U.S. History 1301
UNIT 3
The Era of Good Feelings
 After the War of 1812 the Federalist Party collapsed
 This lasted about 10 years
 Political ideas of the Federalists lived on
 Succession of Presidents
 Sec. of State Madison follows Jefferson
 Sec. of State Monroe follows Madison
 Sec. of State John Quincy Adams follows Monroe
The Virginia Dynasty
 Presidents from Jefferson to Monroe
 All well-cultured gentlemen
 Generally dull and not activist
 Little accomplished beyond Louisiana Purchase and
the War of 1812
Infrastructure
 New forms of transportation built and developed
 Roads – Turnpikes and road networks connected cities
 Steamboats – Added the ability to travel upriver
 Canals – manmade waterways to connect ports and waterways
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Most famous was Erie Canal that connected Lake Erie with the
Atlantic
Railroads – Huge advancement in shipping freight and people
 These allowed for the growth of factories in the
North
How to pay for this?
 Construction projects expensive but necessary
 The tariff was the main source of revenue for U.S.
govt.
Tariff = Tax on Imported Goods
Subsidies
 A subsidy is money given from the govt. to a private
group such as an industrial business, charity, or
commercial group, usually to guarantee some service
in return
 Examples: Airlines, Planned Parenthood, Housing,
Farmers
 Sometimes subsidies can be good, sometimes bad
The Problem
 Most imports coming into the South
 Therefore the South contributes greatly to the budget
 Most of the tariff money going to projects in the
North
 Tariff quickly becomes an issue between North and
South
 Government waste exacerbates the problem
Collins vs. Vanderbilt
 New steam technology applied to trans-Atlantic ships
 Cuts the passage from Europe to U.S. to two weeks
 Edward Collins proposes to Congress a business plan…
vs.
Adams-Onis Treaty
 Feb. 1819 the U.S. purchases Florida from Spain
 Cost $5 million
 Determined the disputed border between Mexico
and the Louisiana Territory
 Prompted the Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine
 Spain weak after losing most of its holdings in the
Americas
 France weak also after the final defeat of Napoleon
 The U.S. looks to prevent a comeback in the
Americas
The Monroe Doctrine
Monroe Doctrine:
No NEW European colonies in
the Western Hemisphere
The Monroe Doctrine
 How could the U.S. enforce this?
 Helped by Great Britain
 Britain also does not want to see Spain or France comeback
 Little real effect from the Monroe Doctrine until after
the Civil War (Will play a major role in HIS 1302)
The Missouri Compromise
 In 1819 Missouri ready to apply for statehood
 Wanted to become a slave state
 This would destroy the 11-11 free state / slave state
balance
 Much fighting until Compromise in 1820
The Missouri Compromise Terms
 Missouri comes in as a slave state
 Maine comes in early as a free state
 In the future:
*the Unorganized Territory will be closed to slavery
*the Arkansas Territory will be open to slavery
*the dividing line will be 36, 30
The Missouri Compromise
The Election of 1824
 Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay
 All ran as Republican candidates
 No opposition party
 The election was a 3-way split
 Nobody won a majority of electoral votes
 Who becomes President?
The Corrupt Bargain
 Under the 12th Amendment (at the time) the House
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of Reps. would vote on who became President
Henry Clay was Speaker of the House
Clay sways the house to vote for Adams
Adams wins and appoints Clay as Secretary of State
Jackson & supporters infuriated
The Tariff of Abominations
 Adams and Jackson fought over the tariff after
Adams elected
 North wanted to raise tariff to protect businesses
 South argued it was unconstitutional for govt. to
control economy
 The issue will return under Jackson’s presidency
The Election of 1828
 By 1828 the landowning requirement was removed
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from voting
Far more poor people able to vote
Adams unpopular after Corrupt Bargain and Tariff
Dirty political campaign on both sides
Jackson wins by a landslide
Andrew Jackson
 A rough man from the
frontier
 War hero and general
 Strong temper
 Strong executive, unlike
previous presidents
The Spoils System
 Jackson begins the policy
 Fires many executive branch employees after taking
office
 Replaces them with his own selections
 Ensured loyalty of the branch
 Allowed greater corruption in government
Jackson as President
 Jackson a strange mix of pride and humility
 Believed that the government should be open to the
people
 He literally opened the White House to the public on
numerous occasions
Jackson’s Inauguration
Three Key Issues Under Jackson
 The Nullification Crisis concerning the Tariff
 The Trail of Tears concerning the Native Americans
 The renewal of the Bank’s charter
The Nullification Crisis
 1832 Congress lowers the Tariff but only slightly
 South disappointed
 South Carolina responds by declaring the Tariff void
in their state
 The problem?
