Period 4 (1800-1848)

The Monroe Doctrine

Although focused on its own growth, the United States did not ignore the ambitions of Europe in the Western Hemisphere. The restoration of a number of monarchies in Europe after the fall of Napoleon in 1815 produced a backlash against republican movements. Restored monarchies in France, Austria, and Prussia, together with Russia, worked together to suppress liberal elements in Italy and Spain. They also considered helping Spain to return to power in South America, where a number of republics had recently declared their independence. In addition, Russia's presence in Alaska worried both Britain and the United States. Using their trading posts in Alaska as a base, Russian seal hunters had spread southward and established a trading post at San Francisco Bay. British and U.S. leaders decided they had a common interest in protecting North and South America from possible aggression by a European power British Initiative British naval power deterred the Spanish from attempting a comeback in Latin America. But to maintain British trade with the Latin American republics required diplomacy. British Foreign Secretary George Canning proposed to Richard Rush, the U.S. minister in London, a joint AngloAmerican warning to the European powers not to intervene in South America. American Response Monroe and most of his advisers thought Canning's idea of a joint declaration made sense. However, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams disagreed. He believed that joint action with Britain would restrict U.S. opportunities for further expansion in the hemisphere. Adams reasoned as follows: (1) If the United States acted alone, Britain could be counted upon to stand behind the U.S. policy. (2) No European power would risk going to war in South America, and if it did, the British navy would surely defeat the aggressor. President Monroe decided to act as Adams advised-to issue a statement to the World that did not have Britain as a coauthor. The Doctrine On December 2, 1823, President Monroe inserted into his annual message to Congress a declaration of U.S. policy toward Europe and Latin America. The Monroe Doctrine, as it came to be called, asserted as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. Monroe declared further that the United States opposed attempts by a European power to interfere in the affairs of any republic in the Western Hemisphere. Impact Monroe's bold words of nationalistic purpose were applauded by the American public but soon forgotten, as most citizens were more concerned with domestic issues. In Britain, Canning was annoyed by the doctrine because he recognized that it applied, not just to the other European powers, but to his country as well. The British too were warned not to intervene and not to seek new territory in the Western Hemisphere. The European monarchs reacted angrily to Monroe's message. Still, they recognized that their purposes were thwarted, not by his words, but by the might of the British navy. The Monroe Doctrine had less significance at the time than in later decades, when it would be hailed by politicians and citizens alike as the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America. In the 1840s, President James Polk was the first of many presidents to justify his foreign policy by referring to Monroe's warning words.

The Frontier

Although the location of the western frontier constantly shifted, the concept of the frontier remained the same from generation to generation. The same forces that had brought the original colonists to the Americas motivated their descendants and new immigrants to move westward. In the public imagination, the West represented the possibility of a fresh start for those willing to venture there. If not in fact, at least in theory and myth, the West beckoned as a place promising greater freedom for all ethnic groups: American Indians, African Americans, European Americans, and eventually Asian Americans as well. Mountain Men From the point of view of white Americans, the Rocky Mountains in the 1820s were a far-distant frontier-a total wilderness except for American Indian villages. The earliest whites in the area had followed Lewis and Clark and explored American Indian trails as they trapped for furs. These mountain men, as they were called, served as the guides and pathfinders for settlers crossing the mountains into California and Oregon in the 1840s. (See Chapter 12.) White Settlers on the Western Frontier Whether the frontier lay in Minnesota or Oregon or California in the 1840s and 1850s, daily life for white settlers was similar to that of the early colonists. They worked hard from Sunrise to sunset and lived in log cabins, sod huts, or other improvised shelters. Disease and malnutrition were far greater dangers than attacks by American Indians. Women Often living many miles from the nearest neighbor, pioneer women performed myriad daily tasks, including those of doctor, teacher, seamstress, and cook-as well as chief assistant in the fields to their farmerhusbands. The isolation, endless work, and rigors of childbirth resulted in a short lifespan for frontier women. Environmental Damage Settlers had little understanding of the fragile nature of land and wildlife. As settlers moved into an area, they would clear entire forests and after only two generations exhaust the soil with poor farming methods. At the same time, trappers and hunters brought the beaver and the buffalo to the brink of extinction. Slavery was of fundamental importance in defining both the character of the South and its differences with the North. Until about 1950, the prevailing scholarship on slavery followed Ulrich Phillips' American Negro Slavery (1918). Phillips portrayed slavery as an economically failing institution in which the paternalistic owners were civilizing the inferior but contented African Americans. Later historians challenged Phillips' thesis by showing slaves and owners to be in continual conflict. Today the older view of slavery as a paternalistic and even benign institution has been discredited. The newer views were summarized by Kenneth Stampp in The Peculiar Institution. Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South (1956). Stampp acknowledged that the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s stimulated many of the new interpretations: "There is a strange paradox in the historian's involvement with both present and past, for his knowledge of the present is clearly a key to his understanding of the past." Historians continue to debate how destructive slavery was. Some have argued that the oppressive and racist nature of slavery destroyed the culture and self-respect of the slaves and their descendants. In contrast, others have concluded that slaves managed to adapt and to overcome their hardships by developing a unique African American culture focused around religion and extended families. Economics has also provided a focus for viewing the nature of slavery. Historians have debated whether slave labor was profitable to southern planters, as compared to using free labor. Unlike Phillips, many historians have demonstrated that slavery was generally profitable. A more complex analysis of the economics, social, and cultural nature of slavery is found in Eugene Genovese's Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made. In this work, southern society is shown centered on a paternalism that gave rise to a unique social system with a clear hierarchy, in which people were classified according to their ability or their economic and social standing. For whites this paternalism meant control, while for slaves it provided the opportunity to develop and maintain their own culture, including family life, tradition, and religion. Recently, historians have focused more on regional variations in slavery. For example, compared to slaves on South Carolina rice plantations, slaves on Virginia tobacco planations lived longer lives, worked in smaller groups, and had more contact with whites. In South Carolina, slaves kept stronger ties to their African heritage.

Growth of Industry

At the start of the 19th century, a manufacturing economy had barely begun in the United States. By midcentury, however, U.S. manufacturing surpassed agriculture in value, and by century's end, it was the World's leader. This rapid industrial growth was the result of a unique combination of factors. Mechanical Inventions Protected by patent laws, inventors looked forward to handsome rewards if their ideas for new tools or machines proved practical. Eli Whitney was only the most famous of hundreds of Americans whose long hours of tinkering in their workshops resulted in improved technology. Besides inventing the cotton gin in 1793, Whitney devised a system for making rifles out of interchangeable parts during the War of 1812. Interchangeable parts then became the basis for mass production methods in the new northern factories. Corporations for Raising Capital In 1811, New York passed a law that made it easier for a business to incorporate and raise capital (money) by selling shares of stock. Other states soon imitated New York's example. Owners of a corporation risked only the amount of money that they invested in a venture. Changes in state corporation laws facilitated the raising of the large sums of capital necessary for building factories, canals, and railroads. Factory System. When Samuel Slater emigrated from Britain, he took with him the British secrets for building cotton-spinning machines, and he put this knowledge to work by helping establish the first U.S. factory in 1791. Early in the next century, the embargo and the War of 1812 stimulated domestic manufacturing, and the protective tariffs enacted by Congress helped the new factories prosper. In the 1820s, New England emerged as the country's leading manufacturing center as a result of the region's abundant waterpower for driving the new machinery and excellent seaports for shipping goods. Also, the decline of New England's maritime industry made capital available for manufacturing, while the decline of farming in the region yielded a ready labor supply. Other northern states with similar resources and problems-New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania-followed New England's lead. As the factory system expanded, it encouraged the growth of financial businesses such as banking and insurance. Labor At first, factory owners had difficulty finding workers for their mills. Factory life could not compete with the lure of cheap land in the West. In response to this difficulty, textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, recruited young farm women and housed them in company dormitories. In the 1830s, other factories imitated the Lowell System. Many factories also made extensive use of child labor. (Children as young as seven left home to work in the new factories.) Toward the middle of the century northern manufacturers began to employ immigrants in large numbers. Unions Trade (or craft) unions were organized in major cities as early as the 1790s and increased in number as the factory system took hold. Many skilled workers (shoemakers and weavers, for example) had to seek employment in factories because their earlier practice of working in their own shops (the crafts system) could no longer compete with lower-priced, mass-produced goods. Long hours, low pay, and poor working conditions led to widespread discontent among factory workers. A prime goal of the early unions was to reduce the workday to ten hours. The obstacles to union success, however, were many: (1) immigrant replacement workers, (2) state laws outlawing unions, and (3) frequent economic depressions with high unemployment.

Foreign Affairs

Following the War of 1812, the United States adopted a more aggressive, nationalistic approach it its relations with other nations. During Madison's presidency, when problems with the Barbary pirates again developed, a fleet under Stephen Decatur was sent in 1815 to force the rulers of North Africa to allow American shipping the free use of the Mediterranean. President Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams continued to follow a nationalistic policy that actively advanced American interests while maintaining peace. Canada Although the Treaty of Ghent of 1814 had ended the war between Britain and the United States, it left unresolved most of their diplomatic differences, including many involving Canada. Rush-Bagot Agreement (1817) During Monroe's first year as president, British and American negotiators agreed to a major disarmament pact. The Rush-Bagot Agreement strictly limited naval armament on the Great Lakes. In time the agreement was extended to place limits on border fortifications as well. Ultimately, the border between the United States and Canada was to become the longest unfortified border in the world. Treaty of 1818 Improved relations between the United States and Britain continued in a treaty that provided for (1) shared fishing rights off the coast of Newfoundland; (2) joint occupation of the Oregon Territory for ten years; and (3) the setting of the northern limits of the Louisiana Territory at the 49th parallel, thus establishing the western U.S.-Canada boundary line. Florida During the War of 1812, U.S. troops had occupied western Florida, a strip of land on the Gulf of Mexico extending all the way to the Mississippi delta. Previously, this land had been held by Spain, Britain's ally. After the war, Spain had difficulty governing the rest of Florida (the peninsula itself) because its troops had been removed from Florida to battle revolts in the South American colonies. The chaotic conditions permitted groups of Seminoles, runaway slaves, and white outlaws to conduct raids into U.S. territory and retreat to safety across the Florida border. These disorders gave Monroe and General Andrew Jackson an opportunity to take military action in Spanish Florida, a territory long coveted by American expansionists. Jackson's Military Campaign. In late 1817, the president commissioned General Jackson to stop the raiders and, if necessary, pursue them across the border into Spanish west Florida. Jackson carried out his orders with a vengeance and probably went beyond his instructions. In 1818, he led a force of militia into Florida, destroyed Seminole villages, and hanged two Seminole chiefs. Capturing Pensacola, Jackson drove out the Spanish governor, and hanged two British traders accused of aiding the Seminoles. Many members of Congress feared that Jackson's overzealousness would precipitate a war with both Spain and Britain. However, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams persuaded Monroe to support Jackson, and the British decided not to interWene. Florida Purchase Treaty (1819) Spain, worried that the United States would seize Florida and preoccupied with troubles in Latin America, decided to get the best possible terms for Florida. By treaty in 1819, Spain turned over all of its possessions in Florida and its own claims in the Oregon Territory to the United States. In exchange, the United States agreed to assume $5 million in claims against Spain and give up any U.S. territorial claims to the Spanish province of Texas. The agreement is also called the Adams-Onís Treaty.

The War's Legacy

From Madison's point of view, the war achieved none of its original aims. Nevertheless, it had a number of important consequences for the future development of the American republic, including the following: Having survived two wars with Britain, the United States gained the respect of other nations. The United States accepted Canada as a part of the British Empire. Denounced for its talk of secession, the Federalist party came to an end as a national force and declined even in New England. Talk of nullification and secession in New England set a precedent that would later be used by the South. Abandoned by the British, American Indians were forced to surrender land to white settlement. With the British naval blockade limiting European goods, U.S. factories were built and Americans moved toward industrial self-sufficiency. War heroes such as Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison would soon be in the forefront of a new generation of political leaders. The feeling of nationalism grew stronger as did a belief that the future for the United States lay in the West and away from Europe. Thomas Jefferson's election to the presidency was popularly known as the Revolution of 1800. The real revolution in 1800 was the complete absence of violence in the transition of power. While the Framers of the Constitution had opposed political parties, parties were accepted as an essential element of the U.S. political system. Historians have identified various stages in the emergence of two major parties. At first (1787-1789), Federalist and Anti-Federalist factions arose in the various state ratifying conventions as people debated the merits and pitfalls of the proposed Constitution. The second stage was the initial years of the new federal government (1789-1800). Especially during Adams' controversial presidency, the Anti-Federalists became a true political party-Jefferson's Democratic-Republican party. In 1800, for the first time, a party actively recruited members (both voters and candidates for office) and forged alliances with politicians in every state. As a result of their organized efforts, the Democratic-Republicans took power in 1800. Over time, historians' interpretations of the early parties have changed. In the early 20th century, historians described the partisan struggles of the 1790s as a conflict between the undemocratic, elitist Hamiltonian Federalists and the democratic, egalitarian Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans. Charles Beard's Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy interpreted the struggle as one between Hamilton's capitalist class and Jefferson's agrarian class. More recently, historians have focused more on personalities in defining the two parties. Finding general agreement in the practices of the opposing parties, these historians emphasize the differing characters of Jefferson and Hamilton and the significance of Washington's friendship with Hamilton and of Jefferson's friendship with Madison. Richard Hofstadter, a leading historian of the 1950s and 1960s, observed both the differences and the shared ideas of the Democratic Republicans and Federalists. He saw the parties maturing in 1800, moving past excessive rhetoric to accommodation, as both came to terms with the same political realities.

