Constitution-Antebellum
America
By: Rebekah Perez, Charlotte Collyer, and
Dorothy Tran
The confederation & the constitution
chap. 9 (1776-1790)
-American Revolution led to the emergence of many
striking changes which affected social customs,
political institutions, and ideas about society,
government, and even gender roles
Pursuit of Equality
-1st continental congress was called for the complete abolition of the slave
trade in 1774.
-first antislavery society was founded by the Pennsylvania Quakers
-Several northern states went further and either abolished slavery
altogether or provided gradual emancipation
-no states south of pennsylvania abolished slavery
-also movement for separation of church and state
-States’ constitution still barred women from voting
-but idea of ‘republican motherhood’ took root and shed new light on the
role women had in America
Constitution Making in the States
-The 2nd continental Congress called upon
the colonies in 1776 to draft new
constitutions
-intended to represent a fundamental law
Economy
-was in bad shape due to America’s previous
dependence on England
-barred from British and British West Indies
ports
-now had to make everything on its own
-Population was very poor
Articles of Confederation
-2nd continental congress appointed a committee to
draft a written constitution for the new nation
-it was adopted by congress in 1777 and convinced
France that America had a genuine government in the
making
-wasn’t ratified by all 13 colonies until 1781 due to a
dispute over Western lands with Maryland only agreeing
after New York and Virginia surrendered land
cont.
“Articles of Confusion”
-Congress was very weak with each state only having one
vote
-states were suspicious of federal power since they just
won independence from British tyrant
-Congress had two major handicaps: couldn’t enforce
tax collection program and no power to regulate
commerce
Land Laws
-Land Ordinance of 1785: stated that the
acreage of the Old Northwest should be
sold and the proceeds should be used to help pay off the
national debt
-Northwest Ordinance of 1787: a uniform national land
policy; created the Northwest Territories and gave the
land to the govt, who could then sell it to individuals;
when a territory had 60,000 people, it might be
admitted by Congress as a state
Foreign Relations
-Relations w Britain were strained w the refusal to send
a minister to America’s capital, declining to make a
commercial treaty or repeal Navigation Acts, stopped
trade
-Spain also unfriendly; closed Mississippi R. from America
-France demanded repayment of loaned money from
Revolution and restricted trade
Trouble at home
-Shay’s Rebellion: poor back-country farmer in Ma. were
losing their farms through taxes and mortgage
foreclosures, wanted lighter taxes, cheap paper money,
and suspension of property takeover (led by Captain
Daniel Shay); later crushed
-led to idea that Articles of
Confederation had to be
strengthened
Constitutional Convention
-May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia
-George Washington was elected leader
-”Great Compromise” called for representation by population in the House
of Representatives, and equal representation in the Senate (2 for each
state)
-”three-fifths compromise” was put into place to count slaves toward pop.
-called for end of slave trade by end of 1807
-3 branches of govt. w checks and balances between them (executive,
judicial, legislative)
Chapter 10: 1789-1800
-George Washington was elected unanimously by electoral
college in 1789
-established a cabinet of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of
Treasury Alexander Hamilton, and Secretary of War Henry Knox
-James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights and it was passed by congress in
1791
included freedom of speech, religion, press
-ninth and tenth amendment to protect states and peoples rights from
power of federal govt
-Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Supreme Court, with a chief justice and
five associates
Alexander Hamilton
-trickle down theory with policies that favor the wealthy who would then
lend money to gov and then trickle down through society
-funding national debt at par
-convince congress to take on states’ debt: states w large debt happy but
states with small debt, like virginia, didn’t want the gov to assume the
debt
-Congress passed the District of columbia to be placed on Potomac R. in a
deal with Virginia
-placed excise taxes on few domestic items, notably whiskey and tariffs on
imports to pay for federal debt.
-led to Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 led by Penn. distillers who strongly
opposed the excise on whiskey. Pres. Washington sent federal troops and
Emergence of Political Parties
-had not existed in America when George Washington
took office
-personal feud between Jefferson and Hamilton
developed a bitter political rivalry but was confined in
congress
-eventually grew into the two party system
-Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans and Hamilton
Federalist
Foreign Affairs
-Dem-Rep pro-joining war w FR vs BR; federalist pro peace
-Neutrality Proclamation of 1793: stated the country’s neutrality in
the British-France War
-needed to focus on building the country; would be crushed in war
-Britain kept frontier posts bc of its position in valuable fur trade &
sold firearms to Indians
-Jay’s Treaty:British promise to evacuate posts on U.S. soil and pay
for damages for seizures of American ships.
