Chapter 9: Expanding Markets and the Nation Moves West
At this point in history, the US experienced tremendous economic change- America industrialized. This is known as a market revolution. Now, people did business very differently. They bought and sold goods instead of producing on their own. This process depends on capitalism. Capitalism is the system in which private businesses or private individuals control production to make a profit. Capitalism depends on entrepreneurs to invest in the businesses.
Life for farmers changed too:
1. New machinery
2. Improved technology
3. Cash crops
Inventions and improvements that changed US lives:
1. Vulcanized rubber- treated rubber that resists cold and heat. This was invented by Charles Goodyear
2. Sewing machine- was invented by Elias Howe and perfected by I.M. Singer. The sewing machined changed life for woman; they could now make a dress 75% quicker.
3. Telegraph- was invented by Samuel Morse. The telegraph revolutionized communication between cities. Railroads used the telegraph to regulate the train schedule.
4. Steam boat- was invented by Robert Fulton. The steam boats were a new way to carry freight down rivers. They were very exciting but extremely dangerous.
The railroads became more popular than the steam boat because they were faster, but they were expensive. Eventually the price dropped and slowly, the country began building more and more rails. The railroads connected the nation north and south. The canals connected the nation east and west.
The northeast became the nation’s business’s manufacturing center and the Midwest became the nation’s farming center. New inventions helped farmers such as:
1. Steel plow- invented by John Deere.
2. Reaper- was invented by Cyrus McCormick. The reaper cut and bundled wheat.
These inventions decreased the farmer’s work tremendously and work could be done faster, so that there was an increase in output and farms became lucrative.
The railroads connected the north and west- they brought machinery out west and farm goods to the east. The railroads served as the connecting force of the nation.
Much of this technological surge bypassed the south because the south had slaves who did the work. They didn’t need the machinery to upgrade, but the south still grew cash crops such as:
1. Cotton- number one crop.
2. Tobacco- secondary crop.
3. Rice- secondary crop.
Manifest destiny- the American people believe that it’s our right to control all the land out west from sea to shining sea.
There were smaller ideas blended with manifest destiny that got people to move out west:
1. The spreading of democracy.
2. Missionaries are always eager for new lands to either convert people, or start a new community that follows their religion.
3. Economic importance- the Panic of 1837 caused many people to lose money and they thought that by going out west, they would make money.
4. New markets- new markets could be found in Mexico, and could trade with Asia through California, which is on the Pacific Ocean.
As the settlers moved west, they met up with Indians and fought. The Americans made treaties with the Indians. One of the more famous treaties was the treaty of Fort Laramie in 1851- we promised the Indians the Great Plains. The treaties were broken over and over again.
Routes that the settlers took as they moved west:
1. Santa Fe Trail- left from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. This was basically a business route. It opened up the southwest and the Mexican and Spanish goods to America.
2. Oregon Trail- this trail was full of danger. It went from Independence, Missouri to Portland, Oregon. Many people traveled on this trail, and many died along the way.
One group that traveled on the Oregon Trail was the Mormons, led by Joseph Smith. The Mormons suffered religious persecution and Smith was killed. Their new leader was Brigham Young. Young suggested that if the Mormons move out west away from persecution, they’ll be successful. They went on the Oregon Trail, but never reached Oregon. They stopped in Salt Lake City, Utah and still remain there today. (The Mormons practice polygamy.)
About five thousand Americans settled in the Oregon territory. American and England vied over Oregon. America wanted it for manifest destiny and England wanted it for their business beaver hats and beaver furs. In 1844, one of the campaign ideas of President James K. Polk was “54’ 40° or fight”- we’ll get the Oregon territory of fight for it. Beaver went out of style, the English weren’t so interested in the territory anymore, so they compromised at the 49th parallel. Today, this is the northern border of the US and Canada.