Missouri Compromise

Henry Clay came up with the Missouri Compromise: Missouri would enter the Union was a slave state, but Maine would enter as a free state maintained the balance The rest of the Louisiana Territory would be divided at the 36°, 30" line of latitude (Missouri's Southern border) Slavery would be prohibited north of the line, except in Missouri Slavery would be allowed South of the line

Movement for Public Asylums

Humanitarian reformers of the 1820s and 1830s called attention to the increasing numbers of criminals, emotionally disturbed persons, and paupers. Often these people were forced to live in wretched conditions and were regularly either abused or neglected by their caretakers. To alleviate the suffering of these individuals, reformers proposed setting up new public institutions state-supported prisons, mental hospitals, and poorhouses. Reformers hoped that inmates would be cured as a result of being withdrawn from squalid surroundings and treated to a disciplined pattern of life in some rural setting. Mental Hospitals Dorothea Dix, a former schoolteacher from Massachusetts, was horrified to find mentally ill persons locked up with convicted criminals in unsanitary cells. She launched a cross-country crusade, publicizing the awful treatment she had witnessed. In the 1840s one state legislature after another built new mental hospitals or improved existing institutions and mental patients began receiving professional treatment. Schools for Blind and Deaf Persons. Two other reformers founded special institutions to help people with physical disabilities. Thomas Gallaudet opened a school for the deaf, and Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe started a school for the blind. By the 1850s, special schools modeled after the work of these reformers had been established in many states of the Union. Prisons Pennsylvania took the lead in prison reform, building new prisons called penitentiaries to take the place of crude jails. Reformers placed prisoners in solitary confinement to force them to reflect on their sins and repent. The experiment was dropped because of the high rate of prisoner suicides. These prison reforms reflected a major doctrine of the asylum movement: structure and discipline would bring about moral reform. A similar penal experiment, the Auburn system in New York, enforced rigid rules of discipline while also providing moral instruction and work programs. Public Education Another reform movement started in the Jacksonian era focused on the need for establishing free public schools for children of all classes. Middle-class reformers were motivated in part by their fears for the future of the republic posed by growing numbers of the uneducated poor-both immigrant and native-born. Workers' groups in the cities generally supported the reformers' campaign for free (tax-supported) schools. Free Common Schools Horace Mann was the leading advocate of the common (public) School movement. AS Secretary of the newly founded Massachusetts Board of Education, Mann worked for compulsory attendance for all children, a longer School year, and increased teacher preparation. In the 1840s, the movement for public schools spread rapidly to other states. Moral Education Mann and other educational reformers wanted children to learn not only basic literacy, but also moral principles. Toward this end, William Holmes McGuffey, a Pennsylvania teacher, created a series of elementary textbooks that became widely used to teach reading and morality. The McGuffey readers extolled the virtues of hard work, punctuality, and sobriety-the kind of behaviors needed in an emerging industrial society. Objecting to the Protestant tone of the public schools, Roman Catholics founded private schools for the instruction of Catholic children. Higher Education The religious enthusiasm of the Second Great Awakening helped fuel the growth of private colleges. Beginning in the 1830s, Various Protestant denominations founded small denominational colleges, especially in the newer western states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa). At the same time, several new colleges, including Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts (founded by Mary Lyon in 1837) and Oberlin College in Ohio, began to admit women. Adult education was furthered by lyceum lecture Societies, which brought speakers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson to small-town audiences. Changes in Families and Roles for Women American society was still overwhelmingly rural in the mid-19th century. But in the growing cities, the impact of the Industrial Revolution was redefining the family. Industrialization reduced the economic value of children. In middle-class families, birth control was used to reduce average family size, which declined from 7.04 family members in 1800 to 5.42 in 1830. More affluent women now had the leisure time to devote to religious and moral uplift organizations. The New York Female Moral Reform Society, for example, worked to prevent impoverished young women from being forced into lives of prostitution. Cult of Domesticity Industrialization also changed roles within families. In traditional farm families, men were the moral leaders. However, when men took jobs outside the home to work for salaries or wages in an office or a factory, they were absent most of the time. As a result, the women in these households who remained at home took charge of the household and children. The idealized view of women as moral leaders in the home is called the cult of domesticity. Women's Rights Women reformers, especially those involved in the antislavery movement, resented the way men relegated them to secondary roles in the movement and prevented them from taking part fully in policy discussions. Two sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimké, objected to male opposition to their antislavery activities. In protest, Sarah Grimké wrote her Letter on the Condition of Women and the Equality of the Sexes (1837). Another pair of reformers, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, began campaigning for women's rights after they had been barred from speaking at an antislavery convention. Seneca Falls Convention (1848) The leading feminists met at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. At the conclusion of their convention-the first women's rights convention in American history-they issued a document closely modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Their "Declaration of Sentiments' declared that "all men and women are created equal" and listed Women's grievances against laws and customs that discriminated against them. Following the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony led the campaign for equal voting, legal, and property rights for women. In the 1850s, however, the issue of women's rights was overshadowed by the crisis over slavery.

Immigration

In 1820, about 8,000 immigrants arrived from Europe, but beginning in 1832, there was a sudden increase. After that year, the number of new arrivals never fell below 50,000 a year and in one year, 1854, climbed as high as 428,000. From the 1830s through the 1850s, nearly 4 million people from northern Europe crossed the Atlantic to seek a new life in the United States. Arriving by ship in the northern seacoast cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, many immigrants remained where they landed, while others traveled to farms and cities of the Old Northwest. Few journeyed to the South, where the plantation economy and slavery limited the opportunities for free labor. The surge in immigration between 1830 and 1860 was chiefly the result of: (1) the development of inexpensive and relatively rapid ocean transportation, (2) famines and revolutions in Europe that drove people from their homelands, and (3) the growing reputation of the United States as a country offering economic opportunities and political freedom. The immigrants strengthened the U.S. economy by providing both a steady stream of inexpensive labor and an increased demand for mass-produced consumer goods. Irish During this period, half of all the immigrants-almost 2 millioncame from Ireland. These Irish immigrants were mostly tenant farmers driven from their homeland by potato crop failures and a devastating famine in the 1840s. They arrived with limited interest in farming, few special skills, and little money. They faced strong discrimination because of their Roman Catholic religion. The Irish worked hard at whatever employment they could find, usually competing with African Americans for domestic work and unskilled laborer jobs. Faced with limited opportunities, they congregated for mutual Support in the northern cities (Boston, Philadelphia, and New York) where they had first landed. Many Irish entered local politics. They organized their fellow immigrants and joined the Democratic party, which had long traditions of antiBritish feelings and support for workers. Their progress was difficult but steady. For example, the Irish were initially excluded from joining New York City's Democratic organization, Tammany Hall. But by the 1850s they had secured jobs and influence, and by the 1880s they controlled this party organization. Germans Both economic hardships and the failure of democratic revolutions in 1848 caused more than 1 million Germans to seek refuge in the United States in the late 1840s and the 1850s. Most German immigrants had at least modest means as well as considerable skills as farmers and artisans. Moving westward in search of cheap, fertile farmland, they established homesteads throughout the Old Northwest and generally prospered. At first their political influence was limited. As they became more active in public life, many strongly Supported public education and staunchly opposed slavery. Nativists Many native-born Americans were alarmed by the influx of immigrants, fearing that the newcomers would take their jobs and also subvert (weaken) the culture of the Anglo majority. The nativists (those reacting most strongly against the foreigners) were Protestants who distrusted the Roman Catholicism practiced by the Irish and many of the Germans. In the 1840s, opposition to immigrants led to sporadic rioting in the big cities and the organization of a secret antiforeign society, the Supreme Order of the Star-Spangled Banner. This society turned to politics in the early 1850s, nominating candidates for office as the American party, or Know-Nothing party (see Chapter 13). Antiforeign feeling faded in importance as North and South divided over slavery prior to the Civil War. However, nativism would periodically return when enough native-born citizens felt threatened by a sudden increase in immigration.

Commercial Agriculture

In the early 1800s, farming became more of a commercial enterprise and less a means of providing subsistence for the family. This change to cash crops was brought about by a blend of factors. Cheap Land and Easy Credit Large areas of western land were made available at low prices by the federal government. State banks also made it easy to acquire land by providing farmers with loans at low interest rates. Markets Initially, western farmers were limited to sending their products down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to southern markets. The advent of canals and railroads opened new markets in the growing factory cities in the East. Cotton and the South Throughout the 19th century, the principal cash crop in the South was cotton. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793 transformed the agriculture of an entire region. Now that they could easily separate the cotton fiber from the seeds, southern planters found cotton more profitable than tobacco and indigo, the leading crops of the colonial period. They invested their capital in the purchase of slaves and new land in Alabama and Mississippi and shipped most of their cotton crop overseas for sale to British textile factories. Effects of the Market Revolution Specialization on the farm, the growth of cities, industrialization, and the development of modern capitalism meant the end of self-sufficient households and a growing interdependence among people. These changes combined to bring about a revolution in the marketplace. The farmers fed the workers in the cities, who in turn provided farm families with an array of mass-produced goods. For most Americans, the standard of living increased. At the same time, however, adapting to an impersonal, fast-changing economy presented challenges and problems. Women. As American society became more urban and industrialized, the nature of work and family life changed for women, many of whom no longer worked next to their husbands on family farms. Women seeking employment in a city were usually limited to two choices: domestic service or teaching. Factory jobs, as in the Lowell System, were not common. The overwhelming majority of working women were single. If they married, they left their jobs and took up duties in the home. In both urban and rural settings, women were gaining relatively more control over their lives. Marriages arranged by one's parents were less common, and some women elected to have fewer children. Nevertheless, legal restrictions on women remained. For example, they could not vote. Economic and Social Mobility Real wages improved for most urban workers in the early 1800s, but the gap between the very wealthy and the very poor increased. Social mobility (moving upward in income level and social status) did occur from one generation to the next, and economic opportunities in the United States were greater than in Europe. Extreme examples of poor, hard-working people becoming millionaires, however, were rare. Slavery At the outset of the 19th century, many people throughout the nation believed and hoped that slavery would gradually disappear. They thought that the exhaustion of soil in the coastal lands of Virginia and the Carolinas and the constitutional ban on the importation of slaves after 1808 would make slavery economically unfeasible. However, the rapid growth of the cotton industry and the expansion of slavery into new states such as Alabama and Mississippi ended hopes for a quiet end to slavery. As the arguments over the Missouri Compromise suggested, the slavery issue defied easy answers.

The Rise of Andrew Jackson

Jackson thought the Democratic Republicans were not protecting the rights of states & individuals and were only protecting the upper classes. End of the Era of Good Feelings 2 parties again President from 1829-1837 His VP= John C. Calhoun (from S.C.)

The Presidency of Andrew Jackson

Jackson was a different kind of president from any of his predecessors. A strong leader, he not only dominated politics for eight years but also became a symbol of the emerging working class and middle class (the so-called common man). Born in a frontier cabin, Jackson gained fame as an Indian fighter and as hero of the Battle of New Orleans, and came to live in a fine mansion in Tennessee as a wealthy planter and slaveowner. But he never lost the rough manners of the frontier. He chewed tobacco, fought several duels, and displayed a violent temper, Jackson was the first president since Washington to be without a college education. In a phrase, he could be described as an extraordinary ordinary man. This self-made man and living legend drew Support from every social group and every section of the country. Presidential Power Jackson presented himself as the representative of all the people and the protector of the common man against abuses of power by the rich and the privileged. He was a frugal Jeffersonian, who opposed increasing federal spending and the national debt. Jackson interpreted the powers of Congress narrowly and therefore vetoed more bills-12-than all six preceding presidents combined. For example, he vetoed the use of federal money to construct the Maysville Road, because it was wholly within one state, Kentucky, the home state of Jackson's rival, Henry Clay. Jackson's closest advisers were a group known as his "kitchen cabinet." who did not belong to his official cabinet. Because of them, the appointed cabinet had less influence on policy than under earlier presidents. Peggy Eaton Affair The champion of the common man also went to the aid of the common woman, at least in the case of Peggy O'Neale Eaton. The wife of Jackson's secretary of war, she was the target of malicious gossip by other cabinet wives, much as Jackson's recently deceased wife had been in the 1828 campaign. When Jackson tried to force the cabinet wives to accept Peggy Eaton socially, most of the cabinet resigned. This controversy contributed to the resignation of Jackson's vice president, John C. Calhoun, a year later. For remaining loyal during this crisis, Martin Van Buren of New York was chosen as vice president for Jackson's second term. Indian Removal Act (1830) Jackson's concept of democracy did not extend to American Indians. Jackson sympathized with land-hungry citizens who were impatient to take over lands held by American Indians. Jackson thought the most humane solution was to compel the American Indians to leave their traditional homelands and resettle west of the Mississippi. In 1830, he signed into law the Indian Removal Act, which forced the resettlement of many thousands of American Indians. By 1835 most eastern tribes had reluctantly complied and moved west. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created in 1836 to assist the resettled tribes. Most politicians supported a policy of Indian removal. Georgia and other states passed laws requiring the Cherokees to migrate to the West. When the Cherokees challenged Georgia in the courts, the Supreme Court ruled in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) that Cherokees were not a foreign nation with the right to Sue in a federal court. But in a second case, Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the high court ruled that the laws of Georgia had no force within Cherokee territory. In this clash between a state's laws and the federal courts, Jackson sided with the states. The Court was powerless to enforce its decision without the President's support.

THE AGE OF JACKSON, 1824-1844

Jacksonian Democracy The changing politics of the Jacksonian years paralleled complex social and economic changes. The Rise of a Democratic Society Visitors to the United States in the 1830s, such as Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat, were amazed by the informal manners and democratic attitudes of Americans. In hotels, under the American Plan, men and Women from all classes ate together at common tables. On stagecoaches, steamboats, and later in railroad cars, there was also only one class for passengers, so that the rich and poor alike sat together in the same compartments. European visitors could not distinguish between classes in the United States. Men of all backgrounds wore simple dark trousers and jackets, while less well-to-do Women emulated the fanciful and confining styles illustrated in wide-circulation women's magazines like Godey's Lady's Book. Equality was becoming the governing principle of American Society. Among the white majority in American society, people shared a belief in the principle of equality-more precisely, equality of opportunity for white males. These beliefs ignored the oppression of enslaved African Americans and discrimination against free blacks. Equality of opportunity would, at least in theory, allow a young man of humble origins to rise as far as his natural talent and industry would take him. The hero of the age was the "self-made man." There was no equivalent belief in the "self-made woman." but by the end of the 1840s, feminists would take up the theme of equal rights and insist that it should be applied to both women and men (see Chapter 11). Politics of the Common Man Between 1824 and 1840, politics moved out of the fine homes of rich southern planters and northern merchants who had dominated government in past eras and into middle- and lower-class homes. Several factors contributed to the spread of democracy, including new suffrage laws, changes in political parties and campaigns, improved education, and increases in newspaper circulation. Universal Male Suffrage Western states newly admitted to the Union-Indiana (1816), Illinois (1818), and Missouri (1821)-adopted state constitutions that allowed all white males to vote and hold office. These newer constitutions omitted any religious or property qualifications for voting. Most eastern states soon followed Suit, eliminating such restrictions. As a result, throughout the country, all white males could vote regardless of their social class or religion. Voting for president rose from about 350,000 in 1824 to more than 2.4 million in 1840, a nearly sevenfold increase injust 16 years, mostly as a result of changes in voting laws. In addition, political offices could be held by people in the lower and middle ranks of society. Party Nominating Conventions In the past, candidates for office had commonly been nominated either by state legislatures or by "King Caucus'-a closed-door meeting of a political party's leaders in Congress. Common citizens had no opportunity to participate. In the 1830s, however, caucuses were replaced by nominating conventions. Party politicians and voters would gather in a large meeting hall to nominate the party's candidates. The Anti-Masonic party was the first to hold such a nominating convention. This method was more open to popular participation, hence more democratic. Popular Election of the President In the presidential election of 1832, only South Carolina used the old system in which the state legislature chose the electors for president. All other states had adopted the more democratic method of allowing the voters to choose a state's slate of presidential electors. Two-party System The popular election of presidential electors-and, in effect, the president-had important consequences for the two-party system. Campaigns for president now had to be conducted on a national scale. To organize these campaigns, candidates needed large political parties. Rise of Third Parties While only the large national parties (the Democrats and the Whigs in Jackson's day) could hope to win the presidency, other political parties also emerged. The Anti-Masonic party and the Workingmen's party, for example, reached out to groups of people who previously had shown little interest in politics. The Anti-Masons attacked the secret societies of Masons and accused them of belonging to a privileged, antidemocratic elite.

