Van Buren

-Martin Van Buren was elected after Jackson

-suffered b/c of Jackson’s bank policies

-Panic of 1837 left many in bad economic situations

-Newly formed Whig party gains strength

Harrison and Tyler

-War hero William Henry Harrison becomes first Whig President

-Harrison dies 1 month into office

-John Tyler is first V.P. to become President

Societal Change

-2nd Great Awakening

-period of religious revival after 1800

-fewer religious “pilgrims”

-Charles Finney and tent meetings

-Utopian Communities

-communal societies based on everyone working together

-most did not work well

-New Harmony

-Oneida

Transcendentalism

-belief in a simple lifestyle

-Walt Whitman

-”Leaves of Grass”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

-”Self-Reliance”

-Henry David Thoreau

-”Civil Disobedience”

Education

-one room schools

-few educated beyond age 10

-Horace Mann

advocated public schools for everyone

-Noah Webster

development of an American dictionary

Institution Reform

-Dorothea Dix

-help for the mentally ill

-helped to start several mental hospitals

-prison reform

-meant to rehabilitate

American Writers

-James Fenimore Cooper

“Last of the Mohicans”

-Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Scarlet Letter”

-Washington Irving

“Sleepy Hollow”

-Herman Melville

“Moby Dick”

American Writers

-Edgar Allan Poe

“Raven”

-Emily Dickinson

reclusive poet

-Hudson River School

-landscape painters

-Alex de Tocqueville

“Democracy in America”

Life under Slavery

-Rural Slavery

plantations

field work

house workers

-urban slavery

skilled labor

more freedoms

Abolitionists

-those who opposed slavery

-William Lloyd Garrison

“The Liberator”

-David Walker

freedom by force

-Frederick Douglas

“North Star”

Abolitionists

-those who opposed slavery

-William Lloyd Garrison

“The Liberator”

-David Walker

freedom by force

-Frederick Douglas

“North Star”

Abolitionists

-those who opposed slavery

-William Lloyd Garrison

“The Liberator”

-David Walker

freedom by force

-Frederick Douglas

“North Star”

Rebellion

-slaves turn to violent methods

-Nat Turner, 1831 led a slave revolt

-scared many slave holders in the south

-led to greater control over slaves

Anti-slavery

-emancipation

-gradual

-immediate

-religious reasons

-moral wrong to have slaves

-values of the Constitution

Pro-slavery

-new fear of revolts

-black codes begin

-religious support

-”happy” plantation slave myth

Women in Society

-cult of domesticity

husband, children, home, church

-could not vote in most places

-could not own property or keep wages if husband lived

Reformers

-Abolitionists / Suffrage

Grimke sisters

Lucretia Mott

Elizabeth Stanton

Susan B. Anthony

Sojourner Truth

-Temperance

move to ban alcohol

Women’s Reforms

-Abolitionists / Suffrage

Grimke sisters

Lucretia Mott

Elizabeth Stanton

Susan B. Anthony

Sojourner Truth

-Temperance

move to ban alcohol

Women’s Movement

-women saw increased opportunities in reform movements

-Seneca Falls Convention, 1848

“Declaration of Sentiments”

Reforms

-Women’s Education

Catherine Beecher

Oberlin College

-Health Reform

Elizabeth Blackwell

Amelia Bloomer

Markets Expand

-by the mid 1800’s people were no longer totally self-sufficient

produce one product, buy all others

-specialization

-capitalism

-standard of living rose for almost everyone

Transportation Changes

-Robert Fulton

steam powered ships

-many canals were built after Erie was completed

-growth of railroads

Inventions Improve Life

-Charles Goodyear

vulcanized rubber

-I.M. Singer

sewing machines

-Samuel Morse

telegraph

Morse code

Agriculture

-people began to move into the mid-western parts of the nation

-lots of available farm lands

-John Deere

steel plows

-Cyrus McCormick

mechanical reaper

Changing Workplace

-development of industry

-decline of skilled labor

-growth of urban areas

-cost of goods decreased and supply increased

Factory System Begins

-Lowell textile mills

-factory system

-company town for young girls

-strict control over the workers lives

-factory conditions would warn of future problems

Working Conditions

-long hours

-six days a week

-poor ventilation and lighting

-unsafe working conditions

-development of labor unions and strikes

Immigration

-lots of immigration in the mid 1800’s

-mostly Irish or German

-most immigrants settled in groups

-low wages of immigrants caused problems with other workers

-Growth of Nativism

-Know-Nothing Party

Manifest Destiny

-theory that the US should expand across the continent

Louisiana Purchase

War of 1812

Lure of the West

Manifest Destiny

-theory that the US should expand across the continent

Louisiana Purchase

War of 1812

Lure of the West

Mormons

-religious group founded by Joseph Smith , 1827

-Smith was killed by a mob denouncing his views

-Brigham Young led the group west to Utah, 1847

-formed a thriving community

Texas

-immigrants from U.S. move into Mexican Texas

Stephen F. Austin leads the settlers

-Mexico tries to regain control of Texas

-Mexico feared a plot by the U.S. to acquire Texas

Texas

-Battle of the Alamo, 1836

Texans defeated

-Texans eventually defeat Mexican Army and declare independence

-1836, Lone Star Republic

Sam Houston serves as President of Texas

Western Lands

-Indian conflicts

Indian Removal

Laramie Treaty, 1851

Broken Treaties

Western Lands

-Oregon Territory

Oregon Trial

Independence to Portland

Donner Party

-“54-40 or Fight”

-James K. Polk

-election of 1844

Mexican War

-Texas finally annexed in 1845

-promise of newly elected Polk

-border dispute arises with Mexico

-Polk sends troops

-war breaks out after border skirmish

General Zachary Taylor

General Winfield Scott

Mexican War

-Mexico defeated

-Mexican cessation of lands in the west 1848

California, Nevada, NM, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming

Spoils of War

-Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

-Mexican cessation

-Gadsden Purchase

-Zach Taylor elected President

-California Gold Rush

Gold found in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill

1849 Gold Rush