Growth and Reform
1800-1850
Chapter Introduction
This chapter will identify the ways in which the United
States grew between 1800 and 1850. It will focus on
ways in which American life changed as reform
movements swept across the nation.
•
Section 1: Democracy, Nationalism, and
Sectionalism
•
Section 2: Religion and Reform
•
Section 3: The Antislavery Movement
•
Section 4: The Women’s Movement
•
Section 5: Manifest Destiny
Objectives
•
Explain how the rise of Andrew Jackson was
linked to expanding democratic rights.
•
Trace the causes and effects of Indian
removal.
•
Analyze Jackson’s policies with regard to
nullification and the national bank.
Terms and People
•
Andrew Jackson – a military hero who became
President of the United States in 1828 as American
democracy expanded
•
Jacksonian democracy – a trend in which
politics became increasingly democratic, with more
voters
•
spoils system – the use of political jobs to
reward party loyalty
•
Indian Removal Act – a law passed in 1830 that
sought to exchange Indian lands in the South for
land in present-day Oklahoma
Terms and People
(continued)
•
Trail of Tears – route taken by Cherokee forced
from their land in the Southeast to Oklahoma, along
which thousands died of disease and hunger
•
John C. Calhoun – Jackson’s Vice President who
championed nullification
•
nullification – the concept that states could nullify,
or void, and federal law they deemed
unconstitutional
•
Panic of 1837 – the nation’s worst economic
depression to that time
What changes did Andrew Jackson
bring to American political life?
During the 1820s, there was a political shift in
America toward expanded democracy.
This shift resulted in the election of Andrew
Jackson to the presidency, and some policies that
caused long-term political conflicts.
Jackson became President in the 1820s, a time
when democracy expanded, a trend called
Jacksonian democracy.
• States chose presidential electors by popular
vote instead of state legislatures.
• States abolished property requirements for
voting.
• Participation in elections grew, and Jackson
presented himself as a common man
J. Q. Adams
Henry Clay
A. Jackson
W. Crawford
Jackson lost the
presidential race in
1824 to John Quincy
Adams despite
winning the popular
vote, because there
was no electoral
vote majority.
In 1828, Jackson and the Democratic Party
were very organized, and won the race.
Once Andrew Jackson
became president, he
replaced hundreds of
government workers
with people from the
Democratic Party.
This practice
was called the
spoils system.
Party in the White house upon Jackson’s inauguration as President
Southern
voters
expected
Jackson to
remove
Indians living
in the region.
• Native Americans owned
private property and went to
court to defend their rights.
• In 1832, the Supreme Court
ruled that Georgia’s seizure
of Indian lands was
unconstitutional but Jackson
refused to act on the ruling.
Instead, he urged Congress to
pass the Indian Removal Act
of 1830.
The act led to the
forcible removal of
Creeks, Seminoles,
and Cherokee from
their land.
In 1838, federal
troops made 15,000
Cherokee journey
from the Southeast
to Oklahoma.
At least 4,000
people died on this
Trail of Tears.
Native American Removal, 1830-1840
In 1828,
Congress
adopted an
especially high
tariff, or tax on
imported
goods.
• Jackson’s VP John C.
Calhoun opposed it.
• He favored nullification,
the idea states could void
federal laws they deemed
unconstitutional on the
ruling.
Despite Calhoun’s and other
southerners’ objections,
Jackson signed a tariff into law.
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina: Jackson’s VP and
defender of slavery, state’s rights and the theory of
nullification
Calhoun resigned
the vice
presidency and
South Carolina
threatened to
secede from the
Union.
Jackson vowed
“The Union will be
preserved.”
The crisis passed when Congress reduced the tariff,
though the question of nullification and
secession had only been postponed.
Jackson disliked the Second Bank of the
United States.
•
Jackson vetoed the renewal of the Bank’s charter
in 1832.
•
Supporters of the Bank founded the Whig Party.
•
Jackson won a landslide victory against the Whigs
and used his public support to weaken the Bank.
Martin Van Buren was elected in 1836, and
soon after the Panic of 1837 occurred.
•
This economic depression was caused in part
by Jackson’s decision to stop accepting paper
money for the purchase of federal land.
•
There was a drop in land values
and sales.
The troubled
economy led to a
Whig resurgence.
William Henry Harrison
became President in
1841, but died a
month after taking
office.
VP John Tyler took
office and rejected
Whig policies.
Objectives
• Explain the impact of the Second Great
Awakening.
• Describe the forms of discrimination that
some religious groups faced.
• Analyze the various social reform
movements that arose in the mid-1800s.
