1800-1812
Chapter 11

• Election of 1800- Adams Federalists wanted strong
central government, Jeffersonians guardians of
states’ rights and agrarian values
• Federalists handicapped by Alien and Sedition Acts
• Split with Hamiltonians
• Preparation for war caused debt to swell, new taxes
• Federalists concentrate on Jefferson’s personal life
to defeat D-R’S

• 1800-Jefferson defeats Adams,
Burr and others
• Controversial election, went to
House of Reps. to break tie
• Support from South and West
• States where there was
universal manhood suffrage
• VP Aaron Burr
• Jefferson claimed election was
“revolution”
• Return to spirit of 1776
• Seen as a mandate to check
growth of gov’t power
• Peaceful transfer of power
remarkable achievement

• Jefferson takes office in
Washington, D.C.
• Still a swampy, muddy backwater
• First party overturn in American
history
• Simple, frugal style contrast to
previous presidents
• Once in office saw political reality,
had to reverse principles
• Able politician, used personal
charm to keep party together

• Jefferson kept most Federalist
programs, viewed as a moderate
• Got rid of Alien and Sedition Laws
• Removed excise tax, cost government
millions of dollars a year
• Albert Gallatin (Sec. of Treasury),
wanted balanced budget and reduced
national debt
• Streamline bureaucracy, turned over
domestic policy to states
• Revenue growth came from sale of
western lands, surge in imports to
America
• Jefferson’s true desire for America was
a nation of farmers (agrarian republic)

• Judiciary Act 1801 passed at the end of
Adams term
• Created 16 new federal judgeships
• Adams and the “m id nig ht jud g e s ”
• Lifetime appointments upset Jeffersonians,
wanted to repeal act
• John Marshall appointed Chief Justice of
Supreme Court
• Marshall strong Federalist, committed to
power of federal government
• Served 34 years as Chief Justice
• Shaped American legal tradition more than
any other figure

Marbury vs. Madison
• William Marbury one of the midnight
judges
• Madison wanted appointment denied
• Marbury sued government, Marshall
dismissed case
• Marshall said Supreme Court was not
able to use powers of Constitution to
make appointment
• Supreme Court became final authority on
questions of constitutionality (judicial
review)
• Established independence of judiciary,
and separation of powers

• Jefferson wanted to reduce size of
military
• Wanted to transcend wars of
Europe
• Republicans distrusted large
armies
• Realities forced different course of
action
• Barbary States (N. Africa) kept
taking American sailors
• 1801- Pasha of Tripoli declared war
on US
• Jefferson sends in navy, marines
• 1805- peace treaty signed
• Jefferson builds American fleet of
small gunboats
• Constructed democratically in small
shipyards

• 1800- French sign secret pact with
Spanish to regain control of New
Orleans
• 1802- Spanish withdraw “right of
deposit” to Americans
• Americans in the trans-Mississippi
area wanted to descend on New
Orleans
• US thought it would have to fight
French to retake New Orleans
• 1803- Jefferson sends James
Monroe to buy New Orleans for
$10 million

• Developments cause Napoleon to
sell all of Louisiana
• 1803- Revolt in Santo Domingo
(Haiti) led by slaves and yellow
fever defeat French troops
• Napoleon needed money to fight
war in Europe, needed cash from
sale of Louisiana
• US power might thwart British in
New World

• French suddenly offer to sell
all of Louisiana
• April 1803 treaties signed,
sold to US for $15 million
• Doubled size of US
• Jefferson really did not have
power to do this (president
not authorized to make
treaties)
• Senators did not complain,
supported purchase, quickly
approved action
• 828,000 sq. mi. 3 cents acre

• Avoided war with France, alliance with
England
• Purchase foundation for future
• It was conquest by purchase,
imperialism with a democratic face,
(exception- Indians, Spaniards)
• Expanded power of federal government
• Allowed Americans to be isolationist,
removed last significant European power
from continent
• Exploration of Lewis and Clark, Pike
provided scientific, geographic
knowledge of region
• Demonstrated viability of overland route
to the Pacific

• Feeble reach of government over vast
territory raised fears of secession and
foreign intrigue
• Demonstrated by Aaron Burr
• Burr dropped from Vice Presidency,
conspired against government, foiled by
Hamilton
• Bur and Hamilton duel, Hamilton killed,
Burr becomes an outcast
• 1806- Plots with James Wilkinson (LA
Territory governor) to create separate
country of trans-Mississippi west
• Plan foiled, Burr arrested
• Not enough evidence to put him on trial,
flees to Europe

• 1804 Jefferson reelected
• 1805 Britain and France reign supreme in
Europe and on the seas
• Cause problems for American trade
• British close trade with Europe, unless it
first stops at British port
• French seize all merchant vessels
(including American)
• Both sides impress American seamen
• 1807- Che s a p e a ke incident
• British seize American frigate, demand
surrender of American sailors
• Americans refuse and British fire on the
ship
• British government admit they are
wrong
• American’s upset at incident

• Warring nations in Europe depend on the US (raw
materials, food)
• 1807-Jefferson decides to voluntarily cut off
goods, Embargo Act
• Forbid goods from US to be exported
• Hurt American economy (NE- ship p ing , So uth-a
g ric ultura l p ro duc ts ), cost people jobs
• Effects worse in US than Europe
• Smuggling made a comeback, so did Federalist
party
• Talk of succession in NE
• 1809- Act repealed, passed Non-Intercourse Act
(could trade with all countries except GB and FR),
policy until 1812
• Act extremely unpopular
• Did revive American manufacturing, foundation
for future industry

• 1808- Jefferson retired after two terms
• James Madison becomes president
• Unable to dominate congress, problems within
Cabinet
• 1809- Non-Intercourse Act (would expire
1810), not supported by Congress
• US realized it could not survive without either
Britain or France as a trading partner
• Macon’s Bill No. 2 seemed like American’s
were giving in on embargoes
• 1810 France opens trade, British do not
• Why did they have to?
• Trade meant end of America neutrality

• 1811- Wa r hawks dominate
Congress, most from south and
west
• Supported military action
against British
• Tired of treatment of sailors,
British interference in trade,
especially farm products from
the west headed to Europe
• Wanted to clear Indians out of
west (move them to LA
Territory)
• Two Shawnee brothers
Te c um s e h and the Pro phe t,
formed a confederacy of
eastern tribes
• Movement of Indian unity,
resist white ways

• Frontiersmen and
Congressmen thought
British were behind
movement
• 1811- William He nry
Ha rris o n and army
attacked and defeated
Indians at Tippecanoe
(Indiana)
• Made Harrison a
national hero, drove
Indians into alliance with
British
• 1813-Tecumseh dies
fighting for British

• Spring 1812 Madison sees war as inevitable
• War hawks want to invade Canada and wipe out British
base, stop Indian raids
• Old Northwest –wanted Canada
• South- wanted Florida
• Madison wanted to restore confidence in America, years
of steering a middle course with FR and BR brought
international ridicule, domestic division
• June 1812 Madison asks Congress to declare war
• Vote was sectional- west and south support war, New
England strongly against war
• New England refused to send militia into battle, supplied
British
• Another war with the world’s most powerful empire

