Sam Chiang

11/12/2013

Period 4

THE ANTEBELLUM OUTLINE

The Age of Andrew Jackson The Seventh President of the United States (1829-

1837)◦ Andrew Jackson was known as “The Common Man”. He was

seen like a common man that shared the same goals and interests with the people.

◦ Jackson expanded white male suffrage. The right to vote dramatically increased for certain individuals.

◦ Jackson supported patronage, or the spoils system which was when a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party.

◦ Jackson despised the Eastern Elites because of their

Special privileges.

◦ Vetoed a bill that destroyed the BUS.

◦ Forced the removal of Native Americans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGfxyeuy8u8

The Bank War (1829–1837) The Bank War was a struggle between the anti-BUS

Jacksonians and the pro-BUS citizens about rechartering the second Bank of United States (BUS).

Jackson thought that the bank was unconstitutional, and that it would bring corruption. He liked gold and silver coins (Hard Money) but did not like nonfederal political funds, or “Soft Money”. ◦ It was predicted that the institution conferred economic

privileges on financial elites, violating republican principles of social equality.

Nicholas Biddle anticipated Jackson’s actions on destroying the bank. Biddle began to present state bank notes for redemption, and to basically contract credit.

State banks were dramatically increased in order to wipe out the existence of a central, national bank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zcqJvqSAjM

The Bank War Cont.

Jackson vetoed a bill that then prevented reauthorization of the bank after the bank charter expired.◦ The veto would affect Jackson’s reelection. However

he knew the number of non elites would outnumber the wealthy. Jackson’s prediction was correct and he was once again elected.

The bank war was importance for the rise of a two-party system. Henry Clay was supported by the Whigs.

Congress ended the debate about the Bank of the United States, and concluded that a central economy would dangerous for it would disrupt the economy. The charter of the second bank expired in 1836, giving Jackson the victory of the Bank War.

Henry Clay

Removal of Native Americans Andrew Jackson did not believe that American Indians

would ever reconcile to the principals of the United States government.

Because the Cherokees were different from the other Native American tribes, the Cherokees mounted a court challenge to the removal order.

Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830 which permitted forced removal of the Native Americans.

However the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) tried to give the Cherokees some rights to the tribal lands, creating the case of Worcester v. Georgia.

The Cherokees forced removal drove them from their homeland and across the Mississippi River, into the route to an Indian Territory of Oklahoma. This event was called the Trail of Tears because one quarter of the Cherokees died.

The Tariff of Abominations Between 1816 and 1828, the Tariffs of

Abominations were passed. These tariffs were designed to protect the northern

United States industry.◦ Industries had to be protected because they were

going out of business because of low-priced imported goods by taxes.

The tariffs forced many people in the south to buy goods at a much higher price, and faced reduced income and market.

Vice-President John C. Calhoun opposed the tariff in which he had to set up his Doctrine of Nullification.

The Nullification Crisis The Doctrine of Nullification was created by John

C. Calhoun. ◦ Claimed that the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were

unconstitutional and null. They were opposed in the south and some of England, so it was predicted that the tariffs would be reduced when Jackson became president.

◦ Calhoun argued that an Act that the Congress claims is unconstitutional can be refused. This argument was called the South Carolina Exposition and Protest.

John C. Calhoun

Planters and Slaves in the South The Rise of King Cotton

The cotton economic growth started to dominate.

Cotton became the most important cash crop. By 1850 it was producing 3 million bales a year, and by 1860 nearly 5 million, producing nearly $200 million a year.

Several contributions to this growth were:◦ Harvesting short-staple cotton, a harder and

coarser strain of cotton, became profitable and possible because of the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney.

◦ Deep in the south, new farm lands opened up for cultivation of cotton.

◦ Textile manufacturing became very popular in England, causing a high demand of cotton.

Cotton Gin

Planters and Slaves in the South Cont. The southern society

◦ A small number of southern whites owned slaves. ◦ Most white males in the antebellum south were

farmers and a few were wealthy planters. Most wealthy white slaveholders would own an average of five slaves. Likewise between 1800 to 1860, the cost of slave labor rose.

◦ Wealthy white landowning planters would own 40-50 slaves and 800 or more slaves.

◦ Southern white women had special burdens. The birth rate was nearly 20 percent higher than that of the nation as a whole. Women were not exposed to education; a quarter of all white women over 20 years old were illiterate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoX5ttaE9fI

Planters and Slaves in the South Cont. The slave society

◦ Slaves were forced to separate from their friends and family. However they still managed social networks.

◦ The number of American-born slaves increased, causing the South’s slave labor force to increase as well.

◦ Slave codes existed in the south, giving some free slaves to hold property, and leave their masters’ land without permission. However the codes also prohibited whites from teaching slaves how to read and write; slaves also couldn’t testify under oath or even marry. However marriage was still managed discretely.

◦ The Task and Gang Systems were methods of assigning slaves labor. The task system gave slaves one task during the day, and for the rest of the day the slaves were free. Gang systems divided slaves into groups; the slaves were then compelled to do as many hours their overseer sees fit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcGdpNGuY_8

Planters and Slaves in the South Cont. Many slaves created their own African American

culture in order to adapt to their restrictions and conditions.