Expanding into Texas-
Texas was a region in Mexico. Mexico was a huge country that had been colonized by the Spanish. In the early 1830s, it became independent. Mexico was looking to develop their northern territories, among them Texas. The Mexicans encouraged the English speaking Anglos to settle there. Anglos could move into Mexico if they promised to be Roman Catholics and follow the Mexican rule. Mexico gave away a lot of land for free.
The Anglos didn’t view themselves as Mexicans- they viewed themselves as an American colony in Mexico. One leader, Stephen Austin, was an American. He got a huge land grant from Mexico and he subdivided the land among many Americans, and they were living happily.
The Mexicans began getting nervous because the number of English people was becoming larger than the number of Mexican people in the northern territory of Mexico. The Americans were unhappy because:
1. They had to be Roman Catholics.
2. They were farmers and had slaves with them, but Mexico had outlawed slaves already.
In 1830, Mexico closed their borders and the Mexican troops began snooping around and enforcing laws, so the Americans got agitated. Austin went to speak to the Mexican leaders to ask for self government from Mexico for the Americans living there. The Mexican leader, Antonis Lopez de Santa Anna promptly threw Austin in jail.
After Austin was released, he told his people that they have to fight for themselves. There were a series of skirmishes which later came to be known as the Texas Revolution. One of the most important battles was the battle of Alamo. There were 187 Americans who used the Alamo, a mission building, as a fort. The Americans were shooting the Mexicans, and the Mexicans shot back. This went on for twelve days until the Mexicans scaled the walls of the Alamo and killed everyone inside. This became the American battle cry- remember the Alamo and how bad the Mexicans were.
Sam Houston was commander of one of the troops. He captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign away Texas’s freedom. The Americans in Texas celebrated their freedom. They were their own country- the Republic of Texas, and were recognized as a country by France and England. This took place in 1836.
The Texans thought that the US would annex them. In 1838, Houston, who was the president of Texas, asked to be annexed and America refused because the northerners didn’t want to allow another slave state into the union.
In 1844, Polk became president. Polk was both an expansionist and a slave holder and in 1845, Texas was admitted into the union. Mexico was fuming and Polk was really happy- he was nicknamed Polk the Purposeful. Polk agitated war against Mexico. He told General Zachary Taylor to start mobilizing troops near the Rio Grande River. When the Americans began to mobilize, Mexico felt that it was a violation of territorial rights. America had to decide whether or not to start a war- the north didn’t want more slave states, so they weren’t excited about war, but Polk wanted war.
In 1845, America sent scouts into California (part of Mexico) to check out the territory. In response, Mexico sent troops into Texas, and eleven Americans were killed. Polk told Congress that they must declare war, and they did.
The US army, led by General Stephen Kearny, marched troops into Santa Fe, New Mexico. Without a single casualty, they seized it and moved into California. California had already declared independence (called themselves the Bear Flag State), and asked to be joined.
The American troops continued on and had one victory after another. The Mexican troops tried to defend their land, but their army was outdated and very top heavy. America had just graduated their first class from West Point and was excited to try out new war strategies.
America took over Mexico City, and now they won. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the US a lot of territory, increasing the size of America by one- third. The US received:
1. California
2. New Mexico
3. Nevada
4. Utah
5. Arizona (part)
6. Wyoming (part)
7. Colorado (part)
In 1853, the US purchased some land under New Mexico from Mexico in the Gadsen Purchase. This land was purchased in order to lay railroad tracks through it. This purchase settled our southwest border until today.
In the election of 1848, Zachary Taylor, a general during the Mexican- American war, was elected as president. He was from the Whig party.
In 1848, American settlers discovered gold in California. Americans, known as the forty-niners, flooded California in search of gold. California became a boom town over night. It wasn’t the prospectors who became rich, rather the people who sold items to the forty-niners.
The California Gold Rush brought thousands of people into California, making it ready for statehood. This spurred on a debate in Congress of whether California should be a free state or a slave state.
