APUSH
Chapter 8 notes
Mr. Dunn
Chapter 8: Varieties of American Nationalism
I. A Growing Economy
- Post-war boom led to disastrous bust in 1819
- Evidence the US continued to lack basic institutions necessary to sustain long-term growth
- Led to strenuous efforts to introduce stability to the expanding economy
A. Banking, Currency and Protection
- War of 1812 stimulated manufacturing, but it produced chaos in shipping and banking
- Exposed inadequacy of existing transportation and financial systems
- Emergence of national economic development, Bank of the US, protected new industries and provided nationwide network of roads and waterways
- Congress chartered Second Bank of US in 1816
- It was more a capitol than a predecessor, its size and power enabled it to dominate state banks
- American textile industry had experienced a dramatic growth
- Boston merchant Francis Cabot Lowell developed a power loom that was better than its English counterpart
- Lowell organized the Boston Manufacturing Company, which founded the first mill in America
> Combined spinning and weaving under one roof
- British ships swarmed into American ports and unloaded cargoes of manufactured goods, priced below cost
- The “infant industries” needed protection, needing time to grow
- Congress effectively limited competition from abroad, most importantly limiting cotton cloth
- There were objections from agricultural interests > had to pay higher prices for manufactured goods
B. Transportation
- The nation’s most pressing economic need was a better transportation system
- Construction of the National Road finally began in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland.
- Manufacturers, particularly textiles, moved from the Atlantic seaboard to the Ohio Valley
- On rivers and the Great Lakes, steam-powered shipping xpanded rapidly, introduced by Robert Fulton
- Steamboats were carrying far more cargo on the Mississippi than earlier river transport
> Stimulated agricultural economy in the West and South
- Enabled Eastern manufactures to send their finished goods West
- Serious shortages of goods caused prices to rise to new heights
- Rice cost 3x as much in NY as in Charleston, flour 3x as much in Boston as in Richmond
- John C. Calhoun introduced a bill that helped finance internal improvements
- The bill asked govt. and private enterprise to build transportation networks for growing American economy
II. Expanding Westward
A. The Great Migrations
- Several reasons for this expansion:
> Continued growth of the nation’s population; between 1800-1820 the population doubled to 9.6 million
> Agricultural lands of the East were largely occupied
- Meanwhile, the West was becoming increasingly attractive to white settlers
- After the war, federal govt. continued its policy of pushing tribes farther and farther west.
- Factor System had govt. agents supply the tribes with goods at costs to drive Canadian traders out
- It created a situation of dependency that made Native Americans easier to control
B. The Plantation System in the Southwest
- In the Southwest, principal attraction was cotton
- This zone included Black Belt of central Alabama and Mississippi
- Advance of southern settlement meant the spread of cotton, plantations, and slavery
- Many planters expanded small clearings into vast cotton fields, which replaced the cabins with sumptuous log dwellings, and ultimately imposing mansions
- These western planters would assume the airs of a longstanding aristocracy
- The rapid growth of the NW and SW resulted in the admission of four new states to the Union:
>Indiana in 1816, Mississippi in 1817, Illinois in 1818, and Alabama in 1819
C. Trade and Trapping in the Far West
- Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821 > opened northern territories to trade with the US
- In NM, Missouri trader William Becknell (1821) offered American manufactured goods priced below Mexican goods
- Mexico’s steady traffic was moving back and forth along the Santa Fe Trail
> Fur traders also created a whole new commerce with the West
- After the war, John Jacob Astor centered his own operations in the Great Lakes area, which eventually extended westward toward the Rockies
- “Mountain Men” moved west to establish themselves in present day Utah and Mexico
> Trappers &MM lived peacefully & successfully with Native Americans and Mexicans in those regions
- Jedediah S. Smith led men deep into Mexican territory that ended in disastrous battles w/ the Mojaves
> Then he set out for NM and was killed by Comanches
D. Eastern Images of the West
- Explorers dispatched by the govt. were instructed to chart the territories
- Stephen H. Long led nineteen soldiers on a journey up the Platte and South Platte Rivers, which is now Nebraska and eastern Colorado (discovered Long’s Peak, outside Longmont and visible in Fort Collins)
- Long wrote an influential report on the region’s potential for future settlement and development
> Labeled Great Plains the “Great American Desert”
III. The “Era of Good Feelings”
-Expansion of the economy, growth of white settlement and trade in the West and creation of new states reflected the rising spirit of nationalism in the years following the War of 1812
A. The E nd of the First Party System
- After two terms in office Jefferson chose his Sec. of State, James Madison.
