Period 4: 1800-1848

In a Nutshell
The new republic struggled to define and extend democratic ideals in the face of rapid economic,
territorial, and demographic changes.

Key Concepts
Part 1
A. The United States began to develop a modern democracy and celebrated a new national culture,
while Americans sought to define the nation’s democratic ideals and change their society and
institutions to match them.

B. The nation’s transition to a more participatory democracy was achieved by expanding suffrage from
a system based on property ownership to one based on voting by all adult white men, and it was
accompanied by the growth of political parties.

C. While Americans embraced a new national culture, various groups developed distinctive cultures of
their own.

D. Increasing numbers of Americans, many inspired by new religious and intellectual

movements, worked primarily outside of government institutions to advance their ideals.

Part 2
E. Innovations in technology, agriculture, and commerce powerfully accelerated the American
economy, precipitating profound changes to U.S. society and to national and regional identities.

F. New transportation systems and technologies dramatically expanded manufacturing and agricultural
production.

G. The changes caused by the market revolution had significant effects on U.S. society, workers’
lives, and gender and family relations.

H. Economic development shaped settlement and trade patterns, helping to unify the nation while also
encouraging the growth of different regions.

Part 3
I. The U.S. interest in increasing foreign trade and expanding its national borders shaped the nation’s
foreign policy and spurred government and private initiatives.

J. Struggling to create an independent global presence, the United States sought to claim territory
throughout the North American continent and promote foreign trade.

K. The United States’s acquisition of lands in the West gave rise to contests over the extension of
slavery into new territories.

Developed by James L. Smith

Period 4 / Page 1 from the AP® U. S. History Curriculum Framework
Significant Topics
1. Changes in the Political Party System
In the early 1800s, national political parties continued to debate issues such as the tariff, powers of
the federal government, and relations with European powers. By the 1820s and 1830s, new political
parties arose — the Democrats, led, by Andrew Jackson, and the Whigs, led by Henry Clay — that
disagreed about the role and powers of the federal government and issues such as the national bank,
tariffs, and federally funded internal improvements. Regional interests often trumped national
concerns as the basis for many political leaders’ positions on slavery and economic policy.

a. Federalists
- Strong central govt. - Strong military
- Reduce states’ rights - Pro-National Bank
- Business and commerce centered - Pro-British
- High taxes

b. Democratic-Republicans
- Weak central govt. - Weak military
- Protects states’ rights - Anti-National Bank
- Strict view of constitution - Pro-French
- Pro- Farmer
- Low taxes

c. Election of 1800 (Revolution of 1800)

- First peaceful transfer of power from one party to another
- Politics became more partisan between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans

d. Hartford Convention, 1814

- A meeting of New England Federalists held in Hartford, Connecticut
- Opposed the War of 1812
- An example of the growing issue of sectionalism,

e. Essex Junto
- A group of lawyers and merchants who tried to break New England off from the U.S.
- Failed to get support from Hamilton but got support from Aaron Burr
- This further discredit the Federalists when Burr loses in NYC for mayor

f. Era of Good Feelings, 1816-1824

- A name for President Monroe’s two terms
- Federalist party dissolved after the War of 1812, so there were only one political party and no
partisan conflicts

g. Democrats
- 1828-1856
- Political party led by Andrew Jackson
- Campaign against strong central govt.
- Fought to end elitism

h. Whig Party
- An American political party that was formed in the 1830s
- Opposed President A. Jackson and the Democrats
- Favored protective tariffs, National Bank, and federal aid for internal improvements
 i. Andrew Jackson
- A hero in the War of 1812
- Known as “Old Hickory”
- Elected as president in 1828
- Wildly popular with U.S. citizens, but caused controversy during his presidency
- Known for the “Tariff of Abominations”
- Played a major role in the formation of both the Democrat and Whig political parties
 j. Henry Clay
- A northern American politician
- Developed the American system as well as negotiated numerous compromises

k. South Carolina Nullification Crisis, 1832-1833

- Showdown between President Andrew and South Carolina legislature, which declared the 1832
tariff null and void in the state and threatened secession if the federal government tried to collect
duties
- It was resolved by a compromise negotiated by Henry Clay in 1833

l. Daniel Webster
- A leading attorney who argued many famous cases in Supreme Court
- Congressman from New Hampshire and senator representing Massachusetts

m. John C. Calhoun
- South Carolina senator
- Advocated for states’ rights, limited govt., and nullification