Trail of Tears

Most Cherokees repudiated the settlement of 1835, which provided land in the Indian territory. In 1838, after Jackson had left office, the U.S. Army forced 15,000 Cherokees to leave Georgia. The hardships on the "trail of tears' westward caused the deaths of 4,000 Cherokees. Nullification Crisis Jackson favored states' rights-but not disunion. In 1828, the South Carolina legislature declared the increased tariff of 1828, the so-called Tariff of Abominations, to be unconstitutional. In doing so, it affirmed a theory advanced by Jackson's first vice president, John C. Calhoun. According to this nullification theory, each state had the right to decide whether to obey a federal law or to declare it null and void (of no effect). In 1830, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts debated Robert Hayne of South Carolina on the nature of the federal Union under the Constitution. Webster attacked the idea that any state could defy or leave the Union. Following this famous Webster-Hayne debate, President Jackson declared his own position in a toast he presented at a political dinner. "Our federal Union," he declared, "it must be preserved." Calhoun responded immediately with another toast: "The Union, next to our liberties, most dear!' In 1832, Calhoun's South Carolina increased tension by holding a special convention to nullify both the hated 1828 tariff and a new tariff of 1832. The convention passed a resolution forbidding the collection of tariffs within the state. Jackson reacted decisively. He told the secretary of war to prepare for military action. He persuaded Congress to pass a Force bill giving him authority to act against South Carolina. Jackson also issued a Proclamation to the People of South Carolina, stating that nullification and disunion were treason. But federal troops did not march in this crisis. Jackson opened the door for compromise by suggesting that Congress lower the tariff. South Carolina postponed nullification and later formally rescinded it after Congress enacted a new tariff along the lines suggested by the president. Jackson's strong defense of federal authority forced the militant advocates of states' rights to retreat. On another issue, however, militant Southerners had Jackson's Support. The president shared southerners' alarm about the growing antislavery movement in the North. He used his executive power to stop antislavery literature from being sent through the U.S. mail. Southern Jacksonians trusted that Jackson would not extend democracy to African Americans. Bank Veto Another major issue of Jackson's presidency concerned the rechartering of the Bank of the United States. This bank and its branches, although privately owned, received federal deposits and attempted to serve a public purpose by cushioning the ups and downs of the national economy. The bank's president, Nicholas Biddle, managed it effectively. Biddle's arrogance, however, contributed to the suspicion that the bank abused its powers and served the interests of only the wealthy. Jackson shared this suspicion. He believed that the Bank of the United States was unconstitutional. Henry Clay, Jackson's chief political opponent, favored the bank. In 1832, an election year, Clay decided to challenge Jackson on the bank issue by persuading a majority in Congress to pass a bank-recharter bill. Jackson promptly vetoed this bill, denouncing it as a private monopoly that enriched the wealthy and foreigners at the expense of the common people and the "hydra of corruption." The voters agreed with Jackson. Jackson won reelection with more than three-fourths of the electoral vote.

Abolitionist Movement

New political parties, such as the Liberty Party and the Free-Soil Party, formed in the 1850s to support the abolition of slavery scared the South 3 groups of Abolitionists emerged: 1. American Colonization Society- called for the emancipation and transportation of freed slaves back to Africa 2. American Anti-Slavery Society- called for emancipation by any means 3. Liberty Party- pledged to end slavery through legal and political means Frederick Douglass was a former slave who gave speeches and created an anti-slavery newspaper called The North Star Lots of slave rebellions starting to occur

The War Of 1812

Neither Britain nor the United States wanted their dispute to end in war. And yet war between them did break out in 1812. Causes of the War From the U.S. point of view, the pressures leading to war came from two directions: the continued violation of U.S. neutral rights at sea and troubles with the British on the western frontier. Free Seas and Trade. As a trading nation, the United States depended upon the free flow of shipping across the Atlantic. Yet the chief belligerents in Europe, Britain, and France, had no interest in respecting neutral rights so long as they were locked in a life-and-death struggle with each other. They well remembered that Britain had seemed a cruel enemy during the American Revolution, and the French had supported the colonists. In addition, Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans applauded the French for having overthrown their monarchy in their own revolution. Moreover, even though both the French and the British violated U.S. neutral rights, the British violations were worse because of the British navy's practice of impressing American sailors. Frontier Pressures Added to long-standing grievances over British actions at sea were the ambitions of western Americans for more open land. Americans on the frontier longed for the lands of British Canada and Spanish Florida. Standing in the way were the British and their Indian and Spanish allies. Conflict with the American Indians was a perennial problem for the restless Westerners. For decades, settlers had been gradually pushing the American Indians farther and farther westward. In an effort to defend their lands from further encroachment, Shawnee brothers-Tecumseh, a warrior, and Prophet, a religious leader-attempted to unite all of the tribes east of the Mississippi River. White settlers became suspicious of Tecumseh and persuaded the governor of the Indiana Territory, General William Henry Harrison, to take aggressive action. In the Battle of Tippecanoe, in 1811, Harrison destroyed the Shawnee headquarters and put an end to Tecumseh's efforts to form an Indian confederacy. The British had provided only limited aid to Tecumseh. Nevertheless, Americans on the frontier blamed the British for instigating the rebellion. War Hawks. A congressional election in 1810 had brought a group of new, young Democratic-Republicans to Congress, many of them from frontier states (Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio). Known as war hawks because of their eagerness for war with Britain, they quickly gained significant influence in the House of Representatives. Led by Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, the war-hawk members of Congress argued that war with Britain would be the only way to defend American honor, gain Canada, and destroy American Indian resistance on the frontier. Declaration of War British delays in meeting U.S. demands over neutral rights combined with political pressures from the war hawks finally persuaded Madison to seek a declaration of war against Britain. Ironically, the British government had by this time (June 1812) agreed to suspend its naval blockade. News of its decision reached the White House after Congress had declared war. A Divided Nation Neither Congress nor the American people were united in support of the war. In Congress, Pennsylvania and Vermont joined the southern and western states to provide a slight majority for the war declaration. Voting against the war were most representatives from New York, New Jersey, and the rest of the states in New England.

Antislavery Movement

Opponents of slavery ranged from moderates who proposed gradual abolition to radicals who demanded immediate abolition without compensating their owners. The Second Great Awakening led many Christians to view slavery as a sin. This moral view made compromise with defenders of slavery difficult. American Colonization Society The idea of transporting freed slaves to an African colony was first tried in 1817 with the founding of the American Colonization Society. This appealed to moderate antislavery reformers and politicians, in part because whites with racist attitudes hoped to remove free blacks from U.S. society. In 1822, the American Colonization Society established an African-American settlement in Monrovia, Liberia. Colonization never proved a practical course. Between 1820 and 1860, only about 12,000 African Americans were settled in Africa, while the slave population grew by 2.5 million. American Antislavery Society In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison began publication of an abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, an event that marks the beginning of the radical abolitionist movement. The uncompromising Garrison advocated immediate abolition of slavery in every state and territory without compensating the slaveowners. In 1833, Garrison and other abolitionists founded the American Antislavery Society. Garrison stepped up his attacks by condemning and burning the Constitution as a proslavery document. He argued for "no Union with slaveholders' until they repented for their sins by freeing their slaves. Liberty Party Garrison's radicalism soon led to a split in the abolitionist movement. Believing that political action was a more practical route to reform than Garrison's moral crusade, a group of northerners formed the Liberty party in 1840. They ran James Birney as their candidate for president in 1840 and 1844. The party's one campaign pledge was to bring about the end of slavery by political and legal means. Black Abolitionists Escaped slaves and free African Americans were among the most outspoken and convincing critics of slavery. A former slave such as Frederick Douglass could speak about the brutality and degradation of slavery from firsthand experience. An early follower of Garrison, Douglass later advocated both political and direct action to end slavery and racial prejudice. In 1847, he started the antislavery journal The North Star. Other African American leaders, such as Harriet Tubman, David Ruggles, Sojourner Truth, and William Still, helped organize the effort to assist fugitive slaves escape to free territory in the North or to Canada, where slavery was prohibited. Violent Abolitionism David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet were two northern African Americans who advocated the most radical solution to the slavery question. They argued that slaves should take action themselves by rising up in revolt against their owners. In 1831, a Virginia slave named Nat Turner led a revolt in which 55 whites were killed. In retaliation, whites killed hundreds of African Americans in brutal fashion and put down the revolt. Before this event, there had been some antislavery sentiment and discussion in the South. After the revolt, fear of future uprisings as well as Garrison's inflamed rhetoric put an end to antislavery talk in the South. American Colonization Society The idea of transporting freed slaves to an African colony was first tried in 1817 with the founding of the American Colonization Society. This appealed to moderate antislavery reformers and politicians, in part because whites with racist attitudes hoped to remove free blacks from U.S. society. In 1822, the American Colonization Society established an African-American settlement in Monrovia, Liberia. Colonization never proved a practical course. Between 1820 and 1860, only about 12,000 African Americans were settled in Africa, while the slave population grew by 2.5 million. American Antislavery Society In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison began publication of an abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator, an event that marks the beginning of the radical abolitionist movement. The uncompromising Garrison advocated immediate abolition of slavery in every state and territory without compensating the slaveowners. In 1833, Garrison and other abolitionists founded the American Antislavery Society. Garrison stepped up his attacks by condemning and burning the Constitution as a proslavery document. He argued for "no Union with slaveholders' until they repented for their sins by freeing their slaves. Liberty Party Garrison's radicalism soon led to a split in the abolitionist movement. Believing that political action was a more practical route to reform than Garrison's moral crusade, a group of northerners formed the Liberty party in 1840. They ran James Birney as their candidate for president in 1840 and 1844. The party's one campaign pledge was to bring about the end of slavery by political and legal means. Violent Abolitionism David Walker and Henry Highland Garnet were two northern African Americans who advocated the most radical solution to the slavery question. They argued that slaves should take action themselves by rising up in revolt against their owners. In 1831, a Virginia slave named Nat Turner led a revolt in which 55 whites were killed. In retaliation, whites killed hundreds of African Americans in brutal fashion and put down the revolt. Before this event, there had been some antislavery sentiment and discussion in the South. After the revolt, fear of future uprisings as well as Garrison's inflamed rhetoric put an end to antislavery talk in the South.

Religion: The Second Great Awakening

Religious revivals swept through the United States during the early decades of the 19th century. They were partly a reaction against the rationalism (belief in human reason) that had been the fashion during the Enlightenment and the American Revolution. Calvinist (Puritan) teachings of original sin and predestination had been rejected by believers in more liberal and forgiving doctrines, such as those of the Unitarian Church. Calvinism began a counterattack against these liberal views in the 1790s. The Second Great Awakening began among educated people such as Reverend Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College in Connecticut. Dwight's campus revivals motivated a generation of young men to become evangelical preachers. In the revivals of the early 1800s, successful preachers were audience-centered and easily understood by the uneducated; they spoke about the opportunity for salvation to all. These populist movements seemed attuned to the democratization of American society. Revivalism in New York In 1823, Presbyterian minister Charles G. Finney started a series of revivals in upstate New York, where many New Englanders had settled. Instead of delivering sermons based on rational argument, Finney appealed to people's emotions and fear of damnation. He prompted thousands to publicly declare their revived faith. He preached that every individual could be saved through faith and hard work-ideas that strongly appealed to the rising middle class. Because of Finney's influence, western New York became known as the "burned-over district' for its frequent "helland-brimstone" revivals. Baptists and Methodists. In the South and on the advancing western frontier, Baptist and Methodist circuit preachers, such as Peter Cartwright, would travel from one location to another and attract thousands to hear their dramatic preaching at outdoor revivals, or camp meetings. These preachers activated the faith of many people who had never belonged to a church. By 1850, the Baptists and the Methodists were the largest Protestant denominations in the country. Millennialism. Much of the religious enthusiasm of the time was based on the widespread belief that the world was about to end with the second coming of Jesus. One preacher, William Miller, gained tens of thousands of followers by predicting a specific date (October 21, 1844) for the second coming. Nothing happened on the appointed day, but the Millerites continued as a new Christian denomination, the Seventh-Day Adventists. Mormons Another religious group, the Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints, or Mormons, was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Smith based his religious thinking on a book of Scripture-the Book of Mormon-which traced a connection between the American Indians and the lost tribes of Israel. Smith gathered a following in New York and moved to Ohio, then Missouri, and finally, Illinois. There, the Mormon founder was murdered by a local mob. To escape persecution, the Mormons under the leadership of Brigham Young migrated to the far western frontier, where they established the New Zion (as they called their religious community) on the banks of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Their cooperative social organization helped the Mormons to prosper in the wilderness. Their practice of polygamy (allowing a man to have more than one wife), however, aroused the hostility of the U.S. government. The Second Great Awakening, like the first, caused new divisions in Society between the newer, evangelical sects and the older Protestant churches. It affected all sections of the country. But in the northern states from Massachusetts to Ohio the Great Awakening also touched off social reform. Activist religious groups provided both the leadership and the well-organized voluntary societies that drove the reform movements of the antebellum era.

The earliest pioneers were fur traders, land speculators, and poor farmers looking for cheap land

Soon, farmers, miners, ranchers, and religious groups flooded West The Oregon Trail led thousands of farmers to the fertile lands of Oregon in the 1840s The Santa Fe Trail allowed the U.S. to sell goods to Mexico After Joseph Smith's murder in Illinois, Brigham Young led the Mormons to create a new settlement in Utah Westward expansion brought conflict with Indians, such as the Black Hawk War, as trails disrupted hunting grounds and violated previous treaties The Treaty of Fort Laramie created a vast Indian Territory but was repeatedly ignored by whites expanding West

The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Territory encompassed a large and largely unexplored tract of western land through which the Mississippi and Missouri rivers flowed. At the mouth of the Mississippi lay the territory's most valuable property in terms of commerce-the port of New Orleans. For many years, Louisiana and New Orleans had been claimed by Spain. But in 1800, the French military and political leader Napoleon Bonaparte secretly forced Spain to give the Louisiana Territory back to its former owner, France. Napoleon hoped to restore the French empire in the Americas. By 1803, however, Napoleon had lost interest in this plan for two reasons: (1) he needed to concentrate French resources on fighting England and (2) a rebellion led by Toussaint l'Ouverture against French rule on the island of Santo Domingo had resulted in heavy French losses. U.S. Interest in the Mississippi River During Jefferson's presidency, the western frontier extended beyond Ohio and Kentucky into the Indiana Territory. Settlers in this region depended for their economic existence on transporting goods on rivers that flowed westward into the Mississippi and southward as far as New Orleans. They were greatly alarmed therefore when in 1802 Spanish officials, who were still in charge of New Orleans, closed the port to Americans. They revoked the right of deposit granted in the Pinckney Treaty of 1795, which had allowed American farmers tax-free use of the port. People on the frontier clamored for government action. In addition to being concerned about the economic impact of the closing of New Orleans, President Jefferson was troubled by its consequences on foreign policy. He feared that, so long as a foreign power controlled the river at New Orleans, the United States risked entanglement in European affairs. Negotiations Jefferson sent ministers to France with instructions to offer up to $10 million for both New Orleans and a strip of land extending from that port eastward to Florida. If the American ministers failed in their negotiations with the French, they were instructed to begin discussions with Britain for a U.S.-British alliance. Napoleon's ministers, seeking funds for a war against Britain, offered to sell not only New Orleans but also the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million. The surprised American ministers quickly went beyond their instructions and accepted. Constitutional Predicament Jefferson and most Americans strongly approved of the Louisiana Purchase. Nevertheless, a constitutional problem troubled the president. Jefferson was committed to a strict interpretation of the Constitution and rejected Hamilton's argument that certain powers were implied. No clause in the Constitution explicitly stated that a president could purchase foreign land. In this case, Jefferson determined to set aside his idealism for the country's good. He submitted the purchase agreement to the Senate, arguing that lands could be added to the United States as an application of the president's power to make treaties. Casting aside the criticisms of Federalist senators, the Republican majority in the Senate quickly ratified the purchase. Consequences The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States, removed a European presence from the nation's borders, and extended the western frontier to lands beyond the Mississippi. Furthermore, the acquisition of millions of acres of land strengthened Jefferson's hopes that his country's future would be based on an agrarian society of independent farmers rather than Hamilton's vision of an urban and industrial society. In political terms, the Louisiana Purchase increased Jefferson's popularity and showed the Federalists to be a weak, sectionalist (New England-based) party that could do little more than complain about Democratic-Republican policies.

