Growth of a New Nation(1783-1860)

Chapter 4

Land Acquisitions and Explorations• After the Revolutionary War, the newly formed United States

began expanding its territory in North America. The following is a list of important land acquisitions:

• Treaty of Paris(1783)- After the Revolutionary War, Great Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris. In the treaty, Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States and the border of the new nation. The border extended to Canada in the North, to the Mississippi River in the West, and the northern border of Spanish Florida in the South.

• Land Ordinance of 1785- This act, accomplished under the Articles of Confederation, stated that the land area from the Ohio River to the Mississippi River would be made into new states, each with the same rights as the original thirteen states. When each of the territories reached the required number of people, it could apply for statehood.

• The Louisiana Purchase(1803)- Wanting to secure United States trading on the Mississippi River, President Thomas Jefferson(1801-1809) sent representatives to France to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans. Initially, Napoleon was not interested in selling New Orleans because he hoped to revitalize the French colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere, including the Louisiana region and the island colony of Haiti. After Toussaint L’Ouverture led the people of Haiti to resist French control and Britain resumed its war with France, Napoleon surprised Jefferson by offering to sell not only New Orleans but the entire 900,000 square miles of the Louisiana region for the relatively small price of $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase was the United States’ largest land purchase, nearly doubling the country’s size. It marked a turning point for the new nation as it began to seek its economic prosperity not from England but from the new western lands. Is also marked a turning point for the Native Americans living in this area. The United States did not consult them regarding the purchase, but he westward expansion of the United States which followed led to the Native Americans’ destruction or expansion to tiny parcels of marginal land called reservations.

• Lewis and Clark expedition(1804-1806)- Even before the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson chose his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis(1774-1809), to lead an expedition to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis chose William Clark(1770-1838), to help him lead 48 others on this great adventure. They left from St. Louis in May 1804. Along the way, they met a very talented Native American Shoshone woman names Sacajawea(1787-1812). She became their translator and guide. With her help, they reached the Pacific coast in November 1805. Many people thought the explorers had died, geographic features and the native inhabitants of the Oregon and Louisiana territories. This exploration led to the rapid migration of settlers to the Pacific Northwest.

• Alabama was declared a state in 1819- Alabama’s admission restored the balance of slave states and free states caused by Illinois’ admission to the Union as a free state in 1818. Its constitution followed followed the ideas of Jacksonian Democracy in that it dropped the property qualification for voting. Alabama’s admission as a state was another step in the expansion of the Southeast.

President James Monroe• James Monroe, a democratic-Republican, was the fifth President of

the United States(1817-1825). During his presidency, the country experienced political unity. In addition, states cooperated with one another in the construction of interstates canals and railroads. For the first time, people began thinking of themselves as citizens of a nation, not a state. This national unity and optimistic mood during Monroe’s presidency is known as the Era of Good Feelings. The United States had always followed a policy of nonintervention in European affairs. The Monroe Doctrine(1823) strengthened this policy by declaring that the United States would not interfere in the internal affairs of European countries or in independent countries in the Americas. It went on to say that the United States would be viewed as an unfriendly act. Monroe concluded in his statement that the American continents should not be considered for further colonization by Europe. Great Britain agreed with the policy, and with British backing, the Monroe Doctrine became real policy. At this time, Britain had the strongest navy in the world and the power to enforce foreign policies.

Important Inventions• In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, a machine that separated the

seeds from the cotton. The gin made cotton the most profitable crop in the South. Soon, manufacturers in the South copied his invention. In response, Whitney turned to the manufacture of muskets(long rifles). In this industry, he introduced the idea of interchangeable parts, that is, each part of the musket was produced with such precision that it could fit with all the other parts. Whitney’s concept of interchangeable parts spread to other industries and became the basis for industrial development in the United States.

• In 1807, Robert Fulton used a steam-powered boat, the Clermont, to travel up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany in record time. Fulton’s journey showed that people could use the steam engine as a new means of power for transportation.

