An Emerging New Nation 1783 1861

1. An Emerging New Nation(1783�1861)

2. America�s Population: Growing and Young During the early 1800s, America experienced a tremendous growth in population. Much of this population growth came from an increase in the number of children born to each family. As a result, much of the population was young. In 1820, half of the American population was under 17 years of age. Many young couples sought success for themselves and their families in the new western territories of the United States.

3. Territorial Expansion Life on the Frontier Entire families moved to western lands, hoping to make homes for themselves. Although slavery had been forbidden north of the Ohio River, many African Americans encountered resistance from white settlers. Through a series of treaties, Native Americans gradually lost their lands to the United States, forcing many to make the difficult journey to areas west of the Mississippi River. Acquisition of Florida Before the 1810s, Florida had been a Spanish possession. This changed when a revolt of the Seminoles, a Native American tribe, was followed by a United States invasion led by Andrew Jackson. According to the 1819 Adams-On�s Treaty, Spain gave up its claims to Florida, as well as its claims in the Pacific Northwest. This treaty also fixed the boundary between the Louisiana Purchase and Spanish territory in the West.

4. Texas and Oregon Country The Texas War for Independence In 1822, Stephen F. Austin started an American colony in east Texas, then owned by Mexico. As Austin�s colony grew, its settlers demanded more political control. In 1835, a war of independence broke out between Texas and Mexican dictator Antonio L�pez de Santa Anna. In 1836, the rebels, led by Sam Houston, defeated Santa Anna and declared an independent Republic of Texas. The Oregon Country In the Treaty of 1846, the United States and Britain divided the Oregon Territory along the 49th parallel.

5. The Spirit of Improvement Americans sought to improve their lives in numerous ways. These ways included moving westward, raising educated children, and recognizing the role that women played in improving the nation. Although few public schools existed, private academies often filled the gap. Americans wanted their schools to teach not just academic subjects but also republican virtues, the virtues that Americans would need to govern themselves in the new republic. These included self-reliance, industry, frugality, and harmony. In the early 1800s, Americans looked to women to set the standard for republican virtues. Many Americans reasoned that women could influence men through their roles as wives and mothers. Since women needed to know republican virtues before they could pass them on, some schools began to add �female departments� to educate girls.

6. The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was an ongoing effort, over many decades, to increase production by using machines powered by sources other than humans or animals. In the North, industrialization improved based on Eli Whitney�s idea of interchangeable parts, in which all parts to make a particular product are made to an exact standard. In the South, Whitney�s cotton gin, a machine that separates the seeds from raw cotton fibers, had tremendous impact on the economy. Planters began depending on cotton as their only crop, and brought more enslaved Africans to their new and expanded cotton plantations.

7. Transportation and Communication Transportation and Communication Improvements in the Early 1800s Steam Power � Inventor Robert Fulton expanded on James Watt�s idea of steam power to create a steamboat that could travel against the current. Steamboats made it possible for farmers and planters to ship their goods around the world. Canals � Since waterways were the cheapest way to transport goods, Americans began building artificial waterways, or canals. The Erie Canal had the greatest impact, speeding development of the Great Lakes region. Roads � Although some roads were poorly built, others, like the Cumberland Road, were built to last. Private companies constructed highways and made a profit by collecting tolls. Railroads � The invention of the steam locomotive soon led to the construction of thousands of miles of tracks around the country, beginning in 1828 with the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio (B & 0) line. Communication � A greatly expanded federal postal service, combined with an increase in the publication of newspapers, magazines, and books, helped keep Americans informed and united.

8. The Second Great Awakening A religious movement of the early 1800s, known as the Second Great Awakening, revived many Americans� interest in religion. Several Protestant denominations, or religious subgroups, expanded, or new groups were founded. These included the Baptists, the Methodists, and the Unitarians. Joseph Smith�s publication of The Book of Mormon started a Christian religion known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon church. Women were extremely active in the Second Great Awakening, helping widows and orphans, spreading the Christian religion, and improving conditions for mothers.

9. African American Worship As African Americans joined the Methodist and other evangelical churches, black and white religious traditions blended together. Both white and black Christians sang spirituals, or folk hymns. For African Americans, spirituals dealing with Biblical escapes from slavery took on double meanings, becoming symbols of both spiritual and physical freedom. African Americans sometimes felt unwelcome in churches dominated by white Americans. In several cities, African Americans started their own churches, several of which joined to form the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816.