The Compromise of 1850

The discovery of gold in California HUGE increase in population CA quickly able to apply for statehood California drew up a state constitution that outlawed slavery Southerners said the exclusion of slavery violated the Missouri Compromise & that it would be unfair if CA was a slave state because Northerners already controlled the House of Representatives Made up of 5 separate laws: 1) The state of New Mexico would be established 2) New Mexico's voters would determine whether or not slavery was allowed there 3)California would be a free state 4) All citizens of US, regardless of region, would have to apprehend runaway slaves and return them to their owners (Fugitive Slave Act) 5) Slave trade would be abolished in Washington D.C. but the practice of slavery would be allowed to continue there

The South

The states that permitted slavery formed a distinctive region, the South. By 1861, the region included 15 states, all but four of which (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri) seceded and joined the Confederacy. Agriculture and King Cotton Agriculture was the foundation of the South's economy, even though by the 1850s small factories in the region were producing approximately 15 percent of the nation's manufactured goods. Tobacco, rice, and sugarcane were important cash crops, but these were far exceeded by the South's chief economic activity: the production and sale of cotton. The development of mechanized textile mills in England, coupled with Eli Whitney's cotton gin, made cotton cloth affordable, not just in Europe and the United States, but throughout the world. Before 1860, the world depended chiefly on Britain's mills for its supply of cloth, and Britain in turn depended chiefly on the American South for its supply of cotton fiber. Originally, the cotton was grown almost entirely in two states, South Carolina and Georgia, but as demand and profits increased, planters moved westward into Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. New land was constantly needed, for the high cotton yields required for profits quickly depleted the soil. By the 1850s, cotton provided two-thirds of all U.S. exports and linked the South and Great Britain. "Cotton is king," said one southerner of his region's greatest asset. Slavery, the "Peculiar Institution" Wealth in the South was measured in terms of land and slaves. The latter were treated as a form of property, Subject to being bought and sold. However, some whites were sensitive about how they treated the other humans that they referred to slavery as "that peculiar institution. In colonial times, people justified slavery as an economic necessity, but in the 19th century, apologists for slavery mustered historical and religious arguments to support their claim that it was good for both slave and master. Population The cotton boom was largely responsible for a fourfold increase in the number of slaves, from 1 million in 1800 to nearly 4 million in 1860. Most of the increase came from natural growth, although thousands of Africans were also smuggled into the South in violation of the 1808 law against importing slaves. In parts of the Deep South, slaves made up as much as 75 percent of the total population. Fearing slave revolts, southern legislatures added increased restrictions on movement and education to their slave codes. Economics Slaves were employed doing whatever their owners demanded of them. Most slaves labored in the fields, but many learned skilled crafts or worked as house servants, in factories, and on construction gangs. Because of the greater profits to be made on the new cotton plantations in the West, many slaves were sold from the Upper South to the cotton-rich Deep South of the lower Mississippi Valley. By 1860, the value of a field slave had risen to almost $2,000. One result of the heavy capital investment in slaves was that the South had much less capital than the North to undertake industrialization. Slave Life Conditions of slavery varied from one plantation to the next. Some slaves were humanely treated, while others were routinely beaten. All suffered from being deprived of their freedom. Families could be separated at any time by an owner's decision to sell a wife, a husband, or a child. Women were vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Despite the hard, nearly hopeless circumstances of their lives, enslaved African Americans maintained a strong sense of family and of religious faith. Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Tires to 1970 Resistance Slaves contested their status through a range of actions, primarily work slowdowns, sabotage, and escape. In addition, there were a few major slave uprisings. One was led by Denmark Vesey in 1822 and another by Nat Turner in 1831. The revolts were quickly and violently suppressed, but even so, they had a lasting impact. They gave hope to enslaved African Americans, drove southern states to tighten already strict slave codes, and demonstrated to many the evils of slavery. Revolts polarized the country by making slaveholders more defensive about slavery and nonslaveholders more critical of the institution. Free African Americans By 1860, as many as 250,000 African Americans in the South were not slaves. They were free citizens (even though, as in the North, racial prejudice restricted their liberties). A number of slaves had been emancipated during the American Revolution. Some were mulatto children whose white fathers had decided to liberate them. Others achieved freedom on their own, when permitted, through self-purchase-if they were fortunate enough to have been paid wages for extra work, usually as skilled craftspeople. Most of the free southern blacks lived in cities where they could own property. By state law, they were not equal with whites, were not permitted to vote, and were barred from entering certain occupations. Constantly in danger of being kidnapped by slave traders, they had to show legal papers proving their free status. They remained in the South for various reasons. Some wanted to be near family members who were still in bondage; others believed the South to be home and the North to offer no greater opportunities.

First President = George Washington

There was no clear understanding of how the office of the President would operate George Washington set a lot of precedents

Election of 1800

Thomas Jefferson (Democratic Republican) and Aaron Burr (Democratic Republican) tied the election went to the House of Representatives to break the tie Alexander Hamilton preferred Thomas Jefferson convinced Congress to pick Jefferson **significance: the election was the first peaceful transfer of powers from one party to another**

The Transcendentalists

Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau questioned the doctrines of established churches and the business practices of the merchant class. They argued for a mystical and intuitive way of thinking as a means for discovering one's inner self and looking for the essence of God in nature. Their views challenged the materialism of American society by suggesting that artistic expression was more important than the pursuit of wealth. Although the transcendentalists valued individualism highly and viewed organized institutions as unimportant, they supported a variety of reforms, especially the antislavery movement. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) The best-known transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a very popular American speaker. His essays and lectures expressed the individualistic and nationalistic spirit of Americans by urging them not to imitate European culture but to create a distinctive American culture. He argued for self-reliance, independent thinking, and the primacy of spiritual matters over material ones. A northerner who lived in Concord, Massachusetts, Emerson became a leading critic of slavery in the 1850s and then an ardent supporter of the Union during the Civil War. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Also living in Concord and a close friend of Emerson was Henry David Thoreau. To test his transcendentalist philosophy, Thoreau conducted a two-year experiment of living simply in a cabin in the woods outside town. He used observations of nature to discover essential truths about life and the universe. Thoreau's writings from these years were published in the book for which he is best known, Walden (1854). Because of this book, Thoreau is remembered today as a pioneer ecologist and conservationist. Through his essay "On Civil Disobedience." Thoreau established himself as an early advocate of nonviolent protest. The essay presented Thoreau's argument for disobeying unjust laws and accepting the penalty. The philosopher's own act of civil disobedience was to refuse to pay a tax that would support an action he considered immoral-the U.S. war with Mexico (1846-1848). For breaking the tax law, Thoreau spent one night in the Concord jail. In the next century, Thoreau's essay and actions would inspire the nonviolent movements of both Mohandas Gandhi in India and Martin Luther King Jr. in the United States. Brook Farm Could a community of people live out the transcendentalist ideal? In 1841, George Ripley, a Protestant minister, launched a communal experiment at Brook Farm in Massachusetts. His goal was to achieve "a more natural union between intellectual and manual labor." Living at Brook Farm at times were some of the leading intellectuals of the period. Emerson went, as did Margaret Fuller, a feminist (advocate of women's rights) writer and editor; Theodore Parker, a theologian and radical reformer; and Nathaniel Hawthorne, a novelist. A bad fire and heavy debts forced the end of the experiment in 1849. But Brook Farm was remembered for its atmosphere of artistic creativity, its innovative school, and its appeal to New England's intellectual elite and their children. Communal Experiments The idea of withdrawing from conventional Society to create an ideal community, or utopia, in a fresh setting was not a new idea. But never before were social experiments so numerous as during the antebellum years. The open lands of the United States proved fertile ground for more than a hundred experimental communities. The early Mormons were an example of a religious communal effort and Brook Farm was an example of a humanistic or secular experiment. Although many of the communities were short-lived, these "backwoods utopias" reflect the diversity of the reform ideas of the time. Shakers One of the earliest religious communal movements, the Shakers had about 6,000 members in various communities by the 1840s. Shakers held property in common and kept women and men strictly separate (forbidding marriage and sexual relations). For lack of new recruits, the Shaker communities virtually died out by the mid-1900s. The Amana Colonies The settlers of the Amana colonies in Iowa Were Germans who belonged to the religious reform movement known as Pietism. Like the Shakers, they emphasized simple, communal living. However, they allowed for marriage, and their communities continue to prosper, although they no longer practice their communal ways of living. New Harmony The secular (nonreligious) experiment in New Harmony, Indiana, was the work of the Welsh industrialist and reformer Robert Owen. Owen hoped his utopian socialist community would provide an answer to the problems of inequity and alienation caused by the Industrial Revolution. The experiment failed, however, as a result of both financial problems and disagreements among members of the community. Oneida Community After undergoing a religious conversion, John Humphrey Noyes in 1848 started a cooperative community in Oneida, New York. Dedicated to an ideal of perfect social and economic equality, community members shared property and, later, marriage partners. Critics attacked the Oneida system of planned reproduction and communal child-rearing as a sinful experiment in "free love." Despite the controversy, the community managed to prosper economically by producing and selling silverware of excellent quality. Fourier Phalanxes. In the 1840s, the theories of the French socialist Charles Fourier attracted the interest of many Americans. In response to the problems of a fiercely competitive society, Fourier advocated that people share work and housing in communities known as Fourier Phalanxes. This movement died out quickly as Americans proved too individualistic to live communally.

The Democratic Republicans turned into

the Whig Party Favored industrial expansion & were supported by the upper-classes

More Elected Offices During the Jacksonian era

, a much larger number of state and local officials were elected to office, instead of being appointed, as in the past. This change gave the voters more voice in their government and also tended to increase their interest in participating in elections. Popular Campaigning Candidates for office directed their campaigns to the interests and prejudices of the common people. Politics also became a form of local entertainment. Campaigns of the 1830s and 1840s featured parades of floats and marching bands and large rallies in which voters were treated to free food and drink. The negative side to the new campaign techniques was that in appealing to the masses, candidates would often resort to personal attacks and ignore the issues. A politician, for example, might attack an opponent's "aristocratic airs' and make him seem unfriendly to "the common man." Spoils System and Rotation of Officeholders Winning government jobs became the lifeblood of party organizations. At the national level, President Jackson believed in appointing people to federal jobs (as postmasters, for example) strictly according to whether they had actively campaigned for the Democratic party. Any previous holder of the office who was not a Democrat was fired and replaced with a loyal Democrat. This practice of dispensing government jobs in return for party loyalty was called the spoils system because of a comment that, in a war, victors seize the spoils, or wealth, of the defeated. In addition, Jackson believed in a system of rotation in office. By limiting a person to one term in office he could then appoint some other deserving Democratin his place. Jackson defended the replacement and rotation of officeholders as a democratic reform. "No man," he said, "has any more intrinsic claim to office than another." Both the spoils system and the rotation of officeholders affirmed the democratic ideal that one man was as good as another and that ordinary Americans were capable of holding any government office. These beliefs also helped build a strong two-party system.

Political Changes

A principal reason for the rapid decline of the Federalist party was its failure to adapt to the changing needs of a growing nation. Having opposed the War of 1812 and presided over a secessionist convention at Hartford, the party seemed completely out of step with the nationalistic temper of the times. After its crushing defeat in the election of 1816, it ceased to be a national party and failed to nominate a presidential candidate in 1820. Changes in the Democratic-Republican Party Meanwhile, the Democratic-Republican party, as the only remaining national party, underwent serious internal strains as it adjusted to changing times. Members such as John Randolph clung to the old party ideals of limited government and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Most members, however, adopted what had once been Federalist ideas, such as the need for maintaining of a large army and navy and support for a national bank. Some members reversed their views from one decade to the next. For example, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, strongly opposed both the tariffs of 1816 and 1824 but then supported even higher tariff rates in 1828. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was another Democratic-Republican leader who reversed positions. An outspoken war hawk and nationalist in 1812, Calhoun championed states' rights after 1828. Political factions and sectional differences became more intense during Monroe's second term. When Monroe, honoring the two-term tradition, declined to be a candidate again, four other Republicans sought election as president in 1824. How this election split of the Democratic-Republican party and led to the emergence of two rival parties is explained in Chapter 10.

Election of 1812.

A similar division of opinion was seen in the presidential election of 1812, in which Democratic-Republican strength in the South and West overcame Federalist and antiwar Democratic-Republican opposition to war in the North. Madison won reelection, defeating De Witt Clinton of New York, the candidate of the Federalists and antiwar Democratic-Republicans. Opposition to the War Americans who opposed the war viewed it as "Mr. Madison's War' and the work of the war hawks in Congress. Most outspoken in their criticism of the war were New England merchants, Federalist politicians, and "Quids," or "Old" Democratic-Republicans. New England merchants were opposed because, after the repeal of the Embargo Act, they were making sizable profits from the European war and viewed impressment as merely a minor inconvenience. Both commercial interests and religious ties to Protestantism made them more sympathetic to the Protestant British than to the Catholic French. Federalist politicians viewed the war as a Democratic-Republican scheme to conquer Canada and Florida, with the ultimate aim of increasing Democratic-Republican voting strength. For their part, the "Quids' criticized the war because it violated the classic Democratic-Republican commitment to limited federal power and to the maintenance of peace.

President John Quincy Adams

Adams further alienated the followers of Jackson when he asked Congress for money for internal improvements, aid to manufacturing, and even a national university and an astronomical observatory. Jacksonians viewed all these measures as a waste of money and a violation of the Constitution. Most significantly, in 1828, Congress patched together a new tariff law, which generally satisfied northern manufacturers but alienated southern planters. Southerners denounced it as a "tariff of abominations.' The Revolution of 1828 Adams sought reelection in 1828. But the Jacksonians were now ready to use the discontent of southerners and westerners and the new campaign tactics of party organization to sweep "Old Hickory" (Jackson) into office. Going beyond parades and barbecues, Jackson's party resorted to smearing the president and accusing Adams' wife of being born out of wedlock. Supporters of Adams retaliated in kind, accusing Jackson's wife of adultery. The mudslinging campaign attracted a lot of interest and voter turnout soared. Jackson won handily, carrying every state west of the Appalachians. His reputation as a war hero and man of the western frontier accounted for his victory more than the positions he took on issues of the day.