1812-1824
Chapter 12

• War of 1812 was divisive
• No national support
• Unimpressive military outcome
• Came out of the war with a spirit of nationalism
• Led to rise in manufacturing, increased power of the
federal government, development of infrastructure
• American financial interests turned away from commerce
and toward manufacturing

• 1812- American army poorly trained, poorly
led
• Canada seen as important battleground
• British weakest there, base for operations
to agitate Indians
• American plan for taking Canada was
poorly conceived at the beginning of the
war
• Army pushed back, Canadians were high
energy, defended country well
• 1812-1813- American success on water,
Oliver Hazard Perry on the Great Lakes,
caused British to withdraw from forts on the
Great Lakes
• USS Co ns titutio n, manned by free sailors
defeats British on the ocean

• 1814- Wars against Napoleon over in
Europe, British send troops to
Americas
• American victory at Lake Champlain,
saved upper NY and NE
• Second British force lands in
Chesapeake Bay, march to
Washington and burn it down,
Americans hold firm at Baltimore
(inspiration for Star Spangled
Banner)
• 1815- Major blow at New Orleans,
Americans led by Andrew Jackson
defeat British
• Battle of New Orleans makes
Jackson a national hero, seen as a
symbol of national honor
• Battle fought after peace treaty
signed

• Negotiations set in motion by Tsar of Russia
• Met in Ghent, Belgium
• Led by John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay
• War weariness of British made them more willing to
compromise
• Signed on Christmas Eve 1814
• Both sides agreed to stop fighting, restore conquered
territory
• Neither side won war

• New England remained a problem after the war
• Minority wanted secession, mostly federalist
• 1814- Hartford Convention, New England states meet in
complete secrecy to discuss grievances, seek to right
wrongs
• Final report not extreme, wanted financial assistance for lost
trade, wanted 2/3 vote to declare war admit new states
• Reflection of lost power of once dominant New England
• Grievances dismissed in Washington, last gasp of Federalist
Party

• War of 1812 small war (6,000 killed or wounded)
• Globally unimportant, huge consequences for United States
• Showed American resolve to resist what they regarded as wrongs
• New respect abroad, America was here to stay
• Reduced sectionalism, led to an upsurge of nationalism across
country
• New heroes (Jackson, Harrison)
• Indians had no British allies, gave up huge areas of land
• Manufacturing began to grow because of war, less dependent on
British
• 1817- Rush-Bagot Treaty limited naval armament on the Great
Lakes, solved American and British disputes over Oregon
• Americans began to turn their back on Europe and develop their
own country

• After war America emerged more
united
• National literature (James
Fennimore Cooper, Washington
Irving) using American themes,
scenes (heroic isolation of main
character, supernatural themes)
• American painters celebrated
nature, man was small in the
paintings
• Revived Bank of the United States,
building of a new capital, expansion
of the army and navy all
demonstrated new nationalism

• Manufacturing, factories grew
during the war
• After war British try to dump
goods on America
• Congress passes Tariff of 1816
(20-25% added value on
products)
• Started trend toward more
protection of American
products
• Henry Clay, senator from KY,
comes up with “American
System”

• Three main parts:
1.Strong banking system, allow easy credit
for business growth
2.Protective tariff, stimulate manufacturing
3.Building of roads and canals, bring
country together, economically and
politically
• Had strong support, mainly out west (few
roads)
• Hard to get money, funds were
unconstitutional (1817)
• Individual states fund improvements (Erie
Canal)
• NE did not support federal funds going to
infrastructure, drain away population

• 1816- James Monroe becomes
president (part of the Virginia Dynasty)
• Republican
• Level headed executive, took goodwill
tour of US (1817)
• Issues of his presidency- tariffs, banks,
sale of public lands, sectional divides
• Geographic, economic expansion gave
Americans a sense of nationalism
• Monroe’s two terms called Era of Good
Feelings (lasted through early 1820’s)
because of growing nationalism, limited
political opposition
• Was it really?

• 1819- first financial panic (deflation,
depression, bankruptcies, bank failures,
unemployment)
• Get rich quick fever caused by over
speculation in frontier lands
• West hardest hit
• Collapse in cotton prices, land values
• Speculative banks (wildcat banks) were forced
by Bank of US to close, easy unregulated
credit
• Bank became a financial devil (to south and
west)
• Effected poorer classes
• Led to reform legislation for debtors

• 1791-1819 nine frontier states joined 13
original states
• Most entered alternately slave and free
Appeal for western movement
• Cheap land (appeal to European immigrants)
• Land exhaustion in tobacco states
• Speculators sold land for small down
payments
• Removal of Indians
• Building of new roads
• Steamboat made river travel easier
• Land Act 1820 made land cheap (minimum
1.25 per acre)
• West had to ally with other sections because
lack of population, influence

• Sectional tension around slavery grew in this period
• 1819 Missouri wants admission as a slave state
• Tallmadge Amendment stipulated no more slaves in Missouri,
gradual emancipation of slaves already there
• Slaveholding states angry, saw amendment as threat to sectional
balance
• Even in 11 slave, 11 free states, admission would cause imbalance
• Future of slave system seen as endangered if amendment passed
• If Congress could abolish slavery would it do so in all states?
• Moral question raised about evils of slavery
• Abolitionist did not want spread of slavery

• 1820 bundle of compromises to solve
Missouri question
• Henry Clay played a leading role
• Missouri admitted as a slave state,
Maine admitted as a free state (kept
balance)
• Slavery not permitted north of 36
degrees 30’ north (southern boundary of
Missouri)
• Both sides received something, seen as a
victory for the south at the time
• “Great American Desert” seen as not
suitable for slavery
• Most southern Congressmen voted against
compromise
• Preserved compact of states, for the time
being

• Nationalism reflected by Supreme Court
• Decisions bolstered power of federal government, at the
expense of the states
• McCulloch vs. Maryland (1819)- used principle of implied
powers to determine states did not have right to tax Bank
of US
• Loose construction interpretation permitted government
to act for benefit of people
• Cohens vs. Virginia (1821)- Supreme Court could review
decisions of state courts
• Gibbons vs. Ogden (1824)- Constitution said federal
government only could control commerce, not states

• Another group of decisions protected
property rights
• Fletcher vs. Peck- bolstered power of federal
government saying states could not limit
property contracts, upheld right of
Supreme Court to invalidate state laws that
conflicted with constitution
• Dartmouth College vs. Woodward-contracts
protected against state laws,
chartered corporations part of federal
control (justified by Commerce clause in
const.)
• Supreme Court upheld power of national
government, checked excesses of states

• Nationalism shaped foreign
policy
• John Quincy Adams (Sec.
Of State)
• Treaty of 1818 with Britain
gave US fishing rights off
coast of Newfoundland
• Fixed northern boundary of
Louisiana
• 10 year joint occupation of
Oregon
• Sign of new cooperation
between British and US

