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Regional Changes in the Era of Good Feelings and the Age of Jackson, 1815 - 1836

The Rise of a New Nation, 1815 - 1837

“The Era of Good Feelings” Leaving at the height of his popularity – with Americans still giddy over their surprising ability to acquit themselves of the British during the War of 1812, Madison was able to tap his own successor, fellow Virginian James Monroe. The Federalist Party was in its death throes after the boorish behavior of the Essex Junto at the Hartford Convention. All appeared to be well.

{Internal Improvements – a series of nation building projects which were expected to create economic interdependence in America, binding the nation together where regional differences had emerged. In order to carry out these initiatives, tax dollars would be put to work. Projects like the Cumberland Road would be extended over the years to unify the nation.Monroe Endorses

Internal Improvements in America

{While divisions were emerging during this period of US History, a general sense of deference to the Congressional leadership to solve major problems was evident throughout the period. The “Great Triumvirate” of Clay, Calhoun, and Webster would drive the Senate through the 1850s.The Era of Good Feelings

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Clay sought an interdependent, free market economy to unify the regions.

If the West produced food, the South produced Cotton, and the New England states operated the factories and shipping, the nation would be less dependent upon Europe.

Internal Improvements were needed to facilitate trade.

Power should be in the hands of the Congress, not the Presidency.

Henry Clay’s “American System” for Unified Growth

{The 2nd National Bank was chartered under Monroe, with Congress providing 20% of the start-up capital - $7 Million – and appoint one-third of the Bank’s directors. While many Republicans endorsed the ideas of measured growth which the National Bank encouraged, others viewed it as a hindrance to economic opportunities. Westerners in particular thought that the bank had too much power over the governments’ finances.

The American System

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The construction of roads and transportations systems were central to the American System – allowing for economic and social unity between regions. The primary emphasis was placed on roads, canal systems, and the improvement of ports and harbors to facilitate trade. The extension of the national road was key to the settlement of the “Old Northwest” – what we would call the Great Lakes region and the Heartland today.

The American System

{The Telegraph was the first major leap in technology which impacted the communication industry – but it would not become practical until the 1840s, when Samuel F.B. Morse brought the invention back with him from Paris. Until then, the construction of roads – which facilitated the delivery of mail – was the improvement of communication! Communication

Systems

The Protective Tariff

Debate over the relative value of Tariffs would continue throughout the antebellum period – and the tax on imported goods was usually controversial. While northern businessmen and manufacturers enjoyed the protective tariff – because it drove up the price of foreign goods – farmers in the South and West were opposed to the increase in prices. Southern plantation owners – exporters of cotton – feared that a trade war might ensue with England, as well, which was seeking cotton from other sources.

The Protective Tariff

Monroe’s Accomplishments

The Cumberland Road – Virginia to Maryland

The Erie Canal

Monroe assuredly realized the potential of the Erie Canal, which would link New York City with all of the port cities of the Middle West by way of the Hudson River. However, smart planning by Dewitt Clinton and the state of New York got the project accomplished without any federal funding, thus, allowing the state to reap all of the benefits of the trade along the canal from Albany to Buffalo.

The Invention of the Steamboat – Robert Fulton

At least one major Supreme Court case involved interstate trade and the steamboat; during this period the Supreme Court clearly established the supremacy of federal law over the states: McCullough V. Maryland: The Supreme Court

ruled that the states could not impose taxes on federal institutions. Marshall confirmed that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.

Gibbons V. Ogden: The Supreme Court rules that states have no right to grand licenses in competition with the federal government. (State vs. federal licenses to a steamboat ferry..)

Federal Supremacy

Monroe’s Foreign Policy

{ {Rush-Bagot Treaty, 1817 The Rush-Bagot

Treaty essentially demilitarized the Great Lakes region, lessening concerns over the outbreak of hostilities.

Convention of 1818 Fishing rights were

affirmed for both nations.