Monday, December 28, 2009
History: Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Reform in America
In the early 1800s, America experienced its second Great Awakening- religious revival. Religion again became popular in America and the modicum was through powerful preachers. The mindset of this era was that people thought they were doomed to purgatory and they had to creep their way out.
Transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement, which was the brain child of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was a writer and he believed that you can bring change through your thoughts and ideas. He discussed the ideas of truth that can be learned through nature. He said one should look inside himself and remove himself from the vicissitudes of society. Many transcendentalists moved out of the hub of life and into forests. One example of this was the writer Thoreau. He moved into a hut in the forest and didn’t come out for two years. He wrote “On Walden Pond” while he was alone.
Transcendentalism awoke the need for change. One of the areas of change was creating utopian societies, which were formed in order to find perfection. They wanted to build a community where everyone would live peacefully and in harmony, but none of them were successful.
Specific changes that took place:
1. Education- in early America, schools weren’t established and villages arranged education privately amongst themselves. In the 1830s was the start of state funded education. Slowly, more states began to take the responsibility for education, but It took a while for it to become an accepted thing. Horace Mann was the superintendent of schools in Massachusetts and he spent more money than ever before on education. He also made up curriculums and teacher training sessions- he made education real. Soon many states copied.
2. Prisoners and mental institutions- prisoners and people in mental institutions were horribly treated. Dorothy Dix went to prisons and institutions and saw the horrid treatment the inhabitants were receiving. She campaigned heavily for improvements in these institutions and was successful. (People still do this today.)
3. Slavery and abolition movement- abolitionists were people who wanted to abolish slavery. For years, African Americans that had been freed from slavery had campaigned for the abolition of slavery. Now, in the early 1800s, many preachers advocated for the end of slavery. Abolitionists:
a. William Lloyd Garrison. He was also the editor of an anti- slavery newspaper, “The Liberator”.
b. David Walker- was a freed slave who told African Americans to fight for their independence.
c. Fredrik Douglas- was a black slave who gained his freedom by escaping to the north. He befriended Garrison and worked for him for many years. Douglas was an exceptional speaker. Eventually, he began to publish his own newspaper called “The North Star”.
As the debate over slavery was growing, so was slavery itself. From 1810 to 1830, the slave population doubled in America. The whole institution of slavery now changed. It used to be mostly male workers who weren’t paid. By the 1830s, there were males, females and children who were American born working from dusk to dawn, some even longer. There were also slaves who worked in the cities, in the mills and mines.
In 1831, a Virginia slave named Nat Turner led a violent slave rebellion. He hit five southern plantations and killed all the white men in their beds. By the time he got to the fifth plantation, he was caught and executed.
The Nat Turner Rebellion sparked a new debate- some southerners were scared and felt maybe slavery should be abolished. In Virginia, they even tried to pass a law abolishing slavery, but it didn’t pass. The other side felt that the laws over the slaves had to be tightened so the slaves would be heavily controlled. There were some southerners who defended slavery, saying that it’s a wonderful thing- uncivilized people are now becoming Christian, and being taken care of for life.
In Congress the debates continued. The south was afraid that if the debates lasted long enough, slavery might be put to an end, so they passed the Gag Rule in 1836- debates can be limited. In 1845, the Gag Rule was lifted.
Woman and reforms:
Woman in America were treated as inferior beings and second class citizens. They didn’t have the right to own property or have custody over their children. Men had the right to beat their wives. Woman was bound by the cult of domesticity- the idea that woman belong at home.
There were woman who worked to improve life for woman:
1. Sisters Angelina and Sara Grimke- were also abolitionists. Along with other woman, they worked in the Temperance movement- to get men to stop drinking. Why? Because when men drink, the beat their wives. Many women joined. Factory owners also joined because drunk workers don’t perform well.
2. Emma Willard (New York) and Mary Lyon (Massachusetts) opened up girls high schools. Lyon’s school was called Holyoke. They faced much opposition.