> Madison secured nominations for his Sec. of State James Monroe
- With decline of Federalists, Monroe faced no serious opposition, and the nation faced no important threats
- Monroe’s cabinet selection included Sec. of State John Quincy Adams and Sec. of War John C. Calhoun
- In his other appointments, Monroe included northerners and southerners, easterners and westerners, Federalists and Republicans
- After his inauguration, Monroe made a goodwill tour through the country
> He was greeted everywhere with enthusiastic demonstrations
- On the surface, his presidency did appear to be an “era of good feelings,” and in 1820 he was re-elected without opposition, and the Federalists had ceased to exist
B. John Quincy Adams and Florida
- John Quincy Adams had become the greatest diplomats in American history
- He also considered his most important task to be the promotion of American expansion
- In 1817 Adams began negotiations with Luis de Onis
- Adams had orders from Sec. of War Calhoun to stop continuing raids on American territory by Seminoles
- Jackson invaded Florida and seized the Spanish forts at St. Marks and Pensacola
> Operation became known as the Seminole War
- Adams told the Spanish that the US had the right to defend itself against threats from across the border
- Under the provisions of the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819, Spain ceded all of Florida to the US
>Spain also gave up territory north of the 42nd parallel in the Pacific NW in return for claims to Texas
C. The Panic of 1819
- Beginning in 1819, the national bank began tightening credit, calling in loans and foreclosing mortgages
> SOUND FAMILIAR? Same issues with housing crisis in the U S from 2008-2010!
- This precipitated a series of failures by state banks and resulted in a financial panic
> Many Americans blamed the national bank
- The banks existence became one of the nation’s burning political issues
> Six years of depression followed
- Some Americans saw widespread distress as a warning
> Rapid economic growth and territorial expansion could destabilize the nation and threaten its survival
- By 1820, most Americans were committed to the idea of growth and expansion
> Public debate revolved around how to encourage and control it
IV. Sectionalism and Nationalism
- In 1819-20, increasing differences between the North and South threatened the unity of the US
- The Missouri Compromise averted a sectional crisis…for a time
A. T he Missouri Compromise
- When MO applied for admission to the Union, slavery was already well established there
- Tallmadge Amendment prohibited further intro of slavery into MO and provided for gradual emancipation
- Since the beginning of the republic, new states entered the Union in pairs, one each from the North & South
- In 1819, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states
> Admission of MO would upset that balance & increase the political power of the North over the South
> The application of Maine complicated matters even more
- Senate agreed to admit Maine as a free state and MO as a slave state
> Senator Thomas (IL) proposed amendment that prohibited slavery in LA territory north of 36/30 parallel
- Debate revealed strong feelings of sectionalism that was competing with powerful tides of nationalism
B. Marshall and the Court
- John Marshall served as chief justice from 1801-1835
- Marshall molded the development of the Constitution
> Strengthened the judicial branch at the expense of the executive and legislative branches
> Increased the power of the federal govt. at the expense of states
> Advanced the interests of the propertied and commercial classes
- In Fletcher v. Peck (1810), Marshall held that a land grant was a valid contract & couldn’t be repealed
- Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) expanded the meaning of the contract clause
> Court ruled for Dartmouth, proclaiming that corporate charters were contracts and inviolable
> The decision placed important restrictions on the ability of state govt. to control corporations
- In Cohens v. Virginia (1821), Marshall affirmed constitutionality of fed review of state court w/ corporations
- In McMulloch v. Maryland (1819), Marshall confirmed the “implied powers” of Congress by upholding the constitutionality of the Bank of the US
- Daniel Webster argued “necessary and proper” clause > Marshall decided for the bank
- In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the Court strengthened Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce
> Ogden’s state-granted monopoly, therefore, was void
- The Marshall Court established the primacy of the federal govt. over the states in regulating the economy, promoting economic growth
C. The Court and the Tribes
- Johnson v. McIntosh (1823), Marshall’s ruling offered a preliminary definition of the place of Indians within the nation.
