1. Constitution-Antebellum America
By: Rebekah Perez, Charlotte Collyer, and Dorothy Tran

2. The confederation & the constitution
chap. 9 ( )
-American Revolution led to the emergence of many striking changes which affected social customs, political institutions, and ideas about society, government, and even gender roles

3. Pursuit of Equality
-1st continental congress was called for the complete abolition of the slave trade in 1774.
-first antislavery society was founded by the Pennsylvania Quakers
-Several northern states went further and either abolished slavery altogether or provided gradual emancipation
-no states south of pennsylvania abolished slavery
-also movement for separation of church and state
-States’ constitution still barred women from voting
-but idea of ‘republican motherhood’ took root and shed new light on the role women had in America

4. Constitution Making in the States
-The 2nd continental Congress called upon the colonies in 1776 to draft new constitutions
-intended to represent a fundamental law

5. Economy
-was in bad shape due to America’s previous dependence on England
-barred from British and British West Indies ports
-now had to make everything on its own
-Population was very poor

6. Articles of Confederation
-2nd continental congress appointed a committee to draft a written constitution for the new nation
-it was adopted by congress in 1777 and convinced France that America had a genuine government in the making
-wasn’t ratified by all 13 colonies until 1781 due to a dispute over Western lands with Maryland only agreeing after New York and Virginia surrendered land

7. cont. “Articles of Confusion”
-Congress was very weak with each state only having one vote
-states were suspicious of federal power since they just won independence from British tyrant
-Congress had two major handicaps: couldn’t enforce tax collection program and no power to regulate commerce

8. Land Laws -Land Ordinance of 1785: stated that the
acreage of the Old Northwest should be
sold and the proceeds should be used to help pay off the national debt
-Northwest Ordinance of 1787: a uniform national land policy; created the Northwest Territories and gave the land to the govt, who could then sell it to individuals; when a territory had 60,000 people, it might be admitted by Congress as a state

9. Foreign Relations
-Relations w Britain were strained w the refusal to send a minister to America’s capital, declining to make a commercial treaty or repeal Navigation Acts, stopped trade
-Spain also unfriendly; closed Mississippi R. from America
-France demanded repayment of loaned money from Revolution and restricted trade

10. Trouble at home
-Shay’s Rebellion: poor back-country farmer in Ma. were losing their farms through taxes and mortgage foreclosures, wanted lighter taxes, cheap paper money, and suspension of property takeover (led by Captain Daniel Shay); later crushed
-led to idea that Articles of
Confederation had to be
strengthened

11. Constitutional Convention
-May 25, 1787 in Philadelphia
-George Washington was elected leader
-”Great Compromise” called for representation by population in the House of Representatives, and equal representation in the Senate (2 for each state)
-”three-fifths compromise” was put into place to count slaves toward pop.
-called for end of slave trade by end of 1807
-3 branches of govt. w checks and balances between them (executive, judicial, legislative)

12. Chapter 10:
-George Washington was elected unanimously by electoral
college in 1789
-established a cabinet of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, and Secretary of War Henry Knox
-James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights and it was passed by congress in 1791
included freedom of speech, religion, press
-ninth and tenth amendment to protect states and peoples rights from power of federal govt
-Judiciary Act of 1789 created the Supreme Court, with a chief justice and five associates

13. Alexander Hamilton
-trickle down theory with policies that favor the wealthy who would then lend money to gov and then trickle down through society
-funding national debt at par
-convince congress to take on states’ debt: states w large debt happy but states with small debt, like virginia, didn’t want the gov to assume the debt
-Congress passed the District of columbia to be placed on Potomac R. in a deal with Virginia
-placed excise taxes on few domestic items, notably whiskey and tariffs on imports to pay for federal debt.
-led to Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 led by Penn. distillers who strongly opposed the excise on whiskey. Pres. Washington sent federal troops and showed federal strength

14. Emergence of Political Parties
-had not existed in America when George Washington took office
-personal feud between Jefferson and Hamilton developed a bitter political rivalry but was confined in congress
-eventually grew into the two party system
-Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans and Hamilton Federalist

15. Foreign Affairs
-Dem-Rep pro-joining war w FR vs BR; federalist pro peace
-Neutrality Proclamation of 1793: stated the country’s neutrality in the British-France War
-needed to focus on building the country; would be crushed in war
-Britain kept frontier posts bc of its position in valuable fur trade & sold firearms to Indians
-Jay’s Treaty:British promise to evacuate posts on U.S. soil and pay for damages for seizures of American ships.
-Pinckney's Treaty of 1795: with spain; granted US free navigation of Mississippi R. and large disputed territory of N FL
-In farewell Address, Washington urged against permanent alliances