-Pinckney's Treaty of 1795: with spain; granted US free navigation of
Mississippi R. and large disputed territory of N FL
-In farewell Address, Washington urged against permanent alliances
John Adams becomes president
-beat Thomas Jefferson by
71-68 votes in electoral college
-jefferson became his VP
(12th amendment in 1804 got
rid of this practice due to the
possibility of inharmonious
two-party combinations)
Trouble w France
-FR upset w Jay’s Treaty & started to seize US ships
-XYZ affair: US envoy was demanded a bribe of $250,000 to talk to
Talleyrand.
-US began to prepare for war Navy created and Marine corps
reestablished.
-Trying to avoid war, tried again and ended up singing the Convention
of 1800 which annulled the alliance between FR & US that had existed
since revolutionary war but US had to pay for damages claimed by its
own ppl
Federalist vs Jeffersonians
-Alien & Sedition Acts were against pro Jeffersonian
“aliens” and gave empowered the President to deport
or imprison immigrants and violated the freedom of
speech and press stating that if anyone falsely spoke
against a govt official could be imprisoned
-Kentucky & Virginia Resolution said that states had the
right to refuse laws created by the government
-Hamilton Fed: strong central gov & supported BR
-Jeffersonian anti-Fed: weak central gov & states’ rights
Chap. 11 1800-1812
1800 election
-Thomas Jefferson v John Adams
-pardoned prisoners of Sedition Acts
-got rid of excise tax
-Naturalization Law of 1802: reduced
residence from 14-5 yrs to become citizen
Judicial
Judiciary Act of 1801: created 16 new federal judgeships
(passed by expiring Federalist congress)
but new Republican-Democratic Congress repealed act
and kicked out ‘midnight judges’
-Marbury v Madison: showed that supreme court had the
final authority in determining meaning of constitution
Louisiana Purchase
-Napoleon decided to give up on empire in New World due to failure in
Santo Domingo
-negotiated w Paris & signed a treaty for $15 million that ceded Louisiana
territory
-more than doubled the size of the US
-Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the new territory
more tensions between fr & br
-seizure of US merchant ships throughout their own personal conflict
-Embargo Act of 1807: banned exportation of any goods to any countries
-jefferson planned to force FR and BR to respect US and its citizens, who
had been killed and captured by both countries
-put economy at standstill and was still ineffective due to smuggling and FR
and BR were not as dependent on US as he hoped
-replaced with Non-Intercourse Act which opened up trade to every country
except France and Britain
James Madison becomes president
-Macon’s Bill No. 2: reopened
American trade with entire
world
-led to the War of 1812 when
BR refused to life its Orders in
Council and US put embargo on them alone
War w Britain
-On June 1, 1812, Madison asked Congress to declare war on BR and
it agreed
-BR was arming Indians such as Tecumseh who was unifying many
Indian tribes against the settlers
-Battle of Tippecanoe: conflict between William Henry Harrison and
Indians. Drove Tecumseh in alliance w BR and made WHH a war
hero
-Dem-Rep supported the war
-Fed opposed the war bc they supported BR
Chap. 12 1812-1824
-US tried to invade Canada from Detroit, Niagara
and Lake Champlain but were beaten back due
to a poorly trained army and a weak strategy
-were more successful by sea capturing a British fleet in Lake Erie,
defeating british in the Battle of the Thames in Oct. 1813, and
invading near Plattsburgh in 1814 and forcing British to retreat
from N New York
-BR set fire to Washington but failed to defeat New Orleans which
was being defended by Andrew Jackson
-war finally came to an end with Treaty of Ghent signed Dec. 1814
Effects of War of 1812
-showed other nations around the world that America would defend
its beliefs
-heightened nationalism
-Army and navy were expanded
-Bank of the US was revived by Congress in 1816
-led to ‘American System’
-Congress instituted the !st protective tariff, Tariff of 1816, for
protection against competition from British manufacturers which
placed a 20-25% tax on imports.
