Early National Society & Culture

1. Early National Society & Culture

2. Rise of Democracy • Founding Fathers saw themselves as disinterested gentlemanly elites • Common people rejected this & claimed full equality • Leisure now seen as aristocratic & immoral • Virtue associated with productive labor • Loss of personal, trust-based relationships led to disbelief in possibility of disinterestedness • Long-distance trade relied on paper money & legal contracts • Economic necessity forced founders to abandon ideal of elected officials serving without pay

3. Middle Class Culture • Middle class replaced gentlemanly elite as new cultural standard in America • Combined virtue & taste of aristocracy with hard work of commoners • Wealthy factory & plantation owners downplayed their wealth • Public opinion replaced views of educated elites as controlling source of truth • Concept of “republican motherhood” gave women role as educators and guardians of morality

5. Restrictions on Women • Legal doctrine of coverture said women were covered by their fathers or husbands • Women could only own property, make contracts & sue if unmarried • Only in New Jersey were property-owning widows allowed to vote, & ended in 1807. • Educating women seen as impractical & potentially dangerous

6. Marriage & Family • Sentimentalism in novels, poems & plays helped give rise to companionate marriage • Fathers had less land to give to sons, so less control over whom they would marry • Fathers could still sue for damages over the loss of daughter’s virginity • Divorce difficult to obtain – often required special act of the legislature

7. Immigration & Westward Expansion • Immigration increased rapidly after 1815, although dependent on economic conditions • Attracted by available land and religious & political freedom • “America letters” from family & friends convinced many to come • Tecumseh’s Indian confederation defeated by William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe (1811) • Government sold public lands cheaply • Minimum land allotment lowered to 160 acres in 1804 • Lowered to 80 acres in 1820, at $1.25 an acre

8. Indian Land Cessions