Terms and People
•
Second Great Awakening – a powerful religious
movement led by Protestant preachers that spread
through America in the early 1800s
•
Charles Grandison Finney – a religious revivalist
who gave passionate sermons urging people to
reform their lives
•
Joseph Smith – organizer of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830
Terms and People
(continued)
•
Dorothea Dix – a reformer who turned her
religious ideals into actions by campaigning to build
humane hospitals for the mentally ill
•
temperance movement – the campaign to curb
alcohol use
•
public schools – free, tax-supported schools for all
American children
•
Horace Mann – the most influential leader of the
public school movement
How did the Second Great Awakening
affect life in the United States?
A religious revival known as the Great
Awakening spread across America during the
colonial era. In the early 1800s, it happened
again.
This Second Great Awakening led people to
work to put their religious ideals into reforming
parts of American life.
than
The Second Great Awakening began on the
Kentucky frontier in the early 1800s and
spread.
• Outdoor services lasted as long as a week
and included good food and lively music.
• One of the most influential preachers
was Charles Grandison Finney, who
gave passionate sermons urging people
to reform their lives.
Finney believed that
this would lead to a
better society.
Church membership
increased.
This fervor led to a
wide variety of social
reforms. Including:
women’s rights,
abolitionism, education,
temperance, treatment
of the mentally ill,
prison reform
This new
religious
awareness
led to the
formation of
new
religious
groups.
• The Unitarian Church
• African American
churches, such as the
African Methodist
Episcopal Church
• The Church of Jesus
Christ of the Latter-day
Saints, organized by
Joseph Smith in 1830.
Some Americans became suspicious of the
rapid growth of the Mormon Church.
• They isolated themselves, allowed
men to have more than one wife,
and voted as a group.
• As a result, Mormon communities
were chased out of Ohio and
Missouri.
• Mormons went west to Utah and
thrived.
Members of other
minority religious
groups faced
discrimination as well.
Roman Catholics were
resented because they
were poor and would
work for low wages.
Americans began to debate the role of
government in religion.
Some felt
that
government
should
support
religion.
Others
thought
there
should be
separation
of church
and state.
The Second Great Awakening led
many, such as Dorothea Dix, to
work for reforms.
• Dix taught Sunday school in a
prison and learned the mentally ill
were housed with criminals.
• She campaigned across
the nation to change this.
• Her efforts led to
the creation of the first
modern mental hospitals.
The
temperance
movement
campaigned to
curb the use
of alcohol.
Groups distributed
pamphlets and held
meetings urging
people to refrain from
drinking alcohol.
The movement won
some changes in
the law.
Some reformers worked to improve
education and wanted to establish public
schools.
A leader of the public school movement,
Horace Mann, worked to establish:
• state oversight of local schools
• standardized school calendars
• teacher training
The percentage of
children attending
school doubled
due to the efforts
of Mann and other
school reformers.
Women played
important roles in
the school reform.
A school room in the early 1800s.
Objectives
• Describe the lives of enslaved people.
• Identify the leaders and activities of the
abolitionist movement.
• Explain why many Americans opposed the
abolition of slavery.
Terms and People
•
Nat Turner – leader of the best-known slave
revolt against owners in the first half of the 1800s
•
underground railroad – a secret organized
network of people who hid runaway slaves as they
headed North
•
Harriet Tubman – a courageous “conductor” of
the underground railroad who led hundreds of
slaves to freedom
•
abolitionists – people who spoke out to end
slavery
Terms and People (continued)
•
William Lloyd Garrison – the most influential
abolitionist who published a newspaper called The
Liberator
•
Frederick Douglass – an escaped slave who
became an eloquent speaker at abolitionist
meetings
•
Angelina and Sarah Grimké – daughters of a
southern slaveholder who became vocal abolitionists
Terms and People (continued)
•
Henry David Thoreau – a writer and abolitionist
who went to jail for refusing to pay a tax he felt
supported slavery
•
civil disobedience – the right of individuals to
refuse to obey laws that they feel are unjust
What methods did Americans use to
oppose slavery?
As reformers tried to improve American life in the
mid-1800s, some turned their attention to
exploited and enslaved African Americans.
The efforts of these reformers led to increasing
division between the North and the South.
Slavery ended completely in the North
during the 1800s.
It remained an institution in the South.
•
Two million Africans and African Americans were
held as slaves in the South.
• They worked at backbreaking tasks and could be
beaten at any time. Families were separated.
• Some enslaved people gave up hope; others
found comfort in family and religion.
There was some
resistance from
slaves against their
oppressors.
There were 200 slave
revolts during the first
half of the 1800s.
The most significant was
led by Nat Turner in
1831.
The underground
railroad developed to
help slaves escape to
freedom.