Not many slaves rebelled. Faking illnesses and working slow were how most slaves would resist their masters.

Some slaves were set free by their master’s will after his death. Some masters had moral qualms and were set free.

At slave markets, slaves were sold at auctions; buyers would check slaves like livestock. Slave prices ranged from $500 to $1700 dollars. A Slave Market

Revolution of Transportation

The industrial revolution required an efficient system of transportation. It was needed to create international markets. The canals were important transportation routes while

providing water to the towns. With canals, boats were able to carry and ship heavy goods. It also helped open the west to trade and settlement.

The Erie Canal was the biggest construction project in the U.S. It could pass over hills and valleys. This route gave New York direct access to Chicago and the markets in the west.

By the 1820’s canals and rivers were needed as steamboats grew in number. These boats could transport larger quantities of manufactured goods. River traffic increased and the cost of river transportation decreased.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx8Gikjhom0

Revolution of Transportation Cont. Railroads soon appeared in 1828. By 1840, more

than 2818 miles of track had been laid out in the U.S. Farmers in the Midwest could access the urban

markets in the east with railroads. Railroads became the most efficient transportation system, and slowly replaced canals.

Role of Women

Women in Antebellum America had their own roles.

The “Republican motherhood” was a concept that pressed the idea that women should serve the role of being a wife and a mother. The republican mothers would only be concerned with the domestic family and religion.

The concepts of “Republican motherhood” and the Cult of Domesticity were raised after acknowledging the fact that women in America could not perform many civil tasks or even vote.

Women would work in textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts in the early nineteenth century. The Lowell System relied on young unmarried women; they were the majority of the workers. Women had decent wages but many lived in loneliness and bitterness. However Irish immigrants replaced the girls before the civil war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL2DfxIMdjQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkJwOYagvuI

Changing the Roles of Women Middle class women began starting a Women’s

movement. ◦ Educational and voting rights were major factors that

were promoted during the reform. ◦ Women suffered from traditional restrictions by society

and from the doctrine of “separate spheres”. ◦ Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretius Mott led

the Seneca Falls Convention to discuss women’s rights. Their biggest goal was women's suffrage, or the right to vote. The “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” was an example formed by the convention that demanded more rights. Many women argued that “men and women were created equal”.

Women’s rights to retain property after marriage as well as divorce and child custody rights were also promoted in the Seneca Falls Convention.

http://nchs.ss.ucla.edu/previews/NH163-preview.pdf

Changing the Roles of Women Cont. Susan B. Anthony was an important American civil

rights leader and activist that played a role in the women’s rights movement and the movement of introducing women’s suffrage.

An important example of the advancement of the roles of women was Dorothea Dix. She was an activist that created the first generation of American mental asylums.

Susan B. Anthony Dorothea Dix

Abolition and Abolitionists

Abolitionism was the movement to end slavery. Preachers like Charles Finney and Lyman Beecher

led the Second Great Awakening, a Protestant revival movement, beginning around 1790.

The Second Great Awakening religious revival promoted doing good things to the society, therefore influenced people to accept abolition. More people began to realize the moral issue with slavery.

More example of attempts of abolitionism is the creation of American Colonization Society. People in this society, mostly in the middle class, attempted to free slaves to Africa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im0vauVUsz8

Abolition and Abolitionists Cont.

William Lloyd Garrison, a liberator, was one of the first founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He promoted “immediate emancipation” of the slaves and also supported women’s rights, causing a society split in 1840 because of basic differences and approach; some people the members were more radical than others.

William Lloyd Garrison

Abolition and Abolitionists Cont.

Frederick Douglass was one of the most important black abolitionists. His amazing oratory helped prove that slaves still had the capacity to act as normal citizens with great intellectual capacity. He believed in equality of all people; black, female, white, or immigrant.

An example of a female abolitionist is Sarah Moore Grimke. She was the first women to ever publically support the rights of women and abolition.

Frederick Douglass

Sara Moore Grimke

Transcendentalism and Utopian CommunitiesTranscendentalism is a religious and philosophical movement that started in the 1820s and 1830s, mostly led by Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Transcendentalists believed that the society and organized parties would corrupt the purity of individuals. This theory influence many minds of America.

Utopians believed that if people had conscience wills they would have better lives. Brook farm and the Oneida Community were examples of communal living, a place of a perfect community. New Harmony was another experiment where everyone would live in total equality; however it failed because of economic problems.

The transcendentalists and Utopians would have similar qualities but were viewed as different groups. These societies were created in hope of creating a perfect society.

http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap4/4intro.html

Cultural Advances

Educational advancements began in the 19th century. McGuffey Readers were the most important

and used textbooks in schools. An estimated of at least 120 million copies had been sold between 1836 and 1960. These readers helped kids develop reading skills through poems, essays, and speeches supporting moral values.

Newspapers popularized during the nineteenth century.

The educational reform was successful as compulsory school laws were passed, giving schools trained teachers and using taxes to finance the public schools McGuffey

Readers

Cultural Advances Cont. The Hudson River School was the first great school

of American painters, led by Thomas Cole. This school would be America’s first school of Art. Artists here would emphasize America’s beauty.

Painting at the Hudson River School

http://desmondfishlibrary.org/DFL_Painters/Index.html