Chapter 3: An Emerging New Nation

(1763 – 1861)

Section 1Life in the New Nation

Setting the Scene

• Daniel Boone– cut the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap

• began in Eastern Tennessee, ended in what in now Louisville, KY• became the main route to the lands west of the Appalachians

America’s Population: Growing and Young

• westward surge was evidence of a growing population– average American

woman had about five children

Territorial Expansion

• land north of the Ohio River – became Michigan Territory

and three new states: Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois

“Old America seems to be breaking up and moving westward. We are seldom out of sight, as we travel on this grand track towards the Ohio, of family groups behind and before us, some [intending to go] to a particular spot, close to a brother perhaps, or [to] a friend who has gone before and reported well of the country.”

– Morris Birkbeck

• Northwest Territory – land north of the Ohio River had been closed to slavery by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787– yet they made

laws to discourage African Americans from moving there

• Expansion into Florida– Pinckney Treaty of 1795 – the southern boundary

of the United States had been set at 31°N latitude• Spain and the United States agreed to control the

Native Americans living within each country’s territories and to prevent them from attacking the other country’s territory

• Jackson and Florida– Seminoles were coming from Florida and raiding

settlers in Georgia– Andrew Jackson – was sent to stop the Native

Americans and invaded Florida claiming possession of the western half of the territory

– John Quincy Adams (6th President) accused Spain of breaking the Pinckney Treaty by failing to control the Seminoles

– Spain reluctantly agreed to accept the loss of Florida– Transcontinental Treaty or Adams-Onís Treaty• Spain gave up FL as well as its claims on the Pacific

Northwest• fixed the boundary between the Louisiana Purchase and

Spanish territory in the West

Texas and Oregon Country• government assumed that

the lands of the Louisiana Purchase would remain part of “Indian Country” - settlers had a different idea

• Mexico and Texas– Stephen F. Austin – founded

a colony in Mexican Texas and began settling families there

– newcomers called for the same rights from the Mexican government that they had possessed in the United States

• The Texas War for Independence– General Antonio López de Santa Anna – stripped

Texas of its rights of self-government

– Alamo • William Travis and James

Bowie hoped to slow the general’s advance long enough to allow their fellow rebels to assemble an army• Mexican Army – overwhelmed

the Alamo and killed most of those inside

– Goliad• Santa Anna ordered the killing

of more than 300 Texans

– these two events enraged and energized the Texans

• March 2, 1836 – rebels formally declared the founding of an independent Republic of Texas– San Jacinto – the Texans captured and defeated Santa

Anna, forcing him to recognize the Republic of Texas– Sam Houston – elected as the first president

• The Oregon Country– stretched from northern California to the southern

border of Alaska– 1842 – organized wagon trains carried masses of

migrants to Oregon along Indian trails• began in Independence, Missouri for the 2,000 mile

journey

• Treaty of 1846 – the United States and Great Britain agreed to divide the Oregon Country along the 49th parallel– westward migration

brought the creation of new cities, new territories, new states• Iowa (1846)• Wisconsin (1848)• Minnesota (1868)

The Spirit of Improvement

• reflects the ideals of the Enlightenment

• Improvement Through Education– people believed that

the general condition of humankind could be improved by schooling

– Noah Webster – first major dictionary of American English

– wanted schools to develop character by promoting certain virtues

– republican virtues – the virtues the American people would need to govern themselves in the new republic• self-reliance, industry, frugality,

harmony, sacrifice of individual needs for the good of the community

• The Role of Women– women had such virtues as honesty,

self-restraint, and discipline that they should teach to young men

– most schools were for boys only• some would create “female

departments”

The Industrial Revolution

• Americans developed and profited from a variety of inventions that produced goods and materials faster and more cheaply

• Industrial Revolution – ongoing effort over many decades to increase production by using machines powered by sources other than humans or animals

• James Watt’s – British inventor of the steam engine– British jealously guarded all knowledge of their new

technology and forbade designers from emigrating (moving out of the country)

• New Technology Comes to America– Samuel Slater –

emigrated to the United States after working in the British textile industry• reproduced the

complicated machinery of the British mills

• Eli Whitney and Interchangeable Parts– signed a contract to

make 10,000 guns– realized that if all the

parts were made exactly alike, they could be used on any of the guns

– other inventors later perfected the system of interchangeable parts – where all parts are made to an exact standard

• The Cotton Gin– Whitney visited

the South– noticed that it

took a laborer one day to clean one pound of cotton

– cotton gin – machine that separates the seeds from raw cotton fibers• could now clean