• In 1829, the British engineer George Stephenson, won a competition with his steam-powered locomotive, the Rocket. Though others had used steam engines to power locomotives, Stephenson’s Rocket could pull both freight and passengers faster than any other locomotive up to this time. The performance of the Rocket stimulated the production of trains and railroad lines. Also in 1829, the locomotive made its debut in the western hemisphere in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

Henry Clay’s American System• Henry Clay(1777-1852), a prominent senator from

Kentucky, was a Democratic-Republican. Under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, the Democratic-Republican Party had opposed a strong national government and favored giving more power to the state and local governments. The Democratic-Republican Party had also favored a rural economy over an industrial economy. However, the War of 1812 showed the dangers of relying too much on foreign imports. Henry Clay proposed a balance of these ideas in his plan called the American System.

Henry Clay’s American System(cont’d)• The plan included the following:

• A Protective Tariff- After the war, the young manufacturing industry in the United States could not compete with low-priced imports from Great Britain. Clay proposed a protective tariff(tax on imports) to keep American manufacturing growing. The tariff would raise the prices of the imported European goods, making the American products more competitive. Congress passed the Tariff of 1816 which raised tariffs on imports by 20%.

• Internal Improvements- To facilitate interstate commerce, Clay proposed internal improvements(better canals and roadways) funded by the federal government’s tariff revenue.

• A Strong National Bank- When the charter for the First Bank of the United States expired in 1811, the Democratic-Republicans did not renew it. Without a national bank, state banks issued their own bank notes(paper money). Many different kinds of bank notes from various states began to circulate making interstate commerce very difficult. Clay encouraged Congress to charter the Second Bank of the United States(1816) in order to stabilize currency and to hold government funds.

• Clay’s vision was that the tariff would protect the growing manufacturing industries in the Northeast. The money from the tariff would pay for improvements in roads and canals. With these improvements in transportation, the South and the West could buy the Northeast’s manufactured goods in exchange for food and raw materials. A strong national bank would stabilize this flow of commerce. He hoped his plan would bind the United States together economically and make it self-sufficient in war and peace.

Roads and Canals• During Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, Congress approved funding of

the National Road(1811-1818) which stretched westward from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, Virginia. The National Road was crude and often impassable, but by standards of that time, it was of high quality. Under Henry Clay’s initiative, the National Road was extended further West. By 1852, the National Road stretched from Cumberland, Maryland, to Vandalia, Illinois.

• Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal provided a new shipping route from Buffalo, New York, to Albany, New York. The canal’s success contributed to establishing New York City as the major commercial center of the United States.

• Steamboats became widely used. Inventors developed a flat bottomed steamboat that could travel the West’s shallow rivers. Before this, crews would sail flat boats filled with cargo down the Mississippi River. When they reached their port, they would dismantle the boat, sell it for lumber, and travel by horse or by foot back up the Mississippi. Steam engines led to the creation of the famous Mississippi riverboat.

President Andrew Jackson• In 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first man to rise from

childhood poverty to the office of President. He attained personal wealth and fortune through his own work, and although he was wealthy in his later years, he always identified with the frontiersman. The people elected Jackson because they felt he represented the common man. His presidency became known as Jacksonian Democracy because property qualifications for voting white males were dropped during his administration. Jackson openly allowed his friends and supporters to have high positions in government office. This policy became known as the Spoils System. The spoils system set a precedent for rewarding faithful supporters with government jobs and led to government corruption in some of the later presidential administrations. Jackson viewed changing the people in power as furthering the ideals of democracy. The people of the United States approved of Jackson’s philosophy because the majority of the people at this time were not highly educated.

• Later, Jackson experienced a serious test to the nation when South Carolina began protesting the high tariffs imposed on British goods. One of South Carolina’s senators, John Calhoun, took center stage in promoting the Doctrine of Nullification. This doctrine states: “If Congress passes a bill that is very harmful to a particular state, that state is not obligated to enforce the federal law. In addition, if ¾ of the states believe such a law to be unconstitutional, the law will be null and void.” Jackson never debated this issue, but he was prepared to call federal troops if South Carolina chose to secede. Senator Henry Clay proposed a compromise tariff bill that South Carolina could accept, and the dispute ended. However, the issues of states’ rights and secession would remain alive until the close of the Civil War.