10. An Expanding Economy Manufacturing, or the making of products by machinery, began in New England and spread across the Northeast and part of the Northwest Territory. Economic changes in the early 1800s were made possible by the free enterprise system that operated in the United States. Under this system, also called capitalism, investments are made by personal decision rather than by government control. The free enterprise system rewarded those who found better, faster, or more efficient ways of running their businesses. Emerging banks began lending capital, or wealth that can be invested to produce goods and make money. These banks printed bank notes, similar to modern checks, whose value fluctuated depending on the time and place that they were cashed.

11. The Northern Economy Farming and Industry Although most people in the Northwest and Northeast still lived on farms, many others worked in factories in urban areas. Industrialization, or the growth of industry, changed the living conditions of many in the Northeast. Instead of farming, many began working long hours in factories, earning low wages. The Rise of Labor Unions The strike, or work stoppage, became a powerful weapon for workers who wanted better working conditions. Labor unions, or organizations of workers formed to protect members� interests, began to form.

12. The Southern Economy While the North became an industrialized region, the South remained dominated by farms and countryside. Southern farmers grew cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane. By 1804, all of the Northern states had passed laws leading to the end of slavery. In 1808, Congress banned the further import of slaves. In the South, however, the slave trade, and the African American population as a whole, grew because the population continued to grow among those already enslaved. Several unsuccessful slave revolts, led by Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, and others, resulted in the deaths of both white and African Americans, including some who had not even been involved in the revolts.

13. The Rise of Nationalism Nationalism at Home In the 1820s, many Americans viewed themselves as citizens of a unified nation rather than as citizens only of an individual state. The Supreme Court, under Chief Justice John Marshall, made several important decisions regarding the role of the federal government in the economy. These decisions included support for a national bank, protection of contracts, and prohibiting states from regulating commerce on interstate waterways. Nationalism Abroad An 1818 agreement between the United States and Britain extended the northern border of the United States. In 1823, President James Monroe made a speech in which he announced a policy that would become known as the Monroe Doctrine. Under the Monroe Doctrine, the United States pledged that it would not take sides in European conflicts, and stated that it would not permit further colonization of the Western Hemisphere.

14. The Rise of Opposition Parties In the presidential election of 1824, none of the three candidates, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay of Kentucky, or General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, received the required majority of electoral college votes. The House of Representatives therefore cast the deciding votes, making Adams the new President. Adams quickly made Clay his Secretary of State, thus infuriating many Jackson supporters. Supporters of Adams and Clay began calling themselves the National Republicans. (Supporters of Jackson called themselves Democrats, later to be called Jacksonian Democrats by historians.) Unlike most previous elections, voters in the election of 1828 chose between candidates of sharply differing views: Andrew Jackson defeated Adams, becoming the nation�s next President.

15. The Presidency of Andrew Jackson The Presidency of Andrew Jackson The Spoils System � Andrew Jackson was not the first President to reward his friends and supporters with government jobs. However, it was during his presidency that this patronage, known as the spoils system, became official. Limited Government � Jackson believed in a limited role for the federal government, rejecting politicians and laws that he felt would interfere with people�s liberty. Indian Relocation � Jackson forcibly relocated thousands of Native Americans off their fertile lands and onto prairies further west. During the 1838 forced march of the Cherokee, known as the Trail of Tears, thousands of Native Americans died of cold or disease. The Bank War � Jackson was opposed to the Bank of the United States, calling it a �monster� organization controlled by a small group of wealthy easterners. He vetoed the renewal of the bank�s charter in 1832. Jackson�s Successors � Martin Van Buren, the next President, was not as popular as Jackson had been, and was succeeded by William Henry Harrison. Harrison died a month after taking office, making Vice President John Tyler the new President.

16. The Tariff Crisis and States� Rights Although Jackson generally sought to limit federal power, he strongly supported some federal actions including the passage of a high tariff that benefited the North but forced the South to pay higher prices for manufactured goods. South Carolina claimed that in such cases, states could nullify, or reject, federal laws that they deemed unconstitutional. South Carolina maintained that it could secede, or withdraw, from the Union if it wished to do so. South Carolina�s nullification threat was based on a strict interpretation of states� rights, the powers that the Constitution neither gives to the federal government nor denies to the states. The conflict eased when Congress reduced the tariff, but the idea of states� rights would continue to influence the nation.