Alexis de Tocqueville
Democracy in America
“The government of
democracy brings the
notion of political rights to the level of the
humblest citizens, just as the dissemination
of wealth brings the notion of property
within the reach of all the members of the
community.”
The greatest danger facing our nation is
privilege. Society should have the goal
of eliminating the powerful elites and
make opportunity more widely available.
Egalitarians?
No
I accepted the necessity of
economic inequality and
social gradation. But I did
believe that people can rise
to prominence on the basis
of their own talents and
energies.
The goal of people in public life was to ensure
that others like themselves would have the
opportunity to do the same.
Jackson’s inauguration was
the reign of King Mob.
J. Story
Ohio—first voting
changes: white male
property owners or
taxpayers
Massachusetts—
led by Daniel
Webster,
remained
conservative
Rhode Island (1842)
Thomas Wilson Dorr
Liberal constitution—liked by people
Governor Samuel W. King opposed
Dorr’s Rebellion
Led to new constitution
Expanded suffrage
U. S. Election: 1824: <27% white males voted
1828: 58%; 1840: 80%
Higher voter participation
First in New York
Martin van Buren:
dissident faction:
Bucktails or the
Albany Regency
Simple theory of democracy
Equal protection and equal benefits
Extended opportunities to rising
classes of West & South at
expense of East
Slavery & brutality toward N. A.
Only keeping these dangerous elements from
the body politic could white, male democracy
be preserved.
Target: entrenched office-holders in federal
government
The Spoils System
To the victor belong the
spoils.
Jackson removed less
than 20% bureaucrats,
But, he helped create
The system where elected officials appoint
Their own followers to public office
How did my supporters change the
process by which presidential candidates
won their party’s nominations?
National party convention—re-nominated
Jackson in 1832 (power rising directly
from the people, not from aristocratic
political institutions)
The Limited Nature of Democratic Reform
The spoils system and the political convention
did serve to limit the power of two entrenched
elites: permanent officeholders and the
exclusive party caucus. But, neither really
transferred power to the people.
Appointments: to prominent political allies
Delegates: members of local party
organizations
Political opportunity was expanding, but much
less so than Jacksonian rhetoric suggested
•Leader in Senate
•Secretary of War under
President Monroe
•Vice President under
President J. Q. Adams and
Jackson
Consummate Politician
Tariff of Abominations
Theory of Nullification
Federal Government was a creation of
the states, therefore the states, not
Congress or the federal courts, were
the final arbiters of federal laws
Therefore, if a state believed that Congress had
passed an unconstitutional law, it could hold a
special convention and declare that law null and
void within the state
Martin van Buren
Governor of New York in
1828
1829: Secretary of State
Member of both the official
cabinet and the “Kitchen
Cabinet”
The Eaton Affair
Further diminished Calhoun’s position while
enhancing that of Van Buren—ended
Calhoun’s dreams of becoming president
Nullification is TREASON! No state can
defy the federal government alone. I’ll
send in the Army to enforce the tariff and
I’ll have Calhoun hung!!!
As a senator from Kentucky, I, Henry
Clay, supported the force bill (use of
military) and brokered a compromise
that gradually lowered the tariff so in
1842 it would be at the same level as in
1816.
The Black Hawk War
The five Civilized Tribes:
Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw
and Choctaw
Indian Removal Act of 1830
Money to finance federal negotiations with the
southern tribes—try to relocate to West
Jackson dispatched federal troops
Marshall:
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)
Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
partially vindicated the tribe
John Marshall has made his decision.
Let him now enforce it.
Trail of Tears
The Indian Intercourse Act of 1834
Second Bank of the United States
Most powerful financial
institution
Only place the federal
government could deposit
funds
Federal government owned 20% of stock and did
tremendous business in general banking. It provided
credit to growing enterprises and issued bank notes
Hard Money vs. Soft Money
Soft Money: more currency in circulation
Issuing banknotes unsupported by gold or
silver was the best way to circulate more
currency
Objected to Bank of the United States
because it restrained state banks from
issuing notes freely
Wanted rapid expansion
Hard Money vs. Soft Money
Hard Money: Gold & silver only currency basis
Condemned all banks that issued bank notes
Conservative approach to expansion
I was a hard money advocate
because a business I owned
failed as a result of the Panic
of 1797. I was therefore
suspicious of banks and paper
currency.