• Florida part of crumbling Spanish
Empire, Americans already claimed
West Fla
• Latin American revolutions 1816-
1818, cause region to loose troops
• Andrew Jackson enters region to
capture slaves, punish Indians
• 1818 Jackson conquers Fla, claims
it for US
• Many in D.C. think Jackson has
overstepped his power, except
Adams
• Adams-Onis Treaty 1819 gives FL
to US, US abandons claim to
Texas, fixes southern boundary of
LA

• After Napoleon Europe returned to strong
monarchies
• Alarmed Americans
• Russia pushed south out of Alaska
• Latin American revolutions crushed by European
powers
• British and Americans had benefitted from open
trade with these countries
• British ask Americans to declare joint resolution
renouncing European powers from interfering
with Latin America

• Adams did not trust British, did not
want to tie America’s hands
• Alliance would hinder American
expansion
• Figured British navy would keep
ports open in L.A.
• 1823 Adams starts planning
Monroe Doctrine with president
• Delivered in annual message to
Congress
• 2 goals
1 . No n c o lo niz a tio n
2 . No n inte rve ntio n
• Era of colonization was over, keep
what they had but could not
acquire more

• Hard to enforce because of small military
• Made little difference to Latin American Republics
• Primarily defending itself from future invasion, looking out
for American self preservation
• Did not become important until 1845 (Mexican War)
• Never law, just a statement of policy
• Expression of new American nationalism
• Deepened American isolationism, warned Old World to
stay away

1824-1860

1825-1840

• Early 1820’s sectional differences
emerge after the Panic of 1819 and
the Missouri Compromise
• New types of political parties
emerged, became accepted
• Emergence of two party political
system
• Emergence of new type of voter:
fewer property qualifications means
more people eligible to vote (less
restriction)
• New styles of campaigns, banners,
badges, politicking
• 1828 new party, Democrats
• 1830’s Whig Party emerges
• Two party system part of checks
and balances of political power
• More people began to vote (78%
in1840)

1824- Last of the old style elections
Adams (MA), Clay (KY), Wm. Crawford (GA),
Jackson (TN) all running for president
Jackson strongest personal appeal, support
from the West
Won a majority of the vote, did not win in
electoral college
Clay (also Speaker of the House), threw
support behind Adams
Clay hated Jackson (from 1818 Florida foray)
Did not like Adams either, but both were
nationalist

• 1825 vote in House gave
election to Adams, Clay
becomes Sec. of State (seen
as stepping stone to
presidency)
• Supporters of Jackson called it
a c o rrup t ba rg a in
• Condemned Clay
• No positive evidence of
“corrupt bargain”, Clay
becomes Sec. of State
• Changed political system, no
more elections behind closed
doors

• Adams could be an irritable loner
• Great Sec. of State, poor president
• Not good at politics
• Did not have popular support
• Kept people in office, didn't do political
favors for supporters
• Nationalistic views and ideas in contrast
with national mood turning towards
sectionalism and state’s rights
• Southerners thought he might take infringe
on their “peculiar institution”
• Land policies and Indian policies turned off
Westerners

• By 1828 Democrat-Republicans
split into two groups
• National Republicans supported
Adams
• Republicans supported Jackson
• Jackson seem as champion of
common man
• Mudslinging, accusations in
election of 1828
• Vote split along sectional lines
• West and South supported
Jackson
• New England supported Adams
• Vote split in rest of country but
Jackson won the electoral vote
handily
• Demonstrated shift of political
power from eastern seaboard to
emerging western states

• Jackson from humble beginnings
• Force of personality and power of leadership led to rise to national
prominence
• First president from the west, frontier aristocrat, slave owner
• Election seen as rise of “peoples champion”
• Wild inauguration, supporters flooded Washington, and wrecked White
House
• Conservatives saw this as the rise of the dreaded democratic mob

• Under Jackson spoils system used
on a large scale (rewarding
supporters with political jobs)
• Washington was due for an
overturn in the established powers,
many had been around since the
early 1800’s
• Rewarding cronies led to scandal,
but it was an important element to
the development of the two party
system
• Promise of “spoils” led to party
loyalty instead of economic, class
and geographic loyalties

• Tariffs had protected American Industry against
European competition
• Invited retaliatory tariffs against American goods
• Tariff raised in 1824, 1828
• Southerners thought tariffs discriminated against
them
• Tariff of 1828 called “Tariff of Abominations”, “Black
Tariffs”
• Southerners sold goods on world market,
unprotected by tariffs, forced to buy manufactured
good in a market protected by tariffs
• Northeast was having a boom in manufacturing, how
was the South doing?
• Tariff was an easy scapegoat

• These feeling were heightened by the fear
that the federal government would interfere
with slavery
• Missouri Compromise, Denmark Vesey
slave rebellion (1822), mounting pressure
in support of abolition (in US and abroad)
• Tariff seen as issue to the South as a way
to take a stand for states’ rights
• South Carolina took the lead
• 1828 The So uth Ca ro lina Ex p o s itio n
secretly written by John Calhoun (vice
president)
• Wrote that tariff was unjust and
unconstitutional, proposed that states
should nullify tariff within their own borders

• Tariff of 1832 tipped balance in SC to support
nullification
• Delegates declared tariff null and void in state
• Threatened to take state out of the Union
• No other Southern states actively supported SC
actions
• Jackson would not permit defiance, dispatched
military reinforcements to state to enforce,
collect tariff
• Jackson endorsed tariff
• Henry Clay stepped in to broker a compromise

• Compromise- Tariff Bill of 1833-
would reduce tariff 10% over 8 years
• Debate broke down over sectional
lines
• South favored compromise, Jackson
would not have to use the military
• Force Bill also passed at the same
time, authorized president to use
military to collect tariff
• SC delegates met again repealed
ordinance of nullification, but they
nullified force bill
• Only winner was Clay, seen as hero
that saved the country

• Since 1790’s American policy toward Indians, they were recognized as
separate nations
• Acquired land through treaties, terms violated regularly as Anglo
settlement pushed west
• Some tribes assimilated into American culture, some resisted it
• Cherokee of GA, NC assimilated into American ways (part of 5 Civilized
Tribes- Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, Chickasaw)
• Cherokee embraced civilization- written constitution, written legal code,
alphabet
• Some were even slave holders
• Jacksonians committed to Western Expansion, viewed Native
Americans as in the way
• Jackson, like many Westerners thought Indians needed to be removed
east of the Mississippi, open land to white settlement
• 1830- Congress passes Indian Removal Act, appropriated money to
remove Indians to permanent reservation west of the Mississippi (act
supported by Jackson, Southerners and Westerners)

• 1828- Georgia Legislature declared
Cherokee tribal council illegal,
asserted jurisdiction over their lands
• Cherokees appealed to Supreme
Court (two separate cases)
• Court upheld rights of Indians
• Jackson disagreed with the
Supreme Court, ordered removal of
Indians (“Ma rsha ll m a d e his
d e c is io n, no w le t him e nfo rc e it”)
• Uprooted more than 100,000
Indians, westward movement known
as the Trail of Tears
• 1836 Bureau of Indian Affairs
established to administer relations
with Native Americans
• As settlers pushed west the
permanent frontier for Indians
gradually shrank and many other
guarantees went up in smoke

