Kevin Moffatt
11/4/13 E
Guiding Questions: Early 19th Century America
1. Identify the elements that made up the "Jeffersonian vision" of America. Why didn't
the America they envisioned actually pan out?
The Jeffersonian vision of America is the idea of a agrarian society based on small farms and
towns with small trading, no big cities, and limited international trade. The Jeffersonian
vision portrayed self-sustaining independent farmer-citizens tilling their own soil with
minimal industry or trade. This did not pan out because of the speedy rate of innovation in
the late 1790s and early 1800s (such as the cotton gin and the improving of the steam
engine), and even later the spread of industrialism as part of the international industrial
revolution that spread throughout the globe. This quickly destroyed the vision of small,
independent farmers and increased large cities and foreign trade (along with American
shipping too).
2. Why was education "central to the Republican vision of America?"
Education was central to the Republican vision of America because it was believed that all
male citizens (the voters) should be educated so they were able to vote virtuously. Education
was a way to get people to be educated about government and whom they vote for, so a poor
leader would not make it into the government (that educational thinking would help a lot in
today’s society, when often a poster or commercial can decide one’s vote). The goal of the
republic was to elect responsible leaders, and an educated public could do this, so therefore,
education was (and still is) an important factor in the success of a republic.
3. What effect did Republican ideology have on education in the United States?
Republican ideology effected education in the US by making it more widespread. Although
a competent public schooling system wasn’t established until much later, and the
Republicans failed in this perspective, they succeeded in spreading private education, and
Thomas Jefferson himself helped forward the idea of higher education with the University of
Virginia. This Republican ideal created many private schools, and began to further education
throughout the nation.
4. What was the status of female education in the early 19c? of Native Indian education?
In the early 19th century, females were relatively literate (50%), but America began to call for
the importance of the contribution of the “republican mother” who would raise and educate
her children, so more value was put on women’s education. There were still strict limits
(women did not ‘need’ advanced or professional training – there were no colleges and
universities) and women’s education served to make women better wives and mothers. The
Native Indian education began by reforms who believed the power of education would
reform and redeem the “backward” people of the Indian nations. Many people saw Indians
as “noble savages” who were not as inferior as African Americans, and they were just
uncivilized people that could be enlightened.
5. What was the nature of higher education in early 19c America? Why was this
education very limited in its scope?
In the early 19th century, higher education was even less widely available than lower
education, and Republican hopes for widespread high education was failing. This education
was very limited because they relied on private contributions and tuition fees, and only about
one in a thousand white men had aces sot any college education, and most of these men were
the stereotypical white rich guys.
6. Explain the "cultural independence" that Jeffersonian Americans sought. What means
of expression did this "independence" find?
The cultural independence that Jeffersonian Americans sought was the idea of creating a
distinctive culture, different than that of Europe’s from which they had just broken free.
They dreamed of a unique American literature and artistic life that would rival the cultural
achievements of Europe. These means of “independence” found its expression most often in
early America schoolbooks, such as Noah Webster and his history, and especially great
writers such as Washington Irving, who wrote the famous “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.
7. What were the obstacles faced by Americans who aspired to create a more elevated
national literary life? What efforts were made to overcome these obstacles?
The biggest obstacle that Americans who aspired to create a more elevated national literary
life were the few opportunities that they were given to publicize works. This was a result of
the fact that printers preferred to publish popular works by English writers because these
required no royalties. Only writers who could afford to publish their own works could
compete for the nation’s attention, but many authors struggled to overcome this obstacle and
created a distinctly American literature through new literary forms, especially the novel.
8. What sorts of works by American authors were most influential? Why?
The type of work that became most influential was the works of history that glorified the
nation’s past. This became most influential because it helped instill a sense of nationalism in
the American people, and these glorified historical stories had a large audience in the patriots
of the US.
9. How did the American Revolution affect traditional forms of religious practice? What
challenges to religious traditionalism arose during this period?
The American Revolution affected traditional forms of religious practice because they
weakened them by detaching churches from government and improving the ideas of
individual liberty that challenged many traditional religious ideals. Deism, the idea that God
was a remote being who created the universe and “backed off”, and much other religious
skepticism created dissenting views within many of the traditional churches.