16. John Adams becomes president
-beat Thomas Jefferson by
71-68 votes in electoral college
-jefferson became his VP
(12th amendment in 1804 got
rid of this practice due to the
possibility of inharmonious
two-party combinations)

17. Trouble w France -FR upset w Jay’s Treaty & started to seize US ships
-XYZ affair: US envoy was demanded a bribe of $250,000 to talk to Talleyrand.
-US began to prepare for war Navy created and Marine corps reestablished.
-Trying to avoid war, tried again and ended up singing the Convention of 1800 which annulled the alliance between FR & US that had existed since revolutionary war but US had to pay for damages claimed by its own ppl

18. Federalist vs Jeffersonians
-Alien & Sedition Acts were against pro Jeffersonian “aliens” and gave empowered the President to deport or imprison immigrants and violated the freedom of speech and press stating that if anyone falsely spoke against a govt official could be imprisoned
-Kentucky & Virginia Resolution said that states had the right to refuse laws created by the government
-Hamilton Fed: strong central gov & supported BR
-Jeffersonian anti-Fed: weak central gov & states’ rights

19. Chap. 11 1800-1812 1800 election -Thomas Jefferson v John Adams
-pardoned prisoners of Sedition Acts
-got rid of excise tax
-Naturalization Law of 1802: reduced residence from 14-5 yrs to become citizen

20. Judicial
Judiciary Act of 1801: created 16 new federal judgeships (passed by expiring Federalist congress)
but new Republican-Democratic Congress repealed act and kicked out ‘midnight judges’
-Marbury v Madison: showed that supreme court had the final authority in determining meaning of constitution

21. Louisiana Purchase
-Napoleon decided to give up on empire in New World due to failure in Santo Domingo
-negotiated w Paris & signed a treaty for $15 million that ceded Louisiana territory
-more than doubled the size of the US
-Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the new territory

22. more tensions between fr & br
-seizure of US merchant ships throughout their own personal conflict
-Embargo Act of 1807: banned exportation of any goods to any countries
-jefferson planned to force FR and BR to respect US and its citizens, who had been killed and captured by both countries
-put economy at standstill and was still ineffective due to smuggling and FR and BR were not as dependent on US as he hoped
-replaced with Non-Intercourse Act which opened up trade to every country except France and Britain

23. James Madison becomes president
-Macon’s Bill No. 2: reopened
American trade with entire
world
-led to the War of 1812 when
BR refused to life its Orders in
Council and US put embargo on them alone

24. War w Britain
-On June 1, 1812, Madison asked Congress to declare war on BR and it agreed
-BR was arming Indians such as Tecumseh who was unifying many Indian tribes against the settlers
-Battle of Tippecanoe: conflict between William Henry Harrison and Indians. Drove Tecumseh in alliance w BR and made WHH a war hero
-Dem-Rep supported the war
-Fed opposed the war bc they supported BR

25. Chap. 12 1812-1824 -US tried to invade Canada from Detroit, Niagara
and Lake Champlain but were beaten back due
to a poorly trained army and a weak strategy
-were more successful by sea capturing a British fleet in Lake Erie, defeating british in the Battle of the Thames in Oct. 1813, and invading near Plattsburgh in 1814 and forcing British to retreat from N New York
-BR set fire to Washington but failed to defeat New Orleans which was being defended by Andrew Jackson
-war finally came to an end with Treaty of Ghent signed Dec. 1814

26. Effects of War of 1812
-showed other nations around the world that America would defend its beliefs
-heightened nationalism
-Army and navy were expanded
-Bank of the US was revived by Congress in 1816
-led to ‘American System’
-Congress instituted the !st protective tariff, Tariff of 1816, for protection against competition from British manufacturers which placed a 20-25% tax on imports.

