Chapter 7 Summary

Balancing Nationalism and Sectionalism

Regional Economies Create Differences

The factory system, using mass production and interchangeable parts, becomes increasingly important in the early 19th century

Factory production is the most efficient, lowest cost form of production and profitable (though factory workers may have a less optimistic opinion of it due to the long hours, dirty conditions and dangers they face each day)

The Industrial Revolution is underway: a massive change in social and economic organization resulting from the replacement of hand tools by machines and the development of large-scale industrial production

Britain, in the 1730s, was the center of the Industrial Revolution, using water based power in the textile industry, later switching to burning coal to produce steam to power machines

Diet, sanitation and medical advances helped prolong lives of many people

The USA, like Great Britain, had similar advantages as Britain: lots of coal, iron ore and in America available immigrant labor

Federal actions such as the Embargo Act of 1807, and the War of 1812, hurt international trade and encouraged domestic manufacturing

In New England mechanized textile mills would become important

Samuel Slater in 1793 had brought blueprints to Rhode Island of a British textile mill (in his head), others used his mill as a model for theirs

In 1813 Francis Cabot Lowell and others revolutionized the textile industry by building a weaving factory that mechanized all stages of production, using power machinery

A larger mill was built in the newly renamed town of Lowell that would make it the center of manufacturing in New England, employing mostly young farm girls as workers

Agriculture in the south would center around cotton, with the invention by Eli Whitney of the cotton gin (i.e. cotton engine) that made cotton production profitable; it cleaned the seeds from cotton, making its user as efficient as 50 men working without a gin

Cotton production would by 1860 account for over 55% of American exports by 1860 and plantations and farmers across the south would engage in it, reinvigorating slavery which was phased out in the northern states by emancipation laws

3,000 bales in 1790 to 178,000 bales in 1810; 700,000 slaves to 1.2 million

In 1815, after the War of 1812, President Madison sent a plan of economic development to the Congress, to be known as the American System, which included: establishing a protective (high) tariff, creating a Second Bank of the US (the First Bank's charter had not been renewed), developing transportation (roads and canals) and other internal improvements

Henry Clay, Speaker of the House, supported the plan as did John C. Calhoun of South Carolina; it would unite the regions (sections) of the USA: manufacturing in the north, farming (grains and livestock) in the West, and cotton growers in the South

Tariff of 1816 would protect American manufacturers from low-cost British imports and provide revenue to build roads, lighthouses and canals

In 1816 the Second US Bank was charted that created a national currency, providing for more coherent and cohesive economic activities

The federal government began building the National Road in 1811, by 1838 it extended from Maryland to Illinois, connecting the west with the east

The Erie Canal began construction in 1817 and was completed in 1825, connecting the Hudson River with the Lake Erie, in other words allowing boat traffic from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, and making New York City the most important port in the USA

Most roads and canals were toll based, and built with state funds

3,000 miles of canals would be built by 1837

James Monroe succeeded Madison as president, his terms of office would be known as the Era of Good Feelings, until the 1830s the Democratic Republicans would exist in a one party system

The American Plan attempted to meet some of the shortcomings made obvious during the War of 1812: lack of a bank to meet the economic emergency of the war, poor infrastructure to move soldiers around as necessary and inadequate manufacturing capacity to meet the military needs of the war

Nationalism at Center Stage

In 1807 Robert Fulton's Clermont steamboat made a 32 hour trip up the Hudson River, marking the beginning of the steamship era

Over the next couple of decades hundreds of steamboats would move up and down various American rivers, delivering cargo and crews

Interstate commerce would be regulated only by the federal government, as outlined in the Supreme Court decision of 1824, Gibbons v. Ogden

Nationwide interests would prevail over state interests, and the federal government would hold exclusive authority to regulate interstate trade, and competition, rather than monopoly would be favored in most instances

In the 1819 case McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled that the National Bank was not subject to state taxes or regulation, strengthening the federal government over the state governments

In the 1810 case Fletcher v. Peck, the court ruled that a Georgia law that violated an individual's right to enter into contracts was null and void (an example of judicial review)

In the 1819 case Dartmouth College v. Woodward the court ruled that a state could not revise an earlier charter it had granted to the school's trustees because it was a contract and the Constitution did not permit a state to interfere with contracts

Secretary of State John Quincy Adams promoted a policy of nationalism, believing that national interests and national unity should be placed ahead of regional concerns and that foreign affairs should be guided by national self-interest

After the war Britain and the USA worked to resolve differences through diplomacy, recognizing their economic interests as major trading partners

The Great Lakes were demilitarized with the Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1817

The Convention of 1818 established the border between British Canada and the USA at the 49th parallel and joint occupation of the Oregon Territory

Adams negotiated the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819 gaining Florida for the USA from Spain, and establishing the boundary between New Spain (Mexico after 1821 because of their independence struggle) and the USA

In 1823 President Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine in response to Spanish and Portugal efforts to reclaim lands lost during the independence movements of the early 1820s, and alarm over Russian claims to the Oregon Territory

Monroe warned Europeans not to interfere in the western hemisphere though his words were largely ignored by the Europeans

American settlers continued moving into the Northwest Territory, drawn by cheap, fertile land

Once an area reached about 60,000 residents it could petition the Congress for statehood status, draft a state constitution, elect representatives and enter the Union

The Missouri Compromise maintained the balance of power between free states and slave states (in the Senate) as Maine was brought into the Union as a free state and Missouri entered the Union as a slave state in 1821; slavery would be forbidden north of 36-30 in the Louisiana Territory (with the exception of Missouri)

The Age of Jackson

The Election of 1824 would be decided in the House of Representatives as no candidate received a majority of the electoral vote

John Quincy Adams was chosen because of the efforts of Henry Clay, who disliked Andrew Jackson, the candidate who won the most popular votes

