Figure 1, The original Gerry-Mander as invented by the party of Jefferson, in 1812, to insure dominance of the Republicans in the Massachusetts senate, a traditional stronghold for the Federalists. The name comes from a combination of "salamander" and Elbridge Gerry, the Republican governor of Massachusetts. Ever since such strange manipulations, or "gerrymandering" of voting districts have been common place in American electoral politics.
Introduction
Jefferson's vision of the future of the United States was never to be fulfilled. He had hoped for a nation of Yeoman farmers, living on smaller replicas of his own estate of Monticello, in a nation with as few large cities as possible. He believed in a primarily agricultural nation served by the handmaid commerce. Even though more than 50% of the population of the United States would remain engaged in agriculture until 1920, the nation rapidly became a world center of commerce and manufacturing from the time of its founding, expanding throughout the19th century. What the United States became was a nation of enterprise with commerce, manufacturing and agriculture as the three major forms. The resource, which made the economic growth of the Unites States possible, was simply abundant, cheap land.
Following the Revolution the United States set its sights on the land west of the Appalachian mountains, but it was not until Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase that the seemingly untold vastness of the continent opened up before the eyes of Americans. The subsequent Louis and Clark and Zebulon Pike expeditions were very important because they demonstrated that the continent could be crossed and that it was probably habitable. The immigrants that followed the trail of Louis and Clark would soon call it the Oregon Trail while those following Pikes path to Colorado would wander The Old Spanish Trail towards the great Southwest. The land available out west and the trails to reach it would become crucial in an era of American continental expansion.
The United States would pass several important tests following the Revolution; a more powerful central government had been devised and the nation had managed to remain united and although still threatened by the great European powers the new nation had managed to nurture its nascent sovereignty. The great conflict in Europe also allowed Jefferson to acquire the Louisiana Purchase which added to the national domain and brought some added measure of security. However, as conflict with Britain continued to fester a war threatening American independence would prove unavoidable.
Figure 2, This contemporary woodcut shows Washington D.C. aflame, August 2, 1814
Chapter Reading
In this unit you will be reading Chapters seven and eight from The American Nation, These chapters cover the phase of American history following the implementation of the Constitution through the development of a national economy. During this faze there were also two important political development which had very significant effect on the future Unites States, a last war with Great Britain and the development of sectional issues which would continue to divide the nation until the Civil War.
Britain had never truly accepted the full independence and sovereignty of the United States and issues such as presumed British conspiracy with western Indians, impressments and the seizure of American merchant ships resulted in the War of 1812. While this war would greatly threaten the United States the results would be Anglo-American rapprochement that would to the long-term security of the United States.
Figure 3, This is an autograph by Francis Scott Key of "The Star Spangled Banner."
Another interesting aspect of the War of 1812 was that one famous battle served as the inspiration for the national anthem of the United States. Take a look at this link to learn something more about "The Star Spangled Banner" (While Francis Scott Key wrote the words to what eventually became the national anthem, the melody came from a popular English drinking song of the time called, "To Anacreon in Heaven.")
The sectional issues would have much more volatile effects. After the United States was no longer threatened by overseas powers national unity was threatened by the various national region, which had different economic interests. The south generally opposed the tariff since this region was an exporter of commodity crops and an importer of finished goods, while the more industrial north supported the tariff to protect its fledgling manufacturing enterprises from foreign competition. The West might go either way, a healthy industrial north was a great customer of staple crops, grown out west, but the tariff also raised the cost of the equipment purchased by western farmers. At different times the various regions would support differing issues but the net result was that the regions were often more interested in their own lot than the more national view.
There were other events that still bound the nation as exemplified by the Era of Good Feelings and the reconciliation of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. When both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, many citizens felt that God had clearly blessed the Union.
Questions for Chapter Seven:
Questions for Chapter Eight:
Figure 4, Early industrial power loom weaving showing a factory utilizing mostly young women workers. Later many children and whole families would also be used eventually giving way to resent immigrants.
Conclusion
As America began to emerge as a major industrial power sectional conflicts became more of a threat to the nation than the great European nations. The Revolutionary generation, which had founded the American Nation, would be gone by 1826. There was a new generation of leaders who would control the political future, but if they were too drawn into sectional issues national stability could be jeopardized. When Henry Clay proposed his American System, he was trying to use sectional differences to unify the nation. The West would accept a protective tariff for Eastern manufacturing while the East would agree to support federal internal improvements such as roads and canals in the West. But unfortunately such a spirit of cooperation was difficult to maintain in the background of local pressures. Various important political leaders such as, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster would ultimately respond to sectional pressures. The two most divisive sectional issues would be the tariff and slavery, which reflected the different interests of northern industrial manufacturers and southern agricultural exporters.
The tariff ultimately was rejected by the South, embraced by the Northeast and tolerated in the West. When the Tariff of Abomination was passed in 1828, John C. Calhoun, a former nationalist, became committed to the position of the South and articulated in The South Carolina Exposition and Protest the concept of Nullification. This concept would eventually bring South Carolina to the brink of secession and would keep retuning until the outbreak of the Civil War.
No issue was as divisive as Slavery. Without the cotton gin it was likely that slavery would have simply died out as the old crops of tobacco, rice and indigo ceased to be profitable. But with this invention the peculiar institution gained a new lease on life and only continued to divide the nation. Following the Missouri Compromise of 1820 the issue of slavery and the development of the new land out west and the formation of new states were wedded. Every time a territory was considered for statehood the issue of slavery and the maintenance of the balance between slave and free states was re-debated. As Jefferson would write in response to the Missouri Compromise, We have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither safely hold him, nor safely let him go.
As will be seen with Andrew Jacksons handling of the Nullification Crisis a strong political leader, even one identified with local interests, could see the need for a national focus and stop a rift in the nation. But in an era of less able leaders such decisive action, could also fail to materialize. This problem might have been ameliorated if the national party system had been able to maintain a national presence, but by 1824 there was no longer a functioning two party system. The first party system, as it has since been described, lasted from the last term of Washington through the last term of James Monroe. In the election of 1824, following the end of the Federalists, all four of the presidential candidates were members of the Democratic-Republicans the party which since the election of Jefferson in 1800 had produced all the Presidents. In such a situation it is easy to imagine that the one party would break into factions headed by various politicians. Those who followed Andrew Jackson would become known as simply Democrats and this party, which has survived to the present, can still trace its roots directly to Thomas Jefferson. However, while there would be a succession of opposition parties none of them could be considered based on national interests and without candidates connected to the nation as a whole, elections and most importantly Presidential elections, could become sectional crises in themselves.
Figure 5, Mill on the Brandywine, by John Rubens Smith, 1830. While idyllic this painting also illustrates the need for factories to be located on rivers with powerful currents.