• Sauk and Fox Indians in
Wisconsin and Illinois resisted
eviction
• Led by Black Hawk the rebellion
was crushed by American troops
in 1832 (Black Hawk War)
• Seminoles waged a bitter guerilla
war for seven years in the
swampy Everglades (1835-1842)
• Leader, Osceola was captured
under a flag of truce, some fled
deeper into the swamps, 4/5’s
were moved to Oklahoma

• Jackson distrusted big business and the Bank of
the US
• Why?
• Banks minted gold and silver coins
• Paper money printed by private banks (value
fluctuated with health of bank and amount of
money printed
• Bank of US source of credit, principle depository
of federal money, source of credit and stability
• Acted like another branch of government

• Bank not accountable to people, existed to
make a profit for investors, seen as against
“American "way
• 1832 Bank War begins
• Webster, Clay push for recharter of Bank
to make it a political issue in election of
1832
• If passed and signed by Jackson it would
alienate his western followers, if vetoed he
would loose support of wealthy, influential
easterners
• Jackson vetoed, declared bank
unconstitutional, found it harmful to nation
• Another instance of Jackson regarding
executive branch superior to judicial
branch
• Jackson expands power of executive
branch

• Clay and Jackson squared off in election of
1832
• First time third party ran, Anti-Masonic
Party
• Supporters in NY, Middle states, New
England
• Against secret societies, support from
evangelical Protestants (use political power
to bring moral and religious change)
• Jacksonians against government
interference in social and economic life
• First use of nominating conventions
• Clay had support from businessmen and
eastern newspapers
• Jackson wins election handily (219-49 in
electoral college

• Charter for Bank of US expire 1836
• Fear of Biddle to bring back bank, Jackson
wants to take it out
• 1833 Jackson removes federal deposits, bleed
bank dry
• Had to reshuffle cabinet to find people to
support him
• Biddle calls in loans from Bank to show
importance, causes financial panic
• Jackson places funds in state banks (“pet
banks”), banks with pro Jackson sympathies
• Banks flood country with paper money,
currency becomes unreliable
• 1836- Specie Circular required public lands to be
purchased with hard currency (gold, silver
currency)
• Put brakes on land speculation, sales
• Causes financial panic and crash in 1837

• 1830’s new political party emerges- Whigs
• Hatred of Jackson was what they rallied around
• Whigs were led by Clay, Calhoun, Webster
• Attracted groups alienated by Jackson- supporters of
American System, southern states righter's, northern
industrialists, absorbed evangelical protestants from
Anti-Masonic Party
• Progressive in support of active government programs
and reforms, called for internal improvements
• Supported prisons, asylums, public schools and the
market economy
• Claimed to be defenders of common man (stole from
Democrats)

• Martin Van Buren chosen as
Jackson’s successor
• Whigs don’t nominate single
candidate, many candidates for
regional appeal
• Wanted to put election in hands of
House
• Van Buren won election easily
• Van Buren inherited problems
over which he had no control
• Did not have the force of
personality that Jackson had to
deal with problems
• Depression, possible war with
Canada, depression

• Panic 1837 caused by over-speculation on lands,
borrowed money based on shaky currency and wildcat
banks
Causes
• Jackson’s policies on the Bank of the US
• Rising grain prices
• British Banks calling in loans
• Caused commodity prices to drop, land sales to fall off,
factories closed, high unemployment and bank closures

• Whigs tried to make government more active to end
depression (expansion of credit, tariffs), Van Buren kept
government out of economy
• Van Buren tried to help economy through the “Divorce
Bill”, keeping government out of banking by establishing
an independent treasury, caused credit to shrink
• Not popular
• 1840- Passed by Congress, repealed next year, revived
in 1846 and continued until the Civil War

• 1840 Van Buren runs again for
president, Whigs get behind one
candidate William Henry Harrison
• Harrison, war hero and Indian fighter
• Views on issues vaguely known
• Played as a “common man”, really from
old Virginia family
• Selected John Tyler as VP
• Plan was to drive corrupt Jacksonians
from White House
• Harrison won, time for Whig ideas of
government action to stimulate the
economy

• 1840’s American politics adopt populist, democratic style
• Old aristocracy seen as bad
• Politicians wanted to claim humble beginnings, politicians had to
adopt “common touch”
• Resulted in formation of vigorous and durable two party system
• Both parties grew out of Jeffersonian Republicanism
• Democrats were for the liberty of the individual, state’s rights, federal
restraint
• Whigs supported national bank, protective tariffs, internal
improvements and moral reforms
• Both mass based, appeal led to compromise within the parties, kept
extreme views from becoming dominant, reduced sectionalism

1790-1860

• Americans constantly pushed west, cheap land
opportunity
• First part of 19th century new immigrants joined
movement (Irish, Germans)
• New machinery allowed crops to be cultivated quicker,
goods produced faster, expectations for workers changed
• New methods of transportation allowed goods, people
and products to move quicker
• Origins of market oriented economy

 Jackson symbolized the rise of trans-Appalachia
 Raw frontier seen as typically American
 1850 half of all Americans under 30
 Seen as restless energetic, always on the move
 Demographic center of America had move steadily westward
 Reality of pioneer life was grim (especially for women)
 Rugged individualism became part of national character- Was this
true?

• People molded physical environment
• Left behind fields destroyed by tobacco cultivation
• Planted “Kentucky Bluegrass” from charred
canfields,
• 1820-1840 trappers, mountain men had decimated
beaver across the West
• Buffalo, sea otters were hunted into near extension
for their fur
• Ec o lo g ic a l Im p e ria lism - exploitation of Americas
natural bounty

• Many Americans revered nature
• American wilderness seen as unique to many
Europeans
• Wild unspoiled land one of the nations defining
attributed- move west you can always start over
• Inspired literature, painting and by the end of the
1800’s a conservation movement

• Population doubling every 25 years
• By 1860 there were 33 states, 4th most populous country
in the world
• Urban growth- by 1860 there were 43 cities with more
than 20,000 (1790 only 3)
• Urbanization brought problems (inadequate public
services, poor housing)
• 1823 Boston developed first sewer system, 1842 NYC
first piped in water supply

• By 1840’s population growth comes from
immigration
• Most Irish and German
• What caused them to come to America?
• Europe had surplus of population, running out of
room
• America seen as land of opportunity
• Freedom of European class system
• Abundant, cheap land
• No compulsory military service

• Mid 1840’s potato crop failure
pushes many out of Ireland
• 1830-1860 2 million Irish come to
the United States
• Newcomers too poor to buy land,
stayed in cities on eastern
seaboard (NYC largest Irish city in
the world)
• Irish had to take worst jobs,
poorest housing- viewed as a
social menace
• Competed with African Americans
for jobs (Irish did not support
abolition)
• Formed Irish only clubs (Ancient
Order of Hibernians, Molly
Maguire's)