Jackson and his followers believed a "corrupt bargain" had been negotiated after Adams appointed Clay Secretary of State, then the stepping stone to the presidency

Jackson withdrew from the Republican Party and formed the Democratic-Republican Party, the forerunner to today's Democratic Party

Jackson and his followers attacked Adams and his policies, and the national bank and the tariff

During the 1820s most states eased their voting requirements allowing many more white males to vote without property restrictions for instance; frontier states led the way

350,000 voters in 1824; 750,000 voters in 1828

Voters would choose members of the Electoral College rather than state legislatures

Andrew Jackson recognized the changes in American politics and would appeal directly to the common man

"Old Hickory" portrayed himself as a man of humble origins though he was actually a wealthy plantation owner (near Nashville, Tennessee)

Jackson's victory in 1828 ushered a new era of government patronage as Jackson fired 10% of the federal workforce and appointed his supporters, establishing the "spoils system"

Jackson, known as an "Indian Fighter," brought a new energy to displacing native americans east of the Mississippi River

Native Americans living in the southeast, known as the "Five Civilized Tribes" were seen as obstacles to further expansion by other Americans despite their successful assimilation of American culture

Jackson believed, as many Americans did, that they must be relocated to the west, and in 1830 the Congress passed the Indian Removal Act

In 1832 the Supreme Court ruled in Worcester v. Georgia that recognized the Cherokee Nation as an independent entity and free from state action and control

Despite this legal victory Pres. Jackson ignored it, saying "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it." Actions against the Cherokee continued as the Court was helpless to protect the Cherokees

While some Cherokee moved west to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) 20,000 remained and were forcibly removed by US Army troops under the leadership of Gen. Winfield Scott

The Trail of Tears, in 1838, would see 1/4 of the Cherokee die along the way, as they traveled mostly by foot in a 800 mile journey

Jackson, States' Rights and the National Bank

After the War of 1812 the Tariff of 1816 was passed to protect American manufacturers, it was increased in 1824 and 1828

John C. Calhoun of South Carolina called the 1828 Tariff a "tariff of abominations," harmful to the cotton export economy of the south; High tariffs meant fewer British imports and therefore less money for southern cotton; also higher prices for manufactured goods

The north was seen as becoming wealthy at the expense of the south

Calhoun has supported the 1816 tariff, and had served as vice-president under both Adams and Jackson

The economy of South Carolina was struggling with low cotton prices as cotton production increased because of new lands to the west coming under production

Cotton agriculture depleted the soil, like tobacco

Calhoun, following in the steps of Jefferson and Madison's Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions, wrote "The South Carolina Exposition" which argued for the power of states to nullify unconstitutional federal actions in the states, and saying that the Union was a compact between the states in which the states had a right to withdraw (secede)

The tariff and states rights would become central in a historic debate

Daniel Webster, of New Hampshire, argued for a strong national government and believed that there was no middle ground between submission to the law and open resistance

Pres. Jackson, of Tennessee, would say "Our Federal Union: It must and shall be preserved."

In 1832 the South Carolina legislature declared the tariffs null and void, and it threatened to leave the Union

Jackson was furious and threatened to hang Calhoun, his former vice-president

He sought to have federal troops invade South Carolina and asked Congress to pass the Force Bill, allowing for deployment of troops against S.C.

Henry Clay, "the Great Compromiser," stepped into the conflict tariff legislation that gradually reduced the tariff over a ten year period

The crisis resulting from states rights vs. federal power was over but not gone as the Civil War of 1861 would show

Jackson opposed the Bank of the US and in 1832 he vetoed its charter renewal, which would not expire until 1836

Clay and Webster hoped to make the Bank a campaign issue in 1832; they supported it

Jackson and other critics of the Bank believed it gave wealthy Easterners too much power and influence

Nicholas Biddle, president of the Bank, was attacked for low interest loans given to Congressmen

Jackson, calling the Bank a "monster," withdrew federal funds from the Bank and deposited them in favored state banks, called "pet banks"

Biddle called in all loans and refused to make loans, and this created a wave of bankruptcies

Support for the Bank dwindled and once its charter expired it would become an ordinary bank, and then would disappear in the early 1840s

State banks, particularly in New York, profited from the problems of the Bank of the US

An opposition party would emerge to challenge Jackson and his policies, known as the Whig Party

Clay and Webster would become Whig leaders

Whig Party in Britain was the party that attempted to limit the power of the monarchy, and the American party called Jackson "King Andrew"

Jackson declined to run for a third term and his vice-president, Martin Van Buren was nominated by the Democratic Party

The Whig Party ran three regional candidates and Van Buren won easily in 1836

One of Jackson's last acts was the Specie Circular, which required in 1836 that all federal land be purchased with gold and silver rather than dubious bank notes

People rushed to banks to redeem their notes for gold and silver

The banking system collapsed and the Panic (Depression) of 1837 resulted

Bankruptcies mushroomed and at least 1/3 of Americans lost their jobs

Van Buren reduced federal spending which only worsened the situation

The 1840 election would see Whig candidate William Henry Harrison (of Tippecanoe fame) run as a common man and war hero vs. Van Buren, the aristocrat

In reality Harrison was the wealthy candidate

The economy would seal Van Buren's fate and Harrison would serve a little more than a month before dying of pneumonia

John Tyler, vice-president, would become the first to serve as president after the death of a president

Tyler, of Virginia, actually opposed the Whig program, and would be seen as a major mistake, "the accidental president"

Eventually his party would disavow him

Whigs vs. Democrats would be basis of our two party system from the 1830s through the 1850s

Political campaigns had changed since the early 1820s with speeches becoming much more important as increasing numbers of Americans gained suffrage rights, i.e. the Franchise