Unit 4 Princeton Review Pt. 2 Flashcards
(29 cards)
When “the West” Wasn’t That West
In colonial times, any settlement that wasn’t located right on the Atlantic Ocean was said to be located in “the west”
By the early 19th century, definitions had changed—but not to their modern meanings.
“The Northwest” consisted of northern states west of the Appalachians, such as Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, which are now considered “the Midwest.”
“The Southwest” consisted of southern states west of the Appalachians, such as Alabama and Mississippi, which are now considered “the Deep South.”
Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson were considered the foremost Westerners of the period, and they were respectively from Kentucky and Tennessee.
History of Native American Policies
Originally, it had been the British who established the concept that Native Americans were “foreign nations,” and as such, the government could go to war and make treaties with them
These treaties often established what the British termed “Indian territory,” as was the case with the Proclamation of 1763 issued at the close of the French and Indian War.
When the Americans gained their independence, the U.S. government continued the treatment of Native Americans that had been established by the British
Some Americans, however, among them Thomas Jefferson, suggested assimilation into American culture as a solution to the “Indian Problem.”
Jefferson and others believed that if the Native Americans gave up their “hunting and gathering” lifestyle and adopted American farming techniques and culture—in essence, “learned to live on less land”—then the Americans and Native Americans might coexist peacefully.
Jackson Treatment of Native Americans, Indian Removal Act
In some ways, this represented a natural continuation of policy toward Native Americans
By the time of Jackson’s presidency, there were “Five Civilized Tribes” living in the South in the area east of the Mississippi River, among those the Cherokee nation.
The Cherokees had developed a written language, converted to Christianity, and embraced agriculture as a way of life.
Some Cherokees even owned enslaved people.
The Cherokees had developed their own government and deemed themselves to be an independent republic within the state of Georgia
The problem arose when gold was discovered on Cherokee land and the citizens of Georgia demanded that the Cherokees comply with the provisions of the Indian Removal Act, a policy suggested by Monroe but enacted during Jackson’s tenure in office.
This act demanded that the Native Americans resettle in Oklahoma, which had been deemed Indian territory.
Jackson, for his part, argued that moving away from white society was the best way to protect themselves from white encroachment and maintain their traditional customs.
Cherokees Response and Supreme Court
The Cherokees refused and brought their case to the Supreme Court
Although John Marshall, Chief Justice at the time, sided with the Cherokees in two cases, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832), Andrew Jackson refused to comply with the Court’s decision and is reputed to have sneered, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”
Trail of Tears
Between 1835 and 1838, thousands of Cherokees walked to Oklahoma (enforcement of Indian Removal Act) under the supervision of the U.S. Army in what has come to be known as the Trail of Tears.
Thousands died of sickness and starvation along the way.
The other side of that is related to the Seminole in Florida. Refusing to leave their land, they initiated the Seminole War which lasted until the late 1830s.
It was incredibly expensive and eventually the U.S. government gave up, allowing the Seminole to stay on their land.
Doctrine of Nullification
The doctrine of nullification, first expressed by Jefferson and Madison in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, holds that the individual states have the right to disobey federal laws if they find them unconstitutional.
John Marshall had established that only the Supreme Court had the power of judicial review, in the landmark decision of Marbury v. Madison (1803).
Tariff of 1828, Crisis of Nullification
The Tariff of 1828, also known as the Tariff of Abominations, was passed during the Adams administration, but it almost turned into a national crisis during Jackson’s administration.
In 1828, John C. Calhoun, a South Carolinian who was Jackson’s vice president, anonymously published “The South Carolina Exposition and Protest,” arguing that states who felt the 50 percent tariff was unfairly high could nullify the law.
By 1830, southern states were openly discussing nullification, as such protectionist tariffs cut into the trade with Britain on which the South relied to sell its cotton and buy British wools and certain other raw materials in return.
Jackson, though a strong supporter of states’ rights, thought nullification endangered the Union and was thus too extreme.
After the Tariff of 1832 failed to lower rates to an acceptable level, South Carolina nullified the tariff.