• Irish acquired property and
improved lives in America
• Politicians wanted to
cultivate Irish vote
• Many entered politics and
gained control of political
machines (NYC Tammany
Hall)
• Dominated police
departments

• 1830-1860 over 1.5 million Germans immigrated to US
• Uprooted farmers, political refugees
• German immigrants better off than Irish, had more
money
• Moved to Middle West, established farms
• Less political power, widely scattered population

• Germans more educated than
Irish, supported public schools
• Were not supporters of slavery
• Fled militarism of Europe,
became isolationists
• Language, culture viewed as
suspicious by many
• Settled in colonies, separate from
surrounding community
• Brought Old World drinking habits
(brought beer to America)

• Immigration inflamed anti-foreign sentiment
• Feared they would take jobs, worried about “popish”
newcomers
• 1840’s Immigrants establish separate Catholic school
system, protect children from Protestant indoctrination
• By 1850 Catholics largest single religious group in
America

• “Nativists” rally for political action, form
Know-Nothing Party 1849
• Wanted restrictions on immigration,
easier ways to deport “aliens”
• Promoted literature to expose foreigners
(most of it untrue)
• Mass violence 1834, Catholic convent
burned
• 1844 Philadelphia nativists, Irish
Catholics riot
Effects of immigration
a. made America more pluralistic society
b. Growth of economy really did not
jeopardize wealth of others
c. Labor of immigrants helped fuel economic
expansion

• 1750 Industrial Revolution begins in England
with mass production of textiles
• End of muscle, animal power beginning of
machine power
• Slow to catch on in US cheap land, labor scarce
• Capital in short supply, raw materials in America
were untapped
• 1840’s rise of immigration caused labor pool to
grow

• Samuel Slater from England
steals plans for first textile
machines
• 1791 first efficient machine for
spinning cotton
• 1793 Eli Whitney invents first
cotton gin (separates cotton
fiber from seeds, 50X more
effective than human labor)
• Cha ng e d his to ry o f Am e ric a
m a d e c o tto n g ro wing p ro fita ble
e nte rp ris e

• Slavery had been dying out
• Invention of cotton gin caused more acres to be
cleared -Cotton Kingdom moved westward (into
AL, MS)
• Cotton sent to mills in New England
• Factories were established in Northeast
• Little manufacturing in South, capital tied up in
land and slaves
New England ideal for industrialization
a) soil too poor for farming,
b) dense population, markets available,
c) shipping allowed for export of finished products
d) large poor immigrant population for labor
e) rapid rivers good for water powered mills

• Consequences of embargo 1807 and War of 1812 was
capital kept in America
• Used to invest in American manufacturing
• After war British flood America with cheap goods, Tariff of
1816 attempts to protect American manufacturing
• Eli Whitney develops idea of mass produced
interchangeable parts for muskets, by 1850 became the
basis of mass production
• Mo s t fa c to rie s lo c a te d in the no rthe a s t (indus tria l p la nt o f
Am e ric a )

• 1846 Isaac Singer, Elias Howe invent
sewing machine (m a s s p ro duc tio n o f
c lo the s )
• Patents increased 306 in 1800, 28,000
1860
• Legal status of business organizations
changed
• Limited liability principle allowed
investors to invest in companies
• Companies could concentrate capital
• Investment capital companies used in
textiles, railroads, insurance and
banking
• 1844 Invention of telegraph (Samuel
Morse) brought world closer together
(revolutionized exchange of information)

• Industrial Revolution end of
age of close personal
relationships with boss
• Spindle Cities grew up around
factories to house workers
• Hours long, wages low, poor
working conditions
• Could not form labor unions to
improve life at work (criminal
conspiracy)
• Child labor a huge problem

• Wages did rise (1820’s-1830’s), growth of middle class
Americans
• More workers could vote
• Supported Democratic Party of Jackson
• Fight against all forms of privilege (Bank of US),
reflected anxiety about new capitalist economy
• 1840 Van Buren reduces work day for federal workers,
states eventually followed
• Workers gained right to strike but usually lost
• They could easily be replaced by workers “fresh off the
boat” from Europe
• Co m m o nwe a lth vs . Hunt (1842), Mass; unions were not
conspiracies

• Women left farms, went to work in factories
• Gave them greater economic independence
• Lowell Mills (Mass.) seen as a model
workplace for “factory girls”
• Factory provided income, protected morality
• Overall employment opportunities for
women were scarce
• Influence of Harriet Beecher Stowe, many
women became teachers (feminized
profession)
• Vast majority of working women single

• Women married, left jobs
• Work as wives and mothers called “cult of domesticity”,
glorified functions as a homemaker
A.Home was women’s sphere
B.Love determined choice of spouse
C.Nuclear family became closer
D.Home was a refuge from the industrial world
E.Number of children per family dropped
• Domestic feminism in the home, growing power and
influence of women
• New ideas of raising children, family more child centered,
affectionate
• Children raised by morals of “modern family” were good
citizens

• Farms were changing the West
• Pioneer families planted corn, lots of it
• Staple market item, had many uses
• Western goods floated down Mississippi
River
• Fed the south
• Western Farmers wanted to cultivate
more acres but soil hard to break up
• 1837 John Deere introduces steel plow
• 1830’s Cyrus McCormick introduces
mechanical reaper, could do the work of 5
men
• Farmers could plant more land, rise of
large scale cash crop agriculture for
region
• Farmers became businesspeople, looked
east for a new market for their crops

• Need for cheap and efficient carriers
of products
• 1790’s Lancaster Turnpike first
highway (charged toll and made a
huge profit)
• Turnpike building spurred western
development, allowed for easy
access to the West
• Use of federal funds to build roads
opposed by state’s righter's and
Eastern states (fear of loss of
population)
• 1811 Federal government builds
Cumberland Road (finished 1852)

• 1807 Robert Fulton launches
steamboat craze
• Steamboats could travel upstream,
against the current
• Navigable rivers two way arteries of
transportation
1820- sixty steamboats on Mississippi
River
1860- over 1,000
• Steamboats opened up West and
South
• Goods could be shipped out cheaply,
quickly
• Bring in manufactured goods
• New population centers grew up along
the banks

• Canal cutting craze
• 1817-1825 New York financed
building of Erie Ca na l, linked
Great Lakes and Hudson River
• Cost of shipping and time of
transportation dropped
• Value of land along canal went
up, new cities (Rochester,
Syracuse)
• Interior cities population
exploded (Chicago, Detroit,
Cleveland)
• Settlers migrated from
northeast to Midwest

• Railroad not limited by
geography
• 1828 first RR in US
• 1860 30,000 miles of track, most
of it in north
• Faced opposition from canal
backers, considered as public
menace
• Problems overcome by
technology- differences in gauge
(as time went by became more
standardized), improvements in
brakes, Pullman sleeping car
introduced (1859)

• 1858- first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable connected Europe and US
• 1840’S-1850’s- “Golden Age of American Shipping”
• Clipper Ships rapidly move freight across Pacific, eventually
replaced by steam powered ships
• 1860- Pony Express established, folded after 18 months (telegraph
better)
• Dy ing te chno lo g y o f wind a nd m us c le p o we r, re p la c e d by m a chine s

