The Antebellum Period

The Antebellum Period By: Roy Chapman

Andrew Jackson • President from 1824-1840 • Elected by House after the “Corrupt Bargain” • As a result we have the 12th Amendment (Electorate vote for President and Vice President Separately) • Known for being first president to not be raised wealthyoppose to the first 6 whom were • Goals of Jackson • Abolish Electorate System • Relocate Indians to west of Mississippi • Extinguish national debt • Eliminate BUS and paper money • Jackson is also the father of the spoils system • the practice of giving appointive offices to loyal members of the party in power • http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/spoils-system.html

Belief in Common Man • Andrew Jackson elected under popular idea of belief in the common man • Jackson wanted to protect commoners from being exploited by the wealthy • He wanted to represent the people as a whole not to highlight ideals of the affluent • Jackson had four “common” ideals • Farming Concerns • Mechanic advancement • Anti-banking • Egalitarian principals

Jacksonian Democracy • Defined by the philosophy that any legislation to expand government would not benefit the common man • Beginning of second party system • Consisted of the Democratsvs. Whigs, 1820s-1850s • Successfully expanded voting rights to most white men • Removed many requirements previously needed to partake • This came to be known as Universal white male suffrage • As a result much more true representation of the population (democracy) • http://www.shmoop.com/political-parties/the-second-party-system.html

The Tariff of Abominations, 1828 • A tariff is a tax placed on certain imports and exports • This particular tariff was put into place to preserve the economy of American products • Specifically to protect from cheap imported English products • This hurt the southern economy because they were so dependent on cotton oppose to the North's industrialization • This motivatedJohn C. Calhoun (Jackson’s Vice President) to create a pro-south document called the Doctrine of Nullification • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNgIUUD7i-A

The Doctrine of Nullification • Calhoun argued that a state does not have to abide by a law that they feel is unconstitutional • In addition to this he also said the South had the right to succeed • Jackson, known for being tough wouldn’t allow them to succeed • Even threatened to hang his Vice President • In the “Compromise Tariff of 1833” both parties agreed on lower tariffs in exchange for the South to remain in the United States • This temporarily avoided the civil war • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0P3JOoEtDg

The Bank War • Jackson strongly oppose the Second Bank of the United States (BUS) for three reasons • He found it unconstitutional • He believed it was to powerful and did not benefit the common man • He also believed in “hard money” such as gold and silver over the use of paper money • Under these beliefs he found that unelected officials of the bank could basically control the economy • In addition, the bank supported large corporations which were focused on profit and not the common man • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knf8KA5aAjw

The Bank War [cont.] • In fight against Jackson, Henry Clay and Nicholas Biddle (Official of BUS) passed a bill in congress to recharter the bank earlier than its expiration • With reelection coming up they dared Jackson to veto the bill, under the impression Americans found it essential • He did veto and Clay ran against him in the election • Jackson swept Clay under the ability to say he defended the interest of the common man • After the demise of BUS Jackson distributed the federal reserve to the states to take power away from Biddle • Semi-related Jackson was able to pay off the national debt , he is he only president to ever do so • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knf8KA5aAjw

Removal of Native Ameriacns • Worcester vs. Georgia • After 7 Cherokee Indians refused to obtain licenses for them to live in Georgia and were sentence to time in jail and mandatory military involvement they appealed to John Marshal of the supreme court • Marshal ruled in favor of Indians • Jackson’s famous response "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!“ • Jackson advocated the removal of Indians from the east of the Mississippi and did not abide by Marshal’s ruling • This led to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 • The Indians were forced to relocate west of the Mississippi and travel on the “Trail of Tears” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd5qVE9LRFc

Society In the Antebellum South • King Cotton is a term to describe how the primary industry of the south was cotton production • This is an Agrarian form of income • Before the civil war, 57.5% of US exports were cotton • Because of this, the average slave owner of the south was 5 times richer than the man of the north • Much of the exports were to England whom were poor on cotton production in comparison • This provoked a very slow growth in industrialization in the south • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr-u3ku-Xyo

Society In the Antebellum South [cont.] • States that permitted slavery were only in the south • Who made up the south • Slavocracy “Plantation owners” + white farmers “Plain folk” = 6,000,000 • Black Freemen = 250,000 • Black Slaves = 3,200,000 • The1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act voided the Missouri Compromise which concerned the admission of states as either free or slave states • It was then proposed to use popular sovereignty to decid how Kansas would be admitted, the controversy over Kansas came to be known as Bleeding Kansas • The vote tallied Kansas as a free state which was just before the beginning of the Civil War

Society In the Antebellum South [cont.] • In reaction to the growing controversy slavery was having on society, an anti-slavery political party arose named the Republican Party • During this time period the Republican party is credited with the abolishment of slavery under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln • Dred Scott vs. Sandfordis a famous case regarding slavery where the final decision ruled that African Americans could not be citizens and could not sue in courts