Jackson had Congress authorize a Force Bill, threatening to call in troops to enforce the tariff, but Calhoun and Henry Clay (remember the Missouri Compromise?) brokered a behind-the-scenes compromise, lowering the tariff and diffusing tensions.
After the compromise tariff was approved and accepted by South Carolina, the legislature nullified the Force Bill, for no purpose except to support the doctrine of nullification.
Paper Money and Banks
In the 19th century, paper money was issued not by the government but by private banks
If you went to a bank for a $100 loan, the bank would print some money for you. It didn’t necessarily have to have $100 worth of gold in its vaults to do this
If it had $10,000 worth of gold in its vaults, a bank might issue $100,000 in paper money—and as long as no more than 10 percent of that money was cashed in at the same time, the bank would be fine.
What kept such a bank from printing up a million dollars, or a trillion?
The main answer was that people could pay their taxes with paper money and that paper collected at the Bank of the United States
Fear that the Bank would attempt to cash in a huge amount of paper at once kept smaller banks from overusing the printing presses
After Bank of the United States Shut Down
Once Andrew Jackson killed the Bank of the United States, however, wildcat banks did indeed spring up and issue paper money with abandon
Add the fact that the government stopped accepting paper money in payment for land, and people realized that all their paper money was now nearly worthless—a recipe for a major depression.
With only gold and silver now considered to have value, the stage was set for the late 19th century, when arguments over these metals would dominate the debate over economic policy.
Jackson’s Economic Policy
demonstrated his distrust of both big government and northeastern power brokers
He spent much of his two terms “downsizing” the federal government and strengthening the office of the presidency through his extensive use of the presidential veto
He fought against the reform movements of the time that called for increased government activism against social and economic problems.
Stopped Second Bank of the US
He was also suspicious of paper money, preferring “hard currency” such as gold or silver.
His Specie Circular, which ended the policy of selling government land on credit (buyers now had to pay “hard cash”), caused a money shortage and a sharp decrease in the treasury, and it helped trigger the Panic of 1837.
Congress overturned the circular in the last days of Jackson’s final term.
Stopped Second Bank of the US
He saw to it that the Second Bank of the United States (BUS) failed by vetoing Congress’s attempt to recharter the bank and by withdrawing federal funds and depositing them in state “pet” banks.
He felt that the BUS protected northeastern interests at the expense of the West. Jackson argued that the bank was an unconstitutional monopoly, but the Supreme Court ruled against him using a loose interpretation of the commerce clause (McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819).
Slavery, Slave Rebellions
Slavery grew to be an ever more controversial issue during the time of Jacksonian Democracy.
As the northern abolition movement grew stronger, the South experienced several slave revolts, which resulted in the use of more brutal disciplinary measures by slaveholders.
The most famous of the insurrections was Nat Turner’s Rebellion.
Nat Turner’s Rebellion
Turner, a well-read preacher, had a vision, and he took this vision as a sign from God that a Black liberation movement would succeed.
As a result, he rallied a gang that proceeded to kill and then mutilate the corpses of 60 whites.
In retaliation, 200 enslaved people were executed, some with no connection at all to the rebellion.
Fearful that other enslaved people would hear of and emulate Turner’s exploits, southern states passed a series of restrictive laws, known as slave codes, prohibiting Black people from congregating and learning to read
Other state laws even prevented whites from questioning the legitimacy of slavery.
After Turner’s Rebellion, Virginia’s House of Burgesses debated ending bondage but did not pass a law.
Formation of the Whigs
Jackson’s Democratic party could not represent the interests of all its constituencies (northern abolitionists, southern plantation owners, western pioneers), and inevitably, an opposition party, the Whigs, was formed
By 1834, almost as many congressmen supported the Whig Party as the Democratic Party.
The Whigs were a loose coalition that shared one thing in common: opposition to one or more of the Democrats’ policies.
For example, while the Democrats favored limited federal government, many Whigs believed in government activism, especially in the case of social issues.
Many Whigs were also deeply religious and supported the temperance movement and enforcement of the Sabbath.
Still, the defining characteristic of the Whigs was their opposition to the Democrats.
President Van Buren
In the election of 1836, Jackson supported his second vice president, Democrat Martin Van Buren.
