Antebellum America

AntebellumAmerica Daniel Kure

Theage of Jackson (1824-1840)

Key Tenants to Jacksonian Democracy • Belief in the common man -The Jacksonians had great respect for the common sense and abilities of the common man. ~With this view of thought, all white male citizens had equal opportunity and ones class does not effect his potential or abilities. - Andrew Jackson was seen as a common man who represented the interests of the people. ~People obtained this feeling because of Jacksons participation in the wars in the south as a hero, and the many other things he did that were very similar to the average citizen, including the aspect of how someone can move up in society over time through hard work and effort.

Key Tenants to Jacksonian Democracy • Expanded suffrage - The Jacksonians dramatically expanded white male suffrage. - During the Federalist Era, Caucuses of party leaders maintained discipline and selected candidates. During the Jackson administration, nominating conventions replaced legislative caucuses. ~The expansion of white male suffrage was done by lifting certain requirements such as property sizes, the expanded suffrage also increased the amount of people that were allowed to and could vote. ~Jackson encouraged voting which gathered a better overall participation in elections.

Key Tenants to Jacksonian Democracy • Patronage -The Jacksonians supported patronage- the policy of placing political supporters in office. ~Out of this patronage emerged the spoils system, which was were the victorious party or candidate got all the ”spoils” which included nominating other candidates that would strengthen your party. -Many Jacksonians believed that victorious candidates had a duty to reward their supporters and punish their opponents. ~They believed that because they won they had the right to do whatever they wanted, and often this ended up messy because although they won the majority, there were still considerable groups of opposition.

Key Tenants to Jacksonian Democracy • Opposition to Privileged Elites -As champions of the common man, Jacksonians despised the special privileges of the Eastern elite. ~The debate eventually triggered the Webster-Hayne debate which was an argument over slowing down the progress of the west as a way for the East to retain its political and economic power. -Special privileges were anathemas to a government dedicated to promoting and protecting the common man. ~The government was highly devoted to the aspect of keeping the union together and made it a top priority, but part of the Webster-Hayne debate was over the national power vs. state power, and John Calhoun arose as an important figure for the support of the state`s power.

The Tariff of Abominations and the Nullification Crisis • The tariff of Abominations, 1828 -The tariffs passed between 1816 and 1828 were the first tariffs in American history whose primary purpose was protection. -The Tariff of Abominations forced John C. Calhoun to formulate his doctrine of nullification. ~These tariffs were to tax foreign businesses and intended to give the north an Economic advantage ~These laws were not beneficial for the southern colonies and its negative effect on their economy led them to call it the tariff of Abominations.

The Tariff of Abominations and the Nullification Crisis • The Doctrine of Nullification -Developed by John C. Calhoun, the doctrine of nullification drew heavily on the states’ rights arguments advanced in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. -In the South Carolina Exposition and Protest, Calhoun argued that a state can refuse to recognize an act of Congress that it considers unconstitutional. ~Eventually these disagreements led to a compromise devised by Henry Clay where the tariffs would slowly be lowered and in return South Carolina would agree to repeal its nullification of the tariffs. ~This proved that one state (S.C.) could not defy government alone.

The Tariff of Abominations and the Nullification Crisis • Opposition to Nullification -In the Webster-Hayne Debate, Daniel Webster forcefully rejected nullification. Webster concluded with his great exhortation, “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.” -Jackson’s opposition to nullification enhanced his reputation as a strong President. ~Jacksons opposition to nullification was so strong that he proposed the Force Bill which would authorize the use of the military in making sure that Acts of congress are obeyed.

