Jacksonian Democracy and Westward Expansion

Question 1

To foreign visitors, how was the U.S. viewed in the mid 1800’s?

Answer 1

equality of condition and egalitarian spirit - the age of the common man.

Question 2

What contributed to 1824 being the most enthusiastic national election to date?

Answer 2

Most states had eliminated property qualifications for voting and the electoral college was almost universally elected by the people.

Question 3

Who won the election of 1824?

Answer 3

Andrew Jackson won 43 percent of the votes, but not enough electoral votes. The House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams.

Question 4

What were John Quincy Adams’ presidential objectives?

Answer 4

Internal improvements and Indian affairs.

Question 5

What was John Calhoun’s concurrent majority policy?

Answer 5

A federal law that was deemed harmful to a state could be declared null and void within that state by a convention of the people.

Question 6

Describe the presidency of Andrew Jackson?

Answer 6

Elected in 1828, Andrew Jackson was popular with the common man. A self-made westerner he used the veto power more than any previous president. By the end of his second term he was known as King Andrew because of this.

Question 7

What was Jackson’s indian policy?

Answer 7

He supported the removal of Indian tribes to west of the Mississippi. The Cherokee nation won a case with the supreme court declaring them a sovereign political entity, but Jackson vetoed their ruling which resulted in the Trail of Tears.

Question 8

Describe the Tariff conflict between Andrew Jackson and his vice president John Calhoun

Answer 8

Jackson was a defender of the state rights, but within the context of a dominant union. Jackson supported higher taxes and Calhoun resigned. Calhoun drafted a bill in his home state of South Carolina that ordered officials to stop collecting taxes. Jackson collected the taxes by force while gradually reducing taxes.

Question 9

What was the central issue of Jackson’s second term

Answer 9

Jackson voiced antagonism toward the national bank and his intention to destroy it. The Secretary of Treasury tightened credit and a recession ensued. Jackson forced credit policies to relax and the government offered western land for cheap. The National Bank demanded payment in cash and depression ensued. Americans were frustrated.

Question 10

Who became president after Andrew Jackson?

Answer 10

William Henry Harrison died a month after inauguration

Question 11

How did the age of Jackson change the political landscape of the U.S.?

Answer 11

The modern 2-party system emerged and emotional appeal became the accepted style.

Question 12

What were the two parties that emerged during the Jackson administration?

Answer 12

The democrats opposed big government and were supported by the working class. Whigs promoted government participation and were cautious of expansion. They were supported by big industry.

Question 13

Describe the American state of affairs in 1840

Answer 13

Transition and instability with many seeking reform and others seeking order and control. The population was restless, committed to progress, hard working and hard playing with a lean toward violence.

Question 14

Describe the Romantic culture of the Jacksonian era

Answer 14

In response to the enlightenment, Romanticism believed in the innate goodness of man and therefore the ability to improve. Literature reflected this with themes of independence, individualism and the value of tradition.

Question 15

Describe southern literature in the Romantic Jacksonian era

Answer 15

Edgar Allen Poe wrote in darkness, others defended the slave system and others used vulgar, earthy language to paint the common southerner

Question 16

What was the Hudson River School?

Answer 16

During the Romantic period, the Hudson River School was a school of painters who painted the awesome landscape of the U.S.

Question 17

What was transcendentalism?

Answer 17

Originating in the Northeast, transcendentalists sought to transcend the bounds of the intellect and strive for emotional understanding, to attain unity with God, without the help of the organized church.

Question 18

Who were two major writers of the mid 19th century American Literature?

Answer 18

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau

Question 19

Describe the increase in utopian societies in the mid 19th century

Answer 19

The Romantic belief of the goodness of man and ability to improve prompted people to form societies that attempted to improve the life of the common man in the face of increasing impersonal industrialism.

Question 20

Describe the birth of the Mormon religion

Answer 20

Joseph Smith received his writings in 1830 but was killed by a mob before being led by Brigham Young to Salt Lake City. The church was successful because it was highly organized and centrally controlled. It provided security and order.

Question 21

Describe the increase of public schools in the mid-19th century.

