I. Introduction
Early in the nineteenth century, Americans in increasing numbers moved inland from the seaboard. Developments in transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, and finance helped lead to a nationwide market economy.
II. Postwar Nationalism
A. Nationalist Program
Congressional leadership called for government stimulation of industry, internal improvements, a national bank, and a protective tariff.
B. James Monroe
Monroe was elected president in 1816 and continued Madison’s domestic program.
C. McCulloch v. Maryland
John Marshall reaffirmed the power of the national government in this case regarding the Second Bank of the United States.
D. John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State
John Quincy Adams served brilliantly as Secretary of State.
E. Adams-Onís Treaty
The Adams- Onís Treaty called for Spain to cede Florida to the United States and defined the southwestern border of the Louisiana Territory. America assumed $5 million worth of claims against Spain and gave up claim to Texas.
F. Independent States in Latin America
Between 1808 and 1822 a number of states in Latin America declared their independence from Spain. The U.S. feared that France would aid Spain by attempting to return these states to Spanish rule.
G. Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine demanded noncolonization in the hemisphere by European nations, nonintervention in the affairs of New World nations, and pledged noninterference by the United States in European affairs.
H. The Slavery Issue
The slavery question resurfaced in 1819 when Missouri petitioned to enter the Union as a slave state, a more that would have pushed slavery farther northward and tilted the political balance in the Senate toward the slave states.
I. Missouri Compromise
Henry Clay proposed the compromise that let Maine enter the Union as a free state and Missouri enter as a slave state. The agreement prohibited slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of 36º 30’.
III. The Market Economy and Government’s Economic Role
A. Definition of a Market Economy
The advent of the market economy, which encouraged specialization, meant that people could sell or purchase goods on the open market and then use the cash they received to purchase goods produced by other people.
B. Boom-and-Bust Cycles
Economic growth proved uneven. Periods of contraction and deflation often countered times of prosperity.
C. Cause of Boom-and-Bust Cycles
The new market economy was a direct cause of boom-and-bust cycles.
D. Government Economic Role
Despite a belief in limited government, the federal government played an active role in technological and industrial growth.
E. Legal Foundations of Commerce
Several Supreme Court cases provided a legal foundation for commerce and the market economy.
F. Corporations
Federal and state courts encouraged the proliferation of corporations by granting limited liability to corporation owners.
G. Charles River Bridge Case
The Court’s ruling in this case promoted individual enterprise and competition.
H. State’s Support for the Economy
State governments surpassed the federal government in promoting the economy. Largely as a result of these efforts, the nation experienced uneven but sustained economic growth from the end of the War of 1812 to mid-century.
IV. Transportation Links
A. East-West Links
Investments in roads, canals, and railroads caused northeastern seaboard cities to become the center of American commerce. New arteries opened east-west travel in the 1820s.
B. Canals
The success of the Erie Canal sparked an explosion of canal construction. By 1840, more than 3,000 miles of canals had been built. High construction costs and a constricting economy caused an end to the canal era in the 1850s.
C. Railroads
Railroad development started in the 1830s and quickly came to compete with canals. By 1850, there were more than 9,000 miles of track.
D. Reduction in Travel Time and Cost
Improved transportation reduced travel time and shipping costs.
V. Commercial Farming
A. Northeastern Agriculture
In response to problems such as soil erosion and competition from western farmers, many in the Northeast either moved west or went to work in factories. Those who stayed on their farms, however, successfully adapted to changing methods of agriculture.
B. Women’s Paid Labor
The commercialization of agriculture meant that women’s earnings became essential for the survival of the family farm.
C. Mechanization of Agriculture
Larger farms in the Old Northwest proved well suited to advances in agriculture. Using credit, farmers bought machinery, such as the McCormick Reaper, that increased production.
D. The Cotton South
The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 led to the expansion of cotton production, making the South the world’s dominant supplier of cotton by 1825. The cotton boom caused the South to become even more dependent on slave labor.
