Chapter Nine: The Transformation of American Society, 18151840

Westward Expansion By 1840, one-third of Americans living between Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi iver ! developed own western culture "#ld $orthwest%#ld &outhwest' Migrants e(pected a better life in the )est because of the* o +rowing power of federal government " emoved $ative Americans' o More land means more crops o Boom in agricultural prices after )ar of 181, The Sweep West 1-.1-180/* 0ermont, 1entuc2y, 3ennessee, #hio4 1815-18,1* 6ndiana, 6llinois, Mississippi, Alabama, Maine, Missouri4 3raveled as families rather than as individuals for security &tayed near rivers and waterways 7lustered%settled around people from the same region Western Society and Customs Most westerners craved sociability ! rural families 8oined with their neighbors in group sports and festivities o Men competed in strength%ability testing games9wrestling, weight lifting, gander pulling o )omen combined wor2 and play with :uilting%sewing parties, etc4 ;ioneer men did heavy labor, li2e cutting down trees and plowing land )omen wo2e earliest4 3hey made food, clothing, and even slaughtered animals< Most western sports and customs had been transplanted from the east but the west developed its own $eighbors shamelessly borrowed from richer ones because they =had plenty> )esterners? relative lac2 of refinement made them easy targets for easterners? contemptuous 8ibes o 3he e(change of =half-savage yo2els> westerners and =soft and decadent> easterners fostered a regional identity among westerners and further shaped their behavior o )esterners were intolerant of western neighbors with pretensions to gentility The Far West Area between Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi iver no longer considered =far )est> ! beyond the Mississippi iver was far )est 1805 ! @ebulon ;i2e sights 7olorado pea2 later named after him 1811 ! $ew Aor2 merchant Bohn Bacob Astor founded the fur-trading post of Astoria at the mouth of the 7olumbia iver in #regon county )hite trappers A1A =mountain men> ! men who gathered furs o 1it 7arson, Bedidiah &mith, Bim Bec2wourth &mith went on a long e(pedition through &outh Ca2ota, 7alifornia, and the &ierras to come bac2 home to 6llinois The Federal Government and the West #f the various causes of e(pansion to the Mississippi iver from 1-.0 to 1840, the one that operated most generally and uniformly throughout the period was the growing strength of the federal government Land Ordinance of 1785 ! set forth plans for surveying and selling parcels of several states? ceded western land claims to the federal government as public treasure to settlers Northwest Ordinance of 1787 ! provided for the orderly transformation of western territories into states Louisiana Purchase of 1803 ! brought entire Mississippi iver under American control Transcontinental Treaty of 1819 ! wiped out the last vestiges of &panish power east of the Mississippi 3he Deds gave military bounties to former soldiers 7ongress authoriEed funds to e(tend the $ational Fighway )ar of 181, settled by 3reaty of +hent ! 6ndians were the real losers of the war o Gouisiana ;urchase and 3ranscontinental 3reaty stripped them of &panish protection o Britain had insisted on creation of an 6ndian buffer state between H& and 7anada in the #ld $orthwest but after the American victory at the Battle of ;lattsburgh, 6ndians were abandoned to Americans The Removal of the Indians Five ivili!ed Tri"es* 7hero2ees, 7hoctaws, 7ree2s, 7hicasaws, &eminoles4 Many 7hero2ees were =mi(ed> Treaty of #ndian $%rin&s '18(5) ! 7ree2 7hief )illiam Mc6ntosh sold all 7ree2 lands in +eorgia and two-thirds of 7ree2 lands in Alabama to the government and was e(ecuted Many legislatures made laws that forced $atives to move west or outlawed tribal government ;resident Andrew Bac2son believed it ridiculous to treat 6ndians as independent nations, rather, they should be sub8ect to the laws of the states where they lived #ndian *e+oval ,ct '1830) ! authoriEed by ;resident Bac2son to e(change public lands in the )est for 6ndian territories in the Iast and appropriated JK00,000 to cover e(penses of removal

