Beginnings Of Modern American Democracy (1824-1844)

Question 0

Congressional caucuses

Answer 0

Groups of US Congressmen who chose party nominees prior to election of 1824

Question 1

Election of 1824

Answer 1

Turning point - first election where majority of states allowed voters to choose their presidential electors directly
More people voting directly –> less and less support for candidates nominated by party leaders
HOR ultimately decided between 4 candidates - Henry clay (speaker of the house) gave support to Adams -> victory

Question 2

Demise of the caucus system

Answer 2

Democratic-Republican caucus chose William H. Crawford in 1824 -> John Quincy Adams, Henry clay, and Andrew Jackson challenged the nomination. This opposition and accusations brought about the demise of the caucus system

Question 3

“Corrupt Bargain”

Answer 3

Jackson and other opponents claimed that Henry Clay agreed to give support to Quincy Adams in return for the Secretary of State position, which was considered a gateway to the presidency
Immediately vowed to see both removed in the election of 1828

Question 4

Postmillennialism

Answer 4

Belief, widespread among 19th century Christians, that Jesus would only return after a thousand-year golden age brought about by human kind. Major progressive force in America
John Quincy Adams was an adherent - called for the US to adopt the metric system in the 1820s.

Question 5

John Quincy Adams’ presidency

Answer 5

Impeded by a contrary congress - many supported Jackson.
Federalist just like his father
Jackson’s supporters favored states rights and thwarted all of Adams’s efforts to initiate improvements through the federal government
Proposals for new protective tariffs, interstate highways; and federal schools and research centers all met with opposition
Founded a naval college and became an influential congressman

Question 6

Election of 1828

Answer 6

Jackson made sure he had plenty of popular support to ensure a win. His followers became the present-day Democratic Party. Vicious campaign - surrogates accused other candidate. Between Adams and Jackson - Jackson won by a large margin

Question 7

Coffin Handbill

Answer 7

Accused Jackson of murdering his enlisted men during the Indian Wars during the election of 1828

Question 8

Andrew Jackson

Answer 8

Had interests of the west in mind
Seen as the epitome of a self-made man
First president who wasn’t either born in Virginia or named Adams

Question 9

Spoils system

Answer 9

Trading jobs for political favors

First noticed by the public during the Jacksonian era but present in the government beforehand

Question 10

Jacksonian Democracy

Answer 10

Replaced Jeffersonian republicanism
Benefited from universal white manhood suffrage - extension of voting rights to all white makes, even those who didn’t win property
Not a coherent vision of how a government should function
Saw themselves as champions of liberty but didn’t always act as such

Question 11

Indian Removal Act

Answer 11

1830 - Jackson’s first term
Gold discovered on native land and citizens of Georgia demanded that the Cherokee comply with the act
Suggested by Monroe but enacted during Jackson’s term
Demanded that natives resettle in Oklahoma - “Indian territory”
Cherokees refused and brought case to the Supreme Court

Question 12

“Five Civilized Tribes”

Answer 12

Living in the south in the area east of the Mississippi River
Cherokees already becoming quite assimilated - developed their own independent government

Question 13

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia & Worcester v. Georgia

Answer 13

1831 & 1832
John Marshall sided with the Cherokee in both cases
Jackson refused to comply with the courts decision - said Marshall must enforce it himself

Question 14

Trail of Tears

Answer 14

1835-1838
Thousands of Cherokees walked to Oklahoma under supervision of the US army
Thousands died of sickness and starvation along the way

Question 15

Nullification

Answer 15

Major issue of Jackson’s presidency
Individual states have the right to disobey federal laws if they find them unconstitutional
Discussed openly by many southern states by 1830

Question 16

Tariff of Abominations

Answer 16

AKA Tariff of 1828

Passed during Adams administration but almost turned into a national crisis during Jackson’s administration

Question 17

John C. Calhoun

Answer 17

Jackson’s VP & South Carolinian
Anonymously published “The South Carolinian Exposition and Protest” arguing that states who felt the 50% tariff was too high could nullify the law

Question 18

Tariff of 1832

Answer 18

Jackson feared nullification - thought it endangered the Union
Failed to lower rates to an acceptable level with this tariff -> nullified by South Carolina