2. The Supreme Court, 1801-1835

Supreme Court decisions established the primacy of the judiciary in determining the meaning of the
Constitution and asserted that federal laws took precedence over state laws.

a. midnight judges
- A result of Adams signing the appointment of 16 judges by using the Judiciary Act of 1801 on the
last day of his administration

b. John Marshall
- U.S. Chief Supreme Court Justice
- Oversaw over 1,000 decisions, including Marbury v. Madison and McCulloch v. Maryland

c. Marbury v. Madison, 1803

- Established power of Judicial Review

d. judicial review
- Allows the court to determine the constitutionality of laws

e. McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819

- Established national supremacy
- Established implied powers
- Use of Elastic clause
- States are unable to tax Federal institutions (the power to taw involves the power to destroy)

f. Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824

- Affirmed federal control of interstate commerce under the commerce clause of the Constitution
3. The Market Revolution
Entrepreneurs helped to create a market revolution in production and commerce, in which market
relationships between producers and consumers came to prevail as the manufacture of goods
became more organized. Gender and family roles changed in response to the market revolution,
particularly with the growth of definitions of domestic ideals that emphasized the separation of public
and private spheres.

a. market economy
- An economy that allocates resources through the decentralized decisions of money firms and
households as they interact in markets for goods and services.

4. The American Economy, 1800-1848

Legislation and judicial systems supported the development of roads, canals, and railroads, which
extended and enlarged markets and helped foster regional interdependence. Transportation networks
linked the North and Midwest more closely than either was linked to the South. Increasing Southern
cotton production and the related growth of Northern manufacturing, banking, and shipping industries
promoted the development of national and international commercial ties. Plans to further unify the
U.S. economy, such as the American System, generated debates over whether such policies would
benefit agriculture or industry, potentially favoring different sections of the country.

a. Albert Gallatin
- Secretary of Treasury to Jefferson
- Reduced national debt and balanced the budget

b. Embargo Act, 1807

- Law that forbade American ships from sailing to foreign ports
- Closed American ports to British ships

c. American System, 1815

- Program of internal improvements and protective tariffs promoted by speaker of House Henry Clay
in his presidential campaign.

d. Panic of 1819
- A natural post-war depression
- Caused by overproduction and reduced demand for goods after the war
- Generally blamed on the National Bank

e. Panic of 1837
- Economic downturn caused by loose lending practices of state banks and overspeculation
- Martin Van Buren tried to stabilize and lessen the economic situation during his time in office

f. debates over the tariff and internal improvements

- The South opposed the use of tariff money for internal improvements
 g. Second Bank of the United States, 1816
- A bank Congress charted that had the power to establish a national currency to make large loans to
business

h. Tariff of 1816
- Helped American industry by raising the prices of British manufactured goods
- These British goods were often cheaper and of higher quality than those produced in the U.S.

i. Tariff of Abominations, 1828

- Tariff passed by Congress in 1828 that favored manufacturing in the North and was hated by the
South

j. Destruction of the Second Bank of the United States, 1833

- Lead to the Panic of 1837
- Led to a change in the American Political Party System
- Jackson’s main action in the “killing” of the Second National Bank was when he transferred $10
million govt. deposits to privately owned state banks

5. Growth of American Industry

Innovations including textile machinery, steam engines, interchangeable parts, the telegraph, and
agricultural inventions increased the efficiency of production methods. Increasing numbers of
Americans, especially women and men working in factories, no longer relied on semi-subsistence
agriculture; instead they supported themselves producing goods for distant markets. The growth of
manufacturing drove a significant increase in prosperity and standards of living for some; this led to
the emergence of a larger middle class and a small but wealthy business elite but also to a large and
growing population of laboring poor.