The Indian Removal Act(1830)• Because he sympathized with white settlers in the Southeast who were

hungry for land and gold, Andrew Jackson, with the help of Congress, ordered the forced removal of five Native American Nations: Creeks-located in Alabama; Choctaws- located in Mississippi; Chickasaws-located in Mississippi; Seminoles- located in Florida; and Cherokees- located in Georgia. These people were forced onto reservations in present-day Oklahoma. The Oklahoma land was chosen because the people at the time thought the land was a desert and unsuitable for farming. Most Native Americans resisted this Indian Removal Act and appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Chief Justice Marshall ruled that the Indian Nations had the right to their land and could not be forcibly removed. Jackson, however, sent troops to remove the Native Americans and completely disregarded the authority of the Supreme Court. Jackson’s policies were especially harsh on the Cherokee Nation. These Cherokees were the same people that had previously helped Jackson win his battle with the Creeks of Alabama at Horseshoe Bend. Jackson now turned against this nation friendly to him and forced its people on a march of 800 miles to the lands of Oklahoma. Over one quarter of the people died on this Trail of Tears(1838-1839) from disease, starvation, and exposure to the bitter cold.

The Trails• Fur trappers and traders were the first people to explore the western

states. Their trails become routes for settlers who later went West. The following is a list of well-known trails:

• The Oregon Trail- This trail was started by Nathaniel Wyeth, who led an expedition(1832) to colonize the coast of Oregon by the Columbian River. Wyeth’s colonization attempt failed. However, his careful notes of the area provided new settlers with a way to reach the Pacific Coast. The rich soil and constant rainfall drew settlers to the Oregon area.

• The Mormon Trail- The Mormons were a religious group persecuted for their beliefs in special revelations and polygamy(marriage to more than one wife). They moved from town to town in the United States. Under the leadership of Brigham Young, the Mormons left Nauvoo, Illinois, and traveled(1846-1847) to the Salt Lake area of present-day Utah. Deemed infertile by most, this land prospered as irrigation was introduced.

• The California Trail- After gold was discovered(January 4, 1868) at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento, tens of thousands of people in search of riches trekked to California. This migration of people is known as the Gold Rush of 1849. The trail westward began in Independence, Missouri. Overnight, it seemed California was being settled and developed. Most miners did not find their fortunes, but land speculators, restaurant and hotel owners, and the Mormons of Salt Lake City profited greatly from this movement to northern California.

• The Santa Fe Trail- Also beginning in Independence, Missouri, the Santa Fe Trial was a wagon route that President Monroe ordered established to increase trading with Mexico in Santa Fe. This trail increased desire for later United States expansion into the Southwest.

Texas Independence• In 1822, Stephen Austin(1793-1836) brought a group of settlers to

Texas, a part of Mexico that was only sparsely populated by the Spanish and native Mexicans. By 1830, there were more than 20,000 settlers from the United States in Texas. Many of the new settlers had violated Mexican law by bringing slaves with them. They also began talking of breaking away from Mexico. After an unsuccessful revolt by a small group of Texans in 1826, the Mexican government restricted further immigration. In 1834, General Antonio Santa Anna(1794-1876) assumed dictatorial power over the Mexican government, dispensed with the Mexican constitution, and tightened his control over the United States settlers in Texas. In response, Sam Houston(1793-1863) led the settlers to fight and take over cities. Santa Anna answered with military force, killing all of the Texans in an old mission near San Antonio called the Alamo(March 6, 1836). Just four days earlier, a convention of 59 Anglo-American Texan delegates had declared the Republic of Texas independent from Mexico. After a series of battles, the Texans defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto(April21, 1836) and took him hostage.

• In exchange for his freedom, Santa Anna promised to recognize the Republic of Texas. However, he still held claim to the land north of the Rio Grande to the Nueces River. The Mexican congress rejected Santa Anna’s agreement with the Texans, and hoped to regain Texas. The Texans, however, applied to be annexed(added) to the United States. For the next several years, debate raged in Congress over whether to admit Texas into the Union. Northerners were hesitant because Texas would be admitted as a slave state. They feared the state could be divided into several smaller states and disrupt the balance in the Senate between slave and free states. From 1836-1845, Texas existed as its own country. In the last days of his term, President John Tyler called for a joint resolution of Congress admitting Texas to the Union. The resolution passed, and Texas was admitted as a slave state in 1845.