The Force Act ~This Document that was created explains much of the reasoning behind why Jackson did what he did and created the force act. The force act was necessary in the situation Jackson was in because he had no other option for obtaining the money from the south since the south would not give it peacefully. Retrieved from: http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Nullification.html

The Bank War • Jackson`s Veto -Jackson vigorously opposed the bill to re-charter the Second Bank of the United States (BUS) -Jackson believed that the bank was a bastion of special privileges. He argues that the BUS was beneficial to advocates of “hard money” and thus inimical to the interests of the common people who elected him. ~Biddle and Webster pressured Henry Clay into getting congress to pass the recharter bill for the Bank, but Jackson vetoed this and congress was unable to override the veto. ~In the 1832 presidential election Jackson defeated Clay because of Clay`s defeat on the recharter of the Bank Bill.

The Bank War • Consequences -Jackson supported the removal of federal deposits from the Bank of the United States. -Jackson’s attack on the BUS caused an expansion of credit and speculation. -The number of state banks, each issuing its own paper currency, increased. -Jackson’s war on the BUS was an important catalyst for the emergence of a competitive two-party system. The Whigs hated Jackson and supported Henry Clay and his American System. ~The transfer of deposits from the federal bank to the state banks, or pet banks, was initiated when Jackson fired the existing secretary of treasury and replaced him with Roger Taney, a close ally to Jackson. ~The change in location of money resulted in a small financial problem which was blamed on Nicholas Biddle, a major opponent of Jackson`s actions, and this defeat ended the opposition of Jackson`s financial policies. ~The new party of Whigs had a great Triumvirate between Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John Calhoun. However in the 1836 election the party was unable to agree on a single candidate, and as a result the democrat Van Buren won presidency.

Jackson and the forced removal of Native Americans • Worcester vs. Georgia, 1831 -The Cherokees differed from other Native American tribes in that the Cherokees tried to mount a court challenge to a removal order. -In the case of Worcester v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court upheld the rights of the Cherokee tribe to their tribal lands. ~The removal order was the removal act in which states could relocate tribes westward through financial negotiations. ~John Marshall ruled these rights to the Cherokee based off the idea that the natives were a sovereign entity within the United states and were protected from state laws.(But not federal laws)

Jackson and the forced removal of Native Americans • Jackson and the Cherokees -Jackson’s antipathy toward Native Americans was well known. In one speech he declared, “I have long viewed treaties with American Indians as an absurdity not to be reconciled to the principles of our government.” -Jackson refused to recognize the Courts decision, declaring, “John Marshall has made his decision: now let him enforce it.” ~In 1835 , the federal government made a treaty with a minority faction of the Cherokee, none of whom were chosen representatives of the Cherokee nation. ~The treaty ceded tribal lands to Georgia for $5 million and a reservation west of the Mississippi .

Jackson and the forced removal of Native Americans • The Trail of Tears -Jackson’s Native American policy resulted in the removal of the Cherokee from their homeland to settlements across the Mississippi River. -The trail of Tears refers to the route taken by Native Americans as they were relocated to the Indian Territory of Oklahoma. -Approximately one-quarter of the Cherokee people died on the Trail of Tears. ~The “treaty” that was signed was not recognized by the majority of the Cherokee so they refused to leave their homes. ~In response to this refusal, Jackson sent an army of 7000 men under Gen. Winfield Scott to force them west along the trail of tears. ~The Trail of tears was experienced by the “Five Civilized Tribes”, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw, and the Seminoles. ~The greatest resistance to removal was amongst the Seminoles who started an uprising that lead to the Seminole War lead by Osceola, this war lasted several years and cost the U.S. Government a multitude of lives and money.

Indian Removal Act ~Note that Section 5 states that the President may aid the Indians in their removal, however along the trail of tears obviously no aid was given as a large amount of them died. ~The 5 thousand dollars mentioned in section 8 does not say who it goes to specifically, and although it may have gone to some of the Cherokee, certainly not all of them received a share to compensate their troubles. … … Retrieved from: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=004/llsl004.db&recNum=459

Planters and slaves in the Antebellum South (1816-1860) • King Cotton The following factors contributes to making cotton the South’s most important cash crop: • The invention of the cotton gin, which made it possible and profitable to harvest short-staple cotton. ~ invented by Eli Whitney b. Rich new farm land in the Deep South was opened to the cultivation of cotton. By 1850, the geographic center of slavery was moving southward and westward. c. The rise of textile manufacturing in England created enormous demand for cotton. ~Each of these factors made the cotton economy skyrocket in a very short period of time. ~As the cotton economy thrived, the demand for slaves increased dramatically with it.