Nicholas Biddle
President of the Bank of the
United States
Put bank on a sound and
prosperous basis
Granted financial favors to
influential men (Webster and
Clay)
1832: asked Congress to
renew bank’s charter 4 years
Early (campaign issue)
Election of 1832
Roger B. Taney
Charles River Bridge v. Warren
Bridge (1837)
The object of government was to
promote the general happiness, an
object that took precedence over
the rights of contract and property.
A state, therefore, had the right to
amend or abrogate a contract if
such action was necessary to
advance community well-being.
Furthered Jacksonian ideal
Whigs
Democrats
The Whig Party and the Great
Triumvirate
H. Clay
D. Webster J. Calhoun
The Panic of 1837
Log Cabin Campaign
Harrison
Tyler
Whig
Van Buren
Democrat
No VP Cand
Harrison: portrayed as a man of the people,
simple, who loved log cabins and hard cider;
really was an elite
Whigs portrayed Van Buren: aloof aristocrat
Penny Press—the first modern election
Election of 1840
John Tyler as President
Former Democrat who
had left the party in
reaction to Jackson
Governed as a Democrat
Abolished Van Buren’s
independent treasury
Refused to support Clay’s attempt to re-charter
the Bank of the United States
All cabinet but Webster resigned. Later when
Webster resigned, replaced with Calhoun
U. S. Population
1790 4 Million
182010 Million
183013 Million
184017 Million
New York City and East River, 1848
Superior natural harbor
Erie Canal
Liberal state laws that made the city attractive
for both foreign and domestic commerce
Milwaukee
Detroit
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Buffalo
Cleveland
Cincinnati
St. Louis
Louisville
Mulberry Street, New York City
Immigration, 1820-1840
Nativism and the Know-Nothings
Many employers welcomed
immigrants: large supply of
cheap labor
Leaders in western states/
territories felt immigrants
would increase population
Nativism: defense of nativeborn (white) people and a
hostility to the foreign-born;
Citizen No Nothing
Native American Party
The Canal System—Erie Canal
Canal with tow path—horses walked
along tow path, towing the boat
4 horses could haul 1 ½ tons 18 miles a day on
turnpike
Same 4 horses: 100 tons 24 miles a day
The Erie Canal
Erie
Canal
1840: 2,818 miles of track in the U. S.
1850: 9,021 miles of track in the U. S.
Most in the Northeast
Chicago, Illinois:
Rail center of the West
Railroads:
Lessened dependence of
West on Mississippi River
Helped further weaken the connection
between the Northwest and the South
Samuel Morse
Richard Hoe and the Steam Cylinder
Rotary Press
Factory fueled by coal
Spinning jenny
Elias Howe
Charles Goodyear
Merchant Capitalists
Entrepreneurs engaged in foreign and
domestic trade—at times invested some
profits in small-scale manufacturing
Greater
opportunities
in manufacturing
than in
trade
Immigrants: most important source of new
workers in the 1840s
Midwest farmlands
Improved transportation
The Lowell-Waltham
System
The Lowell-Waltham System
Clean boardinghouses and dormitories
Workers: well fed; carefully supervised
Strict curfews
Required church attendance
Eventually:
Lower wages; longer work days
Conditions in boardinghouses
deteriorated
Mid-1840s: Lowell as squalid slum
National Trades’ Union
Trades of skilled artisans being displaced by
factories
Some transitioned into small-scale industries
Artisans in big cities, within each craft, formed
societies for mutual aid
1834—delegates from 6 cities
Fared poorly—hostile laws and hostile courts
Commonwealth (MA) v. Hunt (1842)
Massachusetts Supreme Court
Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw
Unions were lawful organizations
and that the strike was a lawful
weapon
Factors Contributing to Inhibition of Growth of
Effective Labor Resistance
•Flood of immigrants
•Lower wages
•Easy to replace disgruntled or striking
workers
•Ethnic divisions—internal bickering
•Sheer strength of industrial capitalists
1845: Boston—4% of
population controlled
65% of wealth
Philadelphia: 1860—1%
of population controlled
50% of wealth
USA: 1860—5% of families controlled >50%
of wealth
Cult of Domesticity
Wives expected to remain in home
Domestic affairs
Shift of middle class concept of place of
woman
Middle class women: consumers
Distinctive female culture
Distinctive literature
Provide religious/moral instruction
Higher value on female virtues and roles as
wife/mother
But increased detachment from public world
Leisure Activities
Vacations rare
Sundays: religion and rest
Holidays: special importance
July 4 and January 8
Men: taverns
Cities: theaters; sports (boxing, cockfighting,
horse racing, rounders, circuses)
Lyceums
P. T. Barnum