1,000 pounds per day

– as a result of the cotton gin, planters bought more enslaved Africans to work on the new and expanded cotton plantations

– helped to keep the southern states a land of slavery and of farming, while the northern states became a land of free labor and industry• these fundamental

differences between North and South would help lead to civil war

Transportation and Communication• Steam Power– Robert Fulton – proved that steam could be used to

power a ship with his steamboat Clermont• demonstrated that a steamboat could travel against the

current

• Canals - artificial waterways– Erie Canal – connected

the Hudson River with Lake Erie• people and goods could

now travel easily between the Atlantic Coast and the Great Lakes

• Roads– National or Cumberland Road was built to last• financed by the government• however, most of the new roads were privately built and

paid for by collecting tolls

• Railroads– steam-locomotive ~ a self-propelled vehicle used for

pulling railroad cars (Baltimore and Ohio [B&O] Line)

• with the transportation revolution, communication expanded (Postal Service)– regular mail delivery helped create a national

network of information in the form of newspapers, magazines, and books

The Second Great Awakening• the pressures of a

changing society led many people to renew their religious faith– Second Great

Awakening – great religious movement of the early 1800s among Protestant Christians• revival – gathering at

which people were “revived” or brought back to a religious life

• New Denominations– denomination – religious

subgroup• Baptists, Methodists,

Unitarians, Mormons

African American Worship

• black and white religious traditions blended together– spirituals – folk hymns

• African Americans started their own churches

Section 2The Market Revolution

Setting the Scene• July 4, 1826– 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence– on that day, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both

passed away

An Expanding Economy• Market Revolution – change

in the way Americans made, bought, and sold goods

• The Rise of Manufacturing– manufacturing – making of

products by machinery• rivers helped to supply the

power• Francis Cabot Lowell – created

the first truly centralized textile factory in the world; where all tasks involved in making a product were carried out in one place

• The Free Enterprise System– economic system characterized by private or corporate

ownership of capital goods; investments that are determined by private decision rather than by state control; and determined in a free market• capitalism – rewards people who can find better, faster, and

more efficient ways of running their businesses– encourages the creation of new industries, jobs, and wealth

– as products became available and people worked for money, Americans began to shop

• The Rise of the Banking Industry– capital – wealth that

can be invested to produce goods and make money• businesses used

capital to buy land or to invest in money-making projects

– banks provided the capital• bank made money by

charging interest for the loans it made

• unlike today the government did not require banks to keep a certain amount of cash on hand– banks sometimes lacked

the cash to give to depositors who wanted to withdraw money• 1. this would then cause

a panic – where people rush to the banks to get their money out before the banks went broke

• 2. caused wild booms and followed by panics, bank failures, and depressions

• Bank Notes– bank note was a piece of paper that banks issued to

their customers• similar to checks today, it was a promise to pay specie

(coins of gold or silver) on demand• unfortunately the value of this money was unpredictable

The Northern Economy• Northwest Farming,

Northeast Industry– Old Northwest – ideal for

growing corn, wheat, and other grains

– Northeast – worked in factories– Industrialization – growth of

industry• Lowell, Massachusetts

– hired young, unmarried women from New England farms

– provided boarding houses; worked six days a week, twelve hours a day, tending the machines

• The Rise of Labor Unions– most factory owners paid

their employees little and did not provide benefits such as housing or food

– only real weapon of workers was a strike – or work stoppage

– labor union – organization of workers formed to protect their interests, usually by negotiating to resolve issues such as wages and working conditions• National Trades Union (NTU)

– first national labor union

The Southern Economy

• A Rural Economy– South remained

mostly a rural region of farms and countryside• fertile soil, plentiful

rain, and 200 to 290 frost-free days in which to grow crops– cotton, tobacco,

sugar, breeding of thoroughbred horses

• The Slavery System– Constitution specified that Congress could not end

the slave trade before 1808• that year, they banned the further importation of slaves• continued population growth among people already

enslaved, led to a dramatic increase

• Slave Revolts– rebellions, especially on a

large scale, stood little chance of success• Denmark Vesey – plotted to

seize the city of Charleston; troops smashed the rebellion before it could get started– Vesey and thirty-four others

were hung

• Nat Turner – carried out a violent uprising known as Turner’s Rebellion, led up to 70 slaves in raids on white families in southeastern Virginia, killing some 57 white people– local militia captured most of

the rebels and hung about 20 of the slaves, including Turner

The Rise of Nationalism• economic differences

between the North and South would place great strains on the nations unity

• Americans began thinking of themselves as belonging to a country under a national government, instead of an association of states under separate governments