James Monroe elected in 1816
-”Era of Goodfeeling”: two political parties were getting along
-Panic of 1819: brought deflation, depression, bankruptcies,
unemployment, soup kitchens, and debtors’ prison
-cause was over-speculation on frontier lands
-Bank of US foreclosed many farms particularly in the West
Moving West
-Between 1791 and 1819, nine states from W joined the US
-Land Act of 1820: sold 80 acres of land at minimum of $1.25 an
acre
-with new population flooding into W, had to decide if they would
allow slavery
-Henry Clay came up with an idea to admit Missouri as a slave state
and Maine as a free state
- Missouri Compromise: forbade slavery in the remaining territories
in LA purchase north of line 36 30
-James Monroe elected again in 1820
John Marshall & Judicial Nationalism
-McCullough v. Maryland(1819): declared US bank constitutional and denied
the right of Maryland to tax the bank
-Cohens v Virginia(1821): Cohens appealed to Supreme Court for being
found guilty of illegally selling lottery tickets by Virginia. Virginia won
-Gibbons v Ogden (1824): grew out of attempt by NY to grant to a private
concern a monopoly of waterborne commerce between NY and NJ. NY lost
-Fletcher v Peck (1810): protected property rights when Georgia granted 35
million acres to private speculators
-Dartmouth College v Woodward (1819): protected its charter given by King
George III that New Hampshire wanted to take away. College won
Sharing Oregon and getting Florida
-Treaty of 1818: permitted the US to share the Newfoundland fisheries w
Canadians and provided for a 10 yr joint occupation of Oregon Country
without claim from either US or BR
-Florida Purchase Treaty of 1819: Spain ceded Florida, as well as Spanish
claims to Oregon in exchange for America’s abandonment of claims to
Texas
Monroe Doctrine
-Monroe Doctrine (1823): a warning to US powers from interfering in
Western Hemisphere and stated that the US would not interfere in
European Wars
-non-colonization and nonintervention
-Europeans were offended by Monroe Doctrine
-doctrine thrived off of nationalism
Chap. 13 (1824-1840)
-”Corrupt Bargain” in deciding between the 4 Republican candidates
(Jackson, Clay, Adams, Crawford) in election of 1824. Clay dropped out
and supported Adams ,who later became president, in exchange for Clay
becoming Secretary of State
=Adams was strong nationalist who supported building roads and canals and
also supported education.
-Andrew Jackson went “Whole Hog” in election of 1828 with mudslinging
techniques but won the election against Adams (N supported Adams, S
supported Jackson
Jackson as President
-”spoils system”
=Indian Removal Act: moved 100,000 Indians living east of Mississippi to
reservations west of it. Made room for western expansion. Trail of Tears
-Bank War erupted in 1832 when Jackson vetoed bill to renew Bank’s
charter because he deemed it unconstitutional
-was reelected in 1832 (even w emergence of third party, the Anti-Masonic
Party)
-In order to ensure the bank’s demise, Jackson removed federal deposits
from its vaults. Led to vacuum in economy, emergence of wildcat banks
each with its own currency.
-Specie Circular: a decree that required all public lands to be purchased
with metallic money. Led to financial panic of 1837
“Nullies” in SC
-Tariff of Abominations: was hated by Southerners since they thought it was
extremely high and discriminated against them
-South Carolina was lead in protesting and printed a pamphlet called The
Exposition denouncing the tariff
-threatened to nullify the tariff
-Henry Clay proposed Compromise Tariff of 1833 which called for a gradual
reduction of tariff of 1828 by about 10% over 8 years
Election of 1836
-interesting bc there was an new party called the Whigs who supported
government programs, reforms, and public schools and called for internal
improvements.
-Martin Van Buren (Dem) vs William Henry Harrison (Whig)
-Van Buren won bc Whigs could not unite under just one candidate
Panic of 1837
-caused by speculation by gamblers in West, Jacksonian finance, crop
failures
-In 1836, the failure of two BR banks caused them to call in foreign loans
which begun the panic
-caused many banks to collapse, commodity prices to drop, sales of public
to fall, and the loss of jobs
-Van Buren proposed ‘Divorce Bill’ but it was never popular; called for
dividing of government and banking altogether
-Independent Treasury Bill (1840): independent treasury would be est and
government funds would be locked in vaults (later repealed by Whigs in
1846)
Texas & Lone Star Rebellion
-Mexico got its independence from Spain in 1823
-Mexico gave huge chunk to Stephen F. Austin to bring families to settle
Texas
-Friction between Mexicans and Texans over issues such as slavery,
immigration, and local rights
-Texas declared its independence in 1836 w Sam Houston as commander in
chief
-Gn. Houston forced Santa Anna to sign treaty of 1836 after Houston
captured him in the Battle of San Jacinto
-Texans wanted to become a part of the US but northerners did not want
them because of the issue of slavery
Election of 1840
-Martin Van Buren (Democrats)
-William Henry Harrison (Whigs): campaign included pictures of log cabins
and cider
-Harrison won by a close margin in popular votes, but overwhelmingly in
electoral votes 234-60
2 major changes after Era of Good Feelings: common man was moving
toward center of national political stage & formation of the two-party
system (Dem and Whigs)
Chap. 14 (1790-1860)
Westward Movement
-life as pioneer was very grim. They were stricken w disease and loneliness
-”self-reliance” and “rugged individualism”
-fur trapping was a large industry in the Rocky Mountain area
-People also appreciated the beauty of nature in this period
-George Caitlin: proposed idea of national parks
Immigration & Population
-By the mid-1800’s: the population was doubling every 25 years
-BY 1860, there was 33 states and the US was the 4th most populous
country
-new population and larger cities brought disease and decreased living
standards
-in the 1840’s and 50’s, Irish came due to the potato famine in Ireland and
Germans came because of crop failure
-caused flare up of prejudices of American nativists.