 State trying to overrule federal law
The Nullification Crisis
 Jackson sees this as an attack on the Constitution
 Congress granted him the Force Bill which allowed
him to use the military to enforce customs laws
 South Carolina is unsupported by other states and
backs down
 Congress also passed a bill that would reduce the
Tariff over the next few years
Indian Policy
 By the 1820’s many Cherokees remained in Georgia
 They assimilated into Southern life
 Many owned slaves and grew cotton
 Along with other tribes owned 33 million acres in the
Southeast
 Cherokees resisted all offers to get them to move
Indian Policy
 Two key changes
 Jackson elected
 Gold discovered on Cherokee lands
 Georgia tries to force the Cherokee to leave
 Jackson backs them up with the Indian Removal Act
 Supreme Court initially denies the Cherokee a
hearing
Indian Policy
 Georgia began seizing Cherokee property
 Christian missionaries who protested were jailed
 Supreme Court finally tries to intervene
 Jackson blatantly ignored their decision
 Finally began a forced removal to the Oklahoma
territory
The Trail of Tears
The Bank
 Functions of the Bank
 Lent to merchants
 Expedited foreign trade
 Handled private and business checking accounts
 Issued paper money backed by gold
 Held deposits from federal govt.
 Transferred govt. funds around the country
 Central bank of the economy
 Could force state banks to limit credit or encourage them to
lend
The Bank
 Jackson hated banks, especially “The Bank”
 This represented the feeling of many farmers and
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Southerners
They believed the Bank gave the federal govt. too
much power over the economy
Bank’s charter was set to expire in 1836
Nicholas Biddle was the head of the Bank
Applied for renewal of charter in 1832
The Bank
 The renewal passes Congress
 Jackson vetoes it
 Unleashed a storm of protest from businessmen,
state bankers, and economists
 Jackson called a tyrant for overriding the will of the
people
King Andrew I
 Placeholder: Whigs creation, Van Buren
Manifest Destiny
 One of the most important ideas of the early 1800’s
 Term coined by John L. O’Sullivan, a NY magazine
editor
 Asserted the right of the U.S. to “overspread and to
possess the whole of the continent which Providence
has given us for the great experiment of liberty and
federated self-government.”
 Manifest Destiny = The belief that the U.S.
should expand to the Pacific Ocean
The Oregon Country
 Early pioneers moved cross country, mostly fur
traders
 Territory was shared with the British
 Explored and mapped the routes across the
continent
 Helped to create the Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail
 Long & dangerous
 Many geographic
obstacles
 Thousands of
Americans went
in the early 1840’s
Texas (Yay!)
 In the 1820’s Mexico gave Moses Austin a land grant
to settle Americans in Texas
 Moses’s son Stephen F. Austin established the first
American colony in Mexico
 By 1835 20,000 Americans in Texas, with slaves
 Mexico resisted numerous attempts to buy Texas by
the U.S.
Texas
 Changes in the Mexican government made things
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uncomfortable in Texas
Santa Anna becomes dictator and is hostile to
American settlers
Santa Anna marches north in 1835 to disperse
growing dissent
This act of aggression prompts armed response
First fight came in Feb. 1836
The Alamo
 187 Texans defending against over 4,000 Mexicans
 The Alamo was an old mission near San Antonio
 Texans led by William B. Travis
 Trying to buy time for Sam Houston to form the
army
 Held out for 13 days, even though surrounded
 Santa Anna hoped to avoid a fight, but ultimately
charged
 Heroic action spurred the independence movement
San Jacinto
Texas Applies for Annexation
 Harrison elected in 1840, died after 1 month in office
 John Tyler became President in 1841
 Texas had applied for annexation in 1836
 Jackson was too close to the end of his term
 Van Buren was too unpopular
 Tyler finally able to secure annexation
Texas Annexation
 2 reasons people opposed
 Texas would enter as a slave state
 Mexico would probably declare war
 Senate refused to pass annexation treaty until March
1845, just before Tyler leaves office
 James Polk elected in 1844, takes office in 1845
 Polk a strong proponent of Manifest Destiny
Issues with Britain
 Increased U.S. presence in
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Oregon leads to conflict
Britain and U.S. both claiming
key territory
The U.S. declares “54-40 or
fight!”
