Download US History 1800-1850

Unit 3:
U. S. History
1800-1840
• The Erie Canal was an enormous
project that allowed easier and
safer travel from New England to
the Great Lakes. It took 8 years
to build and it was very
profitable.
• A. Building canals, roads, and
bridges created the nation’s
infrastructure. These were
financed by investors and
supported by politicians.
• B. New York City expanded
rapidly during this time. It
became the financial capital of
the U.S.. Two reasons were;
international trade and the stock
markets.
• James Monroe was elected president twice, in 1816 and
1820. His time in office was called The Era of Good
Feelings because of the peace and prosperity in America.
• B. The countries of South America had gained their
independence from Spain and Portugal during this time and
Monroe wanted to protect these new republics.
• C. The Monroe Doctrine was issued by President Monroe
and it stated that the Western Hemisphere was closed to
future colonization by European countries.
• D. This doctrine was important because it put American
diplomacy on the international scene, worldwide respect.
• The Industrial Revolution began in
the U.S. in the early 1800’s. It
started to change America from an
agricultural society to an industrial
society.
• A. Eli Whitney invented two
important things that helped
industrial development. The first
was the cotton gin. This machine
made the cultivation of cotton much
more profitable and made slavery a
permanent part of southern society.
• B. The second invention was the use
of interchangeable parts in making
muskets. When applied to other
manufacturing it revolutionized
production in America.
• From the beginning settlement in the New World
people looked westward for new and cheap land.
This expansion allowed for new states and
territories to be added to the Union.
• This idea of expansion became the concept of
Manifest Destiny. People believed that the U.S.
should stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
They also believed God has designed it that way.
• Reform Issues in the U.S..
• A. The Temperance Movement was
an effort to curb the consumption of
alcohol in the U.S. This movement
began in 1826 and it was started by
ministers and others. The average
person consumed 5 gallons of
whiskey a year. Temperance was the
most popular pre-Civil War reform
movement.
• B. Horace Mann led the effort to
provide free basic education to
Americans. McGuffey readers, basic
books on reading and moral lessons,
helped teach Americans the basics in
education.
• C. The Women’s Rights
Movement began in the 1830’s
with the work and writings of
Sarah and Angelina Grimke.
Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony
helped with Seneca Falls
Convention, the first women’s
rights convention in the U.S.
• D. The Abolitionist Movement
was the movement to end
slavery. William Lloyd Garrison
helped found the American
Antislavery Society in 1831 and
they published “The Liberator”.
• Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828 and 1832. He was a
General, a slave owner, and a Westerner.
• A. Jacksonian Democracy was an effort to include the average American
in the political process. The right to vote (suffrage) was expanded to
include more men, property qualifications were reduced. This caused a
rise in the popularity of political culture.
• B. Jackson was a firm believer in American Nationalism. He believed we
had a right to settle western lands, at the expense of Native Americans.
• C. This time period became known as “The Age of Jackson”. Jackson
rewarded his followers with jobs and this became known as The Spoils
System. Americans began to believe that because of Jackson any man
could become President.
• The slavery issue had been a part
of American politics since the
framing of the Constitution.
• A. When the Constitution was
written in 1787 southern
delegates demanded that slaves
should be counted as three fifths
of a person. This would increase
the number of Congressmen from
the south
• B. The invention of the cotton gin
by Eli Whitney made slaves much
more valuable and necessary to
maintain southern agriculture.
The importation of slaves was
made illegal after 1808 which
further increased the value of the
slaves both north and south.
• C. By the 1830’s the slave population in the south had
exploded. South Carolina = far more slaves than white
people. This population imbalance led to fear among
whites.
• D. In 1831 a slave named Nat Turner led a slave revolt in
Virginia that killed 55 white men, women, and children. In
retaliation whites killed hundreds of slaves and put severe
restrictions on the freedom of movement for slaves. Anti
slavery talk now ends in the South.
• E. Abolitionism was the effort in the U.S. to get rid of
slavery and it was part religious and part political. The
movement was led by William Lloyd Garrison who was a
newspaper editor of The Liberator.
• F. Fredrick Douglas was an escaped slave who
became a prominent Abolitionist. He also
edited a newspaper called The North Star. He
and his wife were a part of the Underground
Railroad.
• G. Two sisters from South Carolina Sara and
Angelina Grimke were effective activists for
abolition. They wrote books and lectured
about anti-slavery issues in New England.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820.
A. Western settlement had greatly increased under Presidents
Madison and then Monroe. The acquisition of Native American
areas, immigration from Europe, Southern expansion of the
cotton culture, and improved transportation were the causes for
growth.
B. The U.S. Senate was balanced in 1820 between 11 slave and 11
free states. When Missouri applied for statehood it threatened
the political balance of the National government.
C. Henry Clay, a Congressman from Kentucky, came up with a
solution. Missouri would enter the Union as a slave state and
Maine would join as a free state. Another part of the compromise
stated that slavery could not expand north of 36’ 30”.
• The Nullification Crisis.
• A. In 1828 the state of South Carolina tried
to reject or nullify the Tariff of 1828, a
Federal Law.
• B. In 1832 South Carolina, led by John C.
Calhoun tried to cancel another law
President Andrew Jackson issued a warning
to S.C. that nullification meant disunion and
they would be traitors.
• C. Congress decide to lower the Tariff and
the crisis ended.
• D. The Missouri Compromise and The
Nullification Crisis are two events that
caused the development of Sectionalism in
the U.S.. This sectionalism was the belief
that the differences in the North and South
were so great that they were almost two
different countries.