(Class 8) American Growth Flashcards
1
Q
The American System of Manufacturing
A
- 19th century - the concept of interchangeable parts began in the gun industry and then spread to others
- Mechanization of manufacturing was sought early because of limited supply of labor
- Standardized parts were manufactured and then put together by unskilled labor
- No longer were highly skilled craftsmen needed to build machines like guns
2
Q
Manifest Destiny
A
- “God given right” to spread across continent
- Term “Manifest Destiny” was coined by John L. O’Sullivan in 1845
- Used to justify white American settlers taking land they wanted - spreading liberty and freedom
- Became an ideology for conquering the west and removing obstacles – Indians, Mexicans and Spanish
- The Cry - It is “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny……” became universal
- Element of national pride and an element of racial arrogance
- Economic Gain at the expense of others was really at its core
3
Q
Mormons
A
- 1820s – upstate NY – farm boy Joseph Smith, Jr. says he is visited by an angel
- Angel led him to golden tablets, buried near his house
- He translated mysterious language on tablets to produce The Book of Mormon
- Published in 1830
- Story of an ancient Hebrew civilization in the New World
- Predicted appearance of an American prophet who would reestablish Christ’s kingdom in America
- Americans flocked to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
4
Q
Oneida Community
A
- American Society was becoming competitive and very individualistic
- “Concept of community” started in the colonies was being wiped out by personal interest and goals in the 19th century
- Transcendentalists and Perfectionists came into existence in the 1830s
- Ideology of looking into oneself for guidance and truth – emphasized the primacy of individual judgement
- Oneida community came into existence
- Believed that commitment to private property made people greedy and selfish
- John Humphrey Noyes - Founder of Oneida Perfectionists New York
- Claimed that the root of private property lay in marriage
- Men’s conviction that wives were exclusive property of men
- Noyes created the concept of “complex marriage”
- Abolished marital property permitting sexual intercourse between any consenting man and woman in the community
- Also required relinquishing all economic property to the community
- Dissolved in 1881when Noyes fled to Canada
5
Q
Oneida Limited
A
- Flatware company originated out of the Oneida religious community
- The community owned the company
- Only surviving element of that community
- One of the largest makers of flatware in the world today
6
Q
Shakers
A
- The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing
- Believed in equality of sexes but not in marriage
- Pacifists
- Practiced a communal and celibate lifestyle – “Virgin Purity”
- At its peak in the mid-19th century, there were 6,000 Shaker believers spread out in a number of communities from Maine to Kentucky
- Community grew by converts and adopting orphans – not by reproduction
- Because of celibacy the shaker communities largely faded out with time
7
Q
Utah Statehood
A
- 1847 Mormons arrive
- 1850 Territory annexed to the U.S.
- Brigham had 23 wives, normal mormons had one
- Mormon war (1857) - 2500 American troops invade Salt Lake City, viewed Mormons as threat to morality
- Petitions for Utah’s statehood were submitted in 1856, 1862, 1867, 1872, and 1882
- When Utah applied for statehood the next time, it was accepted.
- One of the conditions for granting Utah statehood was that a ban on polygamy be written into the Utah state constitution.
- Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896
- Became 45th state in the union
- Today Mormons represent the 4th largest Church in the United States
8
Q
Texas Statehood
A
- Domain of Spain well into the early19th century
- Becomes part of Mexico in 1821 when Mexico gains independence from Spain
- Mexican province of Tejas allowed American Stephen Austin to populate the north territory
- Austin sold land to other Americans who came with cotton and slaves
- By the 1830s Americans outnumbered Mexicans in the region
- Mexicans moved to ban further American immigration in the1830s
- American Texans rebelled
- Mexican army moves northward into Tejas region in the event of war
- Texas Independence was rough with constant border warfare with Mexico
- Texans wanted admission into the union
- Jackson had avoided because of slave state issue- probably would be another slave state
- President Van Buren also avoided for same reason
- In 1841 John Tyler was President with sudden death of Harrison after 32 days
- In 1844 he tried annexing Texas
- North did not want another slave state
- Senate rejected annexation
- March 1845 - Congress approves resolution offering Texas admission to US
- 15th slave state
9
Q
Mexican-American War
A
- Polk, an expansionist, (following Manifest Destiny) wanted more of Mexico’s land
- Mexico had trouble controlling its northern provinces but refused to sell to US
- Polk decided to use military force to get his way
- Orders General Zachary Taylor to invade Mexico
- Viewed as aggression, Mexico cavalry attack Americans on April 25,1846
- May 11th Polk asks Congress for a declaration of war
- Northern Whigs condemned the war
- Felt the war was being fought to promote and continue slavery in new lands
- Costly war in terms of lives lost
- 13,000 Americans and 50,000 Mexicans perished
- Less than 20% of Americans died from battle
- Most died from Disease
10
Q
Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo
A
- Signed on February 2, 1848 in Mexico City
- Mexico gives up all claims to Texas north of the Rio Grande
- Mexico agrees to cede New Mexico and California territory to the United States
- US agrees to pay Mexico $15 million and assume all existing American claims against Mexico
- March 1848 Senate ratifies treaty
- America triumphs!
- It gains tremendous land mass and now stretches from Atlantic to the Pacific
11
Q
Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
A
- 1848 – first national woman’s rights convention held in the United States
- At Seneca Falls, New York
- Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott
- Drafted the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
- Demanded civil liberties for women and to right the wrongs of society
- Wanted for women all the rights and privileges of citizens of the US
- Including voting rights
12
Q
Underground Railroad
A
- Network of secret routes and safe houses used by African-American slaves to escape into free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists
- Formed in early1800s. Reached height 1850-1860.
- Harriet Tubman made 13 trips to the South, helping to free over 70 people. Led people to the northern free states and Canada.
- “Moses of Her People”
13
Q
Harriet Tubman
A
- made 13 trips to the South, helping to free over 70 people. Led people to the northern free states and Canada.
- “Moses of Her People”
14
Q
Railroads (Transformed America)
A
- began with Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
- Iron production helped by railroad
- Samuel Morse - telegraph 1844
15
Q
Samuel Morse
A
- Painter and inventor
- Invented Morse code because wife’s death