3. Katherine Beecher was another woman who bought change. She researched woman’s health issues because woman used to be very sickly. She came up with the interesting finding that it was because:
a. They needed to get out and exercise more.
b. Their mode of dress was terrible, directly leading to illness.
4. Amanda Bloomer printed a pattern for a loose fitting pair of pants in the newspaper so woman should have more comfortable clothing. Bloomers gave woman the ability to move around more freely
5. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott wanted to bring woman rights, so they campaigned heavily. In 1848, they met at the Seneca Falls convention with other woman. Stanton and Mott spoke and explained the problems at hand. At the meeting, they read the Declaration of Sentiments, which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. It stated that all men and woman are created equally and listed all their problems. This convention was considered to be the start of the woman’s rights movement.
6. Sojourner Truth- she was a black who fought for the abolition of slavery and woman’s rights.
The changing work place:
Now, America was moving into factories. Goods were no longer produced by artisans; they were now made in factories.
Many people were excited about this. In Lowell, Massachusetts, the mill girls (hired girls because they could be paid less) were excited to leave the field and go work in factories, bringing home money. The factories were social and interactive. Slowly, over time, work in the mills changed. The day was extended without an increase in pay. The factory owners demanded greater output- the workload was tripled, and the amount of workers was only doubled.
The mill girls went on strike. Most of the strikes were unsuccessful, but they didn’t give up. It was an extreme uphill battle. The strikes were unsuccessful mostly because of strikebreakers- people who broke the strikes. Strikebreakers were mostly immigrants, and many were Irish. Why were many Irish strikebreakers? Because the Irish were poor and were willing to work for less. There was a lot of prejudice against the Irish because:
1. They were the strikebreakers.
2. They were Roman Catholic.
Nevertheless, people still went on strike.
One of the first labor unions formed was the National Traitors Union in 1834. In the 1830s and 40s, the courts sided with the factory owners, besides for the one exception of Commonwealth vs. Hunt.
In the early 1800s, America experienced its second Great Awakening- religious revival. Religion again became popular in America and the modicum was through powerful preachers. The mindset of this era was that people thought they were doomed to purgatory and they had to creep their way out.
Transcendentalism is a philosophical and literary movement, which was the brain child of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was a writer and he believed that you can bring change through your thoughts and ideas. He discussed the ideas of truth that can be learned through nature. He said one should look inside himself and remove himself from the vicissitudes of society. Many transcendentalists moved out of the hub of life and into forests. One example of this was the writer Thoreau. He moved into a hut in the forest and didn’t come out for two years. He wrote “On Walden Pond” while he was alone.
Transcendentalism awoke the need for change. One of the areas of change was creating utopian societies, which were formed in order to find perfection. They wanted to build a community where everyone would live peacefully and in harmony, but none of them were successful.
Specific changes that took place:
1. Education- in early America, schools weren’t established and villages arranged education privately amongst themselves. In the 1830s was the start of state funded education. Slowly, more states began to take the responsibility for education, but It took a while for it to become an accepted thing. Horace Mann was the superintendent of schools in Massachusetts and he spent more money than ever before on education. He also made up curriculums and teacher training sessions- he made education real. Soon many states copied.
2. Prisoners and mental institutions- prisoners and people in mental institutions were horribly treated. Dorothy Dix went to prisons and institutions and saw the horrid treatment the inhabitants were receiving. She campaigned heavily for improvements in these institutions and was successful. (People still do this today.)
3. Slavery and abolition movement- abolitionists were people who wanted to abolish slavery. For years, African Americans that had been freed from slavery had campaigned for the abolition of slavery. Now, in the early 1800s, many preachers advocated for the end of slavery. Abolitionists:
a. William Lloyd Garrison. He was also the editor of an anti- slavery newspaper, “The Liberator”.
b. David Walker- was a freed slave who told African Americans to fight for their independence.
c. Fredrik Douglas- was a black slave who gained his freedom by escaping to the north. He befriended Garrison and worked for him for many years. Douglas was an exceptional speaker. Eventually, he began to publish his own newspaper called “The North Star”.