Van Buren had the misfortune to take over the presidency just as the country was entering a major economic crisis (the Panic of 1837).
Van Buren made the situation worse by continuing Jackson’s policy of favoring hard currency, thereby insuring that money would be hard to come by.
The economic downturn lasted through Van Buren’s term, practically guaranteeing that he would not be reelected.
1841, William Henry Harrison and John Tyler
In 1841, former military hero William Henry Harrison became the first Whig president.
He died of pneumonia a month after taking office.
His vice president, John Tyler, a former Democrat, assumed the presidency and began championing states’ rights, much to his own party’s chagrin.
Tyler vetoed numerous Whig bills, which alienated Whig leadership; eventually his entire cabinet resigned in protest.
Tyler is often referred to as the “president without a party,” and his presidency lasted only one term.
Before Market Economy
From the time they first arrived until the Revolutionary War Era, most settlers in the United States raised crops for subsistence, rather than for sale at market.
Most people made their own clothing and built their own furniture and homes, and they got by without many other conveniences.
Cash transactions were relatively rare.
Instead, people used ledgers to keep track of who owed what to whom and typically settled accounts when someone moved away or died.
Developments in manufacturing and transportation changed all that, however.
Market economy develops
Developments in manufacturing and transportation caused it
By making it possible to mass produce goods and transport them across the country cheaply, a market economy began to develop.
In a market economy, people trade their labor or goods for cash, which they then use to buy other people’s labor or goods.
Characteristics of Market Economies
Favor those who specialize
For example, farmers who grow a single crop (monoculture) usually do better in a market economy than those who produce many different crops.
One-crop farmers can offer buyers more of what they want.
These farmers also do not have to look for different buyers for their many products.
The trade-off, of course, is that these farmers are no longer self-sufficient.
Instead, they become dependent on the market to provide some necessities.
Furthermore, such farmers sometimes fall victim to overproduction, resulting in an unexpected, unwelcome drop in the price of their crop.
Market economies grow more quickly and provide more services than subsistence economies, and they also make people more interdependent.
However, they are also much more prone to change.
Any number of factors can halt a period of prosperity and throw the economy into a skid like the panics of 1819 and 1837, referred to as boom-and-bust cycles.
Economic Transition
During the first decades of the 19th century, the United States made a rapid transition from a subsistence economy to a market economy.
As stated earlier, the War of 1812 and the events leading up to it forced the United States to become less dependent on imports and, consequently, to develop a stronger national economy.
Key Eli Whitney Advances
cotton gin
Other notable inventions that revolutionized agriculture include the steel plow and mechanical reaper.
Whitney’s second innovation was the use of interchangeable parts in manufacturing.
cotton gin
invented in 1793, revolutionized southern agriculture by making it much easier to remove the seeds from cotton plants. (The machine was 5,000 percent more efficient than a human being.)
The cotton gin made it easier and cheaper to use cotton for textiles, and as a result, the demand for cotton grew very rapidly into the early 1800s.
As demand grew, so did cotton production in the South.
Because cotton farming is labor intensive, the spread of cotton as the region’s chief crop also intensified the South’s dependence on slave labor.
Whitney’s second innovation was the use of interchangeable parts in manufacturing.
Whitney originally struck upon the idea while mass-producing rifles for the U.S. Army.
Prior to Whitney’s breakthrough, manufacturers had built weapons (and other machines) by hand, custom fitting parts so that each weapon was unique.
The process was costly, time-consuming, and inconvenient, because replacing broken parts was extremely difficult.
soon his idea was being applied to all aspects of manufacturing
Interchangeable parts gave birth to the machine-tool industry, which produced specialized machines for such growing industries as textiles and transportation.
(Without interchangeable parts, such machines would have been impractical because they would have been too expensive to build and too difficult to fix.)
Whitney’s advances also helped promote the development of assembly line production.
On an assembly line, products are constructed more efficiently by dividing the labor into a number of tasks and assigning each worker one task.
Prior to assembly lines, each worker would create a product in its entirety.
The result was a product that took longer to produce and was less uniform in quality.