10. What caused the Second Great Awakening?
The Second Great Awakening was caused by the efforts of conservative theologians in the
1790s to fight the spread of religious nationalism, and the efforts of traditional church
establishments to revitalize their organizations. Many different religious leaders drove to
create the revival that would bring people back to the churches, and reestablish the church as
a key part of life.
11. Why were the Methodists, the Baptists, and the Presbyterians so successful on the
frontier?
The Methodists, the Baptists, and the Presbyterians were so successful on frontier because of
camp meetings, especially Cane Ridge. At Cane Ridge, Kentucky, in the summer of 1801,
many evangelical ministers held the nation’s first “camp meeting” (it may have had 25,000
people). This recruiting method became very successful, and led to Methodists, Baptists, and
Presbyterians to be very successful on the frontier.
12. What was the "message" and the impact of the Second Great Awakening? What
impact did it have on women? on African Americans? on Native Americans?
Although there was not one consistent message of the Second Great Awaking, the basic ideal
was clear: “Individuals must readmit God and Christ into their daily lives, embrace a reverent
piety, and to reject the skeptical rationalisms that had threatened such traditional beliefs”.
Young women in particular were drawn to the revivalism, and many more females than
males converted. This religious enthusiasm helped many young women compensate for the
losses and adjustments that the current transition from economic roles produced, and
provided a social norm. In places where revivalism was available, many African Americans
embraced the new religious fervor, and many African American preachers immerged from
within the slave community. Revivalism began to stir racial unrest in the South. The Second
Great Awakening brought another era of Indian religious fervor and prophecy, most
importantly, Handsome Lake, a Seneca who seemingly miraculously “rebirth” after years of
alcoholism. This gave him an important stature within the tribe, and made him into a
effective military and political leader. Handsome Lake urged many Indian tribes to put down
their hunting weapons and become sedentary farmers, and ironically, if women resisted the
change, Lake denounced them as witches.
13. Explain the reasons for the initial American ambivalence toward British industrialism.
What technological advances helped change this attitude?
The initial reason for American ambivalence toward British industrialism was the
Jeffersonian view of an agrarian society based on small farming and trading with no
industrialism. Technological advanced, such as the spinning mill idea taken from Europe, an
automated flour mill, a card making machine, several improvements on the steam engine, and
especially Eli Whitney’s cotton gin (and interchangeable rifle parts). These innovations sent
America down an industrial path, on which it could not turn back.
14. What role did Eli Whitney play in America's Industrial Revolution? What impact did
his inventions have on the South? on the North?
Eli Whitney not only created the cotton gin, but also introduced the idea of interchangeable
parts, the ancestor of the assembly line, with interchangeable gun parts. This sped up
industrialization by making creating products faster and easier (with less human labor). The
cotton gin impacted the South because it revived slavery, which had been diminishing after
the decline of the tobacco industry. It also changed the economy of the north, because it
began the American textile industry, based in New England. Northern sates learned to turn
cotton into yarn into thread, and became industrial prosperous. This economic difference
between the two demographics helped to contribute to the Civil War.
15. How could a nation solve its problem of having only small markets?
In order to gain a larger market, any country begins to export, so it has a global market, not
just a nationwide one. America began to do this through their effective transportation
systems, and rapidly growing merchant marines (see next question). In addition, in order to
solve the problem of limited markets was to develop new markets at home by improving
transportation between states. (See next question)
16. What effect did America's transportation system have on industrialization?
America’s transportation systems helped to create an industrial boom in America, for it fed
ideas and material into America, and provided the merchants with a port to international
selling. The rapid growth in American shipping, products were able to be available to a
much larger, international market, that was often much richer than the small market in
America. This allowed industrial companies to make money, and allowed new companies to
emerge, helping stimulate industrialization. Interstate roads also helped stimulate quicker
inter-state trade, and the innovation of the river steamboat helped to speed up trade, which in
turn gave bigger markets to industry, in turn improving industry and helping it to grow.
17. What were the characteristics of American population growth and expansion in the
years between 1790 and 1800?
In the years between 1790 and 1800, America remained mainly rural and agrarian. Only 3%
of non-Indian population lived in towns of more than 8,000 (so 97% of people lived in towns
exactly like East Haddam). Only ten percent lived west of the Appalachian Mountains, and
overall, much of the country was still wilderness; not even the biggest cites could even begin
to be compared with the great cities (in size or culture) of London and Paris.