CHANGES IN
DEMOGRAPHICS,
ECONOMICS, AND
CULTURE AFTER THE
WAR OF 1812
1815-1860
Changes in Demographics 1815-1860
• Change #1—More people
• Population of the US began to grow rapidly
• Many new states, 1790-13 states, 1860-33 states
• Change #2—Where people lived
• Americans began to move west in large numbers
• More and more Americans (but not all and not even most) began to move
to cities rather than farms
• Change #3—New types of people began to move to the US
• New waves of immigration during the 1830’s through 1850’s (and beyond)
Change #1: Increased Population
Change #2: Where People Lived (Moving Out
West)
Change #3: New Types of People—The New
Immigrants
• Beginning in the 1830s, 1840s number of immigrants began to
increase dramatically
• Immigrants began to come from new countries “New Immigrants” Ireland
and Germany
• What’s significant about the new immigrants?
• New countries Ireland and Germany—not just England anymore
• New religions—especially Roman Catholicism
• What’s the problem with Catholicism?
• Large number of immigrants—large number of poor immigrants
Increased Immigration: The New Immigrants
(Irish and German)
Irish Immigration
• Push and pull factors for immigrants
• Push
• Potato famine
• Poverty in Ireland
• Religious and political oppression by the British
• Pull
• Economic opportunity in the US
• Religious tolerance
• Areas of settlement for the Irish: Northeastern cities,
why?
German Immigration
• Push
• Religious intolerance in German states
• Economic problems
• Warfare and forced military service
• Pull
• Religious tolerance and economic opportunity in US
• Not all German immigrants were Catholic (about half)
• German immigrants tended to be wealthier (left more for
pull reasons than push)
• Areas of German settlement: More dispersed,
throughout the Northern US (modern Midwest
especially)
Anti-immigrant Reaction
• Native-born Americans (Native Americans or Nativists)
resented new immigrants, why?
• Competition
• New cultures/ethnicities
• New religions
• Know-Nothing Party, American Party
• Two minor political parties that emerged during the mid 1800’s
that were opposed to immigration and Catholicism
Irish and German Immigrants met with hostility
in America
Impact of Demographic Changes on Politics
• Impact of Increased Population
• More people = harder to find land in the East (more crowded)
• More people = less personal contact/influence over elected politicians
• Impact of Westward Movement
• Out West = lots of cheap land, poor people can get land, poor people can
now do WHAT?
• Impact of immigration
• Population increased, but especially in Northeastern cities
• What does this do to the political power of the North? (number of votes for
President and in Congress that the North would get compared to the
South)
• Immigrants and other poor people living in cities don’t own land, which
means they can’t do WHAT unless the rules change?
Changes in Economics
• Change #1: The South becomes tied to cotton production and slavery even
more than it was before
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Cotton gin
Plantation system (rural)
Agricultural
Slave labor
• Change #2: The North becomes increasingly industrialized
• Factories located in cities close to workers and potential customers (urban)
• Industrialized
• Wage laborers
• Change #3: The whole country moved from farmers growing enough food
to survive to growing food/making other stuff to sell for money
• Subsistence economymarket economy
• Impact of these changes, why is this important?
• North and South began to increasingly want different things
• Farmers and merchants and factory owners wanted different things
Changes in Culture: The 2nd Great Awakening
• 2nd Great Awakening=major religious revival in the US
• During the 1820’s, 1830’s, and 1840’s
• Religion before the 2 nd Great Awakening
• Religion was becoming less and less important to most people
• Religion was very cerebral and boring
• Religion after the 2 nd Great Awakening
• Very important to many/most people
• Religion became emotional and exciting
• New religions created: Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.
• Why is this important?
• 2nd Great Awakening got people thinking about issues of right and wrong,
led to efforts to reform problems with US politics and society
Effects of the 2nd Great Awakening: Reform
Movements
• Examples:
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Temperance—ban alcohol
State funded public schools—Horace Mann
Prison reform
Mental health reform—Dorothea Dix
Women’s rights
• Seneca Falls Declaration 1848
• Utopian Communities—create ideal self-sufficient communities
• Make US politics more democratic
• Abolition of slavery
POLITICS AFTER THE
WAR OF 1812: FROM ERA
OF GOOD FEELINGS TO
ERA OF JACKSON
1814-1840
Era of Good Feelings 1814-1824
• Name given to the period of time after the war of 1812
• Presidents=James Madison 1814-1816, James Monroe 1816-1824
• Only one political party=Republicans
• Entire country very nationalistic
• Nationalism
• Most throughout the country people agreed on the major issues
• Domestic Policy: American System—tariffs, internal improvements, new
National Bank
• Judiciary—a broad interpretation of the Constitution
• Foreign policy—very aggressive attitude toward foreign countries
• Example: US took over Florida (1819), Monroe Doctrine 1823
• President—Monroe received every electoral vote except one in 1820
election
Changing Times: Era of Good Feelings Come to
an End
• Sectionalism
• Idea that the country is NOT one united whole but 3 separate parts
(sections)
• North, South, West
• Each section competed with the other on a range of issues (slavery, tariffs,
the bank, internal improvements, size of federal govt.)
