Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Notes

The Spirit of Reform

I.            Jacksonian America

      A. A New Era in Politics

        * A man of the people is elected (1828)

            1. State Expand Voting Rights

                  a. property ownership not required to vote

                        i. suffrage extended to thousands

                  b. electorate sees Jackson as one of them-why?

            2. The Spoils System

                  a. gov’t jobs to party supporters

                  b. eliminate “ruling class”

            3. From Caucus to Convention

                  a. Congress no longer selects candidates, the

                      people do

      B. The Nullification Crisis

            1. The Debate Over Nullification

                  a. SC blames tariffs for bad economy

                  b. threats to secede after Tariff of Abominations

                  c. VP-JC Calhoun (from SC) encourages

                      nullification rather than secession

                       *Define nullification-

            2. Jackson Defends the Union

                  a. Congress cuts the tariff, but SC declares tariff

                      acts of 1828 & 1832 unconstitutional

                  b. AJ sends warship to SC and Congress passes

                      Force Bill

                  c. Clay’s tariff reduction bill eases tensions

      C. Policies Toward Native Americans

            1. Indian Removal Act- push all Indians to Great

                Plains

            2. Sup. Court rules in favor of GA Cherokee

                  a. AJ ignores court & so does MVB

                  b. Trial of Tears

      D. Jackson Battles the National Bank

            1. thought the bank was a monopoly that benefited

                the wealthy elite

                   a.  read page 228

                       i. AJ killed it & caused a financial crisis

                  b. Nat’l Repubs & Feds join to make Whigs

                       i. NR- big gov.  W- little gov

            2. Martin Van Buren (D)

                  a. wins 1836 election

                  b. AJ’s work causes Panic of 1837

                  c. D’s little gov. does nothing- not their job

            3. “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”

                  a. Whigs- WH Harrison to beat MVB

                b. WHH dies 32 days later and Tyler takes over

                  c. Tyler is former Dem who opposes many Whig

                      ideas- no new bank

II. A Changing Culture

      A. The New Wave of Immigrants

            1.Germans and Irish Arrive

                a. Irish potato famine

                        i. Irish-unskilled & broke

                b. Germans flee violence

                        i. have $ and buy land in PA, OH

            2. Nativism- hostility towards foreigners

                  a. Catholics, job competition, different culture

                  b. American Party = Know-Nothings

      B. A Religious Revival- Protestants, etc.

            1. The Second Great Awakening

                  a. return to Christian priorities

                  b. Charles Grandison Finney- gov’t can’t reform

                      society, Christians must do it

      D. New Religious Groups

            1. Unitarians & Universalists

            2. Mormons

                  a. Joseph Smith & Bringham Young

                        i. persecution and migration

            3. Utopian Communities

                  a. make own perfect world apart from the

                  problems of an industrializing, urbanizing society

      E. Cultural Renaissance

            * Romanticism and Transcendentalism

            1. American Writers Emerge

                  a. RW Emerson & HD Thoreau – Transc.

                  b. W Irving, JF Cooper, N Hawthorne, Poe, etc.

            2. The Penny Press

                  a. news for the masses, not just rich

III. Reforming Society

      A. The Reform Spirit

            1. religious revival leads to social reform (women)

                  a. Dorothea Dix- prison reform

                  b. Lyman Beecher (preacher)- individual, not

                 gov’t, should fix themselves and the world

            2. The Temperance Movement

                  a. alcohol blamed for society’s ills- moderation

                 and/or prohibition

            3. Prison Reform

                  a. from lock-up to rehabilitation

                  b. divide criminals (violent, debtors, mentally ill)

            4. Education Reform

                  a. educated electorate needed to make democratic

                 republic succeed

                  b. Horace Mann- leader in Mass.

                  c. 1850s- mandatory public education-most areas

            5. Women’s Education

                  a. Catherine Beecher (et al)

                  b. Elizabeth Blackwell- 1st women doctor (1849)

      B. The Early Women’s Movement

            * Rural to urban = work from home to factory

            1. “True Womanhood”

                  a. be virtuous at home – raise Christian families

            2. Women Seek Greater Rights

                  a. virtuous at home AND in society- need vote

                  b. Lucretia Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton

                        i. Seneca Falls Convention- 1st on women’s

                           rights

IV. The Abolitionist Movement

A.             The New Abolitionist

1. Early Opposition to Slavery

   a. gradualism- eliminate slavery slowly

   b. colonization- back to Africa (ACS)

      i. money, back to where they’ve never been?

2. Abolitionism

   a. end slavery now…period!

   b. William Lloyd Garrison

      i. time for moderation is over

        ii. demand immediate emancipation

   c. other abolitionist leaders

      i. 250.000 members of the AASS

   d. African American Abolitionists

      i. 190,000 free blacks

        ii. Frederick Douglass- North Star

       iii. Sojourner Truth

      B. The Response to Abolitionism

            1. Reaction in the North

                  a. fear of war, job competition, economic trouble

                  b. turns to violence against abolitionists

            2. Reaction in the South

                  a. defended slavery for economic reasons, and

                 claimed slaves were liked being slaves

                  b. gag rule