-Roman Catholics created an entirely separate Catholic educational system
to avoid American Protestant educational system & many ppl died in riots
between the two
New Technology
-in 1750, steam was used in place of human labor and brought on Industrial
Revolution in England which eventually spread to America
-Samuel Slater “Father of Factory System”: put into operation the first
spinning cotton thread in 1791
-Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793; actually ensured the longevity
of slavery because it increased the profitability of cotton and the South
need workers; also invented interchangeable parts and mass-production
-Elias Howe invented the sewing machine in 1846
-Samuel F.B.Morse invented the telegraph
-John Deere: steel plow
Factory Life
-Factory workers were forbidden by law to form labor unions to raise
wages
-child labor was very common in 1820’s
-President Van Buren established the ten-hour work da in 1840
-Commonwealth v Hunt: labor unions were not illegal conspiracies,
provided that their methods were honorable and peaceful
Women and Economy
-working in the factories gave them greater economic
independence as well as the means to buy things.
-became ‘factory girls’ in mills such as the Lowell where
they had strict rules
-Women were also forbidden to form unions and they had
few opportunities to share dissatisfaction over their harsh working
conditions
-”cult of domesticity” a widespread cultural creed that glorified women’s
traditional role in the home
-
Transportation Revolution
-Lancaster Turnpike & National Road
-Robert Fulton created the first steamboat which opened up the West and
South
-Erie Canal which connected the Great Lakes with the Hudson R in 1825,
lowered shipping prices and decreased passenger transit time
-Railroad first appeared in 1828
-Pony Express 1860: mail service
Chap. 15 (1790-1860)
Reviving Religion
-Unitarian faith began to gain momentum in
New England
-Second Great Awakening: most momentous
episodes in the history of American religion
-a key feature was the feminization of
religion, both in terms of church membership
and theology
-widened the lines between classes and regions
-issue of slavery split churches apart
Education
-Tax supported public education came about between 1825-1850
-eventually saw that it was important to educate America’s children bc
they were the future.
-Horace Mann campaigned effectively for better schooling system
-first state-supported universities showed up in the south in 1795
-women’s schools began to emerge thanks to efforts of Emma Willard
Reform
-states gradually abolished debtors’ prison due to public demand
-criminal codes softened
-number of capital offenses were reduced
-Dorothy Dix: traveled the country, visiting different asylums; released a
report; her protest resulted in improved conditions for the mentally ill
-in 1828, the American Peace Society was formed led by William Ladd with
declaration of war on war
Temperance
-problem of drinking was found in women, clergymen, and members of
congress
-Temperance movement starting to gain popularity
-American Temperance Society was formed in 1826
-drinking tore down family structure
-Neal S Dow: “father of prohibition” supported Maine Law
of 1851 which banned manufacture and sale of liquor in
Maine
Women in Revolt
-in early 19th century, the role of women was to stay at home and be
subordinate to her husband; could not vote and when married, could not
hold property
-feminists met at Seneca Falls, New York in a Women’s Right Convention in
1848 to rewrite the Declaration of Independence to include Women
Literature
-The Federalist by Hamilton or Tom Paine’s Common Sense
-Washington Irving- the first American to win international
recognition as a literary figure
-James Fenimore Cooper: the first american novelist to
gain world fame
-Edgar Allen Poe: poet who wrote in pessimistic tone, not
like literature of the time.
-Herman Melville: wrote Moby Dick
-Nathaniel Hawthorne: wrote The Scarlet Letter
Transcendentalism
-movement resulted from a liberalizing of the Puritan theology. Rejected
theory that all knowledge comes to the mind through senses. Truth
transcends the senses and can’t be found just by observation
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-poet and philosopher that urged American writers to
forget European traditions and write about American interests
-Henry David Thoreau: believed that one should reduce his bodily wants so
as to gain time for a pursuit of truth through study and mediation