• It was made up of a
loose network of
“conductors” that hid
runaway slaves.
• One of the best
known conductors
was Harriet
Tubman.
This is a map
of the
underground
railroad routes
from slave
states to free.
A growing number of Americans wanted to end
slavery. They were called abolitionists.
• William Lloyd Garrison published an
antislavery newspaper called The Liberator.
• Frederick Douglass, who was born into
slavery, escaped and spoke out eloquently
against it.
• Angelina and Sarah Grimké moved north
and became outspoken abolitionists.
• Henry David Thoreau refused to pay a tax he
believed supported slavery.
Civil disobedience was defined by Thoreau as
the right of people to refuse to obey laws that
they find unjust.
Abolitionists
became
organized,
holding
meetings and
giving lectures
across the
country.
Many people
were against
abolishing
slavery.
Southerners
argued it
formed the
foundation of
their economy.
The slavery issue divided America.
• The abolition movement
was small but vocal. It
faced resistance in the
North and the South.
• A Gag Rule passed by
Congress prohibited
debates on the subject.
• The issue still widened
differences between the
North and South.
Objectives
• Identify the limits faced by American women
in the early 1800s.
• Describe how women began playing an
increasing role in political and economic life.
• Trace the development of the women’s rights
movement.
Terms and People
•
Sojourner Truth – a powerful abolitionist lecturer
who was a former slave from New York
•
Lucretia Mott – a Quaker who helped found the
American Anti-Slavery Society and along with
Stanton helped organize the first Women’s Rights
Convention
•
Elizabeth Cady Stanton – an abolitionist who
helped organize the nation’s first Women’s Rights
Convention
Terms and People (continued)
•
Seneca Falls Convention – the nation’s first Women’s
Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, New York,
in 1848
•
Declaration of Sentiments – a declaration formed at
the Seneca Falls Convention that called for greater
rights for women
•
women’s rights movement – the campaign for equal
rights for women
Terms and People (continued)
•
Susan B. Anthony – a reformer who passionately
worked for over 50 years to gain suffrage for
women
•
suffrage – the right to vote
What steps did American women take to
advance their rights in the mid-1800s?
Women took active roles in several reform
movements during the 1800s. Soon, some of
these reformers decided to work to gain equality
for women.
This laid the groundwork for a long struggle,
especially to gain the right to vote.
Women lacked many basic rights in the early 1800s.
NO Property Ownership
NO Voting Rights
NO Election to Public Office
FEW Educational Opportunities
The reform movements brought about by
the Second Great Awakening attracted
many thoughtful women.
One prominent female abolitionist was
Sojourner Truth, who spoke powerfully against
slavery.
The reform movements gave women leadership roles
and connections outside of the home.
Another change in the lives
of women occurred due to
industrialization.
Factories needed workers. Many women went to work in
them and developed a degree of economic independence
and new friendships.
Two historical trends led to the beginning of real
progress for women’s rights.
1
2
1 Middle class women in urban areas hired poor
women to do their housework, leaving them more
time to think about social issues.
Women became involved in the abolitionist
movement and began to compare their own
situations to that of the slaves.
Abolitionist women disagreed over
how prominent a role females should play
in the movement to end slavery.
Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were
not allowed to speak
at an antislavery conference.
This inspired them to take new steps
to advance women’s rights.
Stanton and Mott organized the
nation’s first Women’s Rights
Convention, called the Seneca
Falls Convention, in New York
in 1848.
The delegates adopted a
Declaration of
Sentiments, which called
for greater rights and
opportunities for women.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
The Seneca Falls Convention marked the beginning of the
women’s rights movement.
It inspired a generation
of leaders including
Susan B. Anthony.
Anthony concentrated her efforts for the next 50
years on gaining suffrage for women—
the right to vote.
The Causes and Effects
of the Women’s Rights Movement
Effects
Causes
Women could not vote, own
property, or divorce abusive
husbands
Many abolitionists believed
that women also deserved
equal rights
Women were denied equal
education opportunities

Suffragist movement
demanded that women get
the right to vote.

States passed laws that
protected women’s property
rights.

Private schools for women
opened, and some colleges
accepted women students.
Objectives
• Explain why and how Americans migrated
westward in the mid-1800s.
• Analyze the causes and results of the Texas
war for independence.
• Trace the effects of the Mexican-American
War and the California Gold Rush on the
United States.
