Unit 2

Seneca Falls Convention

• It was organized in 1848 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, who met at the first anti-slavery convention in 1848, which they weren’t allowed to participate in because they were women

• It was held in a church over two days with the attendance of 300 women and 100 men

  • The ability for women to speak at a church was revolutionary because the church was a big aspect of people’s lives and, therefore, gave women an actual voice

• Women’s Rights Overlaps

  • Abolition - the anti-slavery movement

  • Temperance movement - the anti-alcohol movement, based upon the belief that since the people ran America, they should not have bad influences

  • Suffrage - a movement based upon fighting for a women’s right to vote

  • Quakers - a religious group that believes in complete gender equality

• Women are calling for reform on a state level and not a national level because states reserved most social rights

• When the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was published, people were either for it or against it

  • People saw it as a new opportunity for women and thought that women deserved more rights

  • Against Others saw giving women more rights would destabilize the family life since they thought women were supposed to stay in the home

• Republican Motherhood - the idea that men and women should occupy different spheres of the republic; men are into politics and law, anything outside the home. Meanwhile, women are meant to raise and educate children

• Married Woman’s Property Act of New York - a law in New York giving married women the right to own property separately from their husbands, and was pushed for fathers who were suspicious of irresponsible sons-in-law who would steal their land

Lowell Mill Girls

• Lowell, Massachusetts - a mill town named after an engineer who memorized British mill technology and introduced it to America

• Mills became a popular place for women to work as the pay was 2 dollars a week because the mill industry was trying to grow, so it became one of the best possible options for women to work

  • they would often give their salaries to male relatives for college education

• Men are the managers, and the women are the workers in the mills

• the average age range is 16-25, but sometimes girls as young as ten would work in the mills for fewer hours and less pay

• there are barely any labor laws, so corporations use the workers as much as they could

  • the working hours were 5 am to 7 pm, with two half-hour breaks for breakfast and dinner

  • there were no benefits like a pension, health care, and job safety

• When wages are decreased, the Lowell mill girls attempt to strike and refuse to work for a couple of days, but because it was easy for businesses to find replacements, the strike was unsuccessful, and the girls returned to work for lower wages

• This was also a turning point in history for American women, as girls were leaving their fathers’ farms for months at a time and living in boarding houses next to the factories and gaining a sense of independence

Native Americans

• The Indian Removal Act - a federal law passed in 1830 permitting the removal of Native tribes, ignoring the decision by the Supreme Court to let the tribes stay on their land

  • it was considered a controversial act and strongly opposed by the Northern states and the Whig Party, the opponent of Jackson’s Democratic Party

  • the government promises to pay the tribes for relocation alongside providing the land for relocation, present-day Oklahoma

  • reasons the Indian Removal Act was passed:

    • the tribal lands were along major rivers, which were considered the highways of the day and America was focused on growing economically

    • there was also gold discovered on Cherokee land, causing a mini gold rush into Cherokee land

    • the cotton belt also is on Indigenous land while cotton was the biggest cash crop in America

    • Americans also believed in Manifest Destiny

• Jackson portrays the tribes as “savage hunter-gatherers” and mentions how the Northern tribes were annihilated by colonization, and says that the tribes should be grateful the government has now decided to be “benevolent” in helping them relocate

  • He believes they will never assimilate into the American ways of life, even though some tribes already have

• Cherokee Tribe before the Trail of Tears - had become an agricultural society with a written language, constitution, and newspaper

• Settlers in Georgia started moving into Cherokee land given by treaties signed by the federal government, upsetting the Cherokee while the government of Georgia does nothing to guarantee the treaties

• Native Americans aren’t considered citizens of the United States but are constantly patrolled by the American government, and are only guaranteed citizenship in 1924

• Jackson is known for viewing tribes as internalized external threats, and throughout his presidency does as much as possible to get them out of their land

  • Tribes also typically ally with the British believing they would let them keep their lands, and Jackson hates the British

  • America has also been busy either fighting the Native tribes or the British as long as they’ve been a country, and Jackson wants to end the fighting

• Although the Indian Removal Act was passed, the Jackson administration had to negotiate with all the tribes separately

  • sometimes, tribal representatives were bad representatives of the tribe and would sign treaties the rest of the tribe would disagree with

• Trail of Tears - In 1838, the last Cherokees who refused to leave were forced out of their land to move to Oklahoma, with widespread death along the journey

• Role Reversal - in early America, the tribes took pity on the suffering colonists and decided not to wipe them out and instead help them, but now the roles are reversed and the colonizers instead decide to push the tribes out of their land

Andrew Jackson

• 7th President of the United States

Upbringing

• born between North and South Carolina to a little-known family with no inheritance