The 49th Parallel was established as a border between the nations.

Joint occupation of the Oregon Territory would continue.

Resolving Disputes with England

During the First Seminole War of 1819, Andrew Jackson had violated the territorial integrity of Spanish Florida repeatedly. While pursuing runaway slaves and Seminole tribe members, Jackson had taken over several Spanish forts he had deemed hostile. The Adam-Onis Treaty of 1819 simply affirmed the practical reality – Spain was an American Empire in decline.The Acquisition of

Florida

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The issuance of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 was posturing in grand form. The United States, militarily, had little expectation that we might uphold the policy forbidding the colonization of subjects in the Western Hemisphere. But, as it happened, few European nations attempted to intervene.

The Monroe Doctrine, 1823

{Economic recessions almost always exacerbate differences, and the growing sectional interests in America were amplified by economic recession. The entry of Missouri into the Union in 1820 caused a political crisis, as the future of slavery in the West was wrestled with intellectually for the first time.

The Missouri Compromise

Maine entered the Union as a free state in 1820.

Missouri entered the Union as a slave state in 1821.

A line at 36° 30’ would determine the future of slavery in the West. To the South of the line, slavery would be allowed. To the North of the Line, slavery would be banned.

The Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise

{An Age of Democratization and Andrew Jackson’s Ascension

New Politics – and the End of The Era of Good Feelings

The Corrupt Bargain, 1824

In 1824, Andrew Jackson won the popular vote in a disputed election. The Republican Party was hopelessly divided and four regional candidates emerged: William Crawford, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson. Surprisingly, Jackson won the popular vote. But since the Electoral College was not resolved, Congress settled the election in John Quincy Adams favor.

Increase tariffs to protect industry and pay for national projects.

Promotion of internal improvements in agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing.

The support of the 2nd National Bank. Federal monies to support the

promotion of “the elegant arts” such as literature and science.

He is despised by the South for all of the above positions – and for being fervently anti-slavery.

John Quincy Adams

During Adams time in office, dramatic changes take place in the nature of democratic participation.

Land requirements for voters virtually disappear. Only five of the 24 states in the Union had property requirements for voting in 1828.

Several Western States were admitted to the Union from the “Old Northwest.”

The number of voters participating in elections triples between 1824 and 1828 – from just over 350,000 eligible voters in 1824 to well over one million in 1828.

Universal White Man’s Suffrage?

All states continued to ban women from participating in elections. Some states, due to semantics, had allowed women to cast ballots if they controlled property at the start of the century, but the practice was soon discontinued.

Almost all African-Americans were banned from voting – including free blacks.

Voter Restrictions, 1820s

The Growth of Faction and the Evolution of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson considered himself the direct representative of the people, and railed against the tools of aristocracy: for example, the National Bank. Although it would take him some time to ascend to the Presidency, his time in office marked an important change in the way Americans viewed the nature of our democracy. The new voters in American supported Jackson!

{ {John Quincy Adams

Cold, Aristocratic.

Corrupt?

Anti-Slavery

New England Partisan

Andrew Jackson

Militant, uncouth.

Honest, integrity.

States Rights

A Man for All Regions

The Election of 1828

Andrew Jackson Landslide

Jackson rewarded political loyalty via patronage – “The Spoils System.”

Jackson sought to reform – indeed renounce – the financial systems of the federal government, including the 2nd National Bank.

Jackson sought to manage Indian affairs actively.

He sought to reform internal improvements and public land policy.

He believed, ultimately, in the supremacy of the Federal Government over the states and the right of taxation. Jacksonian Democracy:

Characteristic of his Presidency

“The Spoils System”

‘To the victors go the spoils.’ Jackson was shameless in appointing political supporters, friends, and admirers to civil service jobs. He believed that most men were capable of performing the duties of government positions, and that there would be little or decrease in the quality of the work. He fired John Quincy Adams men without remorse – and for no particular reason.