Answer 21

Some wanted students to learn self-fulfillment and how to succeed in a republic. Others wanted schools to be agencies of social control. The state purpose was to instill thrift, order, discipline and democracy.

Question 22

Describe other reforms during the mid-19th century

Answer 22

higher education increased, more humane treatment for mentally ill, prisons began to rehabilitate, feminism gained some traction

Question 23

Describe the abolitionist movement that began in 1831

Answer 23

William Lloyd Garrison called for immediate emancipation and Fredrick Douglas became a voice as an escaped slave. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was influential.

Question 24

Describe how the adult public was educated in the mid-19th century

Answer 24

The golden age of oratory, newspapers and magazines multiplied, women read magazines, colleges sprang up, lyceums became popular

Question 25

Describe daily life in the south in the mid-1800’s

Answer 25

Primitive housing, corn and pork diet (vitamin deficiencies) and Rickets was common.

Question 26

What was the southern response to the antislavery movement?

Answer 26

The south became more defensive of their position and used the Bible to justify it. The gag rule forbade any discussion of slavery on the house floor. Westward expansion intensified the debate.

Question 27

What was manifest destiny?

Answer 27

The belief that American liberty should be spread to all and that the U.S. should occupy the entire continent.

Question 28

Why did the far west become intriguing to Americans?

Answer 28

Fur and other trades with the orient made the western ports appealing.

Question 29

What was the Adams-Onis treaty of 1819?

Answer 29

The U.S. and Britain agreed on a joint occupation of the disputed Oregon territory.

Question 30

What was the Texas question of the early 19th century?

Answer 30

Texas needed a larger population to pay for its young government, by ‘35 there were 35k Americans living there. Mexican officials sought to keep control of there ever-americanizing territory so they restricted immigration and increased taxes. Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans in 1836 and Texas was liberated.

Question 31

Describe the William Henry Harrison administration.

Answer 31

The shortest, lasting only one month, Harrison relied on Whig advice from Henry Clay but his successor John Tyler rejected the Whig agenda.

Question 32

Describe the John Tyler Administration.

Answer 32

Taking over after William Henry Harrison, John Tyler rejected the Whig agenda and passed the Preemption act of 1841 which allowed settlers who had squatted on unsurveyed federal lands the first chance to buy the land when the government sold it.

Question 33

What was the Webster-Ashburton treaty?

Answer 33

During the Tyler administration, the treaty addressed the Canada-Maine border, the Caroline Affair and other British naval incidents. It established an atmosphere of compromise between the two.

Question 34

Describe the Polk presidency

Answer 34

An adept politician and effective president, James Polk was a Jacksonian who favored low taxes. He successfully navigated the Mexican-American war.

Question 35

What was the Oregon Treaty?

Answer 35

In 1846 the current U.S.-Canada boundary east of the Rockies was extended to the Pacific (49*)

Question 36

Why did Mormons migrate west?

Answer 36

John Smith announced a new doctrine of Polygamy which upset both Mormons and non-mormons. He was killed in Jail and Brigham Young led the colony to Utah where he was made Governor until the Mormon War (confrontation of the Mormon Militia with federal troops.)

Question 37

What sparked American interest in southwestern lands held by Mexico?

Answer 37

Trading on the Santa Fe trail, the success of trappers and guides, whaling ships on the Pacific.

Question 38

What led to conflict with Mexico?

Answer 38

Mexico’s government was ineffective and unable to protect Americans, they were bitter about the loss of Texas, the boundary of Texas was still disputed, Mexico had inflamed its people against Americans. Also, Americans feared that Britain would take California from the Mexicans.

Question 39

What caused Mexico to break diplomatic relations with the U.S.?

Answer 39

Texas’ admission to the Union.

Question 40

Describe the Mexican-American War

Answer 40

Polk skillfully designed a three-pronged attack. After success on the Pacific, in the west and southward into Mexico, the Mexicans still refused to negotiate. Polk began to march inland to take Mexico City. When they reached the city, Mexico still refused to negotiate. Finally, after entering the city the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed (1848).

Question 41

What was agreed upon at the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo?

Answer 41

In 1848 the U.S. took the California Territory including the harbors of San Diego and San Francisco.