• is ten years old during the American Revolution and is captured by the British and is moved into the house of a British officer who was abusive towards him

• his brother was also captured and put on a prisoner of war ship. His mother goes onto the ship to talk with him but then gets sick and dies, and his brother also dies as well

• hates the British because of his personal experiences

Political and Military Career

• Jackson moves to the Tennesse territory because of the number of opportunities there

  • works in several governmental positions, such as a judge, lawyer, attorney, legislator, etc

• War of 1812 - is a military officer and is sent to the border of Georgia and Flordia to fight the Native Americans who side with the British in hopes of keeping their land

  • Successfully defeats the Creek tribe, who then surrender 23 million acres to the US

  • Boosts his reputation throughout the states

  • Battle of New Orleans (Jan 1815) - the last major battle, significant because it was a major victory by Jackson and made him a household name

    • what’s ironic is the war was already declared over in Belgium, but because the news hadn’t arrived yet, everybody fighting in America didn’t know

• “Old Hickory” - when he was marching back from defeating the Creek tribe, he marches on foot with his soldiers and inspires a sense of equality, and the soldiers are reminded of hickory trees, which are known for being strong

• Was called the next generation’s George Washington because of his natural leadership skills and influence throughout America

• First Seminole War 1818-19 - Jackson is summoned to make peace with the Seminole tribes and Spaniards near the Southern border

  • Adams-Onís Treaty - because of the war, Spain worried about their ability to govern the Florida region and then decided to give it to America

1824 Election

• an election between John Quincey Adams, Andrew Jackson, Crawford, and Clay

• Candidates

  • John Quincey Adams had the opposite upbringing compared to Andrew Jackson. As the son of a president, he was educated in Europe, knew several languages, was trained in diplomacy, and had several connections

  • Andrew Jackson was known for being a war hero, tough, and one of the common people. Additionally, he got into several duels and killed a few people and was also known as a hothead

  • Crawford was from Georgia

  • Clay was the Speaker of the House and an influential politician

• in the Electoral College, nobody got the majority, so the choice went to the House of Representatives

  • Clay preferred Adams over Jackson, and as the speaker of the house, he influenced who the representatives would vote for

• Although Jackson got the most votes from the people, JQ Adams won in the House of Representatives and became the next president

  • Clay was also made Secretary of State, and back in the day, that job was considered a precursor to becoming president

• “Corrupt Bargain” - Jackson was furious over the election results and felt that it was a scheme by other politicians with connections to keep their power

• while campaigning, his wife faced severe backlash for not completely divorcing her first husband before marrying Jackson and was extremely affected by the rude comments against her

Nullification Crises

• Nullification Theory - the idea that a state can reject a federal law if it disagrees with it, which goes against the basis of the US Government

• John C. Calhoun - from South Carolina, the nullification state, had a position in the House of Representatives and Senate, was Andrew Jackson’s first Vice President, and is known for being a primary author of the Nullification Theory

• South Carolinian economy - an export-based economy dependent on importing

• South Carolinian Nullification - the threat from South Carolina to null a tariff act passed by Congress they disagreed with, South Carolinians thought Congress was siding with the North and disadvantaging the South

• Proclamation against Nullification - Jackson released a proclamation in 1832 in response to claims of nullification by South Carolina

  • Constantly quotes historical American sources showing that the American founders always intended for America to be a permanent Union

  • Compares the situation to how the Constitution was written to replace the Articles of Confederation because the Articles gave too much power to the states and barely held the states together

• Compact Theory - a theory promoted by Calhoun and others who believed in nullification that the Constitution is based on a compact, if the states entered into the Constitution and the Union, they reserve the right to declare independence

  • goes against the very idea of American unity that the colonists fought for in the Revolution

  • The United States was still a young nation, so the threat of secession threatened the idea of the American experiment

• End of the Crises - Henry Clay, a known compromiser, passes the compromise tariff bill

  • the tariff is lowered over ten years - the federal government still gets money while South Carolina is satisfied

  • Jackson defends the Union while South Carolina and other southern states still fear a strong national government because of the institution of slavery

  • Jackson predicts the next crisis will be about slavery

Reasons Nullification Theory is Unconstitutional

• Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution - gives Congress the right to levy taxes, duties, and imports and to make them uniform throughout the US

• Two tariff acts passed by Congress, governing with the consent of the people, is not a long train of abuses that can justify seceding from the Union

Expansionism

Manifest Destiny

• Manifest Destiny - the belief that Americans are destined to expand westward because they are a unique country

  • Bringing “light” and civilization to the West and “illuminating” those in the “dark”

• John O’Sullivan - coins the phrase “Manifest Destiny” in 1845, based on the belief God is on the colonizer’s side because America is unique