The Transportation Revolution • New to the period the steam locomotive used railroad tracks to transport more good from greater distances • By 1869 Railroad tracksconnected the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean • In 1825 the Erie Canal was complete which connected the Lake to the Atlantic Ocean, widely opening up transportation deeper into the continent • Also the steam boat engine was created which made transportation up and down rivers much easier • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5FDMIDcyn0

Women in Antebellum Period • Cult of Domesticity: a value system whereto be a true and virtuous women one must possess certain traits and perform certain roles • To be a true woman you must possess four cardinal virtues • Piety • Purity • Domesticity • Submissiveness • Republican Motherhood is a period that defines when mothers were educated for the benefit of future children to strengthen future republicanism • As a result women grew in importance because of their role in children • This also marks a period of raised presence of feminism which is a demand for equality between genders • In Lowell, work consisted of primarily women and children which in this period was unorthodox • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL2DfxIMdjQ • http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-republican-motherhood.htm

Women's Movement in Antebellum Era • Before the Civil War many conventions were assembled in Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania by middle class women • A strong influence of this was its relation to the rights that African Americans were receiving • Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention held in New York in July of 1848, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and LucretiaMott • The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions were made essentially for demanding equality among sexes • Desired equality in areas concerning • WomensSufferage • Womens right to retain property after marriage • Greater divorce and child custody rights • Equal educational opportunities • http://www.anb.org/cush_rights.html • http://faculty.uml.edu/sgallagher/SenecaFalls.htm

The Second Great Awakening • Is the labeled point in time when religious action and participation steeply rose after Charles Finney had a revelation with God • By this point in time life as an American had become very secular • The revival strengthened the Methodists and the Baptists • Religion was a catalyst for the abolition movement • This is because religion holds high morals on society • http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/people/charles-finney.html • http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/history-1994/the-formation-of-a-national-government/the-second-great-awakening.php

Abolition • Abolition: the legal prohibition and ending of slavery • Slavery was unlawful in the North but to preserve harmony the South was permitted slavery • Slaves were vital to cotton production in the South • William Lloyd Garrison was the one of the key leaders in the abolitionist movement • Garrison wrote in the “Liberator” which was a newspaper that was for anti-slavery • He also helped found the New England Anti-Slave Society • He wrote the Declaration for the organization • H believed that you have to change hearts not laws • He also was a mentor for Frederick Douglass before their unfortunate fallout • http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abolition?s=t • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW3XPR4t-g4 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjtQ4U2LkDU

Frederick Douglass • “Education leads to emancipation” • Douglass was an African American that didn’t limit his belief in equality to slavery but expanded it to everyone; women's rights and Native Americans • He strongly believed the Constitution was itself an anti-slavery document • He was born a slave and escaped to New York and later published the North Star; which was pro-rights for everyone • During the Civil War Douglass worked with Abraham Lincoln to enlist black men to the army • http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/18943.Frederick_Douglass • http://classroom.synonym.com/did-frederick-douglass-believe-us-constitution-10905.html • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tx5DZC3X1M • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOSYh0KpNP0

Sarah Moore Grimke • Sarah Moor Grimke grew up with parents that utilized slavery to work on their farm • She despised her parents for this and was a strong activist for abolition • She was the first women to confront congress • To promote her ideas she wrote a book called Epistle to Clergy of the Southern States

Transcendentalism • Transcendentalism (1836-1861): asserting the existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends the empirical and scientific and is knowable through intuition. • Transcendentalism began with two main writers • Henry David Thoreau • Wrote about natural history and philosophy • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Wrote journals and gave lectures particular to transcendentalism • As the Unitarian church grew unpopular people began turning to nature for religious answers • Rules of transcendentalism • Basic rules come from intuition • Inner soul will lead to truth • Individual relationship with God • Nature is self knowledge • All nature is significant • http://www.thefreedictionary.com/transcendentalism • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6UvQ4x9T6Q

Utopian Communities • Utopians wanted to escape religious persecution prejudice • They were strong believers in Perfectionism • The belief that a perfect society can be reached under conscious acts of men • Most Utopian communities did not survive such as • New Harmony founded by Robert Owen rejected the bible and were often classified as “communist” • Brook Farm were transcendentalists led by George Ripley but failed when a large fire wiped out most of the community • Oneida Community survived before becoming unpopular and believed in perfectionism, in addition they shared everything under the guidance of John Humphrey Noyes • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TkYPLTtid0 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9NlPkOdr_0

Education • Still used today McGuffey’s Electric Readers were the most popular education book in the mid-1900s • It is a broad book covering basic essentials of education in this period of time spanning from stories, poems, essays, and speeches • It also is appealing to homeschooling of today because it is similar to the methods of rural education • Extensive education was rare and usually parents were content with only basic literacy and numeracy • Since two thirds of the population were in rural environments the priority was on manual labor • The Hudson River School was a group of New York City-based landscape painters that emerged about 1850 under the influence of the English émigré Thomas Cole • http://www.mcguffeyreaders.com/history.htm • http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3468300064.html

The Antebellum Period