Unit 4: Jefferson, American Nationalism, and The Age of Jackson, 1800-1848 (9 hours)
Readings: Brinkley, Ch. 7-10; Foner, 270-271, 290-291; Divine, 230-231, 252-253, 294-295 (8th Ed.) 206211, 220-221, 244-245 (9th Ed.)
Content Objectives:
•
Examine the impact of the Second Great Awakening.
•
Assess the origins of the First Industrial Revolution.
•
Describe how cities rose.
•
Review the key decisions of the Marshall Court.
•
Analyze the development of an American identity and American culture.
•
Examine the impact of the Louisiana Purchase.
•
Assess the origins of the War of 1812.
•
Describe the economic and cultural origins of American nationalism.
•
Review the “era of good feelings” and the causes of its decline.
•
Assess the significance of the Monroe Doctrine.
•
Describe the “market revolution.” Analyze its impact on women and African Americans.
•
Analyze the meaning of “Jacksonianism.”
•
Examine the impact of sectionalism and the nullification crisis.
•
Describe the significance of the American System.
•
Assess the origins and impact of the Bank War.
•
Review the philosophy and impact of the Whig Party.
Class Discussion Questions for Unit 4:
1.
Why did the British government attempt to prevent the export of Britain’s industrial
technology?
2.
Was the industrial revolution truly a global revolution? Why or why not?
3.
Some observers have compared the information technology developments of the late twentieth
century to those of the industrial revolution. Are the changes that have resulted from the high-tech
developments of the late twentieth century as profound as those resulting from the industrial
revolution? In what ways might the high-tech advances be considered a “revolution”? What have been
the social and economic consequences of these advances?
4.
What were the elements of the market revolution? How did the market revolution spark social
change? How did the market economy increase sectional differences? How did the market economy
promote the growth of cities in the cities and along the frontier? What was the role of immigrants in the
market economy? How was the “cult of domesticity” a result of the market revolution?
5.
How did the meanings of American freedom change in this period? What were the social bases
for the flouring democracy of this period?
6.
Why do you think horse racing was such an important part of early America? Why has it
continued to be popular?
7.
How did changes in the sport of horse racing reflect similar changes in American society at
large?
8.
Is horse racing a sport still “bounded by lines of class and race”? What other sports were or are
similarly bounded?
9.
How did state and local governments promote the national economy in the time period?
10.
What was the impact of the Second Great Awakening on women, African Americans, and Native
Americans?
11.
What was the long-term significance of the Marbury v. Madison ruling? How did the Marshall
Court affect American law and the American economy?
12.
What was Jefferson’s greatest achievement as president? What was its social and political
significance?
13.
How did Americans respond to the Louisiana Purchase?
14.
What foreign entanglements and questions of foreign policy did Jefferson have to deal with
during his presidency? How did these issues affect his political philosophy?
15.
Why did contemporaries refer to the War of 1812 as the Second War for Independence? Was
this name accurate? What were the consequences of the War of 1812? How did it stimulate the
economy? What were the components of the American System, and how were they designed to
promote the national economy under the guidance of the federal government?
16.
What were the reasons for the rise of sectional differences in this era? What attempts were
made to resolve these differences? How successful were those attempts?
17.
Why was the Monroe Doctrine proclaimed? What role did John Quincy Adams play?
18.
What was the significance of Andrew Jackson’s victory in the election of 1828?
19.
What was Jacksonian democracy? Was it a reform movement against conservative special
interests? Was it a regional movement designed to shift power to the West? Or was it a class-based
movement to elevate workers and farmers?
20.
Jackson was known as a “man of the people.” Which people were attracted to him?
21.
Can you think of a political movement today that is similar to Jacksonianism (a people’s protest
against restrictions on their freedom and opportunity, and the desire to make government responsive to
the will of the people rather than to the power of special interests)?
22.
How were the penny press newspapers a product of the Jacksonian era?
23.
Before the advent of the penny press, newspapers in America were aimed at a much narrower
audience. Some published mainly business news, and others worked to advance the aims of a political
party. What nationally circulated newspapers and other media today continued this tradition?
24.
What characteristics of penny press newspapers are still common in newspapers today? In what
other contemporary news media do you see these same (or similar) elements?
25.
What was Andrew Jackson’s political philosophy, and how was it reflected in the policies and
actions of his administration? In what ways did Andrew Jackson embody the contradictions of
democratic nationalism?
26.
Who benefited under Jacksonian democracy? Who suffered?
27.
How did Andrew Jackson change the office of the presidency?
28.
Who supported and who opposed the Bank of the United States, and why? Who was right?
29.
How and why did attitudes of white attitudes toward Native Americans change, and how did
these changes lead to the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears?
30.
Explain the causes and effects of the Panic of 1837.
31.
What were the political responses to immigration in mid-nineteenth century America? Do you
see any parallels to responses to immigration today?
32.
Why did the rail system supplant the canal system as the nation’s major transportation
network?
33.
How did the industrial workforce change between the 1830s and 1840s? What were the effects
on American society of changes in the workplace?
34.
How did America’s industrial revolution and the factory system change family life and women’s
social and economic roles?
35.
How did agriculture in the North change as a result of growing industrialization and
urbanization?