Clay's Proposals

After months of heated debate in Congress and throughout the nation, Henry Clay won majority support for three bills that, taken together, represented a compromise: 1. Admit Missouri as a slave-holding state. 2. Admit Maine as a free state. 3. Prohibit slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of latitude 36° 30'. Both houses passed the bills, and President Monroe added his signature in March 1820 to what became known as the Missouri Compromise. Aftermath Sectional feelings on the slavery issue subsided after 1820. The Missouri Compromise preserved sectional balance for more than 30 years and provided time for the nation to mature. Nevertheless, if an era of good feelings existed, it was badly damaged by the storm of sectional controversy over Missouri. After this political crisis, Americans were torn between feelings of nationalism (loyalty to the Union) on the one hand and feelings of sectionalism (loyalty to one's own region) on the other.

Westward Expansion

After the War of 1812, four factors encouraged families to move into the Midwest: American Indians were removed from the region Land speculators acquired large tracts of land and were eager to sell As the national infrastructure improved, it became easier to migrate west Fertile soil and the development of better plows allowed farmers in the west to make more money

John Marshall and the Supreme Court

After the sweeping Democratic-Republican victory of 1800, the only power remaining to the Federalists was their control of the federal courts. The Federalist appointments to the courts, previously made by Washington and Adams, were not subject to recall or removal except by impeachment. Federalist judges therefore continued in office, much to the annoyance of the DemocraticRepublican president, Jefferson. John Marshall Ironically, the Federalist judge who caused Jefferson the most grief was one of his own cousins from Virginia, John Marshall. Marshall had been appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the final months of John Adams' presidency. He held his post for 34 years, in which time he exerted as strong an influence on the Supreme Court as Washington had exerted on the presidency. Marshall's decisions in many landmark cases generally strengthened the central government, often at the expense of states' rights. Case of Marbury v. Madison (1803) The first major case decided by Marshall put him in direct conflict with President Jefferson. Upon taking office, Jefferson wanted to block the Federalist judges appointed by his predecessor, President John Adams. He ordered Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver the commissions to those Federalists judges. One of Adams' "midnight appointments." William Marbury, sued for his commission. The case of Marbury v. Madison went to the Supreme Court in 1803. Marshall ruled that Marbury had a right to his commission according to the Judiciary Act passed by Congress in 1789. However, Marshall said the Judiciary Act of 1789 had given to the Court greater power than the Constitution allowed. Therefore, the law was unconstitutional, and Marbury would not receive his commission. In effect, Marshall sacrificed what would have been a small Federalist gain (the appointment of Marbury) for a much larger, long-term judicial victory. By ruling a law of Congress to be unconstitutional, Marshall established the doctrine of judicial review. From this point on, the Supreme Court would exercise the power to decide whether an act of Congress or of the president was allowed by the Constitution. The Supreme Court could now overrule actions of the other two branches of the federal government. Judicial Impeachments Jefferson tried other methods for overturning past Federalist measures and appointments. Soon after entering office, he suspended the Alien and Sedition Acts and released those jailed under them. Hoping to remove partisan Federalist judges, Jefferson supported a campaign of impeachment. The judge of one federal district was found to be mentally unbalanced. The House voted his impeachment and the Senate then voted to remove him. The House also impeached a Supreme Court justice, Samuel Chase, but the Senate acquitted him after finding no evidence of "high crimes." Except for these two cases, the impeachment campaign was largely a failure, as almost all the Federalist judges remained in office. Even so, the threat of impeachment caused the judges to be more cautious and less partisan in their decisions.

Scott v. Sanford

Another event that led the country toward Civil War was the Supreme Court ruling in Scott v. Sanford. Often referred to as the Dred Scott decision, the 1857 ruling settled a lawsuit in which a slave named Dred Scott claimed he should be a free man. Scott had lived with his master in slave states and in free states and believed he had been held illegally in the free states. The Supreme Court rejected Scott's claim, ruling that no enslaved or free Black could be a citizen of the United States. The Court said Congress could not prohibit slavery in federal territories. Thus, the Court found that popular sovereignty and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 were unconstitutional. The Dred Scott decision gave slavery the protection of the United States Constitution. In essence, nothing short of a constitutional amendment could end slavery - an event not likely to occur. Proslavery Americans welcomed the Court's ruling as proof they had been right during their long struggle against abolitionists. In contrast, abolitionists convinced many state legislatures to declare the Dred Scott decision not binding within their state borders. The new Republican Party said that if its candidate were elected President in 1860, he would appoint a new Supreme Court that would reverse the Dred Scott ruling.

Indian Removal Act

As President, Jackson wanted to expand the land available for white settlement The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced thousands of American Indians to leave their homes and resettle further west The Cherokee Nation of Georgia refused to leave In the Supreme Court case Worcestor vs. Georgia, the court sided with the Cherokee tribe Jackson challenged the Supreme Court in 1835 the Cherokee tribe surrendered their land The Cherokee tribe was forced to travel west on the Trail of Tears Thousands died due to starvation, disease, & exhaustion

Difficulties Abroad

As a matter of policy and principle, Jefferson tried to avoid war. Rejecting permanent alliances, he sought to maintain U.S. neutrality despite increasing provocations from both France and Britain during the Napoleonic wars. Barbary Pirates The first major challenge to Jefferson's foreign policy came not from a major European power, but from the piracy practiced by the Barbary states on the North African coast. To protect U.S. merchantships from being seized by Barbary pirates, Presidents Washington and Adams had reluctantly agreed to pay tribute to the Barbary governments. The ruler of Tripoli demanded a higher sum in tribute from Jefferson. Refusing to pay, Jefferson sent a small fleet of the U.S. Navy to the Mediterranean. Sporadic fighting with Tripoli lasted for four years (1801-1805). Although the American navy did not achieve a decisive victory, it did gain some respect and also offered a measure of protection to U.S. vessels trading in Mediterranean waters. Challenges to U.S. Neutrality Meanwhile, the Napoleonic wars continued to dominate the politics of Europe-and to shape the commercial economy of the United States. The two principal belligerents, France and Britain, attempted naval blockades of enemy ports. They regularly seized the ships of neutral nations and confiscated their cargoes. The chief offender from the U.S. point of view was Britain, since its navy dominated the Atlantic. Most infuriating was the British practice of capturing U.S. sailors who it claimed were British citizens and impressing (forcing) them to serve in the British navy. Chesapeake-Leopard Affair One incident at sea especially aroused American anger and almost led to war. In 1807, only a few miles off the coast of Virginia, the British warship Leopard fired on the U.S. warship Chesapeake. Three Americans were killed and four others were taken captive and impressed into the British navy. Anti-British feeling ran high, and many Americans demanded war. Jefferson, however, resorted to diplomacy and economic pressure as his response to the crisis. Embargo Act (1807) As an alternative to war, Jefferson persuaded the Democratic-Republican majority in Congress to pass the Embargo Act in 1807. This measure prohibited American merchant ships from sailing to any foreign port. Since the United States was Britain's largest trading partner, Jefferson hoped that the British would stop violating the rights of neutral nations rather than lose U.S. trade. The embargo, however, backfired and brought greater economic hardship to the United States than to Britain. The British were determined to control the seas at all costs, and they had little difficulty substituting supplies from South America for U.S. goods. The embargo's effect on the U.S. economy, however, was devastating, especially for the merchant marine and shipbuilders of New England. So bad was the depression that a movement developed in the New England states to secede from the Union. Recognizing that the Embargo Act had failed, Jefferson called for its repeal in 1809 during the final days of his presidency. Even after repeal, however, U.S. ships could trade legally with all nations except Britain and France.

American Indians/The West

As the United States expanded westward, the definition of the "West' kept changing. In the 1600s, the West referred to all the lands not along the Atlantic Coast. In the 1700s, the West meant lands on the other side of the Appalachian Mountains. By the mid-1800s, the West lay beyond the Mississippi River and reached to California and the Oregon Territory on the Pacific Coast. The original settlers of the West-and the entire North American continentwere various groups of American Indians. However, from the time of Columbus, American Indians were cajoled, pushed, or driven westward as white settlers encroached on their original homelands. Exodus By 1850, the vast majority of American Indians were living west of the Mississippi River. Those to the east had either been killed by disease, died in battles, emigrated reluctantly, or been forced to leave their land by treaty or military action. The Great Plains, however, would provide only a temporary respite from conflict with white settlers. Life on the Plains Horses, brought to America by the Spanish in the 1500s, revolutionized life for American Indians on the Great Plains. Some tribes continued to live in villages and farm, but the horse allowed tribes such as the Cheyenne and the Sioux to become nomadic hunters following the buffalo. Those living a nomadic way of life could more easily move away from advancing settlers or oppose their encroachments by force.

Alien & Sedition Acts

Because of criticism against them, Adams and Federalists in Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts Alien act: gave the executive branch the power to deport any immigrant aliens deemed dangerous Sedition act: made it a crime to write, publish, or speak anything negative about the government or elected officials Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions: states passed resolutions arguing that they could refuse to enforce federal laws that they opposed; thought these acts were unconstitutional The beginning of the states' rights debate

James Madison = 4th President

Before becoming President in 1809, Madison had been the primary writer of the Constitution and helped write the Federalist Papers Britain and France had been at war since 1789 America often caught in the middle

Jefferson = 3rd President

Believed in a stricter interpretation of the Constitution and wanted states to have more power, but expanded the power of the President during his time in office Louisiana Purchase: New Orleans was a very valuable port Jefferson wanted to buy it France decided to sell the whole region, not just New Orleans, to the U.S. for $15 million Doubled the size of the U.S. Sent Lewis & Clark to explore from Louisiana to the West Coast

The Treaty of Ghent

By 1814, the British were weary of war. Having fought Napoleon for more than a decade, they now faced the prospect of maintaining the peace in Europe. At the same time, Madison's government recognized that the Americans would be unable to win a decisive victory. American peace commissioners traveled to Ghent, Belgium, to discuss terms of peace with British diplomats. On Christmas Eve 1814, an agreement was reached. The terms halted fighting, returned all conquered territory to the prewar claimant, and recognized the prewar boundary between Canada and the United States. The Treaty of Ghent, promptly ratified by the Senate in 1815, said nothing at all about the grievances that led to war. Britain made no concessions concerning impressment, blockades, or other maritime differences. Thus, the war ended in stalemate with no gain for either side.

The Debate over Missouri

By the middle of the 1800s, the population in portions of the Louisiana Territory had increased to the point where those territories could apply for statehood When Missouri applied for statehood in 1819, there was already an equal number of slave states and free states (11 of each) Slave and free states were in disagreement about which one Missouri should be Congress was trying to maintain a "perfect equilibrium" between the 2 The North had a larger population; but in the Senate, free and slaves states had equal representation, which prevented either region rom controlling policy about slavery Slavery was already common in the Missouri territory, which worried the North This also mattered because Missouri was the 1st territory from the Louisiana Purchase to apply for statehood

Two Parties developed

Democratic Republicans: Jefferson, Madison Strict interpretation of the Constitution: the document should be interpreted literally. Their interpretation restricts power of the federal govt and reserves more powers for the states. Adams, Hamilton. Loose interpretation of the Constitution Federalist: Claimed that there are implied powers given to the federal government because of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution

Other Reforms

Efforts to reform individuals and society during the antebellum era also included Smaller movements such as: the American Peace Society, founded in 1828 with the objective of abolishing war, which actively protested the war with Mexico in 1846 laws to protect sailors from being flogged dietary reforms, such as eating whole wheat bread or Sylvester Graham's crackers, to promote good digestion dress reform for women, particularly Amelia Bloomer's efforts to get Women to wear pantalettes instead of long skirts phrenology, a pseudoscience that studied the bumps on an individual's skull to assess the person's character and ability Southern Reaction to Reform The antebellum reform movement was largely found in the northern and western states, with little impact in the South. While "modernizers' worked to perfect society in the North, southerners were more committed to tradition and slow to support public education and humanitarian reforms. They were alarmed to see northern reformers join forces to support the antislavery movement. Increasingly, they viewed social reform as a northern threat against the southern way of life. In her history of antebellum reform, Freedom's Ferment (1944), Alice Tyler portrayed the reformers as idealistic humanitarians whose chief goal was to create a just and equitable society for all. Other historians generally accepted Tyler's interpretation. However, in recent years, historians have questioned whether reformers were motivated by humanitarian concerns or by a desire of upper- and middle-class citizens to control the masses. According to their argument, the temperance movement was designed to control the drinking of the poor and recent immigrants. The chief purpose of penitentiaries was to control crime, of poorhouses to motivate the lower classes to pursue work, and of public schools to "Americanize" the immigrant population. Schools were supported by the wealthy, because they would teach the working class hard work, punctuality, and obedience. Revisionist historians also have noted that most of the reformers were Whigs, not Jacksonian Democrats. Some historians have argued that the reformers had multiple motivations for their work. They point out that, although some reasons for reform may have been self-serving and bigoted, most reformers sincerely

John Adams = 2nd president

Election of 1796: John Adams (Federalist party) vs. Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican party) John Adams won, Thomas Jefferson became his Vice President Adams only served 1 term because of challenges during his presidency Conflicts with France and Great Britain that really hurt the nation's economy many Democratic Republicans, including VP Jefferson, criticized Adams

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Even before Louisiana was purchased, Jefferson had persuaded Congress to fund a scientific exploration of the trans-Mississippi West to be led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark. The Louisiana Purchase greatly increased the importance of the expedition. Lewis and Clark set out from St. Louis in 1804, crossed the Rockies, reached the Oregon coast on the Pacific Ocean, then turned back and completed the return journey in 1806. The benefits of the expedition were many: greater geographic and scientific knowledge of the region, stronger U.S. claims to the Oregon Territory, better relations with American Indians, and more accurate maps and land routes for fur trappers and future settlers.

Texans, led by Sam Houston, captured Santa Anna and won their independence in 1836

From 1836 to 1845, Texas was an independent nation; Sam Houston was the first president of the Republic of Texas In 1838, Houston invited the USA to annex Texas, but the debate over slavery kept America from adding Texas as a state Democrat James K. Polk won the election of 1844 and became the "Manifest Destiny" president Texas became the28th U.S. state in 1845, days before Polk was inaugurated. Polk wanted to end British claims to Oregon When Texas was admitted into the Union in 1845, it came in as a slave state To make Northerners happy, President Polk wanted to add Oregon as a free state, but... But, the U.S. and Britain compromised, divided Oregon along 49° parallel, and Oregon became a free territory in 1846 Oregon residents & President Polk demanded the entire Oregon territory: "54°40' or fight!"