7hoctaws, 7ree2s, 7hic2asaws left4 7ree2s were forcibly removed and &eminoles engaged in war, but were also removed hero-ee Nation v. /eor&ia '1831) ! 7hief Bustice Bohn Marshall denied the 7hero2ees? claim to status as a republic within +eorgia* rather, they were a =domestic dependent nation,> a 2ind of ward to the H& and that prolonged occupancy had given the 7hero2ees a claim to their lands in +eorgia 0orcester v. /eor&ia '183() ! 7hief Bustice Bohn Marshall rules that 7hero2ees are a =distinct> political community entitled to federal protection from tampering by +eorgia Treaty of New 1chota '1835) ! ceded all 7hero2ee lands in the H& for JK45 million and free passage west4 7hero2ees too2 revenge, 2illing three of its signers Trail of Tears '1838) ! forced removal of 15000 7hero2ees to #2lahoma4 8000, or 1%/ of the whole nation, died )innebago ed Bird and &ac%Do( Blac2 Faw2 led uprisings in the $orthwest, they but failed Between 18/, and 18/-, H& ac:uired nearly 1.0 million acres of 6ndian land in $orthwest for J1-0 million in gifts and annual payments The A ricultural !oom After )ar of 181,, rising prices of agricultural commodities drew settlers westward in search for better farmland 7auses of s2yroc2eting farm prices* o H& captured British and &panish mar2ets b%c both countries e(hausted by , decades of war o Cemand within H& intensified after 181K as the :uic2ening pace of industrialiEation and urbaniEation in the Iast spurred a shift of wor2ers toward nonagricultural employment o )est?s river system e(panded mar2ets to the Iast, )est 6ndies, &outh America, and Iurope 7otton craEe o 7otton gin "1-./' ! Ili )hitney o 7otton clothing came into fashion in Britain "181K' and provided demand for cotton9most came from Alabama%Mississippi The Growth of the "ar#et Economy $u"sistence a&riculture ! growing only enough food to feed your family o++ercial a&riculture ! A1A mar2et economy ! adds a cash crop where crops were sold for profit Darmers had no control over prices in distant mar2ets, long interval between harvest and sale forced farmers into short-term debt Federal $and %olicy Ordinance of 1785 ! divided public lands into sections of 540 acres Land Law of 1800 ! dropped minimum purchase L allowed more time for payment, 2ept minimum price at J,, but decreased over time $ational ban2 increased amount of money and stimulated the chartering of state ban2s, who often gave out loans for land purchases The Speculator and S&uatter $2uatter ! owned land before the creation of the public domain-- formed claims associations to police land auctions and prevent speculators from bidding up the price of land4 Cemanded ;reemption rights Pree+%tion ri&hts ! right to purchase at the minimum price lands that they had already settled on and improved Darmers who arrived after speculators bought land with high interest rates9had debt, so they focused on cash crops The %anic of '(') 7auses o &tate ban2s? loose practices ! passed out more ban2 notes than they could redeem in specie o Bumper crops in Iurope L British recession trimmed foreign demand for H& agricultureM made farmers unable to pay bac2 loans o 3o pay debts to the Ban2 of the H&, state ban2s had to force farmers and land speculators to repay loans &ignificance o Geft a bitter taste about ban2s, especially the Ban2 of the H& o ;lummeting prices for cash crops demonstrated how dependent farmers were on distant mar2ets o Accelerated search for better forms of transformation to distant mar2ets b%c if cost of transportation could be cut, farmers could 2eep a larger share of the value of their crops and ad8ust to falling prices The Transportation Revolution ;roblems with America?s transportation system in 18,0* o ivers flowed only $orth to &outh, not Iast to )est o oads e(pensive to maintain o Forse drawn wagons could carry only limited produce &teamboats o 180- obert 4 Givingston and obert Dulton introduced steamboat 7lermont on Fudson iver o /i""ons v. O&den '18(3) ! 7hief Bustice 8ohn Marshall rules that congress?s constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce applied to navigation and was supreme over $ew Aor2?s power to license the monopoly o Daster than 2eelboats and travel on low water levels o Allowed upriver navigation 7anals

