The Spirit of Reform

The Spirit of Reform

The Spirit of Reform1828-1845Section 1: Jacksonian AmericaA New Era in PoliticsExpansion of suffrage as a result of eliminating property qualificationsMore urban workers who didnt own land but paid taxes and wanted representationHow did these changes benefit Jacksons election?How does campaigning change overall?

Jackson supported the spoils systemThinks its democratic and involves average citizens in governmentJackson also supported changes in how presidential candidates were chosen The caucus system was replaced with national nominating conventions

The Nullification CrisisHad been brewing for a whileThe states economyTariffs, especially the Tariff of AbominationsSecession? What about nullificationSouth Carolina Exposition & ProtestWritten by John C. Calhoun (VP and from SC) but published anonymously How do states have the right to nullify federal law?

Showdown in the SenateRobert HayneFrom South CarolinaDefending the idea that states have the right to chart their own course and that states are no more than a voluntary associationLiberty first and Union afterwardDaniel WebsterGreatest orator of his dayDefender of the UnionLiberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable!

Whats the Presidents Opinion?Our federal Unionit must be preserved.Had been a war of words in the Senate until 1832, when Congress passed another tariff law that actually cut tariffs considerably, but SC wasnt satisfied. The SC state legislature votes to elect a special state convention that voted to adopt an ordinance of nullification to declare the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 unconstitutional. Jackson is outragedViews South Carolinas actions as acts of treasonSends a warship to Charleston as a show of forceCongress gives the president authority to use the military to enforce federal law known as the Force BillCongress passed a bill led by Henry Clay that was designed to lower tariffs gradually until 1842. SC votes to repeal its nullification Both sides claim victoryTemporary resolution of the issue. Policies Towards Native AmericansWhat is assimilation?

Jacksons Native American policiesWhites want to displace or assimilate Native AmericansJackson: only solution is to move Native Americans off their land

thinks assimilation cannot work too many troops needed to keep whites out of native landsExtermination too costly (war)

The Cherokee fight backWorcester v. Georgia state cannot rule Cherokee or invade their landChief Justice Marshall sides with Cherokee, but Jackson says Marshall has made his opinion, now let him enforce it.What does that mean?

Federal agents sign treaty with minority group and relocation begins

The Trail of TearsBy 1838, 20,000 Cherokee remain; President Martin Van Buren orders removalCherokee sent west on Trail of Tears; 800-mile trip made on foot2,000 die in camps waiting for migration, 2,000 more die on the journey.Few Americans denounce the harsh treatmentTrail of Tearsthe tragic, forced westward migration of the Cherokee in 18381839.

Jackson goes after the BUSJackson vetoes bill to recharter Second Bank of the United StatesPresents bank as a benefit only for the wealthy

Truth: BUS (Bank of the U.S.) keeps state banks in check preventing inflation and promoting stabilityWithout BUS, easier for settlers to get money

The bank is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!

Jackson & the bank continued Jackson felt his re-election in 1832 was a mandate from the people to end the BUSHe removed the governments deposits from the Bank and put them in Pet banksbanks loyal to Democratic PartyBUS president Nicholas Biddle unsuccessfully tries to save bankPeople unhappy with Jackson form Whig Party and back Henry Clay

A New Party EmergesThe Whigs formed to support Henry Clay and to oppose Jackson. Whigs wanted a larger role for the federal government and encouraging commercial developmentThey ran three different candidates, which helped Van Buren win. He had also served in Jacksons cabinet, so he was well known and liked. Panic of 1837Van Buren (Democrat) takes office to face his first big challenge: how to deal with an economic crisis. Unemployment soarsMany farmers face foreclosureThis economic disaster gives the Whig party ammunition to run a candidate against Van Buren when he is up for re-election in 1840. General William Henry Harrison & John Tyler win the election Tippecanoe & Tyler too!Tyler becomes presidentPresident Harrison gets pneumonia after giving his inaugural address and dies 32 days later.This makes VP John Tyler now the President of the United StatesThe Whigs arent pleased to discover that Pres. Tyler doesnt really share a lot of Whig views. Sides with the Democrats over the Third Bank and a higher tariff. In foreign relations, Tyler is in office for the Webster-Ashburton Treaty to settle the Maine/Canadaian border in 1842. Section 2: A Changing CultureWhat were the big social issues of the time period?Whats the time period again?Can society be changed through reform efforts?Who should be in charge of the reforms? The government or private groups?Immigration & nativism

Religious revivalismSecond Great AwakeningUtopian communities

A literary renaissanceImmigrationLarge influx of Irish and German Immigrants1845- Potato FamineAmerican Party (Know-Nothings)Nativism- anger against foreigners and their culture, ie. Irish Catholics

Looking Backward by J. Keppler

Second Great AwakeningOccurred in response to growth of scientific knowledgeProtestant denominations saw lots of growth during this period: Methodists, Baptists and PresbyteriansFocus on emotionCamp meetings/revivalsRejects the Calvinist idea of predestinationGrace through faith

Who are the key people and groups?

