The Spirit of Reform: 1828-1845 Chapter 8. Jacksonian America Section 1.

The Spirit of Reform: 1828-1845

Chapter 8

Jacksonian America

Section 1

New Era in Politics

• Andrew Jackson – People’s President– Diligence, hard working, and innate intelligence– Achievements: Elected to TN state congress

before the age of 30, Battle of New Orleans – War of 1812, and invaded and captured Spanish Florida

– Spoils System: appointing friends, family, and supporters to government jobs• Jackson felt it was more democratic because it allowed

more people to hold government offices

Nullification Crisis• South depended heavily on imports from England• 1828, Congress passed a tariff that Southerners called

the Tariff of Abominations– SC threatened to secede – leave the Union– SC’s threat troubled VP John C. Calhoun

• Nullification – his idea• Robert Haynes – pro-Nullification/Daniel Webster – pro-Union

– Jackson: “Our federal Union—it must be preserved”– Calhoun: “The Union—next to liberty is most dear”– Jackson considered nullification an act of treason

• He sent warships to Charleston, SC in response

Native Americans• Jackson planned to relocate Native Americans to

the Great Plains– Indian Removal Act provided money for the relocation

of Native Americans– Worcester v. Georgia• “Marshall made his opinion now let him enforce.”

• Martin van Buren becomes the 8th president– He sent troops to force the Cherokee out of Georgia &

to the West – migration is known as the Trail of Tears, 4000 Native American died on the journey

Jackson Battles the National Bank

• Jackson believed the National Bank was a monopoly that benefited the wealthy elite

• The Bank played a role in keeping the money supply in the U.S. stable– State banks would issue bank notes – could be

redeemed for gold or silver• 1832, Jackson reelected & destroyed the bank– May have caused many of the economic

problems of the U.S.

A New Party Emerges• Whig Party formed in

opposition to Jackson & the Democrats

• Panic of 1837:– Many banks failed– businesses failed– Thousands of farmers

lost their land– Unemployment soared

among Eastern factory workers

Whigs Democrats

Larger federal government

Limited federal government

Industrial & commercial development

Distrusted eastern merchants and business leaders

Centralized economy

Changing Culture

Section 2

New Wave of Immigrants

• Many immigrants coming into the U.S. in the early to mid-1800s were Irish & German. – They faced prejudice.– Nativism: hostility towards foreigners– Many political organizations wanted to ban

immigrants and Catholics from government offices

Literary Renaissance• Romantic movement – originated from Europe• Romanticism advocated (FOUR things):– Feeling over reason– Inner spirituality over external rules– Individual above society– Nature over environment created by humans

• American Romantics became known as the Transcendentalists – They urged people to transcend (1) the limits of their minds

and (2) let their souls reach out to embrace the beauty of the universe

American Writers Emerge

• Ralph Waldo Emerson – influential transcendentalist – communion with the natural world

• Thoreau believed one must fight not to conform• Hawthorne’s novel = Scarlett Letter– Explores the persecution and psychological suffering

that results from sin• Emily Dickinson, poet– Simple, personal, deeply, and emotional poetry

Utopian Communities

• Utopia: “no place;” perfect world/society• Shaker Communities (religious) and

Brookhaven are two examples of Utopian experiments in the U.S. during this time period

Reforming Society

Section 3

The Reform Spirit

• New reform spirit brought on by the Second Great Awakening

• Dorothea Dix advocated prison reform– Also advocated the creation of mental institutions

• Women were very involved in the reform movements-Christian Church basis– Parts of society needing reform: • Excessive drinking,• Prison,• & Education

Temperance Movement

• Reformers believed no vice caused more crime, disorder, and poverty than alcohol

• 1920s – Prohibition• 18th Amendment – Prohibition; 21st

Amendment Repeal of Prohibition

Educational Reform

• Reformers pushed for the idea of public schools funded by the government and open to citizens– Increase in immigrants showed need for public

education– Democracy can only survive if populace is educated

and informed– Horace Mann – leader of Educational Reform

• 50 new HS & doubled teacher pay• MA passed first mandatory attendance

• Elizabeth Blackwell – first women to graduated from Medical School

Early Women’s Rights Movement

• Women held as the conscience of the home & society

• Realized the need for political power & right to vote• Fuller believed if men & women treated equal it

would be all injustices• Lucretia Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton– Seneca Falls – organized women’s movement

• 15 states allowed women to retain property after death of husband

• Movement picked back up after the Civil War

Abolitionist Movement

Section 4

Early Opposition to Slavery

• Many Americans called for an immediate end to slavery– Abolition was the most controversial issues &

divided the U.S. between North & South – eventually leads to the Civil War

– Gradualism: end slavery in phases over a long period of time

– Colonization: send slaves back to Africa in a colony in Liberia

New Abolitionists• Abolitionists argued: (1) enslaved Af Am should

be freed immediately & (2) no compensation for slaveholders

• Garrison said slavery = sin that U.S. needs to repent for– William Lloyd Garrison – the Liberator – time for

moderation is over! Complete emancipation now!• 190,000 Af Am in North – enjoyed freedoms– Frederick Douglass – escaped slave from MD,

published the North Star– Sojourner Truth –female abolitionist

Response to Abolition• South felt attacked• Northerners disagreed with slavery & opposed

extreme abolition because:– Abolition would upset the social structure– Could produce a destructive war– More Af Am in the North– Did not want to see South’s economy fail

• Southerners defended slavery –”national benefit”– Dew thought most slaves did not want freedom– Anti-Slavery literature not allowed in the South

• Crusade of Abolition reminder of dividing nation