• Nationalism at Home– three key decisions strengthened

the federal government• 1. McCulloch v. Maryland – Congress

did not have the authority to charter the bank, supporting the national bank• 2. Dartmouth College v. Woodward

– court barred New Hampshire from changing the charter of Dartmouth College, states cannot interfere in such contracts• 3. Gibbons v. Ogden – federal

government’s right to regulate commerce on interstate waterways

• Nationalism Abroad– Rush-Bagot Agreement – US and Great Britain

agreed to reduce the number of warships in the Great Lakes region• and agreed to extend the northern border of the

United States westward along 49°N latitude from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains

• Monroe Doctrine• 1. the United States would

not get involved in the internal affairs of European countries not take sides in wars among them

• 2. America recognized the existing colonies and states in the Western Hemisphere and would not interfere with them

• 3. America would not permit further colonization of the Western Hemisphere

• 4. America would view any attempt by a European power to control any nation in the Western Hemisphere as a hostile action

The Rise of Opposition Parties• The Election of 1824– House of Representatives

voted to decide the election, Henry Clay managed to swing Kentucky’s votes to John Quincy Adams giving him the victory • called a “corrupt bargain”

• New Political Parties Emerge– National Republicans and

Jeffersonian Democrats• in the next election Jackson

trounced JQ Adams

The Presidency of Andrew Jackson• Jackson was the first

president from west of the Appalachian Mountains

• The Spoils System– for many years, newly

elected officials had given government jobs to friends and supporters (patronage)

– spoils system – spoils, or loot taken from a conquered enemy, were jobs for party supporters

• Limited Government– Jackson used his veto

power to restrict federal activity as much as possible, rejecting more acts of Congress than the six previous Presidents combined

• The Tariff Crisis– Congress passed a high tariff to discourage foreign

imports and encourage American manufacturing• benefited the industrial North but forced southerners

to pay higher prices for manufactured goods– called it the “Tariff of Abominations”

– South Carolina said that states had the right to judge when the federal government had exceeded its authority and states could nullify or reject, federal laws they judged to be unconstitutional

– were promoting the power of states rights – powers that the Constitution neither gives to the federal government nor denies to the states (state sovereignty)• said that because states created the federal government,

they have the right to nullify its acts and even secede – or withdraw from the Union if they wish to do so– South Carolina declared the tariffs null and void, and threatened to

secede if its nullification was not respected

– Jackson passed the Force Bill – made it difficult for South Carolina to block federal collection of the tariff

– crisis eased when Congress reduced some of the import duties and South Carolina canceled its nullification act• but they turned around and nullified the Force Bill just to

show they could

• Indian Relocation– Indian Removal Act – authorized Jackson to give Native

Americans land in parts of the Louisiana Purchase in exchange for lands taken from them in the East• forcibly relocated about 100,000 members of the Five Tribes

– Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole

• received 32 million acres of prairie land for 100 million acres of their cultivated land

– Worcester v. Georgia – ruled that Georgia had no authority over Cherokee territory• GA just ignored the ruling and Jackson refused to enforce it

– Trail of Tears – 15,000 Cherokees; men, women, and children – most on foot – began a 116 day forced march westward• one out of every four died of cold or disease on the journey

• The Bank War– Bank of the United States could only operate until 1836 unless

Congress issued it a new charter• Jackson vetoed the bill

• Jackson’s Successors– next president, Martin van Buren (8th) was not as popular, faced by

panics in 1837 and 1839– William Henry Harrison (9th) elected in 1840 served only one month

before he died of pneumonia– John Tyler (10th) his Vice President took over

Section 3Religion and Reform

Setting the Scene

• young cities began to experience growing pains such as poverty, alcoholism, illiteracy, overcrowded housing, poor healthcare, and abuse of women

• powerful reform movements to address these problems began to take shape

The Roots of Reform: Religion and Philosophy

Protestant Revivalists

– central figure in the revivalist movement was Charles Grandison Finney – emphasized individuals’ power to reform themselves

– Lyman Beecher – taught in simple terms that good people would make a good country

• The Transcendentalists– group of philosophers and writers who rejected

traditional religion– centered in Concord, Massachusets– transcendentalism – believed spiritual discovery and

insight would lead a person to truths more profound than could be reached through reason• declared that humans are naturally good and rejected outward

rituals and group worship in favor of private, inward searching

• Emerson and Thoreau– Ralph Waldo Emerson - leader of the Transcendental

movement; was a lecturer and writer who became one of America’s greatest thinkers