a. Lowell system
- Developed in the textiles mills of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1820s
- In the factories, much machinery as possible was used, so that few skilled workers were needed in
the process
- Workers were almost all single young farm women, who worked for a few years and then returned
home to be housewives
- Managers found these young women to be perfect for this type of factory life

b. Samuel Slater
- “Father of the Factory System” in America
- Escaped British with the memorized plans for the textile machinery
- Put into operation the first spinning cotton thread in 1791

c. Cyrus McCormick
- American inventor and industrialist
- Invented the mechanical reaper and harvesting machine that quickly cut down wheat

d. John Deere
- American blacksmith responsible for inventing the steel plow
- The new plow was much stronger than the old iron version, made plowing farmland in the West
easier, making expansion faster

e. Baldwin Locomotive Works

- An American builder of railroad locomotives
 f. anthracite coal mining
- A strike that involved miners
- Roosevelt handled it by bringing the mine owners and a union leader to the White House to settle
the issue
- After threatening to overtake the mines with military power, the mine owners agreed to as a 10%
wage raise and 9-hour days for the miners, but not union recognition

g. interchangeable parts
- Identical components that can be used in place of one another in manufacturing

h. National Trades’ Union, 1834

- This association was created after the NY traders union called a convention of delegates from
numerous city centrals
- Headed by Ely Moore, who was elected to Congress on the Tammany ticket
- This Union disintegrated with the Panic of 1837

6. The Southern Economy

Southern business leaders continued to rely on the production and export of traditional agricultural
staples, contributing to the growth of a distinctive Southern regional identity.

a. Cotton Belt
- A region stretching from South Carolina to E. Texas where most of the U.S. cotton was grown
during the Mid-1800s

b. Mason-Dixon Line
- Boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland that divided the Middle Colonies from the Southern
colonies

7. Second Great Awakening and American Reform Movements

The rise of democratic and individualistic beliefs, a response to rationalism, and changes to society
caused by the market revolution, along with greater social and geographical mobility, contributed to a
Second Great Awakening among Protestants that influenced moral and social reforms and inspired
utopian and other religious movements. Americans formed new voluntary organizations that aimed to
change individual behaviors and improve society through temperance and other reform efforts.

a. Second Great Awakening

- Series of religious revivals starting in 1801
- Based on Methodism and Baptism
- Stressed a religious philosophy of salvation through good deeds and tolerance for All Protestant
sects
- Revivals attacked women, blacks, and Native Americans

b. Charles Finney
- A leading evangelist of the Second Great Awakening
- He preached that each person had capacity for spiritual rebirth and salvation through individual
effort
- Utility of Benevolence: Reformation of society and individuals

c. Dorothea Dix
- A reformer and pioneer in the movement to treat the insane as mentally ill
- Responsible for improving conditions in jails, poorhouses, and insane asylums in the U.S. and
Canada
- She succeeded in persuading many states to assume responsibility for the care of the mentally ill
- Served as the superintendent of nurses for the Union army during the Civil War
 d. Horace Mann
- American educator who was the first secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education
- Suggested reforms in education

e. Utopian communities
- Idealistic and impractical communities
- Withdrew from the sinful, corrupt world to work their miracles in microcosm

8. American Culture
A new national culture emerged that combined American elements, European influences,
and regional cultural sensibilities. Liberal social ideas from abroad and Romantic beliefs in
human perfectibility influenced literature, art, philosophy, and architecture.

a. Neoclassicism
- A style of art and architecture that emerged in the later 18 th century
- Part of a general revival of interest in classical cultures
- Characterized by the utilization of themes and styles from ancient Greece and Rome

b. Hudson River School, 1825-1875

- Founded by Thomas Cole
- First native school of landscaping painting in the U.S.
- Attracted artists rebelling against the neoclassical tradition

c. Transcendentalism
- A philosophy pioneered by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 1830s and 40s in which each person has
direct communication with God and nature, and there is not a need for organized churches
- Promoted individualism, self-reliance, freedom from social constraints, and emphasized emotions

d. Ralph Waldo Emerson

- American transcendentalist who was against slavery, he stressed self-reliance, optimism, self-
improvement, and freedom
- He was a prime example of a transcendentalist and helped further the movement

e. Henry David Thoreau

- American transcendentalist who was against a govt. that supported slavery
- Wrote down his beliefs in Walden
- Started the movement of civil disobedience when he refused to pay the tolt tax to support him with
the Mexican War.