- Tribes had a basic right to their tribal lands that preceded all other American law
> It was not possible to buy or take land, only the federal government could do that
- In Worcester v. Georgia (1832), Marshall further defined the nature of the Indian nations
> Tribes were sovereign entities
> Also expanded the rights of the tribes to remain free from the authority of state governments
- The Marshall decisions defined a place for Indian tribes within the American political system
> Tribes had basic property rights & were sovereign entities; however the federal govt. had ultimate authority over tribal affairs
B. The Latin American Revolution and the Monroe Doctrine
- In 1822, President Monroe established diplomatic relations with five new nations:
> Argentina, Chile, Peru, Columbia, and Mexico
- In 1823, the “Monroe Doctrine” declared “The American continents… are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonies by any European powers. Our policy in regard to Europe… is not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers.”
- This was an important expression of the growing spirit of nationalism, which established the idea of the US as the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere
V. The Revival of Opposition
- The Republican Party was the only organized force in national politics
- The Republicans’ promoted the economic growth of centralization
> The opposition objected to the federal govts. expanding role in the economy
- In the 1820s, the controversy involved how the nation should continue to expand
A. The “Corrupt Bargain”
- Sec. of State, John Quincy Adams, held the office that was the traditional stepping-stone to the presidency
- Adams was a man of cold and forbidding manners, with little popular appeal
- Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, had a definite and coherent program: the “American System”
> proposed creating a great home market for factory and farm producers by raising the productive tariff,
strengthening the national bank, and financing internal improvements
- Jackson served briefly in Congress and was a military hero
- Jackson received more popular and electoral votes but not a majority
- Twelfth Amendment required the House to choose among three candidates
- Clay was out of the running strong position to influence the result
- Clay supported Adams because he was an ardent nationalist and a likely supporter of the American System
B. Second President Adams
- Throughout Adams term as president, the “corrupt bargain” charges thoroughly frustrated his policies
- Adams also had diplomatic frustrations as southerners in Congress delayed approving Panama mission
- Adams lost a contest w/ Georgia, which wished to remove the remaining Creeks & Cherokees from the state to gain additional land for cotton planters
- Even more damaging, the administration supported a new tariff on imported goods in 1828
> Woolen manufacturers complained the British were dumping textiles on the American market at artificially low prices
> To win support from middle & western states, the administration had to accept duties on other items
> This antagonized the original New England supporters of the bill
> Adams signed the bill, earning the animosity of southerners who cursed it as the “tariff of abominations”
C. Jackson Triumphant
- A new two-party system had begun to emerge out of the divisions among the republicans
> Supporters of John Quincy Adams, the National Republicans, supported economic nationalism
> Opposing them were the followers of Andrew Jackson, the Democratic Republicans
> They called for an assault on privilege and on a widening of opportunity
- Campaign turned ugly, so ugly that Jackson’s wife collapsed and later died > Jackson blamed his opponents
- Jackson’s victory was decisive, but sectional
> Adams swept New England and showed strength in the mid-Atlantic region
- Jacksonians considered their victory as complete and as important as Jefferson’s in 1800
- A champion of democracy would occupy the White House & restore liberty to the people and the economy
- America had entered a new era of democracy, the “era of the common man”
CONCLUSION
- Broad nationalism disguised deep divisions w/in the US
- Nationalism differed substantially from one region, and one group, to another
- Battles continued between those in favor of a strong central govt. committed to economic development and those who wanted decentralization of power to open opportunity to more people
- Battles continued over slavery; mostly over the place of slavery in the new western territories
- The MO Compromise postponed the issue, for a time, until Jackson became president in 1829