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US expansionist goal 1 get Florida from Spain
Other goals exploit the far West
NY merchant John J Astor founds fur trading post in Oregon (1811)
Company operated out of St Louis for 2 decades
Traded w/natives and other fur companies
Encouraged rapid exploration by traders for $$$
Military expeditions (Major Long) discouraged settlement
Mistakenly called the Great Plains a Great American Desert
Near West was a more attainable goal for settlers
NW territory and OH Valley were nearly native-free by the 1820s
Sac and Fox were the last holdouts
Chief Black Hawk refused to ceded lands in IL territory
Were nearly exterminated before retreating W of the MS River
Whites considered Indian removal to be one aspect of progress
All natives needed to be removed to lands W of the MS River
Even 5 Civilized tribes of the SE
Squatters, cultivators and speculators took or bought land in the era
Created enormous land pressures
Led to govt sponsored native removal
W pioneers usually struggled with great debt
Most had to grow at least one cash crop for market
Marketing centers near river junctions aided commerce
Farmers bought or traded for what they could not produce
New Englanders brought Puritan ideals to the West
A work ethic and desire for communities and schools
A respect for law and order
Southerners brought other values to the frontier
Defense of personal or family honor
Protection of individual rights and independence
Most brought a few simple tools and a desire for a new start
Most lived in communities and helped each other with major tasks
The National Road (1811-1818)first major federal transportation project
From Cumberland, MD to Wheeling VA
Toll road paved with crush stone, stone bridges
Thousands of miles of road, private and public, by 1825
Roads were better for traveling than commerce
Too expensive for large or long hauls
Light traffic provided little return for those who financed the roads
Natural river systems (OH-MS) were more accessible, profitable
Flatboat traffic dominated commerce
Steam power enhanced this transportation system
Fulton (Livingston) developed steamboat travel
Reduced costs, increased speed, and allowed two-way travel
Steamboat travel also became trendy
DeWitt Clinton (NY Gov) financed the Erie Canal (1825)
364 miles long, 40 ft wide, 84 locks
Made NYC the capital of US commerce
Other canals later connected Chicago/Great Lakes to IL/MS Rivers
Most canal projects were too expensive, not profitable
More useful than profitable
Provided an important expansion of commerce
Canal boom ended by 1840
More effective, less expensive shipping connected E and W markets
Farm income increased, as did commercial agriculture
Increased focus on staple crops, not diversified agriculture
Cash crops became the dominant force of US agriculture
NE turned to sheep raising
Upper NW, OH Valley = wheat
Upper S = tobacco
Deep S = cotton, thanks to Whitneys cotton gin and slavery
Local merchants acted as intermediaries between growers and buyers
Expanding systems of credit allowed for economic expansion
Private bankers issued paper certificates to be exchanged for specie
Filled a void left by lack of US paper $$
State bank motes began to depreciate in value
Second Bank of US chartered in 1816 to stabilize currency
Small textile mills and small factories gradually replaced the putting-out system
Lowell combined power looms and spinning machinery in MA
First US factory to manufacture textiles
First utilized unmarried middle class women laborers
Offered dorm life and supervision
Added culture and education for workers
Later demanded more work, less pay
After mill girls protested and went on strike, owners sought immigrant
laborers
Few true successes for labor activists
Following the War of 1812, politics were dominated by a single party (the former Jeffersonians, now most often called
republicans, although at times known as democratic-republicans) and public interest in national politics declined. The power
of the Supreme Court rose dramatically under the leadership of John Marshall.
Madison asked the Congress for Hamiltonian-type reforms
Reestablishment of the National Bank
A mild protective tariff
Federally financed internal improvements
Henry Clays American System
Creation of an interdependent home market
Desire for economic self-sufficiency and end of dependence on Europe
Import duties were raised 25%
Second Bank of the US Established
Mixed public-private interest
Authorized capital of $35 million
Legislation concerning internal improvements proposed
National Road funded
Madison vetoed other improvements for single states
Monroe vetoes improvements on the National Road
Monroe as President
Chosen by Madison
Third successive Virginian
Major issues: Panic of 1819, statehood for Missouri
The Missouri Compromise
MO applied for statehood in 1817
2000-3000 slaves resided in the territory
Petition for statehood made no provision for emancipation
Sectional concerns arose regarding balance of representation
James Tallmadges (NY) amendment was narrowly approved
Banned further intro of slave into MO
Required gradual emancipation
Southern states strongly protested
Maine petitioned for statehood
Missouri Compromise passed in 1820
Henry Clay, who split the proposal into 3 parts
MO gained admission as a slave state
ME gained admission as a free state
Slavery prohibited above the 36º30' line
Sectionalism increased from this point on
John Marshall helped the Supreme Court become an equal branch
A Virginian and biographer of G Washington
Chief Justice from 1801-1835
Wrote most major opinions
Preserved individual liberty, esp. property rights
A nationalist concerned about economic growth
Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
Allowed Dartmouth to remain a private college despite objections from
the NH Legislature
Established the legal validity of charters as contracts
McCulloch v Maryland (1819)
Rejected the desire of MD to tax the Baltimore branch of the National Bank
Confirmed the loose interpretation that made the bank constitutional
Showed the dominance of federal authority over state
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Did not allow the interstate monopoly granted by NY to Ogden
Bolstered the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce
An overall expansion of federal power occurred during Marshalls tenure
Main diplomatic challenge of Monroes era his response to LA revolutions
Recognizing new govts might impede progress to gain FL from Spain
Congress expressed support for recognition of new countries
US began official recognition after Adams-Onís Treaty in 1821
1822Mexico and Colombia
1823Chile and Argentina
1824 Federation of Central American States
1826 Peru
Monarchs of Europe formed a grand Alliance to protect legitimate
authoritarian governments from democratic reform
Gave France permission to invade Spain, restore Bourbons
Alarmed GB and US
Both wanted to prevent Grand Alliance in North Am
GB suggested a joint US-GB action against the GA
Sec of State JQA suggested avoiding foreign entanglements altogether
Led to The Monroe Doctrine
Made little impression in Europe
Seen as a statement of independence and self-confidence at home
Monroe endorsed JQA, his Secretary of State, as his successor
He was elected in a contentious election in 1824
Adams election ended the so-called Era of Good Feelings
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