YOU ARE HERE >
Main > Teacher Resources > JCC Survey Course > Cyber Lectures > Survey 1-09
Nationalism, Sectionalism and an American Culture
Hyperlinked materials are considered part of each lecture
and should be reviewed.
The United States that elected James Monroe in 1816 was
characterized by geographical expansion and economic
diversification. Newspapers of the time, and later
historians, referred to Monroe's terms as an "Era of Good
Feelings". Jackson's victory at New Orleans enabled
Americans to pretend that we had won the War of 1812. This
strong surge of nationalistic spirit appeared in many areas
of American life. Patriotic themes permeated everything from
pub songs to commissioned art work. A visit to
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
will provide an overview of
the great art works of this time period. Cultural
nationalism was joined by three other concurrent threads:
economic and judicial nationalism plus a nationalistic
foreign policy.
1. Economic nationalism included a
protective tariff, the building of a national infrastructure
of roads and canals, and commitment to the Second Bank of
the United States. Many of these ideas were promoted by
Henry Clay in his proposed American System. Although they
ultimately became part of our social and economic landscape,
there were many arguments related to strict and loose
construction. The end of the Federalist Party led to a
strict constructionist perspective at the executive and
legislative levels--thus, per Article I, Section 8--the
building of internal improvements was initially left to the
states. The most significant internal improvement financed
and completed by any state was the
Erie
Canal
(I could not resist--go on
the tour). Take a few moments to comprehend the magnitude
and impact of this marvelous engineering marvel--built by
hand not machine.
2. One Federalist continued to have
a major influence within the national government. John
Marshall, who had been appointed to the Supreme Court in
1800 by President John Adams, was Chief Justice. He steered
the Court toward decisions often favoring the Federal
Government and the rights of property over states rights. In
addition to Marbury v. Madison, some of these landmark cases
include:
Fletcher v. Peck (1810); Martin v. Hunter's Lease (1816);
Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819); Cohens v. Virginia
(1821) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1821)
3. Nationalism also led to an assertive American foreign
policy specifically as related to Spanish Florida and the
possible intervention of Europe in Latin American affairs.
President Monroe articulated a foreign policy obviously
referred to as the
Monroe Doctrine .
This doctrine stated that the American continents could no
longer be considered for future colonization by any European
countries. It also implied our continued neutrality and
willingness to use military force to protect the western
hemisphere. Although our country was actually incapable of
upholding this doctrine in the 1820's, it would become the
cornerstone of our Western Hemisphere/Latin American policy
during the 19th and 20th century-- I believe it will be
invoked in the 21st century. What are some of the present
day issues or concerns are related to our relationship to
European and/or Latin American countries?
The Market economy was now the
prevalent economic strategy of North and South. Technology
began to fuel the factories and an Industrial Revolution in
the North. As the century continued, rural residents and
immigrants would rush to the northern cities to work as wage
laborers--often under abusive conditions. Another
technological advance,
Eli Whitney's cotton gin, made large scale
cotton production possible and profitable. Unfortunately,
hopes for a natural death of slavery were ended when the gin
increased the demand for slaves, led to further degradation
of African Americans and long term problems for the
Republic. The working concept of an agrarian republic
shifted west of the Appalachians as
land
hungry settlers moved into the frontier.
They also utilized the new technology and infrastructure the
Erie Canal, steamboats, National Road and early railroads.
This emerging America sounded promising from an economic
perspective, but we were also witnessing the early years of
extreme sectionalism. Each section of the country: North,
South and West was establishing their own social, economic
and political agenda. A key issue was that as the new states
of the West entered, they had small populations in
comparison to the old states. This limited their
representation in the House and minimized their national
power. However, they developed a strategy to maximize their
power to achieve sectional needs. The western states used
their votes to selectively support the political initiatives
of the other sections-- in return for support of items
crucial to the western agenda of cheap money, internal
improvements, easy credit and cheap land. This brokering of
votes--quid pro quo--has led to the abusive procedure we
refer to as pork barreling. Obviously, this will be a topic
we will discuss again.
