The Era of Good Feelings and the Market Revolution

Mr. ClowesAPUSH

A Proud America

• Following the War of 1812 America was gripped with a strong sense of national pride (nationalism!)

• This pride was reflected in all aspects of American life

• Indeed, the period of Monroe’s presidency, 1816-1824, is commonly known as “The Era of Good Feelings”

Why Such Unity?

• With the death of the Federalist party in 1816 there was only party left in America, the Republicans– The Republican party dominated all sections of

the US

• In a united effort Washington DC was built bigger and better than ever, giving an even greater sense of identity to the nation

Good Feelings?...

• Though this period is commonly known as “The Era of Good Feelings”, this is quite misleading– Though only the Republicans were left in terms of

political parties, there were some disagreements taking place• Sectional differences became very apparent over

debates of issues like slaver, tariffs, and internal improvements…

A Growing American Identity

• America did make many strides during the era in terms of creating a distinct American culture– Americans began creating American textbooks for

colleges and schools– American painters painted historical American

figures and classic American landscapes• Revolutionary figures were popl

American Painters

• American painters painted historical American figures and classic American landscapes– Revolutionary figures were popular subjects– Famous painters of the period?• Gilbert Stuart• Charles Wilson Peale• John Trumball

American Literature

• The North American Review debuted in 1815 as the nation’s first literary magazine

• American authors began gaining international notoriety– James Fenimore Cooper• i.e. Last of the Mohicans

– Washington Irving• i.e. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

The American System• The American System was Henry Clay’s plan for

ensuring American economic growth• It was a three-part plan– Place tariffs on exports to protect American industry– Form a national bank to stabilize American currency

and collect revenues– Develop America’s transportation systems to allow

for easy distribution of goods and troops• Two pieces of the American System were already

in place by the time of Clay’s plan, the tariff and the bank…

A Protective Tariff

• After the War of 1812 all trade embargoes were lifted

• Massive amounts of cheap, excess British manufactured goods were unloaded in US harbors– The embargoes had allowed young American

industries to develop, and these industries were now threatened by this flood of cheap British goods

A Protective Tariff

• Congress responded by passing the first protective tariff in US history– It placed a tax of 20-25% on all imported goods– This tariff raised the price of British goods (the

merchants had to raise prices to compensate for the taxes) past that of the American goods• Thus, American buyers would rather buy the cheaper

American goods

The National Bank

• The charter of the National Bank had been allowed to expire in 1811

• Congress approved the chartering of the Second Bank of the United States in 1816

Internal Improvements

• Another part of The American System plan had been internal improvements

• In 1817 Congress approved $1.5 million to be dispersed to the states for construction of roads, bridges, canals, etc.

• Monroe vetoed the bill by saying that the plan was ‘unconstitutional’– Thus, states were left to make improvements on

their own

The Panic of 1819

• The US Bank quickly became a source of hatred

• Right after it received its charter the Bank began loaning large amounts of money to western land speculators– These men were buying large amounts of western

frontier lands in hopes of later selling them and making large profits

– After two years high inflation the Bank began calling in loans to control the inflation

The Panic of 1819

• The western banks were not able to get the money for their lands loans from the speculators and they were forced to close– This caused the people who had deposited money in

the banks to lose their savings

• With the closing of the banks businesses began to fail and this led to high unemployment

• Debt prisons began to fill with the large number of people not able to pay off their loans

The Panic of 1819

• Because of lands loans and the closing of so many frontier banks the West was the most hardest hit region of the US

• The Second Bank became a source of severe hatred for the western states and their citizens

The Growing West

• Between 1791 and 1819 nine frontier territories became states

• These states were some of the most democratic areas of the country– In order to attract citizens they offered many

political, social, and economic reforms• For example, they were the first states to offer voting

rights to all white males, not just those that were property owners

The Growing West• Why did so many move west? – Improved Transportation

• Construction on the Cumberland Road began in 1811 and it would prove a vital transportation route for setters moving westward

• Steamships (Robert Fulton) were first used in western waters in 1811, and these boats would offer cheap transportation west

– Economic Opportunities• Tobacco planters were running out of land on the eastern

seaboard and needed new land for their crops• Many merchant families had been hit hard by the

embargoes and thus they sought new opportunities west

The Growing West

• Why did so many move west? (cont’d)– More land was available• The Battles of Tippecanoe and Horseshoe Bend had

cleared most lands east of the Mississippi River of hostile Native Americans

– Opportunities for Immigrants• Many had heard, all the way from Europe, of cheap

land being available in the western territories • They were much more likely to find opportunities in

the democratic west than in the eastern states

Western Land

• Western states wanted the US government to offer land at a cheap price so as to attract settlers