I(pensive to build but cheap to maintain #ffered prospect of connecting Mississippi-#hio river with +reat la2es, and +reat Ga2es with eastern mar2ets 181-!18,K* Irie 7anal connected Fudson iver with Ga2e Irie educed shipping costs apidly speeded the growth of la2e cities "Buffalo, 7leveland, Cetroit, 7hicago' but populations in river cities "7incinnati, Gouisville' declined ailroads o &tarted after depression in 18/0s - had to scrap e(pensive canal pro8ects o 3ransportation for areas with no water "Boston and Baltimore' o Baltimore and #hio ailroad "18,8' o Boston and )orcester ailroad "18/1' The Growth of the Cities 7anals% ailroads increased opportunities for city businesses "ban2s, insurers, warehouses, bro2ers, etc4' 3he )ar of 181, stimulated the growth of &t4 Gouis, ;ittsburgh, and 7incinnati All of the ma8or )estern cities were on rivers and were commercial hubs rather than manufacturing centers 7reation of the Irie 7anal made the +reat Ga2es the center of )estern economic activity Industrial !e innin s &purred initially by the transportation revolution and development of interregional trade, the growth of cities%towns received an added boost from the development of industrialiEation 1-8. ! &amuel &later helps design%build first cotton mill in H& at ;awtuc2et, hode 6sland "actual spinning frame invented by Inglishman ichard Ar2wright' 6ndustrialiEation o 0aried widely from region to region with little in &outh and much in $ew Ingland o &ubdivided wor2ers by tas2 o eplaced wor2ers with machines o Made products cheaper b%c not produced by hand anymore Causes of Industriali*ation 7auses of 6ndustrialiEation o Imbargo Act "1808'9made merchants invest in factories o Ira of +ood Deelings9made Americans believe in the need for tariffs o Invironmental advantage o 3ension in rural $ew Ingland economy9too many people, too little land4 ;eople sold%made multiple things to ma2e money o Americans had no craft organiEations that tied artisans to a single trade "guilds' o 3ransportation evolution9allowed eastern manufacturers to sell goods in the south and west o Britain had less land%more people, and hired people more cheaply than America9Americans had to find machines to do the wor2 o +rowth of cities Ili )hitney9made mus2ets with interchangeable parts Textile Towns in +ew En land 4oston 5anufacturin& o+%any '1813) 6 Boston Associates and Drancis 7abot Gowell o Build mills in )altham%Gowell4 Made ten times the capital of any previous American mill )altham and Gowell mills o 3urned out finished fabrics that re:uired only the additional step of stitching into clothing, unli2e &later?s mills that only carded and spun yarn o Hpset the traditional order of $ew Ingland society ! young unmarried women wor2ed there instead of men, lured from farms by promise of wages o )or2ers lived in boarding houses and were bound by strict rules "curfews, 2eeping &abbath, etc4' o ;oor mill conditions "air 2ept purposely humid, windows boarded, etc4' o Besides te(tiles, most factories depended on industrial outwor29merchants gave families raw materials to ma2e goods Artisans and Wor#ers in "id Atlantic Cities Artisans and craftsmen beginning to be replaced by cheap labor Merchants-turned-businessmen went all over the country, ta2ing orders for their products Gate 18,0s ! s2illed male artisans in $ew Aor2, ;hiladelphia and other cities began to form trade unions and wor2ingmen?s political parties to protect their interests &teadily deteriorating wor2ing conditions of early 18/0s tended to throw s2illed%uns2illed wor2ers into same boat o 18/K H&?s first general stri2e ! coal haulers in ;hiladelphia struc2 for a ten hour day and were :uic2ly 8oined by carpenters, cigar ma2ers, shoema2ers, leather wor2ers and other artisans E&uality and Ine&uality Antebellum AmericaN";re-7ivil )ar' 1&alitarianis+9rich treated poor as e:ual and vice versa o o o o o