27. James Monroe elected in 1816
-”Era of Goodfeeling”: two political parties were getting along
-Panic of 1819: brought deflation, depression, bankruptcies, unemployment, soup kitchens, and debtors’ prison
-cause was over-speculation on frontier lands
-Bank of US foreclosed many farms particularly in the West

28. Moving West -Between 1791 and 1819, nine states from W joined the US
-Land Act of 1820: sold 80 acres of land at minimum of $1.25 an acre
-with new population flooding into W, had to decide if they would allow slavery
-Henry Clay came up with an idea to admit Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state
- Missouri Compromise: forbade slavery in the remaining territories in LA purchase north of line 36 30
-James Monroe elected again in 1820

29. John Marshall & Judicial Nationalism
-McCullough v. Maryland(1819): declared US bank constitutional and denied the right of Maryland to tax the bank
-Cohens v Virginia(1821): Cohens appealed to Supreme Court for being found guilty of illegally selling lottery tickets by Virginia. Virginia won
-Gibbons v Ogden (1824): grew out of attempt by NY to grant to a private concern a monopoly of waterborne commerce between NY and NJ. NY lost
-Fletcher v Peck (1810): protected property rights when Georgia granted 35 million acres to private speculators
-Dartmouth College v Woodward (1819): protected its charter given by King George III that New Hampshire wanted to take away. College won

30. Sharing Oregon and getting Florida
-Treaty of 1818: permitted the US to share the Newfoundland fisheries w Canadians and provided for a 10 yr joint occupation of Oregon Country without claim from either US or BR
-Florida Purchase Treaty of 1819: Spain ceded Florida, as well as Spanish claims to Oregon in exchange for America’s abandonment of claims to Texas

31. Monroe Doctrine
-Monroe Doctrine (1823): a warning to US powers from interfering in Western Hemisphere and stated that the US would not interfere in European Wars
-non-colonization and nonintervention
-Europeans were offended by Monroe Doctrine
-doctrine thrived off of nationalism

32. Chap. 13 ( )
-”Corrupt Bargain” in deciding between the 4 Republican candidates (Jackson, Clay, Adams, Crawford) in election of Clay dropped out and supported Adams ,who later became president, in exchange for Clay becoming Secretary of State
=Adams was strong nationalist who supported building roads and canals and also supported education.
-Andrew Jackson went “Whole Hog” in election of 1828 with mudslinging techniques but won the election against Adams (N supported Adams, S supported Jackson

33. Jackson as President -”spoils system”
=Indian Removal Act: moved 100,000 Indians living east of Mississippi to reservations west of it. Made room for western expansion. Trail of Tears
-Bank War erupted in 1832 when Jackson vetoed bill to renew Bank’s charter because he deemed it unconstitutional
-was reelected in 1832 (even w emergence of third party, the Anti-Masonic Party)
-In order to ensure the bank’s demise, Jackson removed federal deposits from its vaults. Led to vacuum in economy, emergence of wildcat banks each with its own currency.
-Specie Circular: a decree that required all public lands to be purchased with metallic money. Led to financial panic of 1837

34. “Nullies” in SC
-Tariff of Abominations: was hated by Southerners since they thought it was extremely high and discriminated against them
-South Carolina was lead in protesting and printed a pamphlet called The Exposition denouncing the tariff
-threatened to nullify the tariff
-Henry Clay proposed Compromise Tariff of 1833 which called for a gradual reduction of tariff of 1828 by about 10% over 8 years

35. Election of 1836
-interesting bc there was an new party called the Whigs who supported government programs, reforms, and public schools and called for internal improvements.
-Martin Van Buren (Dem) vs William Henry Harrison (Whig)
-Van Buren won bc Whigs could not unite under just one candidate

36. Panic of 1837
-caused by speculation by gamblers in West, Jacksonian finance, crop failures
-In 1836, the failure of two BR banks caused them to call in foreign loans which begun the panic
-caused many banks to collapse, commodity prices to drop, sales of public to fall, and the loss of jobs
-Van Buren proposed ‘Divorce Bill’ but it was never popular; called for dividing of government and banking altogether
-Independent Treasury Bill (1840): independent treasury would be est and government funds would be locked in vaults (later repealed by Whigs in 1846)

37. Texas & Lone Star Rebellion
-Mexico got its independence from Spain in 1823
-Mexico gave huge chunk to Stephen F. Austin to bring families to settle Texas
-Friction between Mexicans and Texans over issues such as slavery, immigration, and local rights
-Texas declared its independence in 1836 w Sam Houston as commander in chief
-Gn. Houston forced Santa Anna to sign treaty of 1836 after Houston captured him in the Battle of San Jacinto
-Texans wanted to become a part of the US but northerners did not want them because of the issue of slavery

38. Election of 1840 -Martin Van Buren (Democrats)
-William Henry Harrison (Whigs): campaign included pictures of log cabins and cider
-Harrison won by a close margin in popular votes, but overwhelmingly in electoral votes
2 major changes after Era of Good Feelings: common man was moving toward center of national political stage & formation of the two-party system (Dem and Whigs)

