.
  • The success of this canal started a flurry of canal building elsewhere.
• American System
  • After the War of 1812 there was a surge of nationalism and nationalistic politicians.
  • Henry Clay proposed to recharter the Bank of the US, raise tariff to protect new American industries, and invest in internal improvements (transportation)
• Internal Improvements
  • Transportation build with government money, either federal or state.
  • At the federal level, this was controversial because the constitution did not give the federal government the specific right to build infrastructure.
• 2nd Bank of the U.S.
  • The Bank was rechartered in 1816 by James Madison because it had become and integral part of the US economy.
  • Even Madison, who had opposed the bank originally, signed the bill.
• Lowell Factories
  • Some of America’s first factories, these were textile mills that employed mostly women, giving them dorms, libraries, and speakers in an effort to avoid the crippling poverty of industrial Europe.
  • Competition eventually led to men, many of whom were Irish, taking the jobs.
• How do improvements in transportation lead to the growth of a market economy?
  • Improvements in roads, canals, and eventually RRs dramatically decreased the cost and time associated with shipping goods which opened up new markets.
  • This increased access to goods for consumers and caused many businesses and farmers to be more specialized.
• What areas of the country were most likely to support “internal improvements”?
  • Developing areas tended to support new infrastructure, especially in the west.
  • But many argued that federal development of infrastructure was unconstitutional so much of the “internal improvements” were built by state governments.
• How does the Market Revolution foster more regional specialization?
  • Areas of the country, who could now bring in goods and services from other areas of the country, began to specialize in things that they were good at producing.
  • The country moves increasingly away from a barter economy to a more commercial economy.

Era of Good Feeling

• Judicial Nationalism
  • The Federalists packed the courts at the end of Adams administration.
  • The Courts will be sympathetic to giving power to the federal government at the expense of the states.
• Monroe Doctrine
  • US foreign policy statement written by Sec. of State J.Q. Adams that claims the western hemisphere as America’s sphere of influence and discourages European powers from trying to recolonize areas that had gotten independence from Spain.
• McCulloch v. Maryland
  • Sup. Court case that upholds the constitutionality of the Bank of the US.
  • The case essentially held up the Hamiltonian principle of the federal government having implied powers, which legitimized the loose construction interpretation of the Constitution.
• Corrupt Bargain
  • 1824 election when Andrew Jackson won a plurality of both popular and electoral votes but not a majority.
  • The election was then decided by the House of Reps where Henry Clay’s supporters gave their support to J.Q. Adams.
  • Clay was then made Sec. of State and Jackson claimed the election was stolen.
  • He then forms the Democrat Party to win the next election
• Hartford Convention
  • Near the end of the War of 1812, New England Federalists met in Hartford to oppose the war, and possibly discussed secession.
  • This was seen as unpatriotic and sped up the decline of the Federalist Party, which had gotten most of their support in New England.
• War of 1812
  • The Napoleonic Wars in Europe had continued harassment of US merchant ships.
  • Impressment of US sailors was also an issue.
  • The US sees limited success, but manages to stand up to the British and not lose.
• Tecumseh
  • Shawnee warrior who attempted to put together a Native American confederacy to resist American incursions into land west of the Appalachian Mountains.
• War Hawks
  • People who pushed hard for war.
  • Many war hawks were from places in the South and west.
• Explain the causes, course, and consequences of the War of 1812.
• The war and Jefferson’s embargo made many Americans realize how vulnerable they were economically.
  • Americans become more nationalistic and invest more heavily in infrastructure and economic commercialization.
• How does the U.S. relationship with Britain begin to change after the War of 1812?
  • Although not allies, the two nations realized that a trade relationship on civil terms would benefit both countries so relations improved.
• Was this era really one of “Good Feeling”? Explain
  • Era of good feeling comes about after the Federalist Party ceases to be a national party after the War of 1812.
  • One party rule (Dem-Reps) meant that all of America’s disagreements over issues came from within the D-R Party.
  • They disagreed on tariffs, internal improvements, banks, etc…
  • This “Era” ends after the 1824 election with the eventual organization of the Democrats.
• What role did the Supreme Court play in ensuring Federal power?
  • This is judicial nationalism.
  • Cases enhanced the power of the federal government