Charles Grandison Finney- prominent leader who helped found modern revivalismModeled his methods after salespeople New Religious groupsJoseph Smith & the Book of MormonPublished in 1830. Migrated to Illinois and then Utah territory after the death of Joseph Smith.Brigham Young then became the leader of the church.

Unitarians & Universalists break away from the Congregational traditionUnitariansGod is a unity, not a trinity and reject the divinity of JesusUniversalists contend that God will save everyone. Believe in the universal salvation of souls.

Americas literary renaissance Ideas from Romanticism and transcendentalism begin to influence American philosophers and authorsRomanticism: emphasizes feeling and emotion over reason Inner spirituality v. external rulesIndividual v. societyNature vs. manmade

Transcendentalism: overcome human limits, embrace the beauty of the universeKey authorsAmerican literature begins to emergeNo longer copying the European style, but writing about specifically American subjectsJames Fenimore Cooper & Last of the MohicansHerman Melville, Moby DickEdgar Allan PoeWalt WhitmanHenry David Thoreau

Women authors begin to get recognitionEmily DickinsonMargaret Fuller Continued Rise of the penny pressMore Americans had access to newspapers and magazines such as Harpers Weekly and Atlantic MonthlyMore Americans were learning to read Cost of newspapers and magazines came downWere more widely readUtopian communities Whats a utopia?Think about the social changes of the period.What would motivate people to want to create their own ideal societies?

Most centered on communal living & no private propertyEx. Brook Farm in Massachusetts

The ShakersAlso a religious groupHad up to 6,000 members

Section 3: Reforming SocietyPrison Reform- Dorothea DixHelped get new prisons and separate institutions for mentally illBenevolent Societies- Promoted by Lyman BeecherFix social problems by volunteering rather than with the government

Temperance MovementAmerican Temperance Union- wanted to limit or stop consumption of alcoholEducation ReformHorace Mann helped create the modern public education system, including education for teachersCalvin Wiley carries reform to the South

Womens rightsTwo views:True WomanhoodStay at home and take care of the familyConservative viewcult of domesticityseparate spheres

What reform movement does the cartoon promote?

Womens rights continuedView #2

Seeking Greater RightsFirst wave of the feminist movement in America Seneca Falls Convention- Considered unofficial beginning for womens right to vote- womens suffrageLucretia Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions

Section 4: The Abolitionist MovementMovement started by free African Americans and whitesDavid Walker- Free black wrote Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the worldPossibly murdered for his beliefs

Mennonites first known group to protest slaveryBy 1807 Northern states had passed laws to abolish slaveryIn 1808 importing slaves ended

How Should We Free the Slaves?Several theories:Gradual EmancipationColonization of LiberiaAbolitionViolenceGradual Emancipation:

Takes steps over time to stop slaveryCalled GradualismStop spread of slavery, then slave trade, then slavery altogetherStep by step process ending slaveryColonization of LiberiaAmerican Colonization Society formedSend free blacks back to Africa

Reasons:Only way to get fair treatmentEventually get rid of slavery and slavesSome Southern SupportRemoves free blacks agitating slaves to revolt

African-American response to recolonizationMost opposed colonizationAmerica is their home, all they knowAlso, nearly impossible to move 1.5 million people to Africa in 1820About 12,000 chose to move to LiberiaMonrovia is the capital

Abolitionism continuedWilliam Lloyd Garrison- published The Liberator, an antislavery newspaperHe also started the American Anti-Slavery societyCalled for Abolition- an immediate end to slavery

Read quote pg 286

Abolitionism continuedFrederick Douglass- Learned to readEscaped to the North at age 21 Changed name from Augustus Washington BaileyOutstanding author and oratorJoined Garrisons American Anti-Slavery SocietyWas against violence, but thought people should speak out and agitate for the cause of freedom

Divisions among abolitionistsWomens Participation- many felt women should not be involved in politicsSojourner TruthTraveled throughout the North speaking out against slaverySarah and Angelina Grimke also prominent activists

Divisions over race- Some free blacks felt white abolitionists saw them as inferior -Martin Delany One of the first black students to graduate from Harvard Medical schoolIn favor of colonizationFelt white abolitionists putting black abolitionists second

Divisions continuedDivisions over TacticsSome pushed for political actionFormed Liberty party

Garrison felt slavery was Constitutional, so any laws passed will be found unconstitutional

Opposition to AbolitionismOpposition in the NorthMajority saw abolition as radicalCould hurt trade relations with SouthEscaped slaves might take jobsFreed slaves might move into their communities

Violence erupted over slavery

Garrison was attacked and harassed Elijah P. Lovejoy was shot to deathEdited St. Louis Observer and denounced slavery

Opposition continued8 months after Garrisons Liberator published Turners Rebellion occurredTougher slave codes result

Angered at being criticized by the NorthDangerous for a southerner to speak out against slaveryGag Rule- From 1836 to 1844, no antislavery petitions could be presented in the House

Southern Claims to protect their Peculiar InstitutionSlavery is a national benefitSlaves had no desire for freedomSlaves of good slaveholders are his warmest, most devoted friendsSlaves have a better life than Factory workers