39. Chap. 14 (1790-1860) Westward Movement
-life as pioneer was very grim. They were stricken w disease and loneliness
-”self-reliance” and “rugged individualism”
-fur trapping was a large industry in the Rocky Mountain area
-People also appreciated the beauty of nature in this period
-George Caitlin: proposed idea of national parks

40. Immigration & Population
-By the mid-1800’s: the population was doubling every 25 years
-BY 1860, there was 33 states and the US was the 4th most populous country
-new population and larger cities brought disease and decreased living standards
-in the 1840’s and 50’s, Irish came due to the potato famine in Ireland and Germans came because of crop failure
-caused flare up of prejudices of American nativists.
-Roman Catholics created an entirely separate Catholic educational system to avoid American Protestant educational system & many ppl died in riots between the two

41. New Technology
-in 1750, steam was used in place of human labor and brought on Industrial Revolution in England which eventually spread to America
-Samuel Slater “Father of Factory System”: put into operation the first spinning cotton thread in 1791
-Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793; actually ensured the longevity of slavery because it increased the profitability of cotton and the South need workers; also invented interchangeable parts and mass-production
-Elias Howe invented the sewing machine in 1846
-Samuel F.B.Morse invented the telegraph
-John Deere: steel plow

42. Factory Life
-Factory workers were forbidden by law to form labor unions to raise wages
-child labor was very common in 1820’s
-President Van Buren established the ten-hour work da in 1840
-Commonwealth v Hunt: labor unions were not illegal conspiracies, provided that their methods were honorable and peaceful

43. Women and Economy -working in the factories gave them greater economic
independence as well as the means to buy things.
-became ‘factory girls’ in mills such as the Lowell where
they had strict rules
-Women were also forbidden to form unions and they had
few opportunities to share dissatisfaction over their harsh working conditions
-”cult of domesticity” a widespread cultural creed that glorified women’s traditional role in the home -

44. Transportation Revolution
-Lancaster Turnpike & National Road
-Robert Fulton created the first steamboat which opened up the West and South
-Erie Canal which connected the Great Lakes with the Hudson R in 1825, lowered shipping prices and decreased passenger transit time
-Railroad first appeared in 1828
-Pony Express 1860: mail service

45. Chap. 15 (1790-1860) Reviving Religion
-Unitarian faith began to gain momentum in
New England
-Second Great Awakening: most momentous
episodes in the history of American religion
-a key feature was the feminization of
religion, both in terms of church membership
and theology
-widened the lines between classes and regions
-issue of slavery split churches apart

46. Education -Tax supported public education came about between 1825-1850
-eventually saw that it was important to educate America’s children bc they were the future.
-Horace Mann campaigned effectively for better schooling system
-first state-supported universities showed up in the south in 1795
-women’s schools began to emerge thanks to efforts of Emma Willard

47. Reform
-states gradually abolished debtors’ prison due to public demand
-criminal codes softened
-number of capital offenses were reduced
-Dorothy Dix: traveled the country, visiting different asylums; released a report; her protest resulted in improved conditions for the mentally ill
-in 1828, the American Peace Society was formed led by William Ladd with declaration of war on war

48. Temperance
-problem of drinking was found in women, clergymen, and members of congress
-Temperance movement starting to gain popularity
-American Temperance Society was formed in 1826
-drinking tore down family structure
-Neal S Dow: “father of prohibition” supported Maine Law
of 1851 which banned manufacture and sale of liquor in
Maine

49. Women in Revolt
-in early 19th century, the role of women was to stay at home and be subordinate to her husband; could not vote and when married, could not hold property
-feminists met at Seneca Falls, New York in a Women’s Right Convention in to rewrite the Declaration of Independence to include Women

50. Literature -The Federalist by Hamilton or Tom Paine’s Common Sense
-Washington Irving- the first American to win international
recognition as a literary figure
-James Fenimore Cooper: the first american novelist to
gain world fame
-Edgar Allen Poe: poet who wrote in pessimistic tone, not
like literature of the time.
-Herman Melville: wrote Moby Dick
-Nathaniel Hawthorne: wrote The Scarlet Letter

51. Transcendentalism
-movement resulted from a liberalizing of the Puritan theology. Rejected theory that all knowledge comes to the mind through senses. Truth transcends the senses and can’t be found just by observation
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-poet and philosopher that urged American writers to forget European traditions and write about American interests
-Henry David Thoreau: believed that one should reduce his bodily wants so as to gain time for a pursuit of truth through study and mediation