f. John James Audubon

- An artist who specialized in painting wild fowl
- The Audubon society for protection of birds was harmed after him
- His depiction of Western wildlife contributed to the Western population movements

g. slave music
- Work songs, devotional music—Spirituals and gospel hymns
9. Women during the Antebellum Era
A women’s rights movement sought to create greater equality and opportunities for women,
expressing its ideals at the Seneca Falls Convention.

a. cult of domesticity
- A prevailing view among upper and middle class women during the 19 th century
- According to these ideals, women were supposed to embody perfect virtues in all sense (virtues:
piety, purity, submission, and domesticity)

b. Seneca Falls Convention, 1848

- Began the Equal Rights for women campaign
- Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

c. Elizabeth Cady Stanton

- Member of women’s right movement
- Advocate suffrage and women at the convention
- “All men and women are created equal”

10. Abolitionism and the Rights of African Americans

Abolitionist and antislavery movements gradually achieved emancipation in the North, contributing to
the growth of the free African American population, even as many state governments restricted
African Americans’ rights. Antislavery efforts in the South were largely limited to unsuccessful slave
rebellions. Enslaved blacks and free African Americans created communities and strategies to protect
their dignity and family structures, and they joined political efforts aimed at changing their status.

a. James Forten
- A free African American patriot who worked on an American worship during the Revolution
- Later became a successful businessman who helped organize abolitionists

b. American Colonization Society, 1817

- A society that thought slavery was bad
- They would buy land in Africa and get free African Americans to move there
- One of these such colonies was made into what is now Liberia
- Most sponsors just wanted to get blacks out of their country

c. American Anti-Slavery Society

- Founded in 1838 by William Lloyd Garrison and other abolitionists
- Garrison burned the Constitution as a pro-slavery document
- Argued for “no union with slaveholders” until they repented for their sins by freeing their slaves

d. William Lloyd Garrison

- Prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer
- Editor of radical abolitionist newspaper, “The Liberator”
- One of the American Anti-Slavery Society founders

e. Sojourner Truth
- American abolitionist and feminist
- Born into slavery, she escaped in 1827 and became a leading preacher against slavery and for
women’s right’s
 f. Liberty Party, 1840
- Political action necessary to end slavery

g. Elijah Lovejoy
- American Presbyterian minister, journalist, and newspaper editor
- Murdered by a mob for his abolitionist views

h. Richard Allen
- An African American preacher who helped start the free African society and the African Methodist
Episcopal Church

i. David Walker
- A free African American who urged African Americans to take their freedom by force

j. Frederick Douglass
- African American abolitionist and writer
- Escaped slavery and became leading African American spokesman and writer
- Published his biography and founded an abolitionist newspaper

11. Northern and Westward Migration

Large numbers of international migrants moved to industrializing northern cities, while many
Americans moved west of the Appalachians, developing thriving new communities along the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers.

a. Eire Canal, 1817-1825

- Costs about $7 million
- Allowed farm products from the Great Lakes region to flow east
- People and manufactured good from east to flow west
- Trade stimulated by canal helped NYC became the nation’s largest city

b. Turnpikes
- Privately built roads that charged a fee to travelers who used them

c. National Road (Cumberland Road), 1811

- First highway built with entirely federal funds
- Congress authorized the roads in 1806 during the Jefferson administration

d. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1828

- The first company to begin actual road operations
- Opened a 13-mile stretch of track in 1830