The Missouri Compromise

Ever since 1791-1792, when Vermont entered the Union as a free state and Kentucky entered as a slave state, politicians in Congress had attempted to preserve a sectional balance between the North and the South. Keeping a balance in the House of Representatives was difficult because population in the North was growing more rapidly than in the South. By 1818 the northern states held a majority of 105 to 81 in the House. However, in the Senate, the votes remained divided evenly: 11 slave and 11 free states. As long as this balance was preserved, southern senators could block legislation that they believed threatened the interests of their section. Missouri's bid for statehood alarmed the North because slavery was well established there. If Missouri came in as a slave state, it would tip the political balance in the South's favor. Furthermore, Missouri was the first part of the Louisiana Purchase to apply for statehood. Southerners and northerners alike worried about the future status of other new territories applying for statehood from the rest of the vast Louisiana Purchase. Tallmadge Amendment Representative James Tallmadge from New York ignited the debate about the Missouri question by proposing an amendment to the bill for Missouri's admission. The amendment called for (1) prohibiting the further introduction of slaves into Missouri and (2) requiring the children of Missouri slaves to be emancipated at the age of 25. If adopted, the Tallmadge Amendment would have led to the gradual elimination of slavery in Missouri. The amendment was defeated in the Senate as enraged southerners saw it as the first step in a northern effort to abolish slavery in all states.

The Election of 1808

Ever since leading the effort to write and ratify the Constitution, Madison was widely viewed as a brilliant thinker. He had worked tirelessly with Jefferson in developing the Democratic-Republican party. On the other hand, he was a weak public speaker, possessed a stubborn temperament, and lacked Jefferson's political skills. With Jefferson's backing, Madison was nominated for president by a caucus of congressional Democratic-Republicans. Other factions of the Democratic-Republican party nominated two other candidates. Even so, Madison was able to win a majority of electoral votes and to defeat both his Democratic-Republican opponents and the Federalist candidate, Charles Pinckney. Nevertheless, the Federalists managed to gain seats in Congress as a result of the widespread unhappiness with the effects of the embargo

Military Defeats and Naval Victories

Facing Britain's overwhelming naval power, Madison's military strategists based their hope for victory on (1) Napoleon's continued success in Europe and (2) a U.S. land campaign against Canada. Invasion of Canada. A poorly equipped American army initiated military action in 1812 by launching a three-part invasion of Canada, one force starting out from Detroit, another from Niagara, and a third from Lake Champlain. These and later forays into Canada were easily repulsed by the British defenders. An American raid and burning of government buildings in York (Toronto) in 1813 only served to encourage retaliation by the British. Naval Battles The U.S. navy achieved some notable victories, due largely to Superior shipbuilding and the valorous deeds of American sailors, including many free African Americans. In late 1812, the U.S. warship Constitution (nicknamed "Old Ironsides") raised American morale by defeating and sinking a British ship off the coast of Nova Scotia. American privateers, motivated by both patriotism and profit, captured numerous British merchant ships. Offsetting these gains was the Success of the British navy in establishing a blockade of the U.S. coast, which crippled trading and fishing. Probably the most important naval battle of the war was in 1813 on Lake Erie with American Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, declaring victory with, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." This led the way for General William Henry Harrison's victory at the Battle of Thames River (near Detroit), in which Tecumseh was killed. The next year, 1814, ships commanded by Thomas Macdonough defeated a British fleet on Lake Champlain. As a result, the British had to retreat and abandon their plan to invade New York and New England. Chesapeake Campaign. By the spring of 1814, the defeat of Napoleon in Europe enabled the British to increase their forces in North America. In the summer of that year, a British army marched through the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., and set fire to the White House, the Capitol, and other government buildings. The British also attempted to take Baltimore, but Fort McHenry held out after a night's bombardment-an event immortalized by Francis Scott Key in the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Southern Campaign Meanwhile, U.S. troops in the South were ably commanded by General Andrew Jackson. In March 1814, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in present-day Alabama, Jackson ended the power of an important British ally, the Creek nation. The victory eliminated the Indians and opened new lands to white settlers. A British effort to control the Mississippi River was halted at New Orleans by Jackson leading a force of frontier soldiers, free African Americans, and Creoles. The victory was impressive-but also meaningless. The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, two weeks after a treaty ending the war had been signed in Ghent, Belgium.

Jefferson's Reelection

In 1804 Jefferson won reelection by an overwhelming margin, receiving all but 14 of the 176 electoral votes. His second term was marked by growing difficulties. There were plots by his former vice president, Aaron Burr, opposition by a faction of his own party (the "Quids"), who accused him of abandoning Democratic-Republican principles; and foreign troubles from the Napoleonic wars in Europe. Aaron Burr A Democratic-Republican caucus (closed meeting) in 1804 decided not to nominate Aaron Burr for a second term as vice president. Burr then embarked on a series of ventures, one of which threatened to break up the Union and another of which resulted in the death of Alexander Hamilton. Federalist Conspiracy Secretly forming a political pact with some radical New England Federalists, Burr planned to win the governorship of New York in 1804, unite that state with the New England states, and then lead this group of states to secede from the nation. Most Federalists followed Alexander Hamilton in opposing Burr, who was defeated in the New York election. The conspiracy then disintegrated. Duel with Hamilton Angered by an insulting remark attributed to Hamilton, Burr challenged the Federalist leader to a duel and fatally shot him. Hamilton's death in 1804 deprived the Federalists of their last great leader and earned Burr the enmity of many. Trial for Treason By 1806, Burr's intrigues had turned westward with a plan to take Mexico from Spain and possibly unite it with Louisiana under his rule. Learning of the conspiracy, Jefferson ordered Burr's arrest and trial for treason. Presiding at the trial was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall, a long-time adversary of Jefferson. A jury acquitted Burr, basing its decision on Marshall's narrow definition of treason and the lack of witnesses to any "overt act' by Burr.

In the 1840s, America realized its "manifest destiny" by acquiring all lands to the Pacific Ocean

In 1845, the USA annexed the independent nation of Texas In 1846, the U.S. settled a dispute with England to gain Oregon In 1848, the USA gained new lands in the SW by winning the Mexican-American War In 1821, Mexico won independence from Spain and the new Mexican gov't welcomed Americans into Texas by offering cheap land Stephen F Austin became one of the wealthiest "Anglos" in Texas Americans refused to accept Mexican laws They would not convert to Catholicism They would not accept a ban on slavery They wanted a voice in Mexican government By 1834, Mexican president Santa Anna began to view Anglos as a threat and had Austin arrested In 1835, Texans were in open rebellion against the Mexican government Texans lost at the Alamo, but the battle created inspiration: "Remember the Alamo!"

When Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836, the 2 sides disagreed over the territorial borders of the Republic of Texas When the U.S. annexed Texas 9 years later, this land claim was not settled

In 1846, President Polk sent General Zachary Taylor to the disputed land between the Rio Grande & Nueces Rivers which provoked Mexico into war This dispute led to theMexican-American War from 1846 to 1848 The U.S. quickly won the Mexican War John C Fremont won in California Zachary Taylor won in northern Mexico Stephen Kearney captured New Mexico Winfield Scott captured Mexico City The Mexican-American War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848: The USA gained all of Texas to the Rio Grande River Mexico gave up (ceded) territory in the Southwest, called the Mexican Cession 5 years later, the U.S. bought the Gadsden Purchase for $10 million to build a southern railroad In the 1830s, Mexico offered cheap land to American ranchers & farmers to move to California When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, Californians revolted from Mexican rule and created an independent nation The California Republic was annexed by the USA as part of the Mexican Cession in 1848 The discovery of gold in San Francisco led to a flood of Americans to California in 1849 "Forty-Niners" hoping to strike it rich came from the East, Latin America, Europe, & Asia By the end of the 1840s, the USA had achieved its Manifest Destiny America had a "continental" empire from the Atlantic to Pacific Westward expansion stimulated the economy, spread democracy, and increased U.S. nationalism But as America spread West, sectional issues over slavery grew

The Kansas-Nebraska Act

In 1852 and 1853, Congress considered creating the territories of Kansas and Nebraska for settlement. The legislation caught the attention of Southern Congressmen who refused to consider the creation of the new territories unless the provision was made for Southerners to bring slaves into the region. Northern representatives argued that the expansion of slavery into the new territories was a violation of the Missouri Compromise, as the land was above the provision line set in 1820 to divide slave and free states. In 1854, Congress again took up the issue of slavery in proposed states and territories. Stephen A. Douglas included a provision using popular sovereignty (rule by the people), which would allow the citizens of the territory to decide whether or not slavery would be allowed. Southerners hoped that by allowing the people to decide the issue that more slave states could be added. After a great deal of debate in both Houses, the bill was approved and became known as the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act had several effects. First, the law virtually repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850. Settlers in all new territories would have the right to decide for themselves whether their new home would be a free or slave state. The previous compromises that established policy concerning where free and slave states would form in future territories were dismissed by the more democratic sounding approach of popular sovereignty. The Kansas-Nebraska Act's second effect was that pro- and antislavery groups both hurried into Kansas in an attempt to create voting majorities there. Antislavery abolitionists came from eastern states; proslavery settlers came mainly from neighboring Missouri. Some of these proslavery supporters settled in Kansas, but many more stayed there only long enough to vote for slavery and then returned home to Missouri. Proslavery voters elected a legislature ready to make Kansas a slave state. Abolitionists then elected a rival Kansas government, wrote an antislavery constitution, established a different capital city, and raised an army. Proslavery Kansans reacted by raising their own army. Violence between the two sides created warlike conditions that led to the territory being referred to as "Bleeding Kansas." Popular sovereignty had failed. The third effect of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was that it split existing political parties into regional factions and gave rise to the new Republican Party. The common cause that attracted supporters to the Republican Party was opposition to slavery. The groups that came together to make the new party included members of the Free-Soil Party, whose main platform opposed the expansion of slavery. Disgruntled followers of the existing political parties, the antislavery Whigs and antislavery Democrats, joined the Free-Soilers in creating the new Republican Party. Abraham Lincoln was soon to be the Republican Party's star candidate.

The period of time in U.S. history before the Civil War is known as the Antebellum Era (1800-1860)

In the 1840s, westward expansion led Americans to acquire all lands from the Atlantic to Pacific in a movement called Manifest Destiny Americans flooded into the West for new economic opportunities The U.S. gained Texas, Oregon, California, and other territories through treaty or war When Americans were colonists (1607-1783), the western border was the Appalachian Mountains After the Revolutionary War, the western border of the U.S. was the Mississippi River Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the USA Lewis and Clark's exploration confirmed the economic potential of the western territory Changes in the early Antebellum era (1800-1840), encouraged westward expansion in the 1840s Improved transportation such as canals, steamboats, & railroads increased speed & profitability The number of U.S. states grew from 13 to 26 Western state populations exploded (Ohio's population grew from 50,000 to 1.5 million) The journey West was dangerous and unpredictable, yet thousands of Americans traveled along the Oregon, Santa Fe, and Mormon Trails

A National Economy

In the early 1800s, the Jeffersonian dream of a nation of independent farmers remained strong in rural areas. As the century progressed, however, an increasing percentage of the American people were swept up in the dynamic economic changes of the Industrial Revolution. Political conflicts over tariffs, internal improvements, and the Bank of the United States reflected the importance to people's lives of a national economy that was rapidly growing.

Madison's Presidency

Jefferson believed strongly in the precedent set by Washington of voluntarily retiring from the presidency after a second term. For his party's nomination for president, he supported his close friend, Secretary of State James Madison.

The States' Rights Debate

Jacksonian Democrats wanted to limit the power of the federal govt and give more power to the states States' rights debate was about who should hold the supreme power of the govt, states or the federal government Nullification Crisis: When Congress passed the Tariffs of 1828 & 1832 to protect American manufacturers, the South felt threatened South Carolina tried to nullify the tariffs. Jackson said they couldn't cancel federal laws VP Calhoun resigned to support South Carolina Crisis resolved when a compromise tariff was passed and Congress let President Jackson use army/navy to enforce the law

Second Great Awakening

Jacksonian emphasis on the common man strengthened religious revival Ministers were preaching sermons that appealed to all classes 2nd Great Awakening a desire to attack "social ills" Temperance movement Public Education movement Women's suffrage movement 1. Temperance movement= movement to encourage people to stop drinking alcohol Grew from a desire to protect women and children from abuse and poverty Also used moral arguments about the dangers of alcohol 2. Public Education movement= movement to spread education to all kids, not just wealthy ones Horace Mann argued for free public education 3. Women's suffrage movement= movement for women's equality Elizabeth Cady Stanton, SLucretia Mott, Grimke Sisters Seneca Falls Convention was held to support women's rights Created the Declaration of Sentiments, calling for an end to unequal treatment of women

The Hartford Convention

Just before the war ended, the New England states threatened to secede from the Union. Bitterly opposed to both the war and the Democratic-Republican government in Washington, radical Federalists in New England urged that the Constitution be amended and that, as a last resort, secession be voted upon. To consider these matters, a special convention was held at Hartford, Connecticut, in December 1814. Delegates from the New England states rejected the radical calls for secession. But to limit the growing power of the Democratic-Republicans in the South and West, they adopted a number of proposals. One of them called for a two-thirds vote of both houses for any future declaration of war. Shortly after the convention dissolved, news came of both Jackson's victory at New Orleans and the Treaty of Ghent. These events ended criticism of the war and further weakened the Federalists by stamping them as unpatriotic.

Western Settlement and the Missouri Compromise

Less than ten years after the start of the War of 1812, the population west of the Appalachian Mountains had doubled. Much of the nationalistic and economic interest in the country was centered on the West, which presented both opportunities and new questions. Reasons for Westward Movement Several factors combined to stimulate rapid growth along the western frontier during the presidencies of Madison and Monroe. Acquisition of American Indians' Lands Large areas were open for settlement after American Indians were driven from their lands by the victories of Generals William Henry Harrison in the Indiana Territory and Andrew Jackson in Florida and the South. Economic Pressures The economic difficulties in the Northeast from the embargo and the war caused people from this region to seek a new future across the Appalachians. In the South, tobacco planters needed new land to replace the soil exhausted by years of poor farming methods. They found good land for planting cotton in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Improved Transportation Pioneers had an easier time reaching the frontier as a result of the building of roads and canals, steamboats, and railroads. Immigrants More Europeans were being attracted to America by speculators offering cheap land in the Great Lakes region and in the valleys of the Ohio, Cumberland, and Mississippi rivers. New Questions and Issues Despite their rapid growth, the new states of the West had small populations relative to those of the other two sections. To enhance their limited political influence in Congress, western representatives bargained with politicians from other sections to obtain their objectives. Of greatest importance to the western states were: (1) "cheap money" (easy credit) from state banks rather than from the Bank of the United States, (2) low prices for land sold by the federal government, and (3) improved transportation. However, on the critical issue of slavery, westerners could not agree whether to permit it or to exclude it. Those settling territory to the south wanted slavery for economic reasons (labor for the cotton fields), while those settling to the north had no use for slavery. In 1819, when the Missouri Territory applied to Congress for statehood, the slavery issue became a subject of angry debate.

War of 1812

Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war in 1812 because: The British were capturing American merchants at sea and forcing them to serve in the British navy This policy was called impressment British were supporting American Indians in their fight against the U.S. taking Native American land American was not financially or militarily prepared for war, but they did not lose any territory to the British and the American navy gained respect from rest of world The war ended with a negotiated settlement in 1814, but it took so long for that message to get to the U.S. that they still fought the Battle of New Orleans in Jan, 1815 General Andrew Jackson led American forced to huge victory in this battle Effects of the war: The Federalist Party ceased to exist b/c they hadn't supported the war Created a new national identity b/c U.S. had proved itself by defeating Britain a second time CONFIDENCE!