Jackson views the bank as an alliance between government and aristocratic interests that favor the wealthy.

He refused to re-charter the bank when Whigs in Congress attempt to extend it’s influence.

Then, to end the influence of the bank, he begins withdrawing funds and depositing them in favored “pet banks.”

Andrew Jackson and the 2nd National Bank

The 2nd National Bank Destroyed

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The so-called “Tariff of Abominations” – which placed a high tax on imported goods and hurt Southern and Western consumers particularly hard – was a point of much contention. John C. Calhoun – who actually sponsored the bill when he was as Senator – was it’s greatest enemy during Jackson’s term.

The Nullification Crisis

After considerable debate, the Tariff of Abominations eventually produced a major crisis in America.

Robert Hayne of South Carolina and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts argued over the tariff in one of the great debates of the century.

John C. Calhoun publically denounced the President’s support of the Tariff. At a state dinner, he toasted, “The Union – next to our liberty most dear.”

Andrew Jackson’s rejoinder, “Our Federal Union – it must be preserved!” was a preview of the coming conflict.

In 1832, John C. Calhoun resigned the Vice Presidency and vowed to support the notion of nullification in SC.

Jackson and Calhoun

South Carolina’s Nullification Act - 1832

Jackson, after threatening to hang John C. Calhoun from a sour apple tree, responded forcefully.

He reinforced all of the federal positions along the coast of South Carolina.

Congress passed the Force Act in order to compel South Carolina to abide by federal law.

Eventually, the tariff was reduced and South Carolina withdrew its nullification of the Tariff of Abominations.

However, the state legislature immediately nullified the Force Act – which Jackson ignored. The larger issue, then, remained unresolved.

Jackson’s Response

{Cherokee

Choctaws

Seminoles

Creeks

Chickasaw

The Five Civilized Tribes

{As Southern planters moved further and further west, encroachments upon the territories of the five civilized tribes were inevitable. Most of the tribes, though, had devoted themselves to the assimilation process. Some had adopted plantation agriculture, and even owned slaves. But the assimilation – and particularly the economic success enjoyed by some tribes, provoke more hostility.

Cotton Plantations

{The Cherokee had perhaps done more to assimilate into American society than any other tribe. They had a bicameral legislature, a court system, well-trained lawyers that participate in the American legal system, a written language – created by George Guess (Sequoyah) – and even two newspapers.

The Case of the Cherokee

{Jackson – who had shown his Indian-hating side at the Battle of Horseshoe bend and during the Seminole Wars – encouraged the removal of all Indian tribes to points west of the Mississippi River. The Indian Removal Act authorized the purchase of all Native American Territory and their relocation to the West.

The Indian Removal Act of 1830

{When the Cherokee constitution was nullified by the state of Georgia and the discovery of gold on their land led to the eviction of the Cherokee from their territory, the Supreme Court refused to hear their case. Claiming that the Cherokee were a dependent nation without the right to bring their grievances to court, Marshall threw out the case.

Cherokee Nation V. Georgia (1831)

{When a similar case is brought forth by a group of missionaries working on the Cherokee’s reservations, the Supreme Court reversed course. Now, they rule that the Cherokee are a sovereign nation, that Georgia cannot compel the tribe to relocate, and that the Cherokee are entitled to their land. Andrew Jackson is reported to have responded, “Chief Justice Marshall has made his decision. Now, let him enforce it.” Jackson refused to use the federal power to protect the Cherokee from the state of Georgia’s encroachment. Worcester V. Georgia,

(1832)

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The actual removal of the Cherokee tribe took place in 1837, and it is known as the Trail of Tears. Over a quarter of the 20,000 members of the tribe would die during the forced march to the West. The only tribe which remained unconquered of the “Five Civilized Tribes” was a contingent of the Seminoles – followers of Osceola – who retreated to the Everglades and fought a ten year war to remain autonomous and sovereign.

The Trail of Tears