• The Land Act of 1820 authorized the sale of land at $1.25 per acre (80 acre minimum)– The purchase had to be in cash (so as to avoid

speculation loans and another financial panic)

The Marshall Court• John Marshall served as the Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court from 1801 – 1835• The decisions of the Court while under his rule

greatly increased the power of the federal government, and often did so at the expense of the rights of the states

• Marbury v. Madison (1803) – the most important Supreme Court case in history, it established the power of the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review (deciding on constitutionality of laws and actions of the government)

The Marshall Court

• Federal vs. States– Fletcher v. Peck (1810) – ruled a Georgia law

unconstitutional while stating that a state could not pass a law in order to make a contract void

– Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee (1816) – the Supreme Court ruled it had jurisdiction over state courts when it came to constitutional rights

– Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) – the Court ruled that a state could not alter a private contract

The Marshall Court• Federal vs. States (cont’d)– McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) – the Court ruled that

the federal government had the right of “implied powers” which were powers necessary to rule in the best interests of the nation; the Court also ruled that a state could not tax a federal institution

– Cohens v. Virginia (1821) – the Court rule review any state decision that involved matters of the federal government

– Gibbons v. Ogden (1821) – the Court ruled that the federal government could concern itself in all matters of interstate commerce

A Growing Sectional Crisis

• After it had met all of the requirements for a territory to become a state, in 1819 Missouri put forth its request to become a state… that is, a slave state

• The North was furious at the request for there was a current balance of slave to free states, 11 to 11

• Missouri becoming a slave state would give the slave states a majority in the Senate

The Missouri Issue• Missouri’s request was blocked in the House and

the Tallmadge Amendment was proposed– It stated that if Missouri was to become a slave state

that no more slaves would be allowed into the state and the future children of current slaves would be born free

– The Tallmadge Amendment was shot down in the Senate

• Southerners saw the Tallmadge Amendment as a Northern threat to their way of life– If Northerners could end slavery in Missouri then they

would look to end slavery everywhere in the US

Clay’s Compromise

• After months of heated debate Henry Clay was able to secure a compromise based upon three important bills…– Missouri would be admitted as a slave state– Maine would be admitted as a free state– Slavery would be prohibited in all Louisiana

Purchase territories north of the 36˚30’ line of latitude

Effects of the Missouri Compromise

• The Missouri Compromise (the Compromise of 1820) effectively halted the growing sectional crisis for the next 30 years

• It did show that their was growing confusion over the difference between nationalism (loyalty to one’s country) and sectionalism (loyalty to one’s state or region)

Foreign Policy under Madison and Monroe

• The US was much more aggressive in its approach to foreign policy following the War of 1812– Reflected growing American nationalism– Reflected the idea that America could compete

commercially and militarily with European nations

• The US during this period was typically aggressive while trying to maintain peace

The US and England

• The Rush-Bagot Treaty (1817) began a period of lessening tensions between the US and Canada– The two agreed to begin downsizing the navy and

the number of fortifications along their border– The US-Canada border would eventually become

the world’s longest boundary between two nations without any soldiers or fortifications

The US and England

• The Treaty of 1818 was the result of the relationship between the US and England become a positive one– The northern border between the US and Canada

was set at the 49th parallel– The two would share the Oregon territory for 10

years– The US could now fish off the coast of New

Foundland

Jackson in Florida

• When Spain was forced to withdraw troops from its Florida territory Native Americans, who had been under the control of the Spanish troops, began raiding US territories– General Andrew Jackson, without the consent of

the US government, invaded Florida in 1818• He executed a number of Indian chiefs and British and

Spanish citizens• He seized St. Marks and Pensacola

Gaining Florida

• While many in Washington were furious over Jackson’s actions, some (like John Quincy Adams) pushed for Monroe to make Spain pay for its lack of control of Florida’s Natives

• In 1819 the US and Spain agreed to the Florida Purchase Treaty– The US gained Florida and Spain’s part of Oregon– The US gave up its claims to Texas and gave Spain

$5 million for its lost territories

A Tough Decision for Monroe

• With the fall of Napoleon many European monarchs regained power over their nations

• These monarchies (France, Prussia, Russia, etc.) were doing all that they could to suppress democratic movements

• At the same time many South American colonies were declaring independence from Spain