As the debate over slavery was growing, so was slavery itself. From 1810 to 1830, the slave population doubled in America. The whole institution of slavery now changed. It used to be mostly male workers who weren’t paid. By the 1830s, there were males, females and children who were American born working from dusk to dawn, some even longer. There were also slaves who worked in the cities, in the mills and mines.
In 1831, a Virginia slave named Nat Turner led a violent slave rebellion. He hit five southern plantations and killed all the white men in their beds. By the time he got to the fifth plantation, he was caught and executed.
The Nat Turner Rebellion sparked a new debate- some southerners were scared and felt maybe slavery should be abolished. In Virginia, they even tried to pass a law abolishing slavery, but it didn’t pass. The other side felt that the laws over the slaves had to be tightened so the slaves would be heavily controlled. There were some southerners who defended slavery, saying that it’s a wonderful thing- uncivilized people are now becoming Christian, and being taken care of for life.
In Congress the debates continued. The south was afraid that if the debates lasted long enough, slavery might be put to an end, so they passed the Gag Rule in 1836- debates can be limited. In 1845, the Gag Rule was lifted.
Woman and reforms:
Woman in America were treated as inferior beings and second class citizens. They didn’t have the right to own property or have custody over their children. Men had the right to beat their wives. Woman was bound by the cult of domesticity- the idea that woman belong at home.
There were woman who worked to improve life for woman:
1. Sisters Angelina and Sara Grimke- were also abolitionists. Along with other woman, they worked in the Temperance movement- to get men to stop drinking. Why? Because when men drink, the beat their wives. Many women joined. Factory owners also joined because drunk workers don’t perform well.
2. Emma Willard (New York) and Mary Lyon (Massachusetts) opened up girls high schools. Lyon’s school was called Holyoke. They faced much opposition.
3. Katherine Beecher was another woman who bought change. She researched woman’s health issues because woman used to be very sickly. She came up with the interesting finding that it was because:
a. They needed to get out and exercise more.
b. Their mode of dress was terrible, directly leading to illness.
4. Amanda Bloomer printed a pattern for a loose fitting pair of pants in the newspaper so woman should have more comfortable clothing. Bloomers gave woman the ability to move around more freely
5. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott wanted to bring woman rights, so they campaigned heavily. In 1848, they met at the Seneca Falls convention with other woman. Stanton and Mott spoke and explained the problems at hand. At the meeting, they read the Declaration of Sentiments, which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. It stated that all men and woman are created equally and listed all their problems. This convention was considered to be the start of the woman’s rights movement.
6. Sojourner Truth- she was a black who fought for the abolition of slavery and woman’s rights.
The changing work place:
Now, America was moving into factories. Goods were no longer produced by artisans; they were now made in factories.
Many people were excited about this. In Lowell, Massachusetts, the mill girls (hired girls because they could be paid less) were excited to leave the field and go work in factories, bringing home money. The factories were social and interactive. Slowly, over time, work in the mills changed. The day was extended without an increase in pay. The factory owners demanded greater output- the workload was tripled, and the amount of workers was only doubled.
The mill girls went on strike. Most of the strikes were unsuccessful, but they didn’t give up. It was an extreme uphill battle. The strikes were unsuccessful mostly because of strikebreakers- people who broke the strikes. Strikebreakers were mostly immigrants, and many were Irish. Why were many Irish strikebreakers? Because the Irish were poor and were willing to work for less. There was a lot of prejudice against the Irish because:
1. They were the strikebreakers.
2. They were Roman Catholic.
Nevertheless, people still went on strike.
One of the first labor unions formed was the National Traitors Union in 1834. In the 1830s and 40s, the courts sided with the factory owners, besides for the one exception of Commonwealth vs. Hunt.
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