Question 19

Force Bill

Answer 19

Threatened to call in troops to enforce the tariff, but Calhoun and Henry Clay brokered a behind-the-scenes compromise; lowering the tariff and diffusing tensions

Question 20

Jackson distrust of big government

Answer 20

“Downsized” the federal government end strengthened the office of the presidency with his veto
Fought against reform movements that called for increased government activism against social and economic problems

Question 21

Second Bank of the United States (BUS)

Answer 21

Jackson made sure it failed by vetoing Congress’s attempt to recharger the bank and by withdrawing federal funds and depositing them in state “pet” banks
Thought it protected northeastern interests at the expense of the west
Argued it was an unconstitutional monopoly
Supreme Court ruled against him using a loose interpretation of the commerce clause
Suspicious of paper money, preferred hard currency

Question 22

“Pet banks”

Answer 22

State banks where Jackson moved the federal funds to prevent the renewal of a federal bank

Question 23

Specie Circular

Answer 23

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 helped trigger the panic of 1837
Overturned by congress in the final days of Jackson’s term

Question 24

Nat Turner's Rebellion

Answer 24

Famous Jacksonian slave insurrection Turner: well read preacher who had a vision - took it as a sign from god that a black liberation movement would succeed. Rallied a gang that killed and mutilated 60 whites. In retaliation 200 slaves were executed, some with no connection to the rebellion. Led to fear and black codes

Question 25

Black codes

Answer 25

Restrictive laws against slaves in southern states | Prohibited blacks from congregating and learning to read

Question 26

Whigs

Answer 26

Opposition party to Jacksonian democrats Loose coalition who all had opposition to one or more of the democrats' policies Believed in government activism Deeply religious - supported temperance movement and enforcement of the sabbath

Question 27

Martin van Buren

Answer 27

Elected 1836 when the country was entering a major economic crisis - Panic of 1837 Made it worse by continuing Jacksonian policy of favoring hard currency, thereby ensuring that money would be hard to come by

Question 28

Panic of 1837

Answer 28

Major economic crisis caused by Jackson's Specie Circular (buyers had to pay hard cash) During van Buren's term Didn't help it - continued hard currency policy Ensure that van Buren wouldn't be re elected

Question 29

William Henry Harrison

Answer 29

1841 elected the first Whig president | Died of pneumonia a month after taking office

Question 30

John Tyler

Answer 30

Harrison's VP - assumed the presidency after Harrison's death Former democrat Began championing states' rights Vetoed numerous Whig bills, alienating Whig leadership Entire cabinet resigned in protest "President without a party"

Question 31

Market economy

Answer 31

Trade labor goods for cash, which is used to buy other peoples labor or goods. Favors those who specialize - fares who produce one crop Results in everyone depending on each other for subsistence Grow quickly and provide more services that subsistence economies

Question 32

Boom-and-bust Cycles

Answer 32

Changes in a market economy in which any number of factors can Hal a period of prosperity and throw the economy into a skid like the panics of 1819 and 1837

Question 33

Impact of War of 1812 on economy

Answer 33

Forced the United States to become less dependent on exports (due to embargo on Britain and France) and develop a stronger national economy

Question 34

Eli Whitney

Answer 34

Cotton gin: made it easy to remove seeds from cotton plants and made it easier and cheaper to produce. Increased production of cotton --> increased dependency on slavery Interchangeable parts: practical way to manufacture and mass produce. Soon applied to all aspects of manufacturing Gave birth to machine-tool industry and assembly line production

Question 35

Machine-tool industry

Answer 35

Produced specialized machines for such growing industries as textiles and transportation

Question 36

Power loom

Answer 36

Invented 1813 Textile manufacturers could produce both thread and finished fabric in their own factories, and do so quickly and efficiently Made textiles of high quality and inexpensive

Question 37

Lowell system

Answer 37

AKA Waltham system Worker-enticement program since there was shortage of labor in New England with the rapid growth of the textile industry Guaranteed employees housing in respectable, chaperoned boarding houses; cash wages; and participation in social and cultural events organized by the mill Lasted until Irish immigrants in the 1840s & '50s and labor unions

Question 38

New industries that sprung up from the textile industry

Answer 38

Clothing manufacturers, retailers, brokers, commercial banks, and the transportation industry