Planters and slaves in the Antebellum South (1816-1860) • Southern Society -A majority of White adult males were small farmers rather than wealthy planters. -The majority of White families in the antebellum South owned no slaves. -Nonetheless, a small minority of planters who owned 20 or more slaves dominated the antebellum South. -The cost of slave labor rose sharply between 1800 and 1860. ~This world of wealthy landowning planters dominating society is known as planter aristocracy. ~Part of the increase in slave costs was due to the law prohibiting foreign slave trade, although there was some smuggling. ~The high costs of slaves made slaves more valuable to their owners and as a result were treated slightly better…But not always.

Planters and slaves in the Antebellum South (1816-1860) • Slave Society -Slaves maintained social networks among kindred and friends, despite forced separations. -The dramatic increase in the South’s slave labor force was due to the natural population increase of American-born slaves. -During the antebellum period, free African Americans were able to accumulate some property in spite of discrimination. ~Many of these social networks amongst slaves were strengthened through things such as their religion of mixed Christian and African practices. ~ Many of the American-born slaves were the children of their white masters. ~The majority of the Blacks that accumulated the most property and liberty, were those who lived in cities, usually in the North.

Planters and slaves in the Antebellum South (1816-1860) • Slave South (continued) -Although Southern legal codes did not uniformly provide for the legalization and stability of slave marriage, slaves were generally able to marry, and the institution of marriage was common on Southern plantations. -The majority of slaves adapted to the oppressive conditions imposed on them by developing a separate African American culture. -Slave revolts were infrequent. Most Southern slaves resisted their masters by feigning illness and working as slowly as possible. ~The slave marriages were often encouraged by whites because for them it meant them having children, and therefore more slaves. ~Of the most significant slave rebellions, Nat Turner the preacher was the only one who lead a successful rebellion. However others such as Gabriel Prosser and Denmark Vesey were close in completing their would have been large scale rebellions, if it wasn’t for the few who leaked the plot.

The Transportation Revolution • New Developments -Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal sparked a period of canal building that lasted until 1850. -Steamboats became widely used in the 1820’s and 1830’s. -The first Railroad appeared in the United States in 1828. ~The Eire Canal required enormous amounts of labor and financial funding, but when it was finished it was a huge success for the economy such that it replaced New Orleans as the center for western agricultural goods. ~Railroads and locomotives required major technological innovations in order to increase the productivity of them fast enough to make them efficient for use, these innovations included the invention of tracks, steam powered locomotives, railroad cars for passengers and freight, the use of heavy iron rails, and many others.

The Transportation Revolution • Consequences -The Erie Canal strengthened commercial and political ties between New York City and the growing cities on the Great Lakes. -Canals helped open the West to settlement and trade. -Steamboats dramatically increase river traffic while significantly lowering the cost of river transportation. ~Because of the high costs and long distances that these projects covered, most of the time either the federal government or multiple states together would have to fund and provide labor for their creation, because it was too expensive for a single group to do it alone. ~These new forms of transportation were much cheaper than before having them, allowing the market to sprawl out much faster and the connections between the West and North to become much firmer and more financially successful for both, the new transportation also allowed easier migration west and promotion to do so based off of the success that was being had in the West.

The Transportation Revolution • More consequences -Like the canals, the railroads enabled farmers in the Midwest easier access to urban markets in the East. -Canals, steamboats, and railroads had the least impact on the South. ~As a result of the high economic boost that the new innovations gave the north, particularly in working with the west, and the lack of the use of the innovations in the south, the two worlds became even more separated by their differences, and the south more isolated from the rest of the country. ~Despite the major benefits and success of these projects, there was also a considerable amount of failures and incomplete tasks that were unable to be finished because of financial failures or geographical obstacles such as mountains. ~Gradually over time the competition between the railroads and canals grew, and eventually the railroad system prevailed as a more dominant and efficient system.