Commercial Warfare

Madison's presidency was dominated by the same European problems that had plagued Jefferson's second term. Like Jefferson, he attempted a combination of diplomacy and economic pressure to deal with the Napoleonic wars. Unlike Jefferson, he finally consented to take the United States to war. Nonintercourse Act of 1809 After the repeal of Jefferson's disastrous embargo act, Madison hoped to end economic hardship while maintaining his country's rights as a neutral nation. The Nonintercourse Act of 1809 provided that Americans could now trade with all nations except Britain and France. Macon's Bill No. 2 (1810) Economic hardships continued into 1810. Nathaniel Macon, a member of Congress, introduced a bill that restored U.S. trade with Britain and France. Macon's Bill No. 2 provided, however, that if either Britain or France formally agreed to respect U.S. neutral rights at sea, then the United States would prohibit trade with that nation's foe. Napoleon's Deception. Upon hearing of Congress' action, Napoleon announced his intention of revoking the decrees that had violated U.S. neutral rights. Taking Napoleon at his word, Madison carried out the terms of Macon's Bill No. 2 by embargoing U.S. trade with Britain in 1811. However, he soon realized that Napoleon had no intention of fulfilling his promise. The French continued to seize American merchant ships.

Rise of Abolitionist Movement

Maintaining tentative peace Slavery became more important with the invention of the cotton gin by cutting costs, raising profits, and creating "need" for slaves to run them Politicians tried to maintain an equilibrium on the issue of slavery by: 1. maintaining equal number of slave and free states 2. "gag" rule- prevented slavery from being discussed in the House of Representatives from 1836-1844 3. Continuing to try to work out compromises on the issue

James Monroe= 5th President

Once Federalist party disappeared, the U.S. unified around the Democratic-Republican party and the nation's economy was booming. Monroe easily won the Election of 1816. Time period= Era of Good Feelings Monroe Doctrine= Monroe's foreign policy that warned Europe not to create more colonies in North & South America and that said the U.S. would prevent European nations from interfering with independent American countries

Marshall's Supreme Court and Central Government Powers

One Federalist official continued to have major influence throughout the years of Democratic-Republican ascendancy: John Marshall. He had been appointed to the Supreme Court in 1800 by Federalist President John Adams and was still leading the Court as its chief justice. His decisions consistently favored the central government and the rights of property against the advocates of states' rights. Even when justices appointed by Democratic-Republican presidents formed a majority on the Court, they often sided with Marshall because they were persuaded that the U.S. Constitution had created a federal government with strong and flexible powers. Several of Marshall's decisions became landmark rulings that defined the relationship between the central government and the states. The first of these cases, Marbury v. Madison (1803), established the principle of judicial review. It was described in Chapter 7. Six others influential cases are described below. Fletcher v. Peck (1810) In a case involving land fraud in Georgia, Marshall concluded that a state could not pass legislation invalidating a contract. This was the first time that the Supreme Court declared a state law to be unconstitutional and invalid. (In Marbury v. Madison, the Court ruled a federal law unconstitutional.) Martin v. Hunter's Lease (1816) The Supreme Court established that it had jurisdiction over state courts in cases involving constitutional rights. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) This case involved a law of New Hampshire that changed Dartmouth College from a privately chartered college into a public institution. The Marshall Court struck down the state law as unconstitutional, arguing that a contract for a private corporation could not be altered by the state. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) Maryland attempted to tax the Second Bank of the United States located in Maryland. Marshall ruled that a state could not tax a federal institution because "the power to tax is the power to destroy." and federal laws are supreme over state laws. In addition, Marshall settled the long-running debate over constitutionality of the national bank. Using a loose interpretation of the Constitution, Marshall ruled that, even though no clause in the Constitution specifically mentions a national bank, the Constitution gave the federal government the implied power to create one. Cohens v. Virginia (1821) A pair of brothers named Cohens were convicted in Virginia of illegally selling lottery tickets for a lottery authorized by Congress for Washington, D.C. While Marshall and the Court upheld the conviction, they established the principle that the Supreme Court could review a state court's decision involving any of the powers of the federal government. Gibbons v. Ogden (1821) Could the state of New York grant a monopoly to a steamboat company if that action conflicted with a charter authorized by Congress? In ruling that the New York monopoly was unconstitutional, Marshall established the federal government's broad control of interstate commerce.

The Industrial Northeast

Originally, the Industrial Revolution centered in the textile industry, but by the 1830s, northern factories were producing a wide range of goods-everything from farm implements to clocks and shoes. Organized Labor Industrial development meant that large numbers of people who had once earned their living as independent farmers and artisans became dependent on wages earned in a factory. With the common problems of low pay, long hours, and unsafe working conditions, urban workers in different cities organized both unions and local political parties to protect their interests. The first U.S. labor party, founded in Philadelphia in 1828, succeeded in electing a few members of the city council. For a brief period in the 1830s, an increasing number of urban workers joined unions and participated in strikes. Organized labor achieved one notable victory in 1842 when the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Hunt that "peaceful unions' had the right to negotiate labor contracts with employers. During the 1840s and 1850s, most state legislatures in the North passed laws establishing a ten-hour workday for industrial workers. Improvement for workers, however, continued to be limited by (1) periodic depressions, (2) employers and courts that were hostile to unions, and (3) an abundant supply of cheap immigrant labor. Urban Life The North's urban population grew from approximately 5 percent of the population in 1800 to 15 percent by 1850. As a result of such rapid growth in cities from Boston to Baltimore, slums also expanded. Crowded housing, poor sanitation, infectious diseases, and high rates of crime soon became characteristic of large working-class neighborhoods. Nevertheless, the new opportunities in cities offered by the Industrial Revolution continued to attract both native-born Americans from farms and immigrants from Europe. African Americans The 250,000 African Americans who lived in the North in 1860 constituted only 1 percent of northerners. However, they represented 50 percent of all free African Americans. Freedom may have meant they could maintain a family and in some instances own land, but it did not mean economic or political equality, since strong racial prejudices kept them from voting and holding jobs in most skilled professions and crafts. In the mid-1800s, immigrants displaced them from occupations and jobs that they had held since the time of the Revolution. Denied membership in unions, African Americans were often hired as strikebreakers-and often dismissed after the strike ended.

Jackson Versus Adams

Political change in the Jacksonian era began several years before Jackson moved into the White House as president. In the controversial election in 1824, Jackson won more popular and electoral votes than any other candidate, but he ended up losing the election. The Election of 1824 Recall the brief Era of Good Feelings that characterized U.S. politics during the two-term presidency of James Monroe. The era ended in political bad feelings in 1824, the year of a bitterly contested and divisive presidential election. By then, the old congressional caucus system for choosing presidential candidates had broken down. As a result, four candidates of the Democratic-Republican party of Jefferson campaigned for the presidency: John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, William Crawford, and Andrew Jackson. Among voters in states that counted popular votes (six did not) Jackson won. But because the vote was split four ways, he lacked a majority in the electoral college as required by the Constitution. Therefore, the House of Representatives had to choose a president from among the top three candidates. Henry Clay used his influence in the House to provide John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts with enough votes to win the election. When President Adams appointed Clay his secretary of state, Jackson and his followers charged that the decision of the voters had been foiled by secret political maneuvers. Angry Jackson supporters accused Adams and Clay of making a "corrupt bargain."

Population Growth

Population growth provided both the laborers and the consumers required for industrial development. Between 1800 and 1825, the U.S. population doubled; in the following 25 years it doubled again. A high birthrate accounted for most of this growth, but it was strongly supplemented after 1830 by immigrants arriving from Europe, particularly from Great Britain and Germany. The nonwhite population-African Americans and American Indians-grew despite the ban on the importation of slaves after 1808. However, as a percentage of the total population, nonwhites declined from almost 20 percent in 1790 to 15 percent in the 1850s. By the 1830s, almost one-third of the population lived west of the Alleghenies. At the same time, both old and new urban areas were growing rapidly.

Reforming Society

Reform movements evolved during the antebellum era. At first, the leaders of reform hoped to improve people's behavior through moral persuasion. However, after they tried Sermons and pamphlets, reformers often moved on to political action and to ideas for creating new institutions to replace the old. Temperance The high rate of alcohol consumption (five gallons of hard liquor per person in 1820) prompted reformers to target alcohol as the cause of social ills, and explains why temperance became the most popular of the reform movements. The temperance movement began by using moral exhortation. In 1826, Protestant ministers and others concerned with drinking and its effects founded the American Temperance Society. The society tried to persuade drinkers to take a pledge of total abstinence. In 1840, a group of recovering alcoholics formed the Washingtonians and argued that alcoholism was a disease that needed practical, helpful treatment. By the 1840s, various temperance societies together had more than a million members. German and Irish immigrants were largely opposed to the temperance campaign. But they lacked the political power to prevent state and city governments from passing reforms. Factory owners and politicians joined with the reformers when it became clear that temperance measures could reduce crime and poverty and increase workers' output on the job. In 1851, the state of Maine went beyond simply placing taxes on the sale of liquor and became the first state to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Twelve states followed before the Civil War. In the 1850s, the issue of slavery came to overshadow the temperance movement. However, the movement would gain strength again in the late 1870s (with strong support from the Women's Christian Temperance Union) and achieve national Success with the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1919.

SOCIETY, CULTURE, AND REFORM, 1820-1860

Several historic reform movements began during the Jacksonian era and in the following decades. This period before the Civil War started in 1861 is known as the antebellum period. During this time, a diverse mix of reformers dedicated themselves to such causes as establishing free (tax-supported) public schools, improving the treatment of the mentally ill, controlling or abolishing the sale of alcohol, winning equal rights for women, and abolishing slavery. The enthusiasm for reform had many historic sources: the Puritan sense of mission, the Enlightenment belief in human goodness, the politics of Jacksonian democracy, and changing relationships among men and women, among social classes, and among ethnic groups. The most important source may have been religious beliefs.

White Society

Southern whites observed a rigid hierarchy among themselves. Aristocratic planters lived comfortably at the top of society while poor farmers and mountain people struggled at the bottom. Aristocracy Members of the South's small elite of wealthy planters owned at least 100 slaves and at least 1,000 acres. The planter aristocracy maintained its power by dominating the state legislatures of the South and enacting laws that favored the large landholders' economic interests. Farmers The vast majority of slaveholders owned fewer than 20 slaves and worked only several hundred acres. Southern white farmers produced the bulk of the cotton crop, worked in the fields with their slaves, and lived as modestly as farmers of the North. Poor Whites Three-fourths of the South's white population owned no slaves. They could not afford the rich river-bottom farmland controlled by the planters, and many lived in the hills as subsistence farmers. These "hillbillies' or "poor white trash," as they were derisively called by the planters, defended the slave system, thinking that some day they too could own slaves and that at least they were Superior on the social scale to someone (slaves). Mountain People A number of small farmers lived in frontier conditions in isolation from the rest of the South, along the slopes and valleys of the Appalachian and Ozark mountains. The mountain people disliked the planters and their slaves. During the Civil War, many (including a future president, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee) would remain loyal to the Union. Cities Because the South was primarily an agricultural region, there was only a limited need for major cities. New Orleans was the only southern city among the nation's 15 largest in 1860 (it was fifth, after New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston). Cities such as Atlanta, Charleston, Chattanooga, and Richmond were important trading centers, but had relatively small populations in comparison to those of the North.

Jackson & his followers were Jacksonian Democrats. They wanted:

Stronger presidency/executive branch, weaker Congress. Universal male suffrage: to expand voting rights to all white males, not just landowners, to support the "common man" Thought politicians should be allowed to appoint their followers to government jobs in order to limit the power of elite groups Known as the spoils system Often led to corruption and unqualified workers in govt

The Panic of 1819

The Era of Good Feelings was fractured in 1819 by the first major financial panic since the Constitution had been ratified. The economic disaster was largely the fault of the Second Bank of the United States, which had tightened credit in a belated effort to control inflation. Many state banks closed and unemployment, bankruptcies, and imprisonment for debt increased sharply. The depression was most severe in the West, where many people were in debt because they speculated on land during the postwar euphoria. In 1819, the Bank of the United States foreclosed on large amounts of western farmland. As a result of the bank panic and depression, nationalistic beliefs were shaken. In the West, the economic crisis changed many voters' political outlook. Westerners began calling for land reform and expressing strong opposition to both the national bank and debtors' prisons.

The Agricultural Northwest

The Old Northwest consisted of six states west of the Alleghenies that were admitted to the Union before 1860: Ohio (1803), Indiana (1816), Illinois (1818), Michigan (1837), Wisconsin (1848), and Minnesota (1858). These states came from territories formed out of land ceded to the national government in the 1780s by one of the original 13 states. The procedure for turning these territories into states was part of the Northwest Ordinance, passed by Congress in 1787. In the early years of the 19th century, much of the Old Northwest was unsettled frontier, and the part of it that was settled relied upon the Mississippi to transport grain to southern markets via New Orleans. By mid-century, however, this region became closely tied to the other northern states by two factors: (1) military campaigns by federal troops that drove American Indians from the land and (2) the building of canals and railroads that established common markets between the Great Lakes and the East Coast. Agriculture In the states of the Old Northwest, crops of corn and wheat were very profitable. Using the newly invented steel plow (by John Deere) and mechanical reaper (by Cyrus McCormick), a farm family was more efficient and could plant more acres, needing to supplement its labor only with a few hired workers at harvest time. Part of the crop was used to feed cattle and hogs and also to supply distillers and brewers with grain for making whiskey and beer. Farmers shipped grain quickly to cities to avoid spoilage. New Cities Atkey transportation points, small villages and towns grew into thriving cities after 1820: Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago on the Great Lakes, Cincinnation the Ohio River, and St. Louis on the Mississippi River. The cities served as transfer points, processing farm products for shipment to the East, and distributing manufactured goods from the East to their region

Southern Thought

The South developed a unique culture and outlook on life. As cotton became the basis of its economy, slavery became the focus of its political thought. White Southerners felt increasingly isolated and defensive about slavery, as northerners grew hostile toward it, and as Great Britain, France, and other European nations outlawed it altogether. Code of Chivalry Dominated by the aristocratic planter class, the agricultural South was largely a feudal society. Southern gentlemen ascribed to a code of chivalrous conduct, which included a strong sense of personal honor, the defense of womanhood, and paternalistic attitudes toward all who were deemed inferior, especially slaves. Education The upper class valued a college education for their children. Acceptable professions for gentlemen were limited to farming, law, the ministry, and the military. For the lower classes, schooling beyond the early elementary grades was generally not available. To reduce the risk of slave revolts, slaves were strictly prohibited by law from receiving any instruction in reading and Writing. Religion The slavery question affected church membership. Partly because they preached biblical support for slavery, both Methodist and Baptist churches gained in membership in the South while splitting in the 1840s with their northern brethren. The Unitarians, who challenged slavery, faced declining membership and hostility. Catholics and Episcopalians took a neutral stand on slavery, and their numbers declined in the South.