Question 39

Erie Canal

Answer 39

Completed 1825 Funded entirely by New York Linked the Great Lakes region to New York and, thus, to European shipping routes Northeast soon established as the nations center of commerce Width and depth had to be nearly doubled by 1835 to handle traffic Led to other regions creating canals - thousands of miles of them Canal era ended with railroads in 1850

Question 40

Steamships

Answer 40

Traveled faster than sailing vessels | Became important freight carriers and replaced sailing ships for long sea voyages

Question 41

Railroads

Answer 41

First ones built in the 1830s, typically only connecting 2 cities As the rail network grew, different railroad lines couldn't be connected because the gauge (width) of the tracks were different Government paid for them to standardize

Question 42

Telegraph

Answer 42

Allowed immediate long-distance communication for the first time Primitive telephone, except they communicated in morse code rather than speaking Transatlantic cables not laid until after the civil war

Question 43

Farming 1st half of 1800s

Answer 43

Mechanization (plow, sower, reaper, thresher, baler, and cotton gin) revolutionized farming Market economy - in 1820 1/3 of food grown in the US went to market - doubled by 1860

Question 44

Northeastern farming

Answer 44

Rocky hilly terrain unsuitable to many machines Land had been over farmed -> poor quality of soil Many New England farmers quit cultivating grain and started raising livestock and growing fruits and vegetables or headed to cities to take manufacturing jobs

Question 45

Midwestern farms

Answer 45

Americas chief source of grains Much larger than New England farms More adaptable to technology -> doubled production Banks lent farmers the capital necessary to buy modern equipment Trade routes created by rail and ship provides access to markets needed to pay off loans Panics of 1819 and 1837 threw people into poverty

Question 46

Southern farming

Answer 46

Plantations focused primarily on cotton, especially in the Deep South Tobacco continued to be a major cash crop in the upper south Majority of southerners owned small farms and no slaves

Question 47

Manifest destiny

Answer 47

American belief that they had a god-given right to the western territories Some took the idea far and suggested that America would eventually annex all of the Americas

Question 48

Hardships of western settlement

Answer 48

Terrain and climate come and unforgiving | Moving into areas that rightfully belonged to native Americans and Mexicans who put up a fight

Question 49

Annexation of Texas

Answer 49

Mexico declared independence from Spain in 1821 and established liberal land policies to entice settlers Tens of thousands of Americans (many cattle ranchers) fled to the region We're supposed to become Mexican citizens in return for land, but rarely did Ignored Mexican law, especially the prohibition of slavery Mexico tried to gain control -> rebelled and declared independence Battle of the Alamo

Question 50

Republic of Texas

Answer 50

Brief period in which Texas was an independent country Existence of slavery in the area guaranteed a congressional battle over statehood Admitted into the union in 1845

Question 51

Oregon territory

Answer 51

Early 1840s thousands of settlers traveled to the willamette valley, braving a 6 month journey on the Oregon trail Large Native American population and British there to claim the territory for Canada Russians also staked a claim Polk administration eventually settled the dispute by signing a treaty with England

Question 52

Good rush

Answer 52

1848 gold discovered in California attracted more than 100,000 people in 2 years

Question 53

California

Answer 53

Hospitable to agriculture | Access to Pacific Ocean allowed large trade centers to develop (San Francisco)

Question 54

Sectional strife

Answer 54

First half of nineteenth century 3 different sections of the country developed in very different directions North, South, and West

Question 55

North 1800-1850

Answer 55

Becoming industrialized Technological advances helped it become the nations commercial center Famers played less of a role Slavery increasingly uncommon

Question 56

South 1800-1850

Answer 56

Almost entirely agrarian Tobacco and cotton requires lots of land Looked for new slave territories to strengthen position in congress and protect from northern legislators - depended on slavery for labor

Question 57

West 1800-1850

Answer 57

Economic interests varies but largely rooted in commercial farming, fur trapping, and real-estate speculation Distrusted the north - home of powerful banks that could take their land away Little more use for south - hierarchical society at odds with egalitarianism of the west Wanted to avoid involvement in slavery Became nations breadbasket

Question 58

Major social developments first half of nineteenth century

Answer 58

Increased reliance on slave labor due to technology Larger middle class due to increase in commerce Bigger cities with large migrant and immigrant neighborhoods New frontier culture with westward migration

Question 59

Problems in American cities (early years)