The Mexican-American War• Mexico considered the United States’ annexation of Texas an act of

aggression. This did not weaken the territorial desires of the newly elected U.S. President, James K. Polk, who was a strong believer in Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was God’s will for the United States to expand and eventually possess the entire continent. In June 1845, Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico to negotiate the purchase of California and New Mexico(the area between Texas and California). After the Mexican president refused to meet with Slidell, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to move his troops into the disputed territory between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers(March 8, 1845). In response, the Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande and attacked Taylor’s forces. Immediately, Polk demanded that Congress declare war on Mexico, which it did on May 13,1846. One month later, settlers from California, unaware of the war, declared their independence from Mexico and formed the Bear Flag Republic. United States forces overpowered Mexican troops in the Mexican-American War(1846-1848). When U.S. troops marched into Mexico City, the Mexicans surrendered. In a peace treaty, Mexico gave up half its land, selling the territories of California and New Mexico to the United States for the equivalent of $18 million. This immense land purchase added 1,200,000 square miles to the United States, nearly fulfilling the country’s Manifest Destiny.

Literature of the United States• Literature in the young republic flourished in the

1800s. Filled with the freedom of a vast frontier and the optimism of a fresh start, American writers created a literature that mirrored the newly forming nation. Their ideas reflected nationalism as they used settings and themes unique to the United States. Writers such as Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman envisioned an ideal America that questioned industrialization. Others such as Poe, Dickinson, and Hawthorne addressed the Darker side of humanity.

• Noah Webster(1758-1843) distinguished the language used in the United States from the language of Britain when he produced the first American Dictionary of the English Language(1828).

• Ralph Waldo Emerson(1803-1882) was an essayist and a poet known for his eloquent speech and poetic language. Emerson was a leader in the transcendental movement. Transcendentalists believed truth could be found beyond the physical world and that all humans share in the spiritual unity of creation. They believed in individualism and self-reliance and had a reverence for nature.

• Henry David Thoreau(1817-1863) was a writer, philosopher, and naturalist. He wrote about his motivation from living apart from society, his simple lifestyle, and his observance of nature. His most famous works are Walden(1854) and “Civil Disobedience”(1849).

• Walt Whitman(1819-1892) was a poet who emphasized the great worth of each individual. He believed in a oneness of all humanity, and he captured the idealistic spirit of his time in his poetry. His break from the traditional poetic styles of his days had a major influence on American literature.

• Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864) was a novelist who wrote about sin, punishment, and atonement. Two of his most famous novels are The Scarlet Letter(1850) and The House of Seven Gables(1851).

• Washington Irving(1753-1859) began his writing career after a short time practicing law. He was the first American writer to gain international fame. He wrote the short stories “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (1820).

• Edgar Allen Poe(1809-1849) was a poet and also a master of the short-story. He is also famous for his mysterious and macabre tales such as “The Tall-Tale Heart” (1843) and his poem “The Raven”(1845).

• James Fenimore Cooper(1759-1851) was a novelist who became known as the first great American writer. He idealized American life in his action-packed novels such as The Last of the Mohicans(1826).

• Emily Dickinson(1830-1886) wrote more than 1800 poems while living in seclusion. Shoe wrote about love, death, and immortality, but only a few were published before her death. Today she is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential poets of the United States.

• Herman Melville(1819-1910) based his novels on his experiences in the U.S. Navy. His greatest work is Moby Dick(1851), dedicated to his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne.

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1807-1882) was a very popular poet during the early 1800s. He used simple styles and themes, and his poetry is still popular today. He wrote “Paul Revere’s Ride” (1861).

