Chapter 13:
A Growing Sense of Nationhood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y
5sGqL3ujMo
History Alive!
Mr. Billela
7th Grade
Star Spangled Banner
An inspiring moment that
gave us our identity…
• Battle of Baltimore came right after Washington,
D.C. was set on fire.
• British moved in to Baltimore Harbor and
bombarded Ft. McHenry.
• Francis Scott Key was aboard a British vessel
being held until the morning.
• Knew that if the flag came down, we were sunk.
• After a whole night of bombardments, the flag
was still there (flag is 30 x 42 feet)!
A Land of Differences
• After the War of 1812, a surge
of patriotism followed.
• 2 out of 3 Americans still lived
on the east coast, within 50
miles of the Atlantic.
• Regional stereotypes formed:
– Northern “Yankees” hard
working, thrifty, quick to
chase a dollar
– Southern plantation owners
gracious, cultured, and lazy
– Frontiersmen (to the West)
rugged, hardy, and crude
Symbols and Values
• Congress hired architects
to rebuild the White
House
• Uncle Sam as a cartoon
figure appeared
throughout print media as
a good guy
• Americans devoted to
individualism and equality
(unless you were a slave,
Native American, or a
woman)
The Era of Good Feelings
• James Monroe was elected in 1816 and
ran unopposed 4 years later.
• Nationalism: the swelling of pride for
one’s nation
• Capitalism: an economic system in which
individuals and companies produce goods
for profit.
Henry Clay
• From Kentucky
• Was a “War Hawk”
• Ran for President 5 times,
saying “I’d rather be right than
President.”
• Believed in capitalism
• Created The American
System:
– High tariffs to protect
American jobs
– Use tariff $ to build
American roads and canals
– A new National Bank to
provide credit
• Clay’s
system
used tariff
money to
build
these
roads and
canals.
John C. Calhoun
• From South Carolina
• Supported Clay’s American
System, including the new
National Bank
• But by the 1830’s he would
become the leading
spokesman for states’
rights, to protect slavery in
the South.
• Biggest spokesman for
nullification.
Daniel Webster
• From Massachusetts
• Unlike Clay, bitterly
opposed the War of 1812
• After the War, supported
Clay’s American System
• “Let us act under the
settled conviction…that
these 24 states are one
country.”
• Challenged Calhoun
about nullification
American Art
• Hudson River
School: America’s
rich landscape
became the subject
of much art.
• Storm clouds,
sunny skies,
glowing light, as if
God were smiling
on America
• Nature more
interesting than
people
Art, continued…
• John James Audubon painted
435 finely detailed portraits of
birds.
• Accurate and realistic
• George Catlin painted Native
American villages, rituals,
people
American Music
• North: classical music from
Europe (cotillion: four couples
dance with coordinated
movements)
• South: spirituals, songs by
slaves; square dancing, and
minstrel songs, which honored
black music by mimicking it
American Literature
• James Fenimore
Cooper’s The Last of
the Mohicans
• Davy Crockett: King
of the Wild Frontier
The End of an Era
• In 1824, four candidates (including Clay) competed to succeed
Monroe as president.
• None of them won a majority in the Electoral College.
• The House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams, the
son of John Adams.
• Partisan strife was back,
and here to stay. 