Answer 59

Lack of powerful urban governments to oversee their rapid expansion Extremely toxic environments Close proximity and sanitation problems made epidemics inevitable

Question 60

Benefits of cities

Answer 60

Jobs - northern farmers moved to cities to work in factories Easier for craftsmen to make a living More opportunities for social advancement Public schooling, formation of labor unions, formed clubs and associations through which they could exert more influence on govt and in society Wide variety of leisure time options

Question 61

Uneven distribution of wealth 1800s

Answer 61

In south and northern cities | An elite few controlled most of the personal wealth and led lives of power and comfort

Question 62

Nineteenth century middle class

Answer 62

Tradesmen, brokers, and other professionals Worked to reach the plateau at which the women in their families could devote themselves to homemaking instead of wage earning Rose from the working class

Question 63

Cult of domesticity

Answer 63

Notion that men should work while women kept house and raised children Supported by popular magazines and novels that glorified home life

Question 64

Nineteenth century working class

Answer 64

Men worked in factories or at low-paying crafts Women often worked at home, taking in sewing Others worked as domestic servants Lived just above the poverty level

Question 65

1840s and '50s great immigrant waves

Answer 65

Irish -> cities in the north Germans -> west Met with hostility, especially from working classes who feared competition for low-paying jobs Irish subject to widespread bias due to Catholicism and lower education level

Question 66

1830s and '40s riots

Answer 66

``` Religious, ethnic, and/or class strife could escalate to violence and even result in fatalities Largely responsible for formation of municipal police departments, which replaced privately run security companies in enforcing peace ```

Question 67

Southern social life

Answer 67

``` Lived in rural areas in near isolation Family & church emphasized Almost no major cities, few centers of commerce and limited infrastructure New Orleans relied on waterways No strong market economy like north ```

Question 68

Planters

Answer 68

Defined as having 20+ slaves Dominated southern society politically, socially, and economically >1% of population owned more than 100 slaves Grew cotton throughout the Deep South and tobacco in the Middle Atlantic Convinced that the slave system benefitted everyone

Question 69

Southern paternalism

Answer 69

Attitude of southern planters that the sale system benefited all of it's participants, including the slaves Relied on the perception of blacks as childlike and unable to take care of themselves Slaves adopted a submissive and grateful demeanor to make life easier Converted slaves to Christianity

Question 70

Slaves standard of living

Answer 70

State if subsistence poverty Housed in one-room cabins with their families & often with another family Overcrowded and unsanitary Worked extremely long hours at tedious labor Conditions worse in the Deep South

Question 71

Methods of slave resistance

Answer 71

Developed a unique culture that blended African roots with Christianity Revolts were rarely successful Violated local slave codes, sneaked out in the night to see a loved one, or learning to read and write

Question 72

Yeomen

Answer 72

Southern landholders who sometimes had few slaves but often none at all Small tracts of land in the hills Most of Scottish and Irish descent Grew subsistence crops, raised livestock, and sometimes produced a few cash crops, though limited access to northern markets hindered profit making

Question 73

Landless whites

Answer 73

Farmed as tenants or hired themselves out as manual laborers | Difficult to elevate from this social stratum up to yeomen

Question 74

Free blacks

Answer 74

Descendants of slaves freed by their owners for having fought in the revolutionary warm Black codes prevented them from owning guns, drinking liquor, and assembling in groups of more than 3 Most worked as tenant farmers or day laborers Some "mulattoes" lived in relative luxury and refinement in the Deep South

Question 75

Western frontier by 1840

Answer 75

Expanded throughout the Louisiana territory, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest 1849 gold rush -> California

Question 76

US government methods of enticing settlers to move west

Answer 76

Gave away, or sold at reduced rates, large tracts of land to war veterans Loaned money at reduced rates to civilians so they could move west

Question 77

Squatters

Answer 77

Settlers who ignored the requirement to buy land and simply moved into and appropriated an unoccupied tract as their own

Question 78

Frontier occupations

Answer 78

Grain production and dairy farming (Midwest -> "breadbasket") Fur trading Cattle ranchers and miners

Question 79

Fur trading

Answer 79

Called "over-mountain men" Often the first pioneers in a region, one step ahead of farming families Reached Oregon -> ran out of places to go Hunted beaver to near extinction Formed first American government in Ohio valley