Social and Cultural Movements in Antebellum America

The role of Women in Antebellum America • The cult of domesticity/republican motherhood -American women could not vote, serve on juries, or perform other civic tasks. These restrictions raised the question of what role women should play in the new republic. -The concept of “republican motherhood” advanced the idea that women did have a vital role to play as wives and mothers. Proponents argued that women should be educated to rear their children to be virtuous citizens -The republican mother should be concerned with domestic family, and religious affairs. ~Although the lifestyle of isolation from the public world had many negative effects on women it also praised and placed a higher value on “Female Virtues”. ~The domestic wife in a household was seen as keeper of the home to be a refuge from the harsh competitive world of the marketplace, and this responsibility included providing moral and religious instruction to their children and to counterbalance the acquisitive, secular impulses of their husbands.

The role of Women in Antebellum America • Factory workers in Lowell -During the first half of the nineteenth century, textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, relied heavily on a labor force of women and children. -During the 1820’s and 1830’s, the majority of workers in the textile mills of Massachusetts were young, unmarried women. -Prior to the Civil War, Irish immigrants began to replace New England farm girls in the textile mills. ~In the Lowell or Waltham system labor force, young women would commonly work for several years in the factories while saving their wages, then would return home and marry and raise children, therefore assuming the cult of domesticity. ~Aside from its relatively low wages these factories usually treated its workers very well in comparison to its European counterparts, the women working here even had enough free time to write and publish a monthly magazine called the Lowell Offering.

Changing the role of Women in Antebellum America • Characteristics of the women's movement: -The movement was led by middle-class women. -It promoted a broad-based platform of legal and educational rights. -It had close links with the anti-slavery and temperance movements. -Followers held conventions in the Northeast and Midwest but not in the South. ~The women involved in the movement wereusually oppressed by their husband`s use of alcohol and thus started the temperance movement, which would benefit their families if successful because it would end many bad and abusive behaviors of their husbands and would also stop economic loss within the family to alcohol.

Changing the role of Women in Antebellum America • The Seneca Falls Convention, 1848 -The Seneca Falls Convention was organized and led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretius Mott. -The “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” issued by the Seneca Falls Convention demanded greater rights for women. The declaration’s first sentence clearly stated this goal: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal. ~Stanton and Mott started this first major arousal of women`s rights after they were turned away by men at an antislavery convention in London, in 1840. ~A large number of those involved with the women's movements and the Seneca Falls Convention were Quakers who`s beliefs encouraged sexual equality.

Changing the role of Women in Antebellum America • The Seneca Falls Convention, 1848 (continued) -The Seneca Falls Convention called for women’s rights in the following areas: a. Women’s suffrage b. Women’s right to retain property after marriage c. Greater divorce and child custody rights d. Equal educational opportunities ~The overall view of the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, those who constructed it and the convention was to make it known to the public that “all men and women are created equal”. Concluding that women no less than men have certain inalienable rights. ~The document was rejected by the nation with the notion that women should be assigned completely different “spheres” in society.

Excerpt from: The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions Whereas, the great precept of nature is conceded to be, "that man shall pursue his own true and substantial happiness," Blackstone, in his Commentaries, remarks, that this law of Nature being coeval with mankind, and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other.1 It is binding over all the globe, in all countries, and at all times; no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this, and such of them as are valid, derive all their force, and all their validity, and all their authority, mediately and immediately, from this original; Therefore, Resolved, That such laws as conflict, in any way, with the true and substantial happiness of woman, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and of no validity; for this is "superior in obligation to any other. Resolved, That all laws which prevent woman from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of no force or authority. Resolved, That woman is man's equal—was intended to be so by the Creator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized as such…. ~The document is a list of the injustices that have been placed upon women and how they feel it society should treat them from then on, as of the completion of the document. ~It is very important to note the form and style of the document, specifically its similarity to the form of the Constitution. Retrieved From: http://ecssba.rutgers.edu/docs/seneca.html

