Chapter 8: Nationalism and Economic Development, 1816-1848

1. Chapter 8: Nationalism and Economic Development, 1816-1848

2. Era of Good Feelings – James Monroe • After two decades of bitter party conflict, James Monroe’s presidency [1817-1825] was coined the “Era of Good Feelings” • The harmony was real, but temporary • The National Republicans, led by Clay and JQ Adams, and Democratic Republicans, led by Martin Van Buren and Andrew Jackson, will produce the Second Party System: • National-minded Whigs • State-focused Democrats

3. Nationalism • The Era of Good Feelings: • A time of peace, political tranquility and economic consensus • No political party opposition • President Monroe [Democratic-Republicans] dominated the political agenda

4. Nationalism • Clay’s American System [The American Way] • 3 mutually reinforcing parts: • A tariff [1816] to protect American industry • A national bank to foster commerce/trade (2nd Bank of the United States) • Federal subsidies for roads, canals, and other internal improvements to develop profitable markets for agriculture • National Road

5. Nationalism • The Marshall Court: • strengthened the power of the national government over the states • Created a favorable business environment • McCulloch v. Maryland – prevented Maryland from regulating the Baltimore branch of the 2nd BUS. Established the supremacy of federal law over state law. • Dartmouth College v. Woodward – prevented New Hampshire from changing school charter to make it a public institution. Contracts could not be invalidated by state law = limited state power. • Gibbons v. Ogden – struck down a New York law that granted a monopoly to certain steamboats. Gave Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.

6. Sectionalism • The Panic of 1819 • Caused by excessive speculation in public lands [west] • Fueled by the unrestrained issue of paper money from banks • State-chartered banks began to foreclose on heavily mortgaged farms and business properties • Western farmers hit particularly hard • Many blamed the newly chartered 2ndBUS • Led to widespread bankruptcies and mass unemployment

7. Sectionalism • Many African Americans supported the American Revolution by volunteering for military service [some in return for the promise of freedom] • Manumission was encouraged by religious movements and Enlightenment ideals • In 1782, Virginia passed a manumission act that gave 10,000 slaves their freedom • Legislators in northern states will enact gradual emancipation statutes

8. Sectionalism • Missouri Compromise [1820]; authored by Clay • Settled a dispute over the spread of slavery • 3 parts: • Missouri became the 12th slave state • Maine became the 12th free state to maintain the balance between slave states and free states in Congress • Louisiana Territory is divided at 36º 30’, with the northern part closed to slavery and the southern area allowing slavery

9. Sectionalism • Tallmadge Amendment • Added to the bill requesting Missouri statehood • All slaves born in Missouri after the territory became a state would be freed at the age of 25 • Passed by the House, not in the Senate • The North controlled the House, and the South had enough power to block it in the Senate

10. Economic Nationalism • Goals: • Encourage creativity and inventiveness • Create a transportation infrastructure • Create a pro-business atmosphere

11. Economic Nationalism • Samuel Slater • “Father of the American Industrial Revolution” • “Father of the factory system” • He brought British textile [cloth] technology to America • Established spinning mills, tenant farms and tenant towns around his textile mills in Rhode Island

12. Innovations The Factory System – Samuel Slater • Beginning of a widespread movement to consolidate manufacturing operations under a single roof • In 1820, 350,000 Americans worked in factories or mills • By 1860, 2 million Americans worked in factories or mills

13. Lowell or Waltham system • Lived a very regimented lifestyle – lived in company boardinghouse and were held to strict hours, as well as a rigid moral code

14. Innovations • 1840s – Sewing Machine by Elias Howe & Isaac Singer

15. Economic Nationalism • Eli Whitney • Cotton Gin • Interchangeable parts rifle

16. Econ. Nationalism • Turnpike Era • Lancaster, Pennsylvania was the site of the first turnpike in 1790 • By 1832, nearly 2,400 miles of road connected most major cities • Cumberland, the “National Road”, was built in 1811

17. Transportation Revolution • Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston • The Clermont • Demonstrated the viability of using steam propulsion for commercial river transportation

18. Transportation Revolution Steamboats • By 1855, 727 steamboats in America • Led to the building of canals • e.g. Erie Canal • Canal system linked the major trading and manufacturing centers of the nation • Average freight costs: • 1817 - 19 cents per ton per mile • 1830s - 2-3 cents per ton per mile

19. Transportation Revolution • The Erie Canal • Constructed from 1817-1825 • 363 miles Albany to Buffalo • Longer than any other American or European canal

20. Transportation Revolution Railroads • 1828 – Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was chartered • By 1840, 3,000 miles of track had been laid in America • Railroads were faster, cheaper, and had greater range than canals

21. Transportation Revolution • By 1850, 9,000 miles of track laid in America • By 1860, 31,000 miles of track laid in America • Immigrant labor built the Northern railroads • Slave labor built the Southern railroads

22. New Social Classes • The Business Elite – merchants, manufacturers, bankers and landlords in the cities [rich] • The Middle Class – farmers, mechanics, traders, contractors, lawyers, surveyors • Urban Workers – laundry workers, “gophers” at construction sites, ship loaders, dirt/stone diggers [canal work]

23. Effects on Marriage • In colonial America, most property-owning parents had arranged for their children’s marriages • As landholdings shrank, fathers had fewer resources to give their children • As a result, young men and women began choosing their own partners [sentimentalism] • Magazines praised companionate marriages, marriages “contracted from motives of affection, rather than of interest”

24. Effects on Family Life • After 1800, the birthrate in the northern states dropped significantly [4-6 children rather than 8-9] • Historians refer to this sharp decline in the birthrate as a demographic transition • Causes: • Thousands of young men migrated to the West, increasing the number of never-married women in the East and delayed marriage for many more • White urban middle-class couples deliberately had fewer children

25. Effects on Family Life • However, even as women bore fewer children, they accepted greater responsibility for the welfare of the family • Republican Motherhood – women should ensure their husband’s “perseverance in the paths of rectitude [morally correct behavior]” and instruct their “sons in the principles of liberty and government”

26. Foreign Policy: Monroe Doctrine [1823] • Persuaded by John Quincy Adams, Monroe will declare American national policy with respect to the Western Hemisphere • Monroe warned Spain and other European powers to keep their hands off the newly independent republics in Latin America • The American continents were not “subject to further colonization” • In return, America would not interfere in the internal concerns of European nations