Balancing Nationalism and Sectionalism

1
Balancing Nationalism and Sectionalism

• Chapter 7

2
A New Nationalism

• Although the War of 1812 had increased sectional
  disunity, the postwar period witnessed a burst of
  American nationalism.

3
Sectionalism

• The most dramatic expression during the war had
  been in New England.
• The war had been opposed by New England and the
  Middle Atlantic States.
• Despite the embargo and blockade, illegal trade
  continued.
• Massachusetts Federalists called for a meeting to
  take regional action against the war and to amend
  the Constitution

4
The Hartford Convention

• A states rights protest, convened secretly in
  December 1815, with 22 delegates present from
  five New England states.
• Moderates prevailed over secession talk, but
  seven Constitutional amendments were proposed,
  aimed at crippling Republican political power.
• Stress on the sovereignty of states and
  liberties of the people echoed the Virginia and
  Kentucky Resolutions.
• Jacksons victory at New Orleans and the end of
  the war caused protest to fizzle.
• The Federalist Party, branded as disloyal, was
  seriously hurt.

5
Effects

• Although the war was of little global importance,
  it had important effects at home including
• Reassuring American political and economic
  independence and gradually improving relations
  with Britain.
• Resolving to avoid future entanglements in
  European conflicts
• Stirring nationalism in Canada in response to
  American invasion attempts.
• Weakening of Western Indian tribes, which had
  allied with Britain.
• Encouraging of domestic manufacturing due to
  decline of trade during the war.
• Emerging of war heroes as national political
  prospects (Andrew Jackson, William Henry
  Harrison) new regional political leaders (South
  Calhoun North Webster West Clay)

6
Nationalistic Fervor

• Emerged from an indecisive war.
• With Congressional approval, an American naval
  squadron punished North African Barbary pirates
  who had resumed molesting American shipping
  during the war.
• Madison and the Republican Congress authorized a
  peacetime standing army.

7
The American System

• Congressman Henry Clay
• A protective Tariff
• A re-chartered national bank
• National financing of transportation systems

8
The American System

• Economic nationalism was expressed in the
  chartering of the Second Bank of the United
  States.
• Many Jeffersonian Republicans (including John C.
  Calhoun of South Carolina) supported passage of
  the first protective tariff (1816).
• Infant American industry had accused Britain of
  dumping cheap goods on American markets after the
  war.
• However, doubting the constitutionality of using
  federal money to build local roads, Madison
  vetoed an internal improvements bill.

9
Political Realignments

• The 1820s saw widening of popular participation
  in politics and realignment of political parties.

10
The Federalist Party

• Virtually ceased to exist after 1816 on the
  national level.

11
Suffrage

• The right to vote, was gradually being expanded
  among adult white males as the property
  requirement was abandoned.
• Voter reform came first in the western states,
  last in the South, and only in Rhode Island was
  it accompanied by any violence (Dorr Rebellion,
  1843)
• The vote of the people replaced state
  legislatures in selecting presidential electors.

12
Election of 1824

• The Republicans failed to agree on one nominee
  for president, and four factional candidates
  emerged.

13
Election of 1824

• A Congressional caucus chose William Crawford
  (the last time the system was used) Henry Clay
  of Kentucky won from Western State legislatures
  Secretary of State John Quincy Adams was
  supported by New England and Andrew Jackson of
  Tennessee enjoyed broad national support as a war
  hero. John C Calhoun withdrew and became the Vice
  Presidential candidate.

14
Election of 1824

• - Jackson received the most popular votes but no
  one received an Electoral College majority.
• As provided by the 12th Amendment, the choice
  (from the top 3 candidates) went to the House of
  Representatives.

15
Election of 1824

• With the support of Clay, Adams received a
  majority of state votes in the House.
• Jackson supporters denounced the supposed
  corrupt bargain as Clay was then named
  Secretary of State.

16
President John Quincy Adams

• Lacking in tact and in willingness to compromise,
  he faced criticism from Jacksonians throughout
  his term (his foes controlled Congress after the
  1826 elections)

17
President John Quincy Adams

• A nationalist, Adams supported internal
  improvements (roads and canals) at federal
  expense.
• Adams expressed concern for the rights of Native
  Americans

18
President John Quincy Adams

• Congress hampered the Administrations plan to
  attend a Pan-American Conference in Panama, and
  Adams failed to persuade Britain to reopen its
  West Indian possessions to United States trade.

19
Industrial development

• The Industrial Revolution moved from England to
  America after the American Revolution, thereby
  transforming the nations economy.

20
Colonial Manufacturing

• Had been centered in the household.
• Farmers, seeking self-sufficiency, devised their
  own machines.
• Household handicrafts (spinning and weaving) were
  supplemented by independent artisans.

21
England

• Pioneered in textile technology and
  industrialization.
• Machinery was invented to save labor costs.
• Large, expensive machines were centrally located
  in factories.
• New sources of power (water and steam) added to
  industrial efficiency.
• Factories came to specialize in particular
  products.
• Mass markets could be reached by improvements in
  transportation.
• English laws unsuccessfully attempted to ban the
  export of machinery or the emigration of textile
  experts.

22
American Textile Industry

• Began in New England.
• Capital was available from merchants whose
  commerce had suffered from Jeffersons Embargo
  and from the War of 1812.
• Postwar tariffs helped protect infant American
  industry (first protective tariff was passed in
  1816).
• Swift-flowing New England rivers provided
  inexpensive waterpower.
• Population centers and improved transportation
  provided domestic markets (overseas sales later
  increased).
• Cotton textile industry was followed by a woolen
  industry and emergence of ready- made clothing.

23
Mass Production

• Systems gradually developed.
• Eli Whitney used machine tools to produce precise
  interchange able parts for muskets (1798).
• Federal armories at Harpers Ferry and
  Springfield, Mass, stimulated the machine tool
  industry.
• Oliver Evans applied a steam engine to flour mill
  operation (1804).
• A process for mass-producing clocks was devised
  in Connecticut.
• The American System of mass production came to be
  admired and copied abroad.

24
Inventions

• Quickened the industrial pace.
• The Patent Act of 1790 provided financial
  incentives for inventors by legally protecting
  their devices (the Patent Office was established
  in 1802).
• New farm machinery helped revolutionize
  agriculture.
• Charles Goodyear received a patent for
  vulcanizing rubber (1844).
• Elias Howes sewing machine (1846), later
  improved by Isaac Singer, was a temporary setback
  for the factory system, since it made home sewing
  easier.

25
Company Organization

• Was slowly revised.
• Most companies had been individually or family
  owned. Partnerships could recruit additional
  capital.
• Corporations, under state charters, could raise
  money from investors who would have limited
  liability. Earliest corporations involved banks
  and transportation companies.
• A group of investors formed the Boston
  Manufacturing Company in 1813.
• Managers were hired to supervise spinning and
  weaving processes under one roof.
• The Merrimack Company devised the Lowell System
  in 1822.
• The Boston and New York Stock Exchanges were
  created to trade corporate shares.

26
Results of Industrialization

• Increased productivity began to feed mass
  consumer markets.
• Towns and cities grew around factories.
• Labor shortages stimulated immigration and
  encouraged inventiveness.
• Not all workers benefited.
• The effects of boom-and-bust cycles were more
  broadly felt.
• Government was increasingly involved in promoting
  industry.