Changing the role of Women in Antebellum America • Dorothea Dix -Dorothea Dix worked to reform the treatment of people with mental and emotional disabilities. -Dix was not involved in the women’s rights movement. ~Dix provoked the use of penitentiaries rather than asylums in Massachusetts, which was much more humane. ~Dix also helped certain undeserved things to disappear from society such as: imprisonment of debtors and paupers, and traditional practices like legal public hangings.

Abolition and Abolitionists • The Second Great Awakening -The Second Great Awakening was a wave of religious enthusiasm, led by itinerant preachers such as Charles Finney and LymanBeecher. -Finney achieved his greatest success in central and western New York. This area became known as the “burned-over district” because of the fervent prayer meeting held during the Second Great Awakening. -The Second Great Awakening played an important role in making Americans aware of the moral issues posed by slavery. ~A major aspect of the new religious outlook was that all people could be saved even if they were already corrupt, and that a revival of faith did not depend on a miracle from God; it could be created by individual efforts. ~The “burned-over district” was the same place that the Mormon church first started through Joseph Smith.

Abolition and Abolitionists • American Civilization Society -The American Colonization Society worked to return freed slaves to the west coast of Africa. -The American Colonization Society was primarily led by middle class men and women. ~The ACS was funded by private charity, state legislatures, and congress in order to compensate their masters. ~The slaves that were shipped out mostly went to west Africa and founded Liberia, which obtained independence in 1846. ~There were so many blacks that it was impossible for the ACS to be completely successful, and they also met much opposition from various groups even from blacks themselves, also it became increasingly difficult to liberate blacks because of the booming cotton industry, which made them extra valuable to their masters. ~Eventually by the 1830`s the ACS was lost its strength in opposing slavery and died out.

Abolition and Abolitionists • William Lloyd Garrison -Garrison was the editor of the radical abolitionist newspaper the Liberator and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. -In the first issue of the Liberator, Garrison called for the “immediate and uncompensated emancipation of the slaves.” -A famous quote of his published in The Liberator on January 1, 1831: “Let Southern oppressors tremble… I will be as harsh as Truth and as uncompromising as Justice… I am in earnest- I will not retreat a single inch- and I WILL BE HEARD!” -Garrison’s support of women’s rights caused the American Anti-Slavery Society to split into rival factions. ~Before starting the Liberator, Garrison was the assistant to Benjamin Lundy who published another antislavery newspaper called the Genius of Universal Emancipation. ~Garrison spoke that reformers should not look at the evil influence of slavery on white society, but rather the damage the system did on blacks. ~The American Anti-slavery Society grew very rapidly due to its similarity with other reform movements, it grew up to 250,000 members in six years, 1832-1838

Abolition and Abolitionists • Fredrick Douglass -Frederick Douglass was the most prominent Black abolitionist during the antebellum period. -Although best known as an abolitionist, Douglass championed equal rights for women and Native Americans. He often declared, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” ~Douglas was born a slave in Maryland and escaped to Massachusetts in 1838. ~He spent some time in England lecturing about antislavery and when he return to America he purchased his freedom from his Maryland owner. ~Douglas founded the North Star, an antislavery newspaper in Rochester N.Y. ~Under the leadership of Fredrick Douglas black abolitionists started joining forces with white abolitionists.

Abolition and Abolitionists • Sarah Moore Grimke -Grimkewas one of the first women to publically support both abolition and women’s rights. -“I ask no favor for my sex,” declared Grimke. “I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet off our necks.” ~Grimke argued that “whatever is right for a man to do is right for a woman to do.” ~Her goal was to chafe at restrictions put on women by men and to press at the boundaries of acceptable female behavior.