Social Utopias• After suffering persecution in other countries, certain

religious groups came to the United States searching for freedom and safety. They hoped for a peaceful place where they could live according to their own unique principles. During the time of Westward expansion(1850-1900), many social thinkers started creating utopian communities. In theory, these communities would be harmonious and provide the world with the best example of how to live. Several important communities that were started at this time included the Amish, the Mennonites, the Shakers, and the Quakers. Both the Amish and the Mennonites established themselves in parts of Pennsylvania, the Midwest, and Canada. Their objective was to keep religious purity by living a life of simplicity and hard work. They used the German language in worship, and, even today, they live in predominantly agricultural communities in which the individual works for the good of the community.

• Established in 1776, Shakers followed the spiritual leadership of Ann Lee(1736-1784). All Shakers believed in renouncing marriage in favor of celibacy(single life without sex). Their movement, while lasting only a few decades, produced a simple furniture style called “Shaker style,” which is well-known for its plainness and high quality. Founded by George Fox(1624-1691), the Quakers started as a group of individuals who believed that each person was gifted with “the inner light.” This group gained many followers in the English Colonies in North America. They are noted for their belief in personal divine revelation, usually accompanied by a worshiper shaking or “quaking,” as well as their objection to war, slavery, and mistreatment of Native Americans.

Social Reform Movements• Horace Mann(1796-1859) was an influential American educator who

advocated the education of both men and women through public funding. He opposed corporal punishment in schools, and he helped to create the state board of education in Massachusetts, the first in the United States. He also helped establish state hospitals for the insane and spoke against the sale of alcoholic beverages and lottery tickets.

• Dorothea Dix(1802-1887) impacted society by promoting legislation to improve mental institutions and prisons. Through her efforts, institutions for the insane and poor were created in 20 states and Canada. She also influenced improvements in prisons and housing for the poor in Europe.

• During the early 19th century, the Temperance Movement(1850s) began gaining momentum. Members of this movement wanted to moderate the use of alcohol. Later, they advocated total abstinence from alcohol. In the 1850s, they supported the Maine Laws which regulated or prohibited the sale of alcohol. Interest in the Temperance Movement declined during the Civil War but revived in the subsequent decade.

• The Abolition Movement(1830-1865) gained momentum to put an end to slavery. Abolitionists believed slavery was wrong, and they advocated laws to abolish it(put an end to it). The following people were famous supporters of the abolition movement.

• Harriet Tubman(c. 1820-1913) was a hero of the abolition movement. She escaped slavery by running away to the North. Later, she returned to the South secretly nineteen times in order to lead others to freedom by using the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad was not actually a railroad but a network of people who helped slaves escape to the northern United States or Canada.

• Fredrick Douglas(1817-1895) was so smart and so well-spoken that his opponents refused to believe that he had once been a slave. After escaping slavery in Maryland, he educated himself and became the most prominent African American speaker for the abolition of slavery. He worked with John Brown but would not support the Harper’s Ferry raid(1859).

• Harriet Beecher Stowe(1811-1896) furthered the abolitionist cause through her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin(1852). Though she was white and had never been a slave, her fictional account of the horrible experiences of a slave family motivated many people in the North and in Britain to support the movement to abolish slavery.

• Sojourner Truth(c. 1797-1883) was born into slavery but was freed once in New York emancipated slaves in 1828. Though illiterate, she became well-known and respected for her eloquent and charismatic speaking. As an abolitionist, she called for the equality of people of all colors. She also supported the equality of men and women by speaking for women’s rights.

• William Lloyd Garrison(1805-1879) initially supported gradual emancipation but later came to believe complete and immediate emancipation was necessary. He founded an influential, anti-slavery newspaper called The Liberator(1831), and he helped establish the national American Anti-Slavery Society(1833).

• The Women’s Right Movement also began to gain momentum in the 1850s. Two women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, are best known for starting and supporting this movement.

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) organized the first women’s rights convention known as the Seneca Falls Convention(1848). She believed men and women were created equal and fought for women’s right to vote. She also advocated the abolition of slavery.

• Susan B.Anthony(1820-1906) supported the temperance movement to ban alcohol, the abolition movement to free slaves, and the women’s rights movement. She is best known for joining with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to fight for women’s rights and, in particular, women’s right to vote. Women who supported the right to vote were known as suffragettes. It was their efforts that changed the constitution with the 19th Amendment in 1920.