  • it’s a mission to spread American civilization to push back against Catholic México, who achieved independence in 1821

Lousiana Purchase

• Spain originally owned the territory of Louisiana but gave it to Moniarchal France under the pretense that France wouldn’t give it to anybody else

• Napolean then becomes emperor of France and worries about being able to manage a Western empire without the newly independent Haiti, so he then offers the territory to America to fund his European wars

• the deal was for $15 million, roughly 4 cents an acre

• Lewis and Clark Expedition - explorers sent out by Thomas Jefferson to explore the new territory for two and a half years and, while exploring, became heavily reliant on Indigenous knowledge

Missouri Controversy

• Missouri Controversy (1819-20) - Missouri wanted to be admitted to the Union as a slave state since it already had a slave population of 10k, but it was over the agreed 36^o 30 latitude

• James Tallmadge - from New York, wanted slavery prohibited gradually in Missouri because of the already present slave population by having every child being born to a slave be freed on their 25th birthday

• Since the North had control of the House of Representatives because the admission of Missouri as a slave state would also tip off the careful balance of 11 slave states and 11 free states in the Senate

• the Tallmadge Amendment - the amendment that would lead to the gradual outlawing of slavery in Missouri passes in the House of Representatives but dies in the Senate

• Missouri Compromise (1820) - Missouri is admitted as a slave state while Maine is admitted as a free state to keep the balance of power

  • Henry Clay - a vital compromiser because he’s a unionist and usually doesn’t favor each side publically, but is a slave owner as an abolitionist

• self-preservation vs. justice - the fight between abolitionists and slave owners over whether slavery should be abolished

  • “A wolf by the ear” - an expression used by Jefferson to describe slavery, something so dangerous you can’t hold onto forever but you can’t let it go

Impact of the Haitian Revolution

• Haitian Revolution - slaves successfully revolt against French masters and declare independence, leading to France giving up on Western colonization

• Fear from the Haitian revolution spread over to the US, and slave owners feared that if they freed their slaves, their former slaves would kill them

• Diffusion Theory - a theory by Jefferson that after possible emancipation, the former slave population should be spread out in new territories to lower the chance of fighting between whites and former slaves

• First vs. Second Generation - the first generation of Americans are divided over the morality of slavery, but the second generation was focused on how it impacted the union because their profits grew immensely because of slavery

  • Jefferson is strongly against the second generation and believes they’re destroying fundamental American principles, which could lead to the death of the Union at 44 years old

Méxican-American War

• 1821 - México declares independence from Spain, creating a new government on the American border

• Santa Anna - considered the New World Napolean, a general and the first president of México and ruled for 30 years like a dictator

• After Méxican independence, many Americans moved into the Méxican state of Texas, mostly in the eastern region, because the soil was good for cotton farming and also bringing their slaves

  • Eventually, the vast majority of people living in Texas are Americans

• Santa Anna tried to prevent American immigration into Texas, but it was difficult to do from the capital, México City, in the south

• 1836 - Texas declares independence from México

• The Alamo - a group of Americans in Texas fortify an old Catholic missionary during their fight for independence and are destroyed by the forces of Santa Anna

  • Although Americans lost the battle, they won the war

  • Shows the fighting spirit and rugged individualism of Texas

• 1836-45 - The Republic of Texas

  • Once Texas declares independence, some Americans start looking to make it an American state

• Sam Housten - the first president of the Republic of Texas

• 1845 - Texas becomes a US state with the approval of Congress and the citizens of Texas

• Conflict over Texan Border - The US believes that the Texan border is the Río Grande, but the Méxicans believe it’s at the Nueces River

• James K. Polk - American president elected in 1844, is known as “Young Hickory” because he was seen as a successor to Jackson

The War

• 1846 - Polk sends General Zachary Taylor to monitor the disputed border, so Santa Anna sends his troops to the border as well

• Polk gets a message from Taylor that “American blood has been spilled on American soil” and tells Congress, getting their approval to declare war on México

• 1847 - Congressman Lincoln of the Whig Party, the party against Polk, asks Polk where the exact spot where American blood was spilled is

• México had a numerical advantage in terms of troops in the war but America was better at strategy because many generals were from West Point

• Most American troops do not die from fighting in battles but from sickness

• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - the treaty ending the war, declaring America the victor and giving America most of México’s northern land while America pays México $15 million in terms of reimbursement

Post War

• 1848 - Zachary Taylor is elected president as a representative of the Whig party and leads for about a year before he dies of food poisoning at a 4th of July celebration

• The California Gold Rush - the year after the Méxican-American war, gold is discovered in the region of California, leading to a massive rush of people into the land, quickly making California a state as it meets the population requirement