Question 80

Cons of frontier living

Answer 80

Struggled against climate, elements, and native Americans who weren't anxious for the whites to settle, having heard about eastern tribes

Question 81

Pros of frontier living

Answer 81

Offered opportunities for wealth, freedom, and social advancement - opportunities that were less common in the competitive East and aristocratic South Women made a good living at domestic work and later running boarding houses and hotels

Question 82

Second Great Awakening

Answer 82

Period of religious revival, mainly among Methodists, Presbyterians, and baptists Began in the "burned-over district" of western New York and then spread Intense period of evangelism in the south and west Resulted in reform societies, mostly in the northeast; dedicated to the task of saving humanity from it's own worst impulses (drinking and poverty)

Question 83

Burned-over district

Answer 83

Area in western New York where the second great awakening began So heavily evangelized and burned over by metaphorical fires of religious revival that there were no more people to convert

Question 84

Temperance societies

Answer 84

Some encouraged people to pledge not to drink and others slight outright prohibition of liquor Remained powerful until the 18th amendment in 1919

Question 85

Reform societies

Answer 85

Battled vices such as alcohol consumption (temperance society), gambling (outlawed lotteries), and prostitution (the Female Moral Reform Society) Brought penitentiaries, asylums, and orphanages

Question 86

Dorothea Dix

Answer 86

Led the movement of penitentiaries seeking to rehabilitate criminals rather than isolating them from society by teaching them morality and "work ethic"

Question 87

The Shakers

Answer 87

Utopian group that splintered from the Quakers Believed that they and all other churches had grown too interested in this world and to neglectful of their afterlives Isolated themselves in communes where they shared work and it's rewards Granted near-equal rights to women Celibacy -> numbers diminished Ended during the 1840s and '50s

Question 88

Utopian groups

Answer 88

Shakers, Oneida community, the new harmony community, brook farm

Question 89

Brook farm

Answer 89

Experimental community established near Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1841 Home to transcendentalists

Question 90

Transcendentalists

Answer 90

A group of nonconformist Unitarian writers and philosophers who drew their inspiration from European romanticism Believed that humans contained elements of the divine, and this they had faith in mans, and ultimate society's, perfectibility

Question 91

Transcendentalist writers

Answer 91

Nathaniel Hawthorne - scarlet letter Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau - walden, civil disobedience, refused to pay taxes to a government that waged war against Mexico and enacted a fugitive slave act in the compromise of 1850

Question 92

Hudson River school painters

Answer 92

First distinct school of American art Wanted to create a specific vision for American art, and mosh painted landscapes that seemed to portray an aww for the see was and beauty of wild America Influenced by European romanticism

Question 93

Mormons

Answer 93

Joseph smith formed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1830 Acceptance of polygamy Drew strong opposition in east and middle west Smith killed -> Mormons move to salt lake valley led by Brigham young Settled and transformed the desert into farmland with irrigation

Question 94

Seneca falls convention

Answer 94

Upstate New York in burned over district Declaration of the rights and sentiments of women Elizabeth cast Stanton

Question 95

National women suffrage association

Answer 95

Founded 1869 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

Question 96

Horace Mann

Answer 96

Pushed for public education and education reform Lengthened the school year, established the first "normal school" for teacher training, and used the first standardized books in education Believed "education is the great equalizer"

Question 97

Belief of most anti-slavery whites

Answer 97

Slavery should be abolished gradually, coupled with colonization in which slaves moved back to Africa Second great awakening persuaded more whites that slavery was a great evil

Question 98

William Lloyd Garrison

Answer 98

Wanted immediate abolition Newspaper: the Liberator Helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society Fought against slavery and moderates Forced the slavery issue to the forefront

Question 99

Gag rule

Answer 99

Adopted by congress - automatically suppressed discussion of slavery Prevented congress from enacting any new legislation pertaining to slavery 1836-1844 Convinced many northerners to join the abolition movement

Question 100

Frederick Douglass

Answer 100

Newpaper: the North Star Escaped slave, gained fame as a gifted writer and eloquent advocate of freedom and equality Autobiography

Question 101

Harriet Tubman

Answer 101

Escaped slavery and returned to the south repeatedly to help more than 300 slaves escape via the Underground Railroad

Question 102

Sojourner Truth

Answer 102

Charismatic abolitionist speaker who campaigned for emancipation and womens rights