Terms and People
•
expansionists – Americans who favored
territorial growth
•
Manifest Destiny – the idea that the United
States was destined to own most of all of North
America
•
Oregon Trail – route taken to Oregon by
westward settlers through the Rockies’ South Pass
•
Alamo – a battle at a small former mission in
San Antonio in which Mexican troops killed all of
its defenders
Terms and People (continued)
•
James K. Polk – an expansionist Democrat elected
President in 1844
•
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – treaty signed in
1848 ending the Mexican-American War; gave the
U.S. New Mexico and California, and secured the Rio
Grande as the border of Texas
•
Gadsden Purchase – 29,640 square miles
purchased by the United States from Mexico in 1853
•
California Gold Rush – a mass migration of
Americans who hoped to find gold in California
What were the causes and effects of
territorial expansion?
Americans had a long history of looking westward
for opportunity. By the 1840s, many had gone all
the way to Oregon and California.
This growth led to prosperity as well as war with
Mexico and increasing sectional tensions.
In 1830, America included
the east coast states, the
Louisiana Purchase and
Florida.
Those who wanted to add New
Mexico, Texas and California
were known as expansionists.
• Manifest Destiny stood for the belief that the U.S.
was destined to own most or all of North America.
• Expansion would come at the expense of Native
Americans and Mexicans.
People began
moving westward
on different trails
over the Rockies.
One of the best
known trails for
westward bound
families was the
Oregon Trail.
The Oregon Trail
Over a quarter million Americans settled on
the West Coast between 1840 and 1860.
They completed
this dangerous
five-month
journey in wagon
trains.
Native Americans were bound by the
1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie to avoid the wagon train trails.
This rule interfered with their practice of pursuing buffalo.
A war with Mexico
began with a
conflict in Texas.
Americans moved to Texas
starting in the 1820s and
agreed to be Mexican citizens
for cheap land.
Tensions arose and in 1836, Texas declared its
independence.
Mexican forces attacked a Texan garrison at the
Alamo, and killed all of its defenders.
The rallying cry
“remember the Alamo!”
helped Texan forces
defeat Santa Anna’s
army at the Battle of
San Jacinto.
Despite the victory,
a border war went on
between Mexico and
Texas for many years.
Sam Houston was elected President of the
Republic of Texas and asked the U.S. to annex
it.
James K. Polk was elected president in 1844 and
favored annexing Texas.
It entered the Union in 1845. Polk stood behind the
Texan claim to land up to the Rio Grande. This
angered Mexico.
Polk sent
troops to
occupy the
contested
border and
violence broke
out.
Congress
declared war
with Mexico in
1846.
The U.S. won
every major
battle in the
one-sided war.
When the U.S. Army marched 200 miles and
captured Mexico City in 1847, the war ended
with a complete American victory.
• Peace was declared with the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo.
• The Rio Grande became the
southern boundary of Texas.
• More land was added to the
U.S. in the 1853 Gadsden
Purchase from Mexico.
49ers
Gold Fever
California Gold Rush
Water route is offered over the overland route
San Francisco Bay early stages of the California Gold Rush
In early 1848, gold
was discovered in
California.
News spread and
80,000 Americans
headed west as part of
the California Gold
Rush.
Another 25,000 people
migrated from China to
California.
Miners had a hard life in California.
They used picks, pans, and shovels.
Large scale mining operations with
machinery overtook the rougher
by-hand methods.
The gold rush caused many Native Americans to be
killed or to lose their land.
Mexican Americans also lost their land.
California applied for statehood in 1849. It
wanted to enter the Union as a free state in
which slavery was banned.
The admission of California
would tip the balance of
15 free and 15 slave states.
In this way, the U.S. victory
over Mexico led to growing
conflict between North and
South.
Chapter Summary
Section 1: Democracy, Nationalism, and
Sectionalism
Andrew Jackson was elected President of the United States
as the nation was becoming more democratic. During his
years in office, he pursued a policy of Indian removal, dealt
with the nullification crisis, and weakened the national bank.
Section 2: Religion and Reform
A religious revival called the Second Great Awakening swept
across America in the early 1800s. This revival led to many
social reform movements like the temperance movement
and the push to create public schools.
Chapter Summary
(continued)
Section 3: The Antislavery Movement
Enslaved people in America had difficult lives and their plight
attracted the attention of reformers who wanted to end
slavery. These reformers, called abolitionists, organized and
worked to change the minds of those who opposed abolition.
Section 4: The Women’s Movement
Women living in the United States in the early 1800s faced
many limits. Due to industrialization and the reform
movements, some women began playing a bigger role in
political and economic life. As a result, the women’s rights
movement developed in the mid-1800s.
Chapter Summary
(continued)
Section 5: Manifest Destiny
Americans migrated west in large numbers during the mid1800s in search of better economic opportunity. Many
believed in Manifest Destiny, that the U.S. would own most of
North America. This expansion led to both the Texas war for
independence and the Mexican-American War.