Introduction to US History/1800s America
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Through the help of canals and roadways, America moves westwards and acquires nine new states from 1791-1819. These states were admitted either as a free state, where slavery is outlawed, or a slave state, where slavery is permitted. This would go on until Missouri's request to be admitted as a slave state disrupts the balance.
Two major ways of transportation are the Cumberland Road and the Eerie Canal. The Cumberland Road was a national road building program that lasted from 1811-1819. It went from Cumberland, MD to Wheeling, Virginia - continuing towards Illinois, turning out to stand at nearly 600 miles.
Due to Robert Fulton's innvoations on the steamboat, the Erie Canal was created for easier transportation. Canals, narrow waterways that connect 2 major bodies of water, were being made, including the Erie Canal. It connected the Hudson River to Lake Eerie, thereby connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes. Thanks to the Eerie Canal, New York City became the leading center of trade in the US. Manufactured goods were now being transported faster and cheaper than before.
New Democracy Principle
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Andrew Jackson is the first president elected to the White House who was not from Virginia/Massachusetts. From his efforts in the War of 1812 ("The Hero of New Orleans"), he was named as the "Old Hickory". As a president, he began a political revolution known as the "New Democracy". He was known as the "People's President" by his friends and was called the "King Andrew" by his enemies.
The New Democracy campaign entailed an expansion of voting rights to all white males. No longer was it a requirement to own land in order to vote. At this point, Americans really felt like they had a part in the government's actions and any American white male could be president. Women, African-Americans, and Native Americans had no voice in the government.
Although Andrew Jackson was given most credit, the new principle began with John Quincy Adams. Political leaders no longer are just from the East, powdered wigs/super-fancy outfits, and college education isn't a requirement (hence Abraham Lincoln was another significant president). Popular leaders, like Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and Henry Clay, emerge because the old norms were slowly becoming abandoned.
Life in the New Democracy meant that majority of the population was young (<30yrs), energetic, lived a hard life, superstitious, independent minded, and continued to repopulate with a boom every 25 years.
Election of 1828
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The Election of 1828 was remarked as one of the nastiest elections in history. In the prior election, John Q. Adams and Andrew Jackson faced each other and ended up in a tie. This tie was broken in the House of Representatives when John Q. Adams was elected the winner. Rumour has it that Henry Clay was convinced by a fellow Congressman to vote for John Q. Adams, breaking the deadlock. In the 1828 elections, we are able to see a clear difference in political philosophy between the North and the South and the act of mud-slinging (negative campaigns towards candidates). The North voted for the intellectual John Q. Adams while the South and West voted for the popular Jackson. John Q. Adams, after the defeat, served as a delegate to Massachusetts in the House of Representatives for 17 years until his death in 1848.
John Q. Adams was an elitist, cold, and an "unreachable" person. Being the son of a former president (hint, hint: John Adams), it isn't surprising. On the other hand, Andrew Jackson was seen as somewhat of an uneducated and mad dictator. John Q. Adams was previously accused of getting a prostitute for the Russian czar and wasting taxpayers' money on gambling. Jackson was accused of being an adulterer, with his ex-wife being accused of bigotry.
Cherokee Nation
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The Cherokee Nation lived almost identical to the Americans. They built schools, had cotton gins, grist/saw mills, owned cattle and managed spinning wheels and weaving looms. They even had their own Constitution, legal code, and created plantations which were taken care of by African slaves. The simple thing that changed their way of life was gold.
Henry Clay advocated for The Indian Removal Act in order for Georgia to use the rich, fertile land that the Cherokee had. They refused to move but were forcibly removed by president Jackson. Five tribes, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw, and Seminole, all moved west towards Oklahoma. This became known as the Trail of Tears (1830-1850). 3 rulings by the Supreme Court and arguments by John Marshall were not enough to prevent the move.
Missouri Becoming A State
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In order to meet the balance, Congressman Benjamin Tallmadge of New York proposed in the Tallmadge Amendment that:
- Missouri would initially enter as a slave state.
- New slaves would not be allowed to enter Missouri
- Children who were born to slaves in Missouri would befree
- ...eventually converting Missouri from a slave state to a free state.
This proposed plan failed in Congress, much to happiness to the South.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was established. Henry Clay proposed that Missouri was a slave state while Maine was a free state and that slavery would not be allowed north of the 36.30 parallel. This took place because the North was powerful in controling the House of Representatives as they were wealthy from their manufacturing and finance businesses. Although majority of the people in the South didn't actually own a slave, they aspired to be a slaveowner as it was their way of becoming wealthy.
Ordinance of Nullification - 1832
[edit | edit source]The Ordinance of Nullification in 1832 dealt with the issue of tariffs, which charged exports and imports in the US. Henry Clay declared all tariffs "null and void" in South Carolina, which was opposed by Andrew Jackson. Jackson threatened to send the military to South Carolina if they refused to obey the order, to which South Carolina responded by threatening to secede the Union. The Compromise Tariff of 1833 stated that tariffs would decrease by 10% over the span of eight years, which allowed SC to dodge the "seceding the Union" move. The North, frustrated at this response, enacted the Force Bill. Congress, realizing they had no authroity over SC to pay taxes, allowed the president to collect Federal taxes through the use of force (military troops).
It is within these actions and differences that resulted in the Civil War.