• The European monarchies were offering Spain help in pushing down these movements

A Tough Decision for Monroe

• Monroe also faced threats from Russians moving down from Alaska and into US western territories

• England offered the US help in keeping Europe out of the Americas

• The US knew that they could not tie themselves to an European alliance with the British that would tie them to the English both commercially and militarily

The Monroe Doctrine

• In 1823 President Monroe announced the Monroe Doctrine to the world– It declared that the US would not allow any more

colonization in North and South America – It also stated the European nations were no longer to

involve themselves in affairs in Latin America

• The reality of the situation, at least for the time being, was that it was the British navy keeping the European nations away, not the US

The Market Revolution

• Though there was a brief panic in 1819, for the most part the American economy experienced great growth during the first part of the 1800’s

• This growth resulted in the development of a new American economy– Prior to the 1820’s many families were self-sufficient– However, after the 1820’s the American Market was

forever changed• The farmers of the South and West fed the workers of the

cities of the Midwest and North, who in turn supplied the farmers with manufactured goods

Why was there a Market Revolution?

• Factors that contributed to a Market Revolution– Improvements in transportation– Population boom– Agricultural expansion– Industrial growth– Specialization of labor

Transportation

• The steam engine brought many changes to the American economy– The steamboat (Robert Fulton), first used in 1811,

allowed farmers to move goods much less expensively and much more efficiently both upstream and downstream

– The birth of trains and a railroad system in the 1820’s linked farms in the west with markets in the east, giving farmers more buyers for their goods

Transportation

• The Canal Boom– In 1825 the Erie Canal was completed• In linked farmers in the Ohio region with large markets

in the big Northeastern cities

– Soon after there would be boom of canals throughout the Midwest regions• These canals linked farmers in the West and South with

big cities in the North, giving the farmers more markets for their crops and also giving the manufacturers of the North more buyers for the their industrial goods

A Growing Population

• From 1800 to 1825 the American population would double, over the next 25 years, from 1825 to 1850, the population would double again– The growth was largely from an improved quality

of life for all Americans this led to higher birth rates and longer lifes

– The growth was also from large increases in foreign immigration

A Growing Population

• This population boom would have many effects on the economy– There were more people for which farmers and

manufacturers could sell their goods to– There were more workers to employ, thus giving

manufacturers a reason to build many more factories and expand the American economy

Agriculture

• The cheap land being offered in the West allowed many Americans and many immigrants to move west and gain farms

• The expanding number of markets (because of canals, steamboats, and railroads) allowed many to move west with the knowledge that they would have someone to sell their farm crops to

Agriculture

• King Cotton– In 1793 Eli Whitney developed the cotton gin it

allowed for the easy separation of seeds from cotton fiber

– This made cotton highly profitable– Cotton plantations needed large numbers of slaves – Cotton would become the dominant crop of the South

• Farmers only needed to grow cotton because they could receive all of the other goods they needed from the markets of the North or from foreign trade

Industrial Boom

• In 1793 Eli Whitney developed a system for making products out of interchangeable parts– This meant that parts of the same product were

all identical thus a product did not have to be made entirely by hand

– This allowed for the mass production of products and for the factory system to spread to all industries

Industrial Boom

• In 1811 New York passed a law that allowed businesses to become corporations and sell shares of their stocks publicly to private investors– This allowed companies to raise large amounts of

capital for the expansion of their businesses

Industrial Boom

• In 1791 Samuel Slater built the first American factory– He had stolen the blueprints for a textile factory from

England– The embargoes and the War of 1812 forced American

companies to develop their own manufacturing capabilities• New England would become the manufacturing capital of

the US– With the rise of manufacturing also came the rise of

the banking and insurance businesses

Effects of the Market Revolution

• Effects on Women– Women no longer had to work alongside their

families on the farm– Women gained more control over their lives

during this period• Arranged marriages were becoming far less common• Single women had some opportunities to seek

employment in the cities (teachers, domestic workers, some factory jobs)

Effects of the Market Revolution

• Effects on Social Structure– The ability for the poor to become wealthy were

greatly exaggerated… (the Horatio Alger Myth)– The gap between the wealthy and the poor

increased as the wealthy became industry leaders and large plantation owners

– The wages of workers and the overall standard of living for Americans did greatly increase

– There were far more economic opportunities in America than in Europe

Effects of the Market Revolution

• The Rise of the Peculiar Institution– Slavery had been present throughout the Colonial

and Early US periods– With the rise of King Cotton came an incredible

demand for slaves in the South