&ervants were neighbors, invited to assist in running a house rather than as a permanent subordinate 3ransportation and mar2et revolutions made things less e:ualM Iastern farmers who couldn?t pay to move couldn?t compete w% the west Growin Ine&uality , The Rich and the %oor &mall fraction of rich people owned most of America?s wealth ags-to-riches rarely true I(tremely wealthy usually born into wealth, married into more wealth, then invested it Most antebellum Americans lived close to edge of misery, depended on their children?s labor to meet e(penses, and had little money to spend on medical care or recreation ;aupers were called the =Ceserving ;oor>* due to old age, 8ob loss, epidemics 6mmigrants seemed li2e they could never escape poverty ;oorest white immigrants form 6reland ! Inglish landlords had evicted peasants from the land and converted it to commercial use in the 1-00?s4 Dive ;oints in $ew Aor2 7ity became America?s worst slum4 Americans started to believe that poverty was the person?s fault9not +od?s4 Free !lac#s in the +orth &lavery had largely disappeared from the $orth by 18,0 but still faced many discriminations o voting rights restricted o laws fre:uently barred free blac2s from migrating too their states and cities o segregation everywhere o restricted to least s2illed%lowest paying 8obs 6mportant blac2 response to discrimination* formation of own churches o ,frican 5ethodist 1%isco%al hurch '1817) ! organiEed by ichard Allen as the first blac2-run ;rotestant denomination ! provided for blac2 community and campaigned against slavery Blac2s depended on the philanthropy of whites for the education of their children The -"iddlin Classes. Middle class included professionals, merchants, manufacturers, farmers, and artisans 7ommercial economy made peoples? incomes%success%failures more unpredictable Artisans were becoming more li2e businessmen9too2 orders most of the time Middle class became more mobile "transient'-- became easier to buy goods, made more people abandon farms for other professions Darmers, lawyers, clergymen, and doctors all moved around a lot The Attac# on %rofessions Americans were becoming more individualistic and began to :uestion authority more Gawyers?, physicians?, and ministers? true status and authority was :uestioned%distrusted o Coctors shouldn?t have to be trained o Gawyers prolonged court cases to get more money o ;arishioners fired Ministers they did not agree with ;eople in the west invented titles for themselves li2e =Budge>, =7olonial>, and =&:uire> and dueling became common The Challen e to Family Authority ;arental authority :uestioned o wanted to en8oy own life, not be stuc2 wor2ing on farm o left home at earlier ages 7ourtship%Marriage o wanted to decide own mate o no longer married in order of birth o wanted to marry those they loved, not those they would =learn to love> o growing number of long engagements ! womens? fear of losing her independence The 8oun& 5an9s /uide '31 editions 1833:1858) ! )illiam Alcott ! e(horted youths to develop habitual rectitude, selfcontrol, assumed the parent had little control over them and advised young men and women not to return to farms Wives and /us0ands )ife and husband becoming =e:ual> by separate spheres ! men =superior> in ma2ing money and women =superior> for moral influence, raising children Letters to 5others '1838) ! Gydia &igourney ! instructed mothers to discipline their children by loving them and withdrawing affection when they misbehaved rather than using corporal punishment Fome was to be a refuge from disorderly society ,ndrew ;ac-son <ownin& ! architect who published plans for peaceful single-family homes &teady decrease in child rearing so that mom could nurture each child more and have more time for other duties Cecline in birth rates accomplished by abstinence, coitus interruptus "withdrawal of penis before e8aculation', and abortion Fruits of Philoso%hy '183() ! 7harles 1nowlton described procedure for vaginal douching /ori*ontal Alle iances and the Rise of 1oluntary Associations =ertical alle&iance9authority flows from top to bottom "artisan and apprentice, father and family, etc4'

>ori!ontal alle&iance9lin2ed people in similar positions "maternal associations, te(tile operatives and overseers4' o professed to strengthen family%community, not overthrow authority =oluntary association9association that arose apart form government and sought to accomplish some goal of value to their members o encouraged sociability o different associations based on gender, race, etc4 o moral reform societies temperance "stay away from alcohol<' combating prostitution o