Arts and Literature

The democratic and reforming impulses of the Age of Jackson expressed themselves in painting, architecture, and literature. Painting Genre painting-portraying the everyday life of ordinary people such as riding riverboats and voting on election day-became the vogue of artists in the 1830s. For example, George Caleb Bingham depicted common people in various settings and carrying out domestic chores. William S. Mount won popularity for his lively rural compositions. Thomas Cole and Frederick Church emphasized the heroic beauty of American landscapes, especially in dramatic scenes along the Hudson River in New York State and the western frontier wilderness. The Hudson River school, as it was called, expressed the romantic age's fascination with the natural world. Architecture Inspired by the democracy of classical Athens, American architects adapted Greek styles to glorify the democratic spirit of the republic. Columned facades like those of ancient Greek temples graced the entryways to public buildings, banks, hotels, and even some private homes. Literature. In addition to the transcendentalist authors (notably Emerson and Thoreau), other writers helped to create a literature that was distinctively American. Partly as a result of the War of 1812, the American people became more nationalistic and eager to read the works of American writers about American themes. Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper, for example, wrote fiction using American settings. Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales were a series of novels written from 1824 to 1841 that glorified the frontiersman as nature's nobleman. The Scarlet Letter (1850) and other novels by Nathaniel Hawthorne questioned the intolerance and conformity in American life. Herman Melville's innovative novel Moby-Dick (1855) reflected the theological and cultural conflicts of the era as it told the story of Captain Ahab's pursuit of a white whale.

The Two-Party System

The one-party system that had characterized Monroe's presidency (the Era of Good Feelings) had given way to a two-party system under Jackson. Supporters of Jackson were now known as Democrats, while supporters of his leading rival, Henry Clay, were called Whigs. The Democratic party harked back to the old Republican party of Jefferson, and the Whig party resembled the defunct Federalist party of Hamilton. At the same time, the new parties reflected the changed conditions of the Jacksonian era. Democrats and Whigs alike were challenged to respond to the relentless westward expansion of the nation and the emergence of an industrial economy. Jackson's Second Term After winning reelection in 1832, Jackson moved to destroy the Bank of the United States. Pet Banks Jackson attacked the bank by withdrawing all federal funds. Aided by Secretary of the Treasury Roger Taney, he transferred the funds to various state banks, which Jackson's critics called "pet banks." Species Circular As a result of both Jackson's financial policies and feverish speculation in western lands, prices for land and various goods became badly inflated. Jackson hoped to check the inflationary trend by issuing a presidential order known as the Specie Circular. It required that all future purchases of federal lands be made in specie (gold and silver) rather than in paper banknotes. Soon afterward, banknotes lost their value and land sales plummeted. Right after Jackson left office, a financial crisis-the Panic of 1837-plunged the nation's economy into a depression. The Election of 1836 Following the two-term tradition set by his predecessors, Jackson did not seek a third term. To make sure his policies were carried out even in his retirement, Jackson persuaded the Democratic party to nominate his loyal vice president, Martin Van Buren, who was a master of practical politics. Fearing defeat, the Whig party adopted the unusual strategy of nominating three candidates from three different regions. In doing so, the Whigs hoped to throw the election into the House of Representatives, where each state had one vote in the selection of the president. The Whig strategy failed, however, as Van Buren took 58 percent of the electoral vote. President Van Buren and the Panic of 1837 Just as Van Buren took office, the country suffered a financial panic as one bank after another closed its doors. Jackson's opposition to the rechartering of the Bank of the United States was only one of many causes of the panic and resulting economic depression. But the Whigs were quick to blame the Democrats for their laissez-faire economics, which advocated for little federal involvement in the economy. The "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" Campaign of 1840 In the election of 1840, the Whigs were in a strong position to defeat Van Buren and the Jacksonian Democrats. Voters were unhappy with the bad state of the economy. In addition, the Whigs were better organized than the Democrats, and had a popular war hero, William Henry "Tippecanoe" Harrison, as their presidential candidate. The Whigs took campaign hoopla to new heights. To symbolize Harrison's humble origins, they put log cabins on wheels and paraded them down the streets of cities and towns. They also passed out hard cider for voters to drink and buttons and hats to wear. Name-calling as a propaganda device also marked the 1840 campaign. The Whigs attacked "Martin Van Ruin" as an aristocrat with a taste for foreign wines. A remarkable 78 percent of eligible voters (white males) cast their ballots. Old "Tippecanoe" and John Tyler of Virginia, a former states' rights Democrat who joined the Whigs, took 53 percent of the popular vote and most of the electoral votes in all three sections: North, South, and West. This election established the Whigs as a national party. However, Harrison died of pneumonia less than a month after taking office, and "His Accidency. John Tyler, became the first vice-president to succeed to the presidency. President Tyler was not much of a Whig. He vetoed the Whigs' national bank bills and other legislation, and favored southern and expansionist Democrats during the balance of his term (1841-1845). The Jacksonian era was in its last stage, and came to an end with the Mexican War and the increased focus on the issue of slavery.

The Era of Good Feelings

The period's nickname suggests the Monroe years were marked by a spirit of nationalism, optimism, and goodwill. In some ways, they were. One party, the Federalists, faded into oblivion and Monroe's party, the Democratic Republicans, adopted some of their policies and dominated politics. This perception of unity and harmony, however, can be misleading and oversimplified. Throughout the era people had heated debates over tariffs, the national bank, internal improvements, and public land sales. Sectionalist tensions over slavery were becoming ever more apparent. Moreover, a sense of political unity was illusory, since antagonistic factions within the Democratic-Republican party would soon split it in two. The actual period of "good feelings' may have lasted only from the election of 1816 to the Panic of 1819. James Monroe As a young man, James Monroe had fought in the Revolutionary War and suffered through the Valley Forge winter. He had become prominent in Virginia politics and had served as Jefferson's minister to Great Britain and as Madison's secretary of state. He continued the Virginia dynasty: of the first five presidents, four were from Virginia. The other, John Adams, was from Massachusetts. In the election of 1816, Monroe defeated the Federalist, Rufus King, overwhelmingly-183 electoral votes to 34. By 1820, the Federalist party had practically vanished and Monroe received every electoral vote except one. With no organized political opposition, Monroe represented the growing nationalism of the American people. Under Monroe, the country acquired Florida, agreed on the Missouri Compromise, and adopted the Monroe Doctrine. Cultural Nationalism The popular votes for James Monroe were cast by a younger generation of Americans whose concerns differed from those of the nation's founders. The young were excited about the prospects of the new nation expanding westward and had little interest in European politics now that the Napoleonic wars (as well as the War of 1812) were in the past. As fervent nationalists, they believed their young country was entering an era of unlimited prosperity. Patriotic themes infused every aspect of American society, from art to schoolbooks. Heroes of the Revolution were enshrined in the paintings by Gilbert Stuart, Charles Willson Peale, and John Trumbull. A fictionalized biography extolling the virtues of George Washington, written by Parson Mason Weems, was widely read. The expanding public schools embraced Noah Webster's blue-backed speller, which promoted patriotism long before his famous dictionary was published. The basic ideas and ideals of nationalism and patriotism would dominate most of the 19th century. Economic Wationalism Parallel with cultural nationalism was a political movement to support the growth of the nation's economy. Subsidizing internal improvements (the building of roads and canals) was one aspect of the movement. Protecting budding U.S. industries from European competition was a second aspect. Tariff of 1816. Before the War of 1812, Congress had levied low tariffs on imports as a method for raising government revenue. Then, during the war, manufacturers erected many factories to supply goods that previously had been imported from Britain. Now in peacetime, these American manufacturers feared that British goods would be dumped on American markets and take away much of their business. Congress raised tariffs for the express purpose of protecting U.S. manufacturers from competition. This was the first protective tariffin U.S. history-the first of many to come. New England, which had little manufacturing at the time, was the only section to oppose the higher tariffs. Even the South and West, which had opposed tariffs in the past and would oppose them in the future, generally supported the 1816 tariff, believing that it was needed for national prosperity. Henry Clay's American System Henry Clay of Kentucky, a leader in the House of Representatives, proposed a comprehensive method for advancing the nation's economic growth. His plan, which he called the American System, consisted of three parts: (1) protective tariffs, (2) a national bank, and (3) internal improvements. Clay argued that protective tariffs would promote American manufacturing and also raise revenue with which to build a national transportation system of federally constructed roads and canals. A national bank would keep the system running smoothly by providing a national currency. The tariffs would chiefly benefit the East, internal improvements would promote growth in the West and the South, and the bank would aid the economies of all sections. Two parts of Clay's system were already in place in 1816, the last year of James Madison's presidency. Congress in that year adopted a protective tariff and also chartered the Second Bank of the United States. (The charter of the First Bank-Hamilton's brainchild-had been allowed to expire in 1811.) On the matter of internal improvements, however, both Madison and Monroe objected that the Constitution did not explicitly provide for the spending of federal money on roads and canals. Throughout his presidency, Monroe consistently vetoed acts of Congress providing funds for road-building and canal-building projects. Thus, the individual states were left to make internal improvements on their own.

The Election of 1860

The trigger that set the Civil War in motion was the victory of the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, in the election of 1860. The sectionalism of the 1850s led to a split within the Democratic Party. The Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas of Illinois and the Southern Democrats nominated John Breckenridge of Kentucky to be the nominees in the 1860 Presidential election. Some of the old Whigs who did not support either the Democrats or the Republican candidate formed the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell of Tennessee as their candidate. The field was full with four candidates for the November election. Their positions on slavery were important to the outcome of the election. Lincoln believed that slavery should not be allowed to expand to the territories, but he would not interfere in states where it already existed. Douglas believed popular sovereignty should be the policy regarding slavery. Breckenridge viewed slaves as property and therefore believed that the government could not deny citizens of their property regardless of their location. Bell did not commit to a position regarding slavery but maintained that he was most interested in the union of the United States. The final votes in the election fell along regional lines with Lincoln carrying the more populated North and thus the Electoral College. Upon Lincoln's election, South Carolina voted to secede (separate from) the United States. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and then Texas followed South Carolina in their break from the United States. These Lower South states were the original seven members of the Confederate States of America. Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina also joined the Confederacy. All of the events of the 1850s contributed to the outbreak of Civil War, but it was the election of Lincoln that triggered its actual beginning.

John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry

Violence over slavery escalated as the political maneuvering on the subject was not producing a lasting policy. John Brown's Raid is another event that led to the Civil War. John Brown, an ardent abolitionist, decided to fight slavery with violence and killing. In 1856, believing he was chosen by God to end slavery, Brown commanded family members and other abolitionists to attack proslavery settlers in Kansas killing five men. Leaving Kansas, Brown decided to begin a slave war in the east by seizing arms and munitions and leading slaves in rebellion. In 1859, John Brown led a group of White and Black men in a raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (in modern-day West Virginia) in hopes of arming slaves for a rebellion. The raid failed and US Marines, led by Colonel Robert E. Lee, captured Brown. Eventually, Brown was convicted of treason against the state of Virginia and executed by hanging. At first, many Northerners and Southerners were horrified by Brown's actions. Eventually, many Northerners came to respect what Brown had done, viewing him as a martyr for the abolitionist movement. Southerners were angered. Many in the South viewed Brown as a terrorist killer, a man that sought to incite a slave rebellion that would have led to the slaughter of hundreds of men, women, and children. Vocal Northern support of Brown's actions did little to calm an anxious South. Invoking the specter of the Nat Turner Rebellion nearly 20 years earlier, southern states began to strengthen and train their state militias. A war between the North and the South was becoming a real possibility.

Transportation

Vital to the development of both a national and an industrial economy was an efficient network of interconnecting roads and canals for moving people, raw materials, and manufactured goods. Roads Pennsylvania's Lancaster Turnpike, built in the 1790s, connected Philadelphia with the rich farmlands around Lancaster. Its success stimulated the construction of other privately built and relatively short toll roads that, by the mid-1820s, connected most of the country's major cities. Despite the need for interstate roads, states' righters blocked the spending of federal funds on internal improvements. Construction of highways that crossed state lines was therefore unusual. One notable exception was the National, or Cumberland Road, a paved highway and major route to the west extending more than a thousand miles from Maryland to Illinois. It was begun in 1811 and completed in the 1850s, using both federal and state money, with the different states receiving ownership of segments of the highway. Canals The completion of the Erie Canal in New York State in 1825 was a major event in linking the economies of Western farms and eastern cities. The Success of this canal in stimulating economic growth touched off a frenzy of canal-building in other states. In little more than a decade, canals joined together all of the major lakes and rivers east of the Mississippi. Improved transportation meant lower food prices in the East, more immigrants settling in the West, and stronger economic ties between the two sections. Steamboats The age of mechanized, steam-powered travel began in 1807 with the successful voyage up the Hudson River of the Clermont, a steamboat developed by Robert Fulton. Commercially operated steamboatlines soon made round-trip shipping on the nation's great rivers both faster and cheaper. Railroads Even more rapid and reliable links between cities became possible with the building of the first U.S. railroad lines in the late 1820s. The early railroads were hampered at first by safety problems, but by the 1830s they were competing directly with canals as an alternative method for carrying passengers and freight. The combination of railroads with the other major improvements in transportation rapidly changed small western towns such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Chicago into booming commercial centers of the expanding national economy.

The President's Cabinet

Washington understood that he would need advisors in key areas of government policy he created the cabinet system Cabinet = group of the president's advisors who are all heads of various executive branch departments Washington appointed Jefferson as Secretary of State and Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury Beginnings of the 2 party system: Hamilton was a Federalist, Jefferson was a Democratic Republican Today's cabinet is usually made up of the Vice President and the heads of the 15 different executive departments

Washington steps down

Washington was very popular and probably would've been elected for a 3rd term, but he chose to retire after his 2nd term instead Wanted to demonstrate a peaceful transfer of power In his farewell address, he warned against the danger of political parties and of creating alliances with other countries

Whiskey Rebellion

Washington's govt encouraged Congress to pass taxes on liquor to help pay off Revolutionary War debt The tax hit small whiskey-makers particularly hard In the Whiskey Rebellion, whiskey farmers in Pennsylvania attacked federal tax collectors Washington led a large militia to put down the rebellion set a precedent for presidential authority to enforce the law

SECTIONALISM, 1820-1860

in 1826, Americans took great pride in celebrating 50 years of independence. A unique political system based on a written Constitution had proven practical and flexible enough to permit territorial growth and industrial change. The United States had both a central government and a collection of selfgoverning states. However, many citizens resisted giving up powers to a national government and the first two political parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, had expressed strong regional differences. In short, although the United States was young and vibrant in the 1820s, it was still a fragile union. The previous chapter treated the nation as a whole in the early 1800s; this chapter looks at the differences among the three sections-North, South, and West. Daniel Webster, in the opening quotation of this chapter, rhetorically refers to these three sections in terms of the four main points of the compass as he attempts to portray the dangers these divisions hold for the nation. By examining sectional differences, we can better understand the sectionalism (loyalty to a particular region) that ultimately led to the Union's worst crisis: civil war between the North and the South in the early 1860s. The North The northern portion of the country in the early 19th century contained two parts: (1) the Northeast, which included New England and the Middle Atlantic states, and (2) the Old Northwest, which stretched from Ohio to Minnesota. The northern states were bound together by transportation routes and rapid economic growth based on commercial farming and industrial innovation. While manufacturing was expanding, the vast majority of northerners were still involved in agriculture. The North was the most populous section in the country as a result of both a high birthrate and increased immigration.