• Before 1830 West linked to
South by Mississippi River
• Building of RR linked North to
West, robbed Mississippi
River of it’s traffic
• NYC became major port of
nation
• Emergence of continental
economy, each region
specialized in economic
activity

• Market Revolution transformed country from small, scattered
subsistence farmers and workshops into national network of
industry and commerce
• Que s tio ns o ve r who sho uld re g ula te e c o no m y ? Who o wns
te chno lo g y ?
A.Supreme Court decisions sided with liberal state laws that
encouraged greater competition in the marketplace “rights of
the community”
• Se lf s uffic ie nt ho us e ho ld s tra ns fo rm e d
A.Wage earners went to work, made money and purchased
manufactured goods
B.Home became a place of refuge from work, separate sphere
for women
• Gap between have and have-nots grew, greatest in cities
• Rising wages and middle class helped diffuse potential
conflict between classes

Chapter 15

• Third revolution in antebellum period (political, economic)
transformation of American character
• Reform movements motivated by changes in American
character, economy
• More educated, upstanding, improve society
• Promoted new religions, better public schools, rights for
women, abstinence from alcohol and abolition of slavery
• Drew reforming impulse from religion
• Beginning in the 1790’s into early 19th century Second
Great Awakening transformed place of religion in US

• Most Americans in first half of 19th century attended
church
• Not old Puritan theology but new rational theology based
on reason and science
• Many Founding Fathers were supporters of Deism
(Supreme Being endowed humans with capacity for
moral behavior, belief in reason not faith)
• Deism inspired Unitarianism
• Unitarianism began in New England end of 1700’s
• Stressed essential goodness of human nature, not
hellfire doctrine of Calvinism

• 1800 new wave of revivals
began on southern and western
frontiers, called Second Great
Awakening
• Converted souls, reorganized
churches and spawned
numerous new sects
• Affected many areas of
American life from prison
reform, the women’s movement
and abolition of slavery
• Spread through “camp
meetings” that lasted several
days
• Many saved returned to old
ways after meetings over,
provided social outlet on lonely
frontier

• Methodists, Baptists gained most
converts, each sect promoted personal
salvation, democratic control over church
affairs
• Preachers called circuit riders
• Cha rle s Gra nd is o n Finne y greatest of
revival preachers, great orator
• Became president of Oberlin College
(Ohio), hotbed of abolitionism
• Second G.A. caused feminization of
religion, most ardent supporters of new
religions and era’s reforms
• Demonstrated ambivalence toward
changing world (economic, industrial,
market revolutions)

• Revivals caused fragmentation of
religions
• Western New York “Burned Over District”
because so many preachers came and
preached hellfire and damnation
• 1830’s- Millerites (Adventists) came from
this region
• Leader said Christ would return on a
certain date, did not happen
• Second G.A. widened lines between
classes
• Prosperous, conservative not affected by
revivalism (Easterners, better educated)
• Methodists, Baptists form, newly
established regions
• Less educated, less prosperous
• Religions split over slavery issues (north
and south)

• 1830- Joseph Smith reported he
received golden plates after a visit
from an angel
• Became Book of Mormon
• Truly native American religion
• Opposition to Mormon beliefs, ways
caused group to migrate west
• Antagonized non-Mormons, voting
as a unit, practicing polygamy,
cooperative economic practices
• 1844 Smith and brother murdered
by a mob in Carthage, IL
• Leadership of Mormons taken up by
Brigham Young

• 1846-1847 Young leads Mormon pioneers to Utah
• 1848 -5,000 settlers
• Irrigation, hard work, luck, leadership of Young-community
thrived, became a frontier theocracy
• Clashed with Washington government, could not control
Young
• 1857 send federal army to allow US appointed judges to
serve, inability to conform to American standards of
culture delayed statehood until 1896

• Tax supported primary schools for children of the poor, wealthy
used private tutors
• During first half of 1800’s tax supported schools seen as good for
teaching American ways and democracy
• Little red schoolhouse became a shrine of democracy
• School teachers poorly trained, poorly paid
• Reform brought by Horace Mann, campaigned for better school
houses, better pay, expanded curriculum
• Noah Webster, wrote school books designed to promote patriotism
• William McGuffey (McGuffey’s Readers) lessons in patriotism

• Many small, denominational colleges established during
this period in the South and West
• First state supported universities established (University
of North Carolina 1795, University of Virginia 1819)
• Changes in curriculum from traditional religious training
to modern languages and the sciences
• Women’s education grew (frowned upon earlier)
• Oberlin College in Ohio opened doors to women and
blacks
• Tax supported libraries, magazines, traveling lecturers
expanded zeal for learning to wider audiences

• Reform campaigns inspired by religion
sought to build a more perfect society
• Appealed to middle class women as a
way to escape home, enter arena of
public affairs
• Reformers wanted to reaffirm traditional
values in a world disrupted and
transformed by the changes brought by
industrialization
• Debtor’s prisons were abolished
• Criminal punishment was reformed, idea
of prison as place for reform established
• Treatment of mentally ill, led by Dorthea
Dix
• Insane Asylums were places of brutal
treatment and she campaigned to make
them more humane, idea of mental
illness born at this time

• Drinking problem attracted attention
of nation
• Caused decrease in efficiency of
labor, higher risk of accidents in new
industrial machines
• 1826- American Temperance
Society founded in Boston
• Drinkers seen as scourge from Old
World
• Temperance pledges signed, “Cold
Water Army”
• Melodramatic books demonstrated
evils of alcohol (Te n Nig hts in a
Ba rro o m a nd Wha t I Saw The re -
1854)
• Alcohol consumption dropped as the
century wore on, so the movement
worked

• Women’s place was in the home, could not vote or own
property
• Legally regarded as minors
• Changing economy separated men and women into
different spheres
• Women were artistic and refined, keepers of societies
conscience
• During antebellum period female reformers became more
vocal
• Most were from middle class families, white
• Began to demand rights for women
• Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony,
Grimke sisters all fought for women’s rights (many had
Quaker backgrounds and were abolitionists)
• 1848- Seneca Falls Convention
• Women's Rights Convention, Stanton read “Declaration of
Sentiments”, based on Declaration of Independence, “all
men and women created equal”
• Things changed for women by the eve of the Civil War
some had property rights, beginning to gain admission to
colleges- still they could not vote

• Over 40 cooperative communities established to live out
the reform minded ideals of the age, most did not last
long
• Communities promised equality for all members
• Many were in rural, isolated areas
• Based on religious ideas and principles
• Members typically worked common land and property
• Many quickly ran into futility and failed, because after the
founder passed away each idealist had their own vision
• 1825- New Harmony, Indiana established by Robert
Owen
• 1841 Brook Farm, Mass. Based on ideas of
transcendentalism
• 1848- Oneida Community in NY practiced free love,
selection of parents for superior offspring
• Did better than most, manufactured goods that supported
community
• Shakers established by Mother Anne Lee, started in
1770’s and grew to almost 6,000 members, known for
simple furniture