The "Era of Good Feelings" was
seriously threatened by the Panic of 1819 which was directly
related to restrictions on credit, by the Second Bank of the
United States, to control inflation. Numerous state banks
closed, deflation of currency took place, purchasing
diminished , with resultant unemployment and bankruptcies.
Although all parts of the country were affected, extreme
land speculation in the West resulted in the Bank
foreclosing on thousands of farmers and investors. The
resultant distrust of the Bank would become a crucial issue
in 1830. A more serious threat came from the first major
sectional dispute over slavery. In 1791 and 1792, Vermont
entered the Union as a free state and Kentucky entered as a
slave state. Since that time, Congress had attempted to
maintain a sectional balance between North and South--11
free states and 11 slave states. Population in the North
grew dramatically through natural birth rates and
immigration, so that by 1818, the northern states held a
majority of 105 to 81 in the House of Representatives. In
the Senate, two votes per state regardless of population
assured that southern senators could block any threats to
the interests of their section. In 1819, when the Missouri
Territory applied to Congress for statehood, the slavery
issue caused concern and debate. What would happen if the
balance in the Senate was destroyed? This was the first
state from the Louisiana Purchase, how would the other
states enter? Many solutions were suggested, but ultimately
Henry Clay obtained majority support for three separate
bills which would become the
Missouri Compromise
(click on view transcript) and maintain uneasy sectional
balance for thirty years. The basic components were:
Missouri would enter as a slave state, Maine would be
admitted as a free state, In the rest of the Louisiana
Territory: north of the line of latitude 36 degrees 30
minutes any state entering would be free, south of that line
states entering would be slave.
The final event of this time period
that we will discuss is the
Presidential Election of 1824.
The one party system led to four Republican candidates
reflecting national goals and specific regional/sectional
issues. The candidates were John Quincy Adams, Andrew
Jackson, Henry Clay and William Crawford. After a bitter,
mudslinging campaign, Andrew Jackson won the greatest number
of popular votes. However, the fragmentation of votes to
four separate candidates prohibited him from securing the
necessary majority of electoral votes. Therefore, consistent
with the Constitution, the House of Representatives was
given the task of selecting the President from the top three
candidates--check the result! This election was very
prominent in discussions of the Election 2000 as Gore
secured the majority of the popular vote but lost the
election when Bush won???? the required majority of the
electoral votes. What is the other similarity between the
Election of 1824 and 2000?
In 1828,
Andrew Jackson
(take a moment to read about this unique individual)
would be back. In the next module, we will reflect on the
changing nature of democracy and American society in a time
referred to as the Age of Jackson.
For each module I recommend that you visit A Biography
of America
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
,
an exceptional video instructional
series for high school and college students produced by WGBH
Boston in cooperation with the Library of Congress and the
National Archives and Records Administration. These thirty
minute lectures incorporate first person narratives,
photographs, film footage and documents related to various
historical time periods. Combined with my introductory
comments, the required textbooks and our discussions, I
believe you will acquire a more in-depth and enjoyable
encounter with history. Please note the requirements and
possible download limitations—which is why this is not a
requirement. Please follow the directions below and give it
a try!!!!
You can view Annenberg/CPB programs
of your choice online with a broadband connection whenever
you see this icon.
 There is no
charge for this service.
Simply select a
program
and go to the individual program description listing and
click on the icon. Free sign up required for first-time
users. To hear the sound and view video, you should have
Windows Media Player, DSL, a cable modem, or a LAN
connection to a T1 line or greater, and have Javascript
enabled. For more information, please visit our broadband
FAQ.
For this topic—visit
http://learner.org/resources/series123.html#
and
access the presentation: The Rise of Capitalism.
Our textbook offers a very comprehensive Online Student
Learning Center. Click on the link below, Select the
appropriate chapter and you will have access to: Chapter
Objectives, Chapter in Perspective, Chapter Overview, numerous
Interactive Activities, Primary Source documents and my
favorite--Internet Exercises/Recommended Sites Related to the
Specific Topics
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072870982/student_view0/index.html
Folk Music of American History: Music and Lyrics
(highly recommended music before, during or after reading
cyberlectures!)
Additional
Folk Music and Lyrics
|