VI. The Rise of Manufacturing and Commerce
A. American System of Manufacturing
Americans contributed new manufacturing ideas, such as machine-made interchangeable parts and machinetools. Both innovations paved the way for the massive industrialization that occurred after the Civil War.
B. Textile Mills
Textiles became the most important industry in the nation in the 1840s. The industry used machines, rather than workers, to spin yarn and weave cloth. Textile mills radically changed the face of New England.
C. Ready-made Clothing
Advances in the textile industry had a profound effect on what Americans wore.
D. Retail Merchants
Retail clothing stores appeared in the 1820s.
E. Specialization of Commerce
Beginning with the cotton industry, commerce expanded in conjunction with manufacturing. Commercial specialization transformed brokers into powerful components of the market economy. In big cities, some traders became virtual merchant princes.
F. Banking and Credit Systems
With reduced restrictions on banking after the fall of the Second Bank of the United States, numerous banks began operation. Free banking thus made credit and capital readily available, thus leading to rapid industrialization expansion.
VII. Workers and the Workplace
A. Boom and Bust in the Textile Mills
Many teenage girls became factory workers because they wanted some degree of independence. In the hard times from 1837 to 1842, the race for profits led to a deterioration of working conditions.
B. Protests
Poor working conditions gave rise to organized protests and a concerted effort to lobby the government for labor laws.
C. Gender Divisions in Work
The new market economy changed traditional gender relationships. Labor came to be defined in terms of wages rather than production. As a result, the unpaid labor of many women was devalued.
D. Changes in the Workplace
The hierarchical control structure of the factory system worked to reduce independence and erode the republican virtues artisans had shared with the Revolutionary generation.
E. Labor Parties
In response to changes in the workplace, some workers began to organize in an attempt to regain control of their work and their lives.
F. Emergence of a Labor Movement
Although workers enjoyed some successes, such as overcoming the threat of conspiracy charges, permanent labor organizations proved difficult to maintain.
VIII. Americans on the Move
A. Westward Movement
By 1850 two-thirds of Americans lived west of the Appalachians, and some five to ten percent of Americans moved each year.
B. The South
After the 1820s the heart of cotton cultivation shifted from the coastal states to Alabama and the Mississippi valley.
C. Moves North and South
A significant number of people moved from the Upper South to the Ohio Valley during the 1820s and 1830s. Hispanics in the Southwest continued to move north.
D. Land Grants and Sales
Combining cheap land with easy credit gave farmers easy access to the western lands.
E. Credit
Most economic activity in the West involved credit. Increasing land prices, speculation, and reduced incomes, however, meant that many westerners had to turn to tenancy.
F. Frontier Cities
The expanding market economy led to urban growth in the West that complemented the vast westward movement. This development helped link the Northeast and the West.
IX. Native American Resistance and Removal
A. Treaty Making
Although the federal government followed international protocol in entering into treaties with Indian leaders, treaty making was in reality simply a tactic to acquire Indian land.
B. Indians in the Market Economy
As many Indian nations attempted to adjust to the market economy, they fell into a cycle of debt, land cessions, and dependency.
C. Shawnees
The Shawnees typified Indian resistance. They had to move numerous times because of white encroachment, but they maintained their language and culture.
D. Assimilation and Education
The government initially followed a policy of assimilating Native Americans through education and Christianity, but the pace of westward expansion continued to put Indian lands at risk.
E. Indian Removal as Federal Policy
The southern tribes had maintained much of their land after the War of 1812. The government eventually forced these tribes to move to the West.
F. Cherokees
The Cherokees faced removal when the state of Georgia declared sovereignty over them.
G. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Chief John Ross successfully sued Georgia in federal court, but President Andrew Jackson ignored the decision.
H. Trail of Tears
The government forced the southern Indians to move west, and nearly one-quarter of them died along the way.
I. Second Seminole War
When Seminole Indians under the leadership of Osceola resisted removal, federal troops moved to subdue them. Eventually, many Seminoles migrated west, but a number of them remained in the Florida swamps.