Britain goaded by Mexico
Ultimately a treaty was signed in
1846 cutting the territory in half
The Slidell Mission
 John Slidell sent to Mexico to negotiate
 Offered to pay Texas debts owed to Mexico for $3.25
million
 Offered $5 million for New Mexico and $25 million
for California
 Expected the mission to succeed
 Instead Mexico refused to meet with Slidell
The Border Issue
 The treaty granting Texas independence claimed the
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border was on the Rio Grande
The Mexican govt. claimed it was invalid
Once Texas annexed this becomes a U.S. problem
Polk sends Gen. Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande as
a defensive measure
Mexico considers this an invasion and an act of war
War with Mexico
 Gen. Zachary Taylor led army to the Rio Grande
 Nicknamed “Old Rough-and-Ready”
 Charismatic general, liked by his men, also a Whig
 First battle at Palo Alto in Texas, May 8, 1846
 Taylor then crosses the Rio Grande into Mexico at
Matamoros
 Due to discipline issues, Taylor forced to move
further south, towards Monterrey
Politics Interferes
 Taylor succeeds at Monterrey, generously allows
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Mexican army to withdraw
Draws criticism from U.S. government
Still, Taylor a popular figure
Polk (Democrat) unwilling to let a Taylor (Whig)
take credit for the final victory
Orders Taylor to hold Monterrey but transfers most
of his army to Winfield Scott in New Orleans
The Last Campaign
 Gen. Winfield Scott to lead an attack on Mexico City
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from New Orleans
Scott not nearly as popular as Taylor
Nicknamed “Old Fuss-and-Feathers”
The plan was to land at Veracruz and march to
Mexico City
After a series of battles Mexico City falls
Santa Anna flees
Negotiations
 Remnants of Mexican govt. left to negotiate
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surrender
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the war in 1848
Forced Mexico to sell all territory between the Pacific
and Texas for $15 million
Also paid $3.5 million in debt to Mexico
Treaty somewhat unpopular, but still passed the
Senate
Results
 Mexican War achieved Manifest Destiny
 Only one more land purchase before the final
borders of the 48 contiguous states
 Ironically, the land added almost killed the U.S.
 In many ways, the Mexican War was a forerunner to
the Civil War
Religious Change
 Charles Grandison
Finney
 Key figure in the Second
Great Awakening
 Focused on revival and
new converts
 Gave rise to
Perfectionism
Religious Change
 Many denominations created or changed
significantly
 Many key Calvinist and Orthodox doctrines rejected
 Growth in major denominations: Methodist, Baptist,
Presbyterian
 New or small groups also grew: Unitarians,
Mormons, Oneidans
Perfectionism
 New belief propagated in 2nd Great Awakening
 Believed that human beings could become perfect
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and completely rid themselves of sin
Sin defined as selfishness
Argued that people could become entirely selfless
This applied both on individual and corporate levels
Gave a strong religious impetus for social reform
Social Change
 Religious change will in turn affect social change
 Many reform movements
 Prisons
 Asylums
 Temperance
 Women’s rights
 Antislavery
Antislavery
 Grew with religious revival
 Still a mix of views
 Some people completely abolitionist
 Others simply against expansion
 Race often not a factor
Lincoln
 “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in
favor of bringing about in anyway the social and
political equality of the white and black races – that I
am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters
or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold
office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will
say in addition to this that there is a physical
difference between the white and black races which I
believe will forever forbid the two races living
together on terms of social and political equality…
Lincoln
 And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do
remain together there must be the position of
superior and inferior, and I as much as any other
man am in favor of having the superior position
assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I
do not perceive that because the white man is to have
the superior position the negro should be denied
everything.” Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Sept. 1858
Lincoln
 I have never said anything to the contrary, but I hold
that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the
world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural
rights enumerated in the Declaration of
Independence, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to
these as the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas
he is not my equal in many respects – certainly not in
color, perhaps not in moral or intellectual
endowment. But in the right to eat the bread, without
leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is
my equal and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the
equal of every living man.” Lincoln-Douglas Debate,
Aug. 1858
Lincoln
 “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the
Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I
would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the
slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing
some and leaving others alone I would also do that.
What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do
because I believe it helps to save the Union; and
what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it
would help save the Union…
Lincoln
 I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am
doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever
I shall believe doing more will help the cause.”
Letter of Abraham Lincoln, Aug. 1862
Placeholder (slaves vs workers)
Immigration
 Largest group from Ireland, followed by Germany
 Millions immigrated during the 1840’s and 1850’s
 Irish especially faced discrimination when they
arrived
 Anti-immigration known as “Nativism”
Reasons for Nativism
 Irish were Catholic
 Stereotypes about immigrants
 Immigrants usually poor
 Immigrants took jobs and lowered wages
 Little assimilation on the part of immigrants
 Immigrants led to urbanization, lowering quality of
life in the cities
Urbanization
 Massive increase to city populations
 Mostly happened in the North
 One result of the Industrial Revolution
 A trend that still continues today
 Led to many problems within the cities
Problems of Urbanization
 Slum neighborhoods and ghettos
 Transportation
 Waste disposal
 Disease
 Crime
 Fire hazards
 Water supply
 Political corruption