• Early American inventions centered practical gadgets,
not pure science (plow, mechanical reaper, etc.)
• Some scientific talent in America
• Most notably Jo hn J. Audubo n, studied birds of
America in detail
• American medicine primitive and life was short (avg.
50 years)

• American architecture copied European
styles
• Thomas Jefferson was the best
American architect (designed
Monticello, Univ. of VA)
• Competent painters, Gilbert Sullivan
(portraits of Washington), John
Trumbull (Revolutionary War scenes)
• Hudson River School of painters,
romanticized local landscapes (misty,
foggy, rainy, man very small)
• 1840’s Competition for paintings comes
from daguerreotype (crude type of
photo)
• Minstrel show, performers in “black
face" became popular forms of
entertainment

• Most influential publications up to this point
were political essays (Co m m o n Se ns e ,
Fe d e ra lis t)
• Nationalism and spirit of independence
after War of 1812, new group of writers
emerged, “Knic ke rbo c ke r Gro up ”-
Washington Irving, James Fenimore
Cooper, William Cullen Bryant
• American themes of nature, the
supernatural and individualism
• Novels widely read in Europe, legitimized
American literature
• Natty Bumppo became the archetype of
the American westerner

• Began in New England
• Release from liberalizing straightjacket of Puritan ideology
• Reaction to John Locke and that truth is acquired through the senses
• Each person possesses an inner light or “Oversoul”
• Beliefs included commitment to self- reliance, fundamental truth came
from experience
• Rejected authority and conventional wisdom
• Best known Emerson, Thoreau
• Thoreau lived in cabin on Walden Pond in Mass. for two years wrote
Wa ld e n: Or Life in the Wo o d s about experience
• Refused to pay poll tax in Mexican-American War, wrote essay On the
Duty o f Civil Dis o be d ie nc e
• Idealistic tract promoting nonviolence
• Thoreau saw civil disobedience as the right of individuals to refuse to
obey laws they feel are unjust
• Walt Whitman wrote Le a ve s o f Gra s s , became poet laureate of
democracy
• Writings reflected leaving behind Old World, embracing new

1820-1860

• How and why did the abolition movement become more
radical over the period 1815-1860?
• Define Manifest Destiny and how the belief in Manifest
Destiny influenced U.S. politics and policies in the
1840s?
• What was the Compromise of 1850 and to what degree
did the Compromise of 1850 delay the breakup of the
Union?
• How did two of the following events contribute to the
breakup of the Union?
• Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Decision in the Dre a d Sc o tt case
• Raid on Harpers Ferry

Chapter 16

 After Revolution slavery faced an uncertain
future, it was logical to think slavery would
fade away
 Invention of the cotton gin in 1793 changed
that
 Cotton became dominant crop in the south,
created demand for labor and land
 Quick profits from cotton drew planters to the
Gulf South during this time
 Caused economic spiral more cotton = more
slaves, if you had more slaves you could buy
more land
 Northern shippers profited from cotton trade
 They shipped it to England
 Largest American export after 1840 (1/2 of
world’s supply)
 Southern leaders knew that cotton production
was something they could hold over heads of
British

 Cotton and Slaves 1820 and 1860

 South was a society run be elite
wealthy planters
 Very few owned large amount of
slaves
 They had tremendous wealth, sent
children to schools outside of south
(kept public education from gaining
foothold)
 Had a sense of duty to the public
 Dominance by planters caused a
huge gap between rich and poor
 Society almost feudal (lords, manors
and serfs)
 Shaped the lives of women, they
managed the house and the slave
staff, most did not support abolition

 Search for quick profit led to over cultivation and
degradation of the environment
 Those that could not make it headed West and
North (Butternuts)
 Economic structure became monopolistic, land
owners concentrated their holdings and bought
out small farmers
 Land hunger led to over speculation of lands,
heavy investment in slaves caused crushing debt
for many planters
 Dependence on one crop put South at the mercy
of the world markets, caused lack of economic
diversity that effect region well into the 20th century
 Resentment of the northern bankers, middlemen,
businessmen intensified as they grew rich off
Southern cotton and made profits selling
manufactured goods to the South
 Slaves and high land prices kept out European
immigrants, South had little ethnic diversity

 1/4 of families owned slaves
 Typically small farmers (more like
Midwestern or Northern farmers)
 Many owned no slaves at all, they
were subsistence farmers (raised
corn, hogs) and lived isolated lives
 Had no direct stake in slave system
but supported it because there was
somebody on the social ladder lower
than them
 Mountain whites in Appalachia
disliked blacks and masters and
provided strong Union support in the
South during the Civil War

• Free blacks in the Upper South (MD, VA, NC) traced
origins to Revolution
• Lower South most free were mulattoes, some purchased
freedom
• New Orleans had sizeable free, mulatto community
• Seen a third race, could not hold certain occupations, vote
• In the North some states would not let them live there,
could not attend public schools, competed with Irish for
menial jobs
• Spread of slavery in new territory grew out of prejudice not
humanitarianism

• Number of slaves grew during first half of
1800’s
• King Cotton demanded tribute in slave
labor
• Some smuggled into country (made
illegal 1808), most growth due to natural
increase
• Slaves planters biggest asset and they
were treated like investments (for the
most part)
• Cotton boom sucked slaves from Upper
to Lower South
• Some states had majority African
American populations
• Slaves sold at auction, sometimes for
bankruptcy
• Led to breakup of families, became
theme for Harriet Beecher Stowe and

 Conditions for slaves varied from
region to region
 No slaves had civil or political rights,
no labor rights
 Beatings and threat of beating
substituted for wage-incentive
system
 Masters were never too harsh
because of investment
 1860 most slaves concentrated in
“black belt” across Deep South
 Region was southern frontier, life
was rougher than Upper South
 Majority lived on plantations

 Slaves managed to maintain family life
 Kept some African traditions in marriage, descent,
religion
 Religion was mixture of Christian and African traditions
 Focused on themes of persecution in the Bible
 Call and response preaching adaptation of caller and
dancers from West African traditions

• Slaves denied education, did not want them to get new
ideas, question position
• Slaves struck back by slowing the pace of work,
sabotaging equipment, took goods they produced
• All wanted freedom, some ran away
• Armed rebellion never worked
• 1800 Gabriel Prosser(Richmond, VA), 1822 Denmark
Vesey (Charleston, SC), 1831 Nat Turner
• All failed, all were hung or were killed
• White southerners felt like they were under siege
(rebellions, abolitionist propaganda) developed theory of
superiority over blacks
• American South was one of the world’s last bastions of
slavery

 First anti slavery societies appeared after
Revolution, main support among Quakers
 Earliest efforts were to send blacks back to
Africa
 1822- American Colonization Society, founded
Liberia in West Africa- 15,000 went
 Most slaves did not see themselves as
Africans
 1830’s slavery becomes moral crusade
because of Second Great Awakening
 1833 –British abolish slavery in West Indies
 Slavery became a sin
 Theodore Weld and “Lane Rebels” preached
anti-slavery gospel across Old Northwest

• 1831- William Lloyd Garrison publishes first issue of The
Libe ra to r, a militantly anti slavery newspaper based in
Boston
• 1833- American Antislavery society founded
• Black Abolitionists – David Walker (promoted bloody end
to slavery), Sojourner Truth (advocate for emancipation
and women’s rights)
• Fredrick Douglass – best known black abolitionist,
escaped slave
• Wrote Na rra tive o f the Life o f Fre d ric k Do ug la s s , detailed
his early life and escape

• Differences between Garrison and Douglass
• Garrison known as inflexible, self righteous,
impractical
• Provided no alternative to country without
slavery
• Denounced politics
• Many abolitionist questioned the role of women
(Garrison supported women)
• Douglass- used politics to end slavery
• New political parties emerge in 1840’s based on
abolition of slavery
• Liberty Party (1840), Free Soil Party (1848),
Republican Party (1850’s)

• Before 1830’s some antislavery
sentiment in the south
• 1831 publication of Liberator, Nat Turner
Rebellion, Nullification Crisis of 1832
• All turned tide in South
• White southerners saw threat to way of
life, began to defend slavery
• Justifications- supported by Bible, good
for civilization depraved Africans,
master- slave relationship was like a
family (contrasted with industrial wage
earners in northern factories)
• 1836 Southerners in House pass Ga g
Re s o lutio n, tables all debate on slavery
(defied by John Quincy Adams)
• Postmasters given permission to
destroy abolitionist material across
South
• Widened gap between north and south

• Abolitionists unpopular in many parts of the north
• Seen as too radical
• Heavy economic stake in south; cotton production for
factories, money owed to northern banks
• Abolitionists seen as rocking the boat
• Mobs attacked abolitionists
• By 1850’s issue of territorial expansion, other factors put
many in north on side of abolitionists

Chapter 17

• Americans want Texas, remote backwater of Spanish
Empire
• US abandoned claim in 1819
• 1823- new Mexican government gives land to Stephen
Austin to bring settlers
• 2 conditions settlers had to become Mexican citizens,
become Catholic
• Ignored by settlers, annoyed by presence of Mexican
soldiers and government
• Settlers typical American individualist, did not want to
be pushed around
• Slavery an issue, outlawed in Mex., settlers brought
slaves anyway
• 1836 Mex. Leader Santa Ana attempts to repress
Texans independence

• Early 1836 Texans declare independence
• Santa Anna attacks Alamo and Goliad
become rallying cries for Texans,
galvanized Americans behind Texas cause
• Gen. Sam Houston lures Mexicans east to
San Jacinto (near present day Houston),
and defeats Santa Anna
• Forces Santa Anna to sign treaty giving
land to Rio Grande to Texas and removing
troops from region
• Mex. does not recognize agreement
• Texas becomes an independent republic
but wanted to be part of the United States
• Refused admission, abolitionists did not
want new slave state
• Seen as a plot against slavery to
Southerners

 1840’s territorial expansion dominated
politics, diplomacy
 War with Mexico, gained territory from
Texas to California and questions of
status of slavery
 1841 William Henry Harrison (Whig)
elected and died in office
 Real leaders of Whigs Clay, Webster
tried to push agenda, thwarted by
John Tyler (VP, now president)
 Tyler supporter of states rights
 Clay and others tried to push
nationalistic political agenda
 Whigs pushed for new bank, tariffs; all
vetoed by Tyler

• British looked down on
Americans, increased tension
with America
• Americans borrowed
extensively from British banks
(many defaulted on loans
during Panic of 1837)
• 1837 Caroline incident with
Canada, 1841 slaves offered
asylum in Bahamas (southern
fear of Caribbean becoming
haven for escaped slaves),
1842 border disputes in Maine
(settled by Webster-
Ashburton Treaty)

 1836- Texas achieves independence, not recognized by Mexico
 Britain, France interested in Texas as place for cotton
production, check American power
 Texas as independent nation threatened US
 Presidential campaign 1844 issue of expansion
 Texas annexed by joint resolution of Congress 1844
 James K. Polk won election on expansion platform
 Texas became state 1845
 Oregon
 enormous wilderness
 Claimed by many different countries until 1825, then only
US and Britain
 British claims based on occupation
 American claims based on exploration and occupation
 1830’s American missionaries settle Willamette Valley,
stimulates interest of Americans
 1840’s number of Americans increases, came over
Oregon Trail
 British had few settlers, weaker claim than Americans

 Election of 1844 between Henry Clay
and James Polk
 Major election issue Manifest Destiny
 Feeling that America’s duty was to
spread ideals of democracy across
continent (idea of expansion and
liberty)
 Expansion ignored national
boundaries, came at the expense of
others
 Expansionist Democrats won election
felt they had a mandate to take Texas
and Oregon
 New President James K. Polk had 4
point program – lower tariff, create
independent treasury, acquire Oregon
and California
 1846 US and Britain compromise on
Oregon territory border (dying fur trade
made British lose interest in Oregon)

 Americans wanted San Francisco and San
Diego Bays as ports on Pacific and to
expand American trade to Asia
 Americans saw weakness in Mexican control
of borderlands
 Polk eager to buy California, Mexicans would
not sell
 Wanted California to balance admission of
Texas with a free state
 US/Mexico issues over boundary of Texas
 Mexican claim was boundary at Nueces
River, American claim was Rio Grande
 Rumors of British wanting to purchase
California, could not be tolerated under
Monroe doctrine
 1846 Polk sends troops to Texas, march
from Nueces River to Rio Grande
 April 1846 US soldiers killed and Polk asks
for war, Congress overwhelmingly supports it

 Many northerners and Whigs saw this as a land grab and war for
extension of slavery
 Lincoln (then Rep. from Illinois) pushes “spot resolutions” to show where
blood was shed on American soil
 Both sides wanted war, America to teach Mexicans a lesson, Mexicans
saw US a bully to the north
 South and West supported war
 The US unprepared for the war. Ill equipped volunteers American army filled the
 l iAttdlev amnotativgaetsio onv teor ftihgeh tM. exican military that had outdated equipment and
 lAemadeerircsahnip industrial base to prepare and equip an army, superior
 United States won easily over the Mexican forces in 1847
 California- John Fremont led a revolt against Mexican rule and declared
the state “The Bear Flag Republic”

 1848- War ended with Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
 Gave US vast new territory, paid Mexico $15
million dollars for land
 Many Americans thought that US should not
stop with Mexico
 European countries had new respect for
American military
 The Mexican American War of conquest that would have wocacsu arr belda ttahnrot uwgahr migration eventually
 gTehnee wraalrs a(lLseoe t,r aGinraendt )t htoe fnigehxtt Agemneerricaati’osn n oefx t war – the Civil War
 TAumrenrinicga ,p boeincta inm Ue Ss urseplaictiioonuss wofit h“C Loalotisns us of the North”
 War aroused issue of slavery and its expansion
 1846- David Wilmot tries to introduce
anemwe ntedrmriteonryt ,t hnaetv selra vpearsys eshdo tuhled Sneont aetxeis bt uint (symbolized issue of slavery in territories Wilmot Proviso)