Transcendentalism and Utopian Communities • Transcendentalism -Transcendentalismis a philosophical and literary movement of the 1800’s that emphasized living a simple life while celebrating the truth found in nature and in personal emotion and imagination. -Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were the leading transcendentalist writers. ~Transcendentalism revolved around a theory of the individual that rested on distinction between “reason” and “understanding”. They argued that it should be a persons goal to overcome understanding and cultivate reason. ~Emerson wrote “Nature” along with many other famous essays and poems, he was centered in Concord Massachusetts and was focused primarily on the classic expression of the romantic belief in the “divinity” of the individual. ~Thoreau was also centered in Concord, and he wrote Walden which lead him into deciding to live in the woods for two years so that he could explore the realm of reason and detach from the rapidly growing industrial world by freeing himself. He also went to jail because he refused to pay a poll tax to a government that permitted the existence of slavery, he explained this resistance in one of his essays-”Resistance to Civil Government”.

Thoreau's Walden (Introduction of the section of Economy) When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again. … Some have asked what I got to eat; if I did not feel lonesome; if I was not afraid; and the like. Others have been curious to learn what portion of my income I devoted to charitable purposes; and some, who have large families, how many poor children I maintained. I will therefore ask those of my readers who feel no particular interest in me to pardon me if I undertake to answer some of these questions in this book. In most books, the I, or first person, is omitted; in this it will be retained; that, in respect to egotism, is the main difference. ... I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well. …Moreover, I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men's lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me. ~This passage of Walden demonstrates among other things the transcendentalist view of the importance of individualism and the aspect of discovering one`s self through reason rather than understanding. ~The passage also notes how Thoreau spent some time in the woods in a cabin that he built himself, and he also takes pride in the independence and freedom he experienced while being separated from society. Retrieved from: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm

Transcendentalism and Utopian Communities • Utopian Communities -Utopians shared a faith in perfectionism-that is, the belief that humans have the capacity to achieve a better life through conscious acts of will. -The best known utopian communities included Brook Farm, New Harmony, and the Oneida Community. ~Brook Farm was founded by George Ripley, the community strove to have equal labor and leisure amongst all its citizens, the central building burned down in 1847 and the community dissolved. The fire and its liberation to the people sparked many of Nathaniel Hawthorn`s books. ~New Harmony was founded by Robert Owen with similar equality to Brook Farm and also aimed to be a “Village of Cooperation”. ~Oneida, founded by John Noyes had the same equality features as New Harmony and Brook Farm, but there was also an extra emphasis on gender equality, so much that all citizens were married to each other. ~All of these communities started as experiments.

Cultural Advances • Education -McGuffey Readers were the best known and most widely used school books in the nineteenth century. Also known as Eclectic Readers, the books included stories, poems, essays, and speeches supporting patriotism and moral values. -Newspapers flourished during the first half of the nineteenth century. -Educational reformers worked to pass compulsory school laws, create more teacher- training schools, and use state and local taxes to finance public education. ~Horace Mann worked to increase school funding, and salaries especially those of female teachers, enrich curriculum, and introduced new methods of professional training for teachers. ~Gov. William Seward of N.Y. extended public support of schools throughout the state in the 1840`s, then by 1850 most states had tax-supported elementary schools.

Cultural Advances • The Hudson River School -The Hudson River School was a group of artists led by Thomas Cole, who pained landscapes emphasizing America’s natural beauty. -The Hudson River School was America’s fist coherent school of art. ~The views of many of the Hudson river artists coincided closely with transcendentalism. ~The art created at the school was of nature throughout the Hudson Valley, and they drew images of the more wild nature rather than the calm nature that its European counterparts depicted. ~Many of the artists from this school moved out west to get into more rugged territory so they could capture the wild terrain that gave them the “sublime” feeling of awe and amazement.

Antebellum America