• Slavery and the Missouri Compromise 1820
• Example of an early conflict over slavery that divided the country
• Election of 1824 (Corrupt Bargain)
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No political parties 4 candidates ran all “Republicans”
No one got a majority of the electoral votes (who gets to decide?)
Jackson won the popular vote and electoral vote but lost the election
John Quincy Adams won the election
Changing Times: The End of The Era of Good
Feelings (Cont.)
• Bad feelings over the election of 1824 led to a split in the
Republican party
• Jackson and his supporters—Democratic Republicans
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South, West
Poorer people
Farmers
Rural areas
• Adams and his supporters—National Republicans
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New England, Northeast
Middle class/wealthier people
Merchants, factory owners
Urban areas
• Eventually these two factions would become two new political
parties: Democrats and Whigs
Big Changes to Voting: Increased Democracy
• Voting and Elections Before the 1820’s
• White males only
• Needed to own property (land) or have a certain amount of wealth
• Poor people, and even some middle class/wealthy people couldn’t vote
• State legislatures chose the electors for the electoral college NOT the voters
• Political parties chose their candidates through the caucus system (small group
of party leaders chose candidates, NOT the party members)
• How Voting and Elections Changed
• White males only (still)
• Property and wealth requirements were dropped in almost all states
• Who could now vote who couldn’t before?
• Voters elected electors to the electoral college NOT the state legislatures
• Political parties chose their candidates through the convention system (party
members elected delegates who went to a convention and debated/voted on
who their candidates should be)
Age of Jackson
• Election of 1828
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Jackson’s supporters eager to get revenge for the election of 1824
Changes in who could vote meant more poor voters
Jackson won easily
Jackson re-elected in 1832 as well
• Major Issues of the Jackson Presidency
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Spoils System
Tariff Controversy
Bank Debate
Indian Removal
Issues with Jackson: Looking Closer
• Spoils System
• Was it a democratic way to rotate ordinary people into the government
• Or, was it a corrupt system of using federal jobs to bribe Jackson’s political
supporters?
• Tariff Controversy
• Nullification—idea that if a state thinks a federal law violates the Constitution
the state can invalidate or nullify that law in its borders, thoughts?
• Secession—states chose to join the Constitution in the 1780’s could they
choose to leave it too?
• Indian Removal
• Indians took their case to the Supreme Court (Worcester v. Georgia) Supreme
Court agreed with the Indians, Jackson ignored the Supreme Court and
removed the Indians anyway, thoughts?
• Bank Debate
• Jackson and his poor supporters from the West and South hated the bank and
wanted it gone, they got rid of the bank, but that caused a nation-wide
economic depression that lasted 4 years 1836-1840
2nd Two Party System, Whigs vs. Democrats
Democrats
Whigs
Poor, Middle Class
Middle Class, Wealthy
South, West, Urban Poor in Eastern Cities
Northeast, Wealthy in the South/West
Appealed to people who didn’t fit in:
Immigrants, Catholics, etc.
Appealed to more mainstream citizens:
Native born Americans, Protestants, etc.
Strict interpretation of the Constitution,
more power for the states
Broad interpretation of the Constitution,
more power for the federal govt.
Opposed to the Bank
In favor of the Bank
Opposed to tariffs
In favor of tariffs
Opposed to internal improvements
In favor of internal improvements
Supported Jackson
Hated Jackson
Name suggested more power for the
people—Democracy
Name suggested protecting the rights of
the people from the tyrant Jackson
Split on slavery (for now)
Split on slavery (for now)
Elections of 1836 and 1840
• Election of 1836
• Martin Van Buren (Old Kinderhook) Jackson’s old VP, Democrat
• Whigs chose multiple candidates
• Van Buren won
• Election of 1840
• Van Buren – Democrat
• William Henry Harrison – Whig
• Harrison = the Whig version of Jackson, from the West, former war hero, etc.
• Hard Cider and Log Cabin Campaign
• Lots of slogans and hoopla (Tippecanoe and Tyler too!) not a lot of substance
• Harrison won easily
• Harrison sworn in March 1841, got sick died April 1841
• Tyler became President
Jacksonian Era Recap
• What had changed in terms of voting and elections
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Who could vote?
How did Presidential elections change?
How did choosing candidates change?
How did the number of parties change?
• Why did these changes happen?
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People moving west . . .
Immigration . . .
Industrialization . . .
Sectionalism . . .
Election of 1824 . . .
Jackson’s personality . . .