Week 4. Early National History

How to read the textbook
1. read chapter introduction and conclusion
2. read subheadings
3. then go over main text
4. trace cause and effect
5. ignore dates and battles
6. ignore biographical data

Runaway Paper comments
show your own ideas, not facts
analyze ads closely
“slavery is political” – can’t prove with given sources
“America was different then than now” – not a thesis
“skills helped runaways to survive in a free world” – can prove with given sources
quotes are good – you can put them in the text rather than footnote
proofread more – when your grammar is bad, I can’t understand your argument
do not demonstrate knowledge without citing sources

Could free blacks vote in the early United States?
the Constitution left the question of voting right to the states
in most states, blacks and women could not vote
in New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York free blacks could vote
in New Jersey, women could vote until 1807
between 1807-1820 these voting rights were taken away in all these states

Quiz words
first national census
Bill of Rights
Alexander Hamilton
early party system (Federalists and Republicans)
Alien and Sedition Acts
Daniel Boone
sectionalism
Thomas Jefferson (as Republican president)
Monroe Doctrine
Jacksonian democracy
Whig party
Trail of Tears
Cherokee Nation

Outline

Social Structure
1790 first national census (did not count many Indian tribes)
most powerful tribes in the South (Cherokees, Creeks)
nearly 4 million people
manufacturing in the North, balanced in the Middle colonies, agriculture (cotton) in the South
rural society
rapid population growth because of high birth rates
most Americans were young
rapid western settlement

Bill of Rights
adopted 1791 while George Washington was president (first pres. of the U.S.)
Anti-Federalists, artisans, farmers demanded it
Federalists argued that it would imply too much government power
James Madison drafted first 8 amendments as a “gesture of conciliation”
no rights to African-Americans
freedom of religion, press, speech, and assembly
right to bear arms, protected from self-incrimination, trial by jury
last 2 amendments: other rights exist and powers not mentioned belong to the people

Federalist program
proposed by Alexander Hamilton (secretary of the treasury) in reports to Congress
stabilized national economy and advanced capitalism
favored the manufacturing Northern states, wealthy people, and speculators
established public credit (made government bonds exchangeable for money)
established national bank
broadened powers of Congress (implied not granted in the Constitution)
encouraged manufacturing (protective tariffs)
led to development of the party system (became the program of the Federalist party)
Federalist party collapsed because of its opposition to the war of 1812

Alien and Sedition Acts 1798:
during John Adams’ presidency
limited freedom of speech and the press
limited liberty of aliens (allowed to expel aliens, lengthened years before citizenship to 14)

Republican program
advanced by Thomas Jefferson
program of the Republican party
ideal – decentralized agrarian republic
opposed Federalist reforms

Jefferson’s Republican presidency:
Jefferson became president in 1801, advanced republican policies
repealed many Federalists taxes, including that on whiskey (helped farmers)
purchased Louisiana from the French
encouraged western settlement (1803 – 17 states, Lewis and Clark)
signed act that outlawed slave trade as of January 1, 1808 (illegal trade continued)

Frontier settlement
initially Federalists set a high price for land and a large minimum of acres
by 1804 price per acre dropped and minimum of acres dropped to 160 (traditional homestead)
Daniel Boone explored Kentucky and led its settlement via “wilderness trail”
settlers fought with Indians
settlers bought land from speculators or government agents or became squatters

New Nationalism
early 19c policies expanded the power of federal government over states
war of 1812 convinced even Republicans that they needed centralized federal government
need for strong standing army and navy and national transportation system
Bank of the United States, protective tariff, roads and water transportation, mail, telegraph
territorial expansion (Florida, Transcontinental Treaty)
Supreme Justice John Marshall: federal government can regulate interstate commerce

Sectionalism:
1819 - 11 slave states, 11 free states
Southern states opposed many nationalist policies
Missouri compromise: Maine admitted as a free state, Missouri slave state
to keep the number of slave and free state equal, a false victory for slave states

Monroe Doctrine:
President James Monroe defined future (isolationist) foreign policy:
European countries can’t colonize the American continent
European countries can’t extend their political system of government to the American continent
U.S. would not mess with existing European colonies or conflicts in Europe

Jacksonian Democracy
1830s-1950s reaction against elitist “republicanism”
Andrew Jackson won presidential election of 1828 because of his warrior reputation
ideology – white male equality
expansion of suffrage (78% white male suffrage by 1840)
but racially exclusive (ignored slavery, removed Indians)
used Indian removal to help farmers (Trail of Tears, cheap land, settler rights)
curtailed national economic development (no centralized road building, hard money)
limited government (rotation in office to avoid corruption)

Opposition:
the Whig party (in favor of federal control, market revolution, elite rule)
abolitionists (the mostly white movement against slavery)
participants in the market revolution (cash-crop agriculture and capitalist manufacturing)

Trail of Tears
rout followed by 12,000 Cherokees during 1838 removal
from Georgia to (Oklahoma) Indian territory
1791 – independent Cherokee Nation (a republic with a written constutition)
then Jackson becomes president and established a policy of Indian removal
Supreme Court declared the 1830 Congress Indian removal bill unconstitutional in 1932
but in 1938 troops rounded up and moved Cherokees anyway
Cherokees had to abandon property, livestock, and ancestral burial grounds
moved to Tennessee first
then were marched during severe winter weather 800 miles to Indian territory
4000 people (25% of the Cherokee Nation) died during march
Trail of Tears became national monument in 1987

Letter from Cherokee Chief John Ross
What is “general council of the nation” and “legitimate authorities” in par. 2?
Why does he mention “property,” “legal self-defense,” and being “disenfranchised” in par. 3?
Why does he mention George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in par. 6?
Why does he emphasize that Cherokees had adopted Christianity in par. 7?