Lesson 3: Presidents, Suffrage, Land & Slavery from 1800 to 1840

Tips: To save you time and increase your grade, look at the yellow. There are big changes in three issues:

  1. The Presidency and campaigning
  2. Suffrage – who is now getting to vote and who isn’t
  3. Slavery and the financial push in the south for new land (land never used to grow a crop before) because it produced about 4X the product. Think of it this way:


What’s on This Webpage?

Overview of the Era and Its Presidents – Use this as a summary and look for the yellow to save time. 1

Presidency and Decline of Economic Nationalism – Only notice the yellow. 1

Constitution’s Protection of Slave Owners and How Slavery and Southerners’ Wanting New Land Came to a Crisis in 1820 – Notice the yellow and Missouri. 1

Optional: If You Want More on Shifts in Who Votes (Suffrage), How Candidates Are Chosen, and How Campaigning Works. 1

Optional: If You Want More on American Revolutions Including Indirectly With the Monroe Doctrine – Notice the yellow.. 1

Optional: If You Want to Know about Slave Rebellion and the Shift from Colonization (A Few Members But in Both North and South) to Abolitionism (A Few But in North Only) 1

 

Overview of the Era and Its Presidents – Use this as a summary and look for the yellow to save time.

1.      Election of 1800 and the peaceful transfer of power.

·        The Federalist Party lost the election; they went home.

·        The Democratic-Republicans won, but did not try to undo Federalist actions like the National Bank.

2.      President Thomas Jefferson (1800-1808) - Virginian

·        Reduction in taxes –but still able to buy the Louisiana Purchase

·        Ending of the slave trade when its constitutional protection of 20 years ended. (Slavery remains.)

·        European war (France and Britain and their allies) becomes US issue with impressment of our sailors (think of it as slavery by sea)

3.      President James Madison (1808-1816) – Virginian –dominated by the War of 1812 with the British

·        Native Americans as allies with the British in their last attempt to get their land back, but it fails, leading to removal of Native Americans in the North. (Covered in Lesson 4)

·        Battle of New Orleans after the end of the war and how Andrew Jackson becomes famous

4.      President James Monroe (1816-1824)  –Virginian (last of the so-called Virginia dynasty)

·        Era of Good Feelings

·        Monroe Doctrine, its purpose and author

·        Missouri Compromise and how new land and slavery came to a crisis in 1820

5.      President John Quincy Adams (1824-1828)

·        Election of 1824--so-called “corrupt bargain” (a case of Jacksonian voters not understanding how politics had worked since 1800) and rise of Andrew Jackson

·        From his administration on, a decline of economic nationalism

6.      Election of 1828, conditions leading to it:

·        Use of public conventions to choose candidates (Parties previously used a caucus—a different meaning than the modern usage.)

·        Rise of universal white male suffrage. (How did so many white men get the vote? States decreased property requirements to vote and this increased the number of white male voters. This begins in Jefferson’s time and escalates in Jackson’s. States vary; in the North some free blacks vote.)

7.      President Andrew Jackson (1828-1836)

·        The “spoils system” and its increasing volatility as Jacksonians (and later others) got federal jobs to do year round campaigning.

·        Veto of the national bank (and later recession)

·        Removal of the Cherokee (“Trail of Tears” – ¼ die on forced march to Oklahoma. Had their own written language and Constitution.)  Removal of Native