12. American Expansionism and Internationalism

Following the Louisiana Purchase, the United States government sought influence and control over
North America and the Western Hemisphere through a variety of means, including exploration,
military actions, American Indian removal, and diplomatic efforts such as the Monroe Doctrine
 a. Louisiana Purchase, 1803
- Purchased by Jefferson from Napoleon
- Paid $15 million
- Doubled the size of the U.S.
- Jefferson switched to having a loose interpretation of Constitution

b. Lewis and Clark expedition, 1804-1806

- Meriweather Lewis and Lt. William Clark
- Strengthen U.S. claims to Oregon Territory
- Improved relations with Native American tribes
- Developed maps and land routes for fur trappers and future settlers

c. War Hawks
- Western settlers who advocated war with Britain because they hoped to acquire Britain’s NW posts
- They felt the British were aiding the Indians and encouraging them to attack the Americans on the
frontier

d. War of 1812, 1812-1815

- A war between the U.S. and Great Britain caused by American outrage over the impressment of
American sailors by the British and British seizure of American ships
- The was strengthened American nationalism and encouraged the industry

e. Adams-Onís Treaty, 1819

- Also known as the Florida Purchase Treaty/ Transcontinental Treaty
- U.S. paid $5 million for Florida
- Recognized America’s claims to the Oregon Country
- U.S. surrendered its claim to New Mexico (TX)

f. Monroe Doctrine, 1823

- Issued to counter a perceived threat from European powers to the newly independent nations of
Latin America; it proclaimed:
o No new colonization in the W. hemisphere
o Existing colonies would not be interfered with
o The U.S. would not interfere in European affairs

g. Webster-Ashburton Treaty, 1842

- Signed August 9, 1842
- A treaty resolving several border issues between the U.S. and the British N. American colonies
- Particularly a dispute over the location of the Main-New Brunswick border
- Banned the slave trade (on the ocean)

13. Westward Expansion and American Indians

Frontier settlers tended to champion expansion efforts, while American Indian resistance led to a
sequence of wars and federal efforts to control and relocate American Indian populations.

a. Tecumseh
- A Shawnee chief who along with his brother, Tenskwatawa, a religious leader known as the
Prophet, worked to unite the NW Indians
- The league of tribes was defeated by an American army led by William Henry Harrison at the Battle
of Tippecanoe in 1811
- Tecumseh was killed during the Battle of Thames in 1813
 b. Indian Removal Act, 1830
- Gave the president authority to negotiate treaties with southeastern tribes and to trade their land in
the east for territory in the west
- It also provided money for land transfer and relocation of the tribes
 c. Black Hawk
- The leader of the Illinois tribes of Indians in the 1830s
- Led the Indians in resisting the Indian Removal Act
- Wasn’t powerful enough, as they were brutally defeated and forced to move into Oklahoma

d. Worcester v. Georgia, 1832

- In 1832, when the court invalidated a Georgia law that attempted to regulate access by U.S. citizens
to Cherokee county, Marshall claimed only the federal govt. could do that.
- In defending the power of the federal govt., Marshall explained the rights of the tribes to remains
free from the authority of state govts.

e. Trail of Tears, 1838

- The Cherokee Indians were forced to travel from North Carolina and Georgia through more than
800 miles to Oklahoma

f. Seminole Wars, 1814-1819, 1835-1842

- When A. Jackson received orders from Calhoun to stop the raids on American territory by Seminole
Indians, he used it as an excuse to invade Florida and seize the Spanish forts
- The American govt. assumed responsibility for Jackson’s raid, saying that the U.S. was only trying
to protect their borders

14. Slavery in the Territories

As over cultivation depleted arable land in the Southeast, slaveholders began relocating their
plantations to more fertile lands west of the Appalachians, where the institution of slavery continued to
grow. Antislavery efforts increased in the North, while in the South, although the majority of
Southerners owned no slaves, most leaders argued that slavery was part of the Southern way of life.
Congressional attempts at political compromise, such as the Missouri Compromise, only temporarily
stemmed growing tensions between opponents and defenders of slavery.

a. Talmadge Amendment, 1819

- Representative Talmadge proposed an amendment to the bill for Missouri’s admission to the Union
which the House passed, but the Senate blocked
- The amendment would’ve been prohibited the further introduction of slaves into Missouri and
would’ve mandated the emancipation of slaves’ offspring born after the state was admitted

b. Missouri Compromise, 1820

- Missouri wanted to join the Union as a slave state, but that would unbalance the amount of slave
states and free states
- Maine would join as a free state, so it would allow Missouri to join as a slave state
- Congress made a line across the Southern border of Missouri saying that excluding the state of
Missouri, all other states north of the line should be a free state