UNIT III: THE NATION TAKES SHAPE (1789-1841) What significant developments can you pinpoint as having their origin in this period? What developments have aided the success of our constitutional government to adapt to changing conditions? What unifying and divisive forces operated in this period? What debt do we owe to the Federalists? To the Democratic-Republicans? What groups and pressures brought forth the era of "Jacksonian Democracy"? Would you agree that the same issues that divided proponents and opponents of the Constitution later divided the Federalists and Jeffersonians and still later, the Jacksonians and the Whigs? Was the United States still an economically underdeveloped nation by 1840? Does a study of the effect of European events on American domestic politics during the period 1789-1815 prove the generalization that there is no American history separate from the history of Europe? Does the period 1800-1825 support the generalization that the achievements of diplomats are in the long- run more decisive than the military achievements? Understand the following quotation: "A differing idea of democracy is based upon a changing definition of human nature."

SUPPLEMENTARY READING:  NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PERTINENT VOCABULARY (I): This list concentrates on the key individuals and events that brought about factionalization and political infighting between the Federalists and Republicans from the period 1789-1815. As you study these identifications, discover the contributions that this healthy rivalry made to the Republic.

 1. Funding                               
 2. Assumption                            
 3. Bank of the United States (BUS)           
 4. Whiskey Tax (1791)                    
 5. "Report on Manufactures"                
 6. James Madison                          
 7. Neutrality Proclamation (1793)           
 8. Citizen Genet                           
 9. John Adams                            
10. Farewell Address (1796)                
11. XYZ Affair (1797)                      
12. Barbary Pirates                         
13. Naturalization Act (1798)               
14. Sedition Act (1798)                     
15. Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798)   
16. Aaron Burr
17. Judiciary Act (1801)    
18. Noah Webster       
19. Mercy Otis Warren   
20. Louisiana Purchase (1803) 
21. Chesapeake-Leopard Incident  
22. Orders-in-Council (1807)  
23. Embargo Act (1807) 
24. Non-Intercourse Act (1809)  
25. War Hawks  
26. Daniel Webster
27. Hartford Convention 
28. Battle of New Orleans
29. Treaty of Ghent (1814)
30. Andrew Jackson
31. Albert Gallatin
32. Napoleonic Wars

PERTINENT VOCABULARY (II): Selected vocabulary during this epoch (1816-1841) focuses on the beginning of the physical expansion of the United States, the growth of the West as a political and economic factor, the advent of Jacksonian Democracy, and the extension of democratic institutions to a larger percentage of the populace.

 1. Francis C. Lowell                        
 2. Rush-Bagot Treaty (1817)                  
 3. Cumberland Road                      
 4. Tariff of 1816                           
 5. James Monroe                          
 6. John C. Calhoun                         
 7. Adams-Onis Treaty (1819)                
 8. Panic of 1819                            
 9. Erie Canal                               
10. Tallmadge Amendment                   
11. Missouri Compromise (1820)               
12. Henry Clay                              
13. John Quincy Adams                       
14. Corrupt Bargain                         
15. "King Caucus"                          
16. Tariff of Abominations (1828)             
17. Coffin Handbill                         
18. "The South Carolina Exposition and Protest"
19. Martin Van Buren
20. Peggy O'Neil Affair
21. Webster-Hayne Debate
22. Maysville Road Veto (1830)
23. Indian Removal Act (1830)
24. "Trail of Tears"
25. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)
26. Nullification Ordinance (1832)
27. Force Bill (1832)
28. Tariff of 1833
29. Nicholas Biddle
30. Roger B. Taney
31. LocoFocos
32. Whig Party (1834)
33. Specie Circular (1836)
34. Panic of 1837
35. Independent Treasury System
36. Charles River Bridge Case (1837)
 
THE FEDERALIST ERA: In 1787 Alexander Hamilton stated: "Our prevailing passions are ambition and interest; and it will be the duty of a wise government to avail itself of these passions, in order to make them subservient to the public good." How was this viewpoint manifested in Hamilton's financial program as Secretary of the Treasury? Once the economic plan of Hamilton was enacted, what groups of people would be most likely to support and oppose the federal government? To what degree were the revolutionary aspirations of James Otis, Sam Adams, and Thomas Paine destroyed by the authoritarian control of Alexander Hamilton? What domestic and foreign problems faced the new republic? What kind of tentative foreign policy emerged during the first years of our government? WHAT IMMEDIATE THREATS to domestic tranquility existed during the early years of Washington's administration? What major precedents were set for the American government during the first two administrations of George Washington? Why did political parties develop? What was their function? Did these parties resemble our modern political parties? What basic issue did the Alien and Sedition Acts raise? What fears for the future did President Washington express in his Farewell Address? What were Washington's views regarding sectional loyalty and the priority it should have in the future of the new nation? What actions taken during his terms in office does Washington cite to prove the value of the national government over sectional interests and loyalty? Does he suggest that political parties serve any useful purpose? What kind of tentative foreign policy emerged during the first years of our government? What principles of diplomacy did Washington enunciate in his Farewell Address in 1796? WAS IT NECESSARY for the Adams administration to initiate such punitive legislation as the Alien and Sedition Acts? What factors motivated its decision making? What factors motivated Thomas Jefferson in the writing of the Kentucky Resolutions? What long-range, dangerous precedent do they evoke? Why did France apparently turn its back on the United States during the sordid XYZ Affair? Did these diplomatic activities prove President Washington correct in his Farewell Address?
 
KENNEDY: Chapter 10
HANDOUT: Hugh Sidey, "Above All the Man Had Character"
HANDOUT:  Document Analysis ("Washington's Farewell Address")
 
THE SAGE OF MONTICELLO: What appears to be, in Hofstadter's view, Jefferson's essential role with Hamilton? What kind of educational, religious, cultural, and industrial changes were taking place in America by the year 1800? To what extent did they contribute to the Jeffersonian "revolution (of 1800)"? Did Jefferson's performance in presidential office contradict his philosophical utterances when he was out of power? In what respects was he hypocritical in what he advocated and what he actually did? What are the two dominant points of view regarding Jefferson that past scholars have put forth? What is the point of view put forth by Professor Hofstadter? What is the meaning of the following in Hofstadter's essay: "Although democratically minded Americans did stand with Jefferson, the line of division was essentially between two kinds of property, not two kinds of philosophy"? How does Hofstadter apply his notion, that of Jefferson as a moderate, as a temporizer, as a quasi-Federalist in Republican clothing, to Jefferson's presidential policies and actions in economic matters? How does Hofstadter alter the traditional notion of Jefferson as a romantic agrarian or starry-eyed revolutionist? What political variables served as a background to influence Jefferson's decision-making on the territory of Louisiana? How did he justify its constitutionality to Congress? Can you explain the title of the essay?
 
APT: Chapter 2
HANDOUT: Crossroads Project: "The Ambiguous Democracy in America, 1800-1848"  ("Introduction: Democracy for Whom? Thematic and Methodological Focal Points" and "Jeffersonian Democracy, 1800-1824")
HANDOUT: "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account"
 
THE "SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION": Evaluate United States foreign policy prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812. What options did he have as president? How effective were congressional embargo techniques against the British and the French during the Madison administration? To what extent did economic factors influence the direction of foreign policy? What political advocacy did the so-called "War Hawks" postulate? What justification did they have for their point of view? To what degree was the Hartford Convention of 1814 a northern response to the Virginia Resolutions fifteen years before? What kinds of sectional tendencies can you see beginning to emerge? What were the outcomes of the war as far as the United States was concerned?
 
KENNEDY:  Chapter 11 ("The Pacifist Jefferson Turns Warrior" through the end of the chapter) and Chapter 12 ("On to Canada over Land and Lakes" through "The Second War for American Independence")
 
"THE ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS," AND AFTER: Did the "Era of Good Feelings" mark the appearance of issues that transformed American politics in the next 20 years? What were the forces which strengthened and united the nation in this period? What was the object of United States foreign policy after the war? How does the Monroe Doctrine fit into this picture? What immediate pretext did President James Monroe employ to announce the doctrine of noncolonization? What distinctions does Monroe draw between Europe and the Americas prior to his announcement of the "hands off" doctrine? Is there a consistent policy which the United States followed from Washington through John Quincy Adams? What was the nature and extent of social protest and reform in the 1830's and 1840's? In what respect is the "Era of Good Feelings" a misnamed smokescreen to cover up potentially damaging sectional issues? What political factors brought about the genesis of the Whig Party? Was this faction a delayed marriage of the Federalist and Republicans? One historian has written: "The election of 1824 was the end of one era of American politics and the beginning of another." Is this a valid assessment? What did Adams, Jackson, and Clay gain (or lose) from this election? How did the style of campaigning change during this epoch?
 
KENNEDY:  Chapter 12 ("Nascent Nationalism" through "The So-Called Era of Good Feelings"; "John Marshall and Judicial Nationalism"; "The Menace of Monarchy in America" through "Monroe's Doctrine Appraised") and Chapter 13 ("Politics for the People" through "Yankee Misfit in the White House")
ISSUES (II): "The Monroe Doctrine"
 
THE "REVOLUTION" OF 1828: Does the social ferment of the period have a relationship to Andrew Jackson's election and presidency? What was Jackson's stand on the national debt? Why did many leaders fear that General Jackson might be dangerously ambitious? How could broadening the suffrage help a military hero who was seeking a political career? What could Jackson gain by pretending to have violent rages before his opponents? According to Professor Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., what was Jackson's greatest strength? What is the "Whig Legend" of Jackson?
 
KENNEDY:  Chapter 13 ("Going 'Whole Hog' for Jackson in 1828" through the end of the chapter)
HANDOUT:  Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Age of Jackson
HANDOUT:  Document Analysis: The Significance of the Frontier in American History (1893)/Frederick                       Jackson Turner
HANDOUT: "Jackson's Frontier -- and Turner's" (After the Fact)
 
JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY: How does Hofstadter revise the notion of Jackson as a "rustic" frontiersman? What political transformation paralleled Jackson's coming into office? How did the Panic of 1819 contribute to this transformation? Why would General Jackson become a logical spokesman for their interests? The worst fear of many statesman was that Jackson would cheapen the electoral process so that mediocre candidates would be elected. Was their fear justified by the Jacksonians? What were the benefits and liabilities of the introduction of the spoils system and the concept of rotation in office? Explain the relationship between the decision of the Supreme Court in the Charles River Bridge Case and Hofstadter's interpretation of Jacksonian Democracy. What differences were there between the Jacksonian Democrats and the Whigs? How does Hofstadter alter the traditional views of Jackson? If their professed purpose was to favor the "common man", why did they display such inconsistency with blacks and Indians? Do you understand the title of the essay?
 
APT: Chapter 3
HANDOUT:  Crossroads Project: "The Ambiguous Democracy in America, 1800-1848"             ("Jacksonian Democracy, 1824-1840 ")
HANDOUT: Document Analysis: Veto of the Bank of the United States (1832)/Andrew Jackson
KENNEDY:  Chapter 13 ("The Tricky 'Tariff of Abominations'" and "The Tariff Yoke in the South"); Chapter 14 ("'Nullies' in South Carolina" through "Transplanting the Tribes" and "The Birth of the Whigs and the Election of 1836" through the end of the chapter)
 
 
EXAMINATION
 
 
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