U.S. History 101Chapter 10 Democracy in America
• Republican Virtues – self-reliance, hard work, frugality, harmony, and sacrificing individual needs for the common good.
• US population 1780 – 2.7 million 1830 – 12 million Why? Average birthrate ~5 children
• Effects of a Mobile SocietyGreat opportunity to improve your lifeImproved social skills to deal with new
people and settings• Marriage
Courtship – longer periods of getting to know potential spouse
The Triumph of Democracy
• After the original 13 States, there was no requirement of owning property to vote.
• “non-freeholders”
• By 1829 only Virginia, NC, and RI had property requirements
• Personal independence necessary was the requirement to vote by 1860.
Tocqueville on Democracy
• Alexis de Tocqueville• French writer wrote
Democracy in America
• 1840 90% adult white men were eligible to vote
• More then just the right to vote or particular set of political institutions
• “habit of the heart”• Individual initiative• Belief in equality• Active public sphere• Voluntary organization to
improve society
• Idea that sovereignty belongs to the mass of ordinary citizens
• Founding Fathers sought to sheild political authority form excessive influence by ordinary people.
Voting Requirements in the Early 19th Century
Limits of Democracy
• By the 1830s Andrew Jackson’s presidency “The People” ruled had become a universally accepted part of American politics
• Prohibited women and non-whites
Information Revolution
• Mass-circulation “penny press”
• New York Sun and New York Herald: introduced a new style of journalism• Sensationalism• Crime stories• expose-s of official
misconduct
• By 1840• U.S. 17 million pop• Europe 233 million
pop
• There was a larger circulation of newspapers in the U.S.
The Pony ExpressThe Pony Express
• Delivered news and mail between St. Louis, MO and San Francisco, CA
• Took 10 days
• Replaced by the transcontinental telegraph line
• Political Parties need newspapers supported their views
• 1820s and 1830s• Freedom’s Journal• The Liberator• Cherokee Phoenix
A Racial Democracy
• White actors in blackface
• Portraying African-Americans as stupid, dishonest, ridiculous
• Jim Crow: created by Thomas D. Rice
• Herman Melville Moby Dick and Benito Cereno
• Portrayed complex, sometimes heroic black characters
Race and Class
• New York 1821 • Removed property
qualifications for white voters and raised requirement for blacks to $250.
• 1860, blacks could vote on the same basis as whites only in 5 NE States
• Revolutionary generation had thought of African-Americans as “citizens of color” potential members of the body politic
• Race had replaces class as the boundary between those American men who were entitled to enjoy political freedom and those where were not.
The American System
• First Bank of the United States ended in 1811: ended common currency
• Second Bank of the United States 1816 charter for 20 years• Private, profit-making
corporation• Ensuring paper money
issued by local banks had real value
• Today: only the federal government issues paper money determined by the Federal Reserve Bank
• 19th century currency was a promissory note back by gold.
Acquisition of FloridaSeminole War of 1818
Adams-Onís Treaty
• Pinckney Treaty 17951. Southern Boundaries2. U.S. Citizens free
use of the Miss River3. Spain and U.S.
agreed to control the Native population from attacking each other
• 1810 Americans moved into eastern and western Florida
• Rebellions in South America• March 1818: General
Jackson, promised the procession of Florida within 60 days
• Burned Seminole villages, captured Spanish towns
• Spain agreed to cede the territory
Acquisition of FloridaSeminole War of 1818
Adams-Onís Treaty
Missouri Compromise 1820
• North Congressmen rejected Missouri entering as a slave state.
• Worried that another slave state would increase the power of the South in the Senate
• 11 Free 11 Slave
• Southerners believed the Federal Government should no be allowed to decide.
• IF the Federal Government could forbid slavery in Missouri, they feared it could do so elsewhere
Henry Clay’s deal
1. Slavery would not be restricted in Missouri, Maine became a Free State, and balanced the Senate 12 to 12
2. Congress agreed that as the U.S. expanded westward, territories north of 36 30’ latitude in the Louisiana Purchase would be closed to slavery
“Our policy, in regard to Europe…is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to consider the government de facto as the legitimate government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy; meeting, in all instances, the just claims of every power; submitting to injuries from none…It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent, without endangering our peace and happiness.”
-President James MonroeDecember 2, 1823“Monroe Doctrine”
Monroe Doctrine 12/2/1823
1. U.S. would not become involved In internal affaires of European countries, nor take sides
2. U.S. recognized the existing colonies and states in the Western Hemisphere and would not interfere with them
3. The U.S. would not permit any further colonization of the Western Hemisphere
4. Any attempt by European power to take control of any nation in the W.H. would be viewed as a hostile action towards the U.S.
Elections of 1824
• “Corrupt Bargain”
• Andrew Jackson won the most votes in the electoral college, but not the majority and the popular vote
• House of Representative voted to decide the lection
• Henry Clay used his influence as speaker of the House to swing enough votes to John Quincy Adams to give him the victory
• Adams made Secretary of State
• Andrew Jackson
• John Quincy Adams• First Picture ever
taken of a President
John Quincy Adams Along with Sec. of State Henry Clay, promotes American
System which saw govt promote economic development and pass protective tariffs encouraging business growth
• Democratic (Jeffersonian) Republican Party splits Jacksonian Democrats National Republicans
• 1828 – Andrew Jackson wins Largely due to relaxing voting laws
(i.e. you no longer had to own land)
Henry Clay
“The Great Compromiser”
• “The Spoils System” aka patronage • Relied on his “Kitchen Cabinet”• Vetoed more bills than all presidents before him.• Nullification Crisis
Congress passed the Tariff of 1828 heavily taxing imports Hurt the South since it increased the cost of manufactured goods.
Called it the “Tariff of Abominations.” South Carolina, led by VP and ex-Sen. John Calhoun declared states
could nullify federal laws they viewed as unconstitutional In 1832, they nullified a new tariff and threatened to secede Jackson threatened to send in troops, but Henry Clay negotiated a
compromise reducing the tariff and SC cancelled the nullification• Vetoed a bill re-chartering the Second Bank of the United
States Moved money to pet banks in the states. The lack of a plan to deal
with national finances led to the Panics of 1837 and 1839.
Age of Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Indian Removal Act of 1830
• Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes forced of 100 million acres of fertile land
• Gave Natives land in parts of the Louisiana Purchase in exchange fore their land
“Five Civilized Tribes”
Forcibly moved to present day OK
100,000 people
Trail of Tears1838 – 15,000 Cherokees are forced to walk over 1,000
miles from GA to OK 25% die.
• Supreme Court Cases
• Johnson v. M’Intosh 1823• Indians were not in
fact owners of their land, but merely had “right of occupancy”
• Cherokee Nation v. Georgia 1831• Chief Justice John
Marshall described Indians as “wards” of the federal government: deserved paternal regard and protection, but no citizenship