– Henry David Thoreau – friend of Emerson who lived a solitary life of thinking, reading, writing, and observing nature• Walden, or Life in the Woods

Reform Movements

• The Temperance Movement– campaign to eliminate alcohol consumption• believed it made people lose control

– abstinence – refraining from doing something• wanted to ban the manufacture and sale of all alcoholic

beverages; some states passed these laws, but protests by brewers, distillers, and other citizens soon led to the repeal of most of these laws

• Public Education– working-class and middle-

class citizens began to demand tax-supported schools• only white male students

were welcome at most universities

– girls were discouraged from attending or were taught only to read or write

– schools excluded free black students or placed them in separate, inferior schools• a handful of black colleges

were founded during this period

• Reforming Prisons– many states built prisons rather than punish criminals by

branding them or putting them on display in public stocks– had hoped prisoners would use their jail time to reflect

on their sins and become law-abiding citizens– Dorothea Dix – visited jails and spent two years visiting

every prison in Massachusetts to improve prisons and create separate facilities for the mentally ill• led 15 other states to build mental hospitals

• Utopian Communities– small societies dedicated to perfection in social

and political conditions

The Antislavery Movement

• abolitionist movement – movement to end slavery, started by a group of free African Americans and whites– from 1774 to 1804 every state north of Maryland passed

laws that gradually abolished slavery– all importation of slaves to the US ended in 1808

CHRISTIANSANTULAN

• The Colonization of Liberia– program to send free blacks and emancipated (freed)

slaves to Africa• American Colonization Society (1817) – established Liberia

– name taken from liberty

– plan offended most African Americans, who wanted to improve their lives in their homeland, the United States, not on a faraway continent

• William Lloyd Garrison– founded the American Anti-Slavery

Society– more and more middle-class white

northerners began to support the immediate end of slavery

• Frederick Douglass– born into slavery,

Douglass escaped north and became an agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society

– autobiography Life and Times of Frederick Douglass sold thousands of copies and is still read today

• Divisions Among Abolitionists– Sojourner Truth – an

African American and former slave• took that name because

she believed her life’s mission was to sojourn; or “travel up and down the land”, preaching the truth about God at revival meetings

– Liberty Party (1840) – drew off enough support to give James K. Polk the presidential seat in 1840

• The Underground Railroad– network of escape

routes that provided protection and transportation for slaves fleeing north to freedom• railroad referred to the

paths that African Americans traveled, either on foot or in wagons, across the North-South border and finally into Canada, where slave-hunters could not go

• underground meant that the operation was carried out in secret, usually on dark nights in deep woods

• conductors acted as guides– most famous conductor was Harriet Tubman – she made

frequent trips to the South, rescuing more than 300 slaves and gaining the nickname “the Black Moses”

• Resistance to Abolitionism– 1836 – Southerners

in Congress succeeded in passing the so-called gag rule, which for the next eight years prohibited antislavery petitions from being read or acted upon in the House

Women’s Changing Roles

• Private and Public Roles– most people believed

that women should remain in the home

– despite the increasing number of women working outside the home, women generally could not keep the money they earned

• Fighting for Abolition– parallels between the plight

of enslaved African Americans and the status of women

– Harriet Beecher Stowe – Uncle Tom’s Cabin

– Harriet Ann Jacobs – Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

– Sojourner Truth – The Narrative of Sojourner Truth

• A Convention for Women’s Rights– 1848 Lucretia Mott and

Elizabeth Cady Stanton – held the first women’s rights convention in United States history at Seneca Falls, New York

– Seneca Falls Convention – passed resolutions protesting the lack of legal and political rights for women and urging women to demand these rights• including suffrage – the right

to vote– was the beginning of the

organized movement for women’s rights and women’s suffrage in the United States

• The Role of African American Women– for most African American women, the abolition

of slavery was a more pressing issue than women’s rights

Growing Social Divisions

• nation was becoming more diverse• Rising Immigration– demand for cheap labor in factories and in the

building of canals and railroad lines• immigrants from Germany and Ireland

• Tensions Over Immigration– discrimination – unequal treatment of a group of people

because of their nationality, race, sex, or religion– anti-immigrant citizens formed the American Republican

Party - favored requiring immigrants to live in the United States for 21 years before being eligible for citizenship

• North-South Tensions– Southerners bitterly resented abolitionists efforts to

prevent the spread of slavery and to shelter escaped slaves

– personal honor was particularly important in the South– call for public schools disturbed many Southerners who

depended on their children for farm labor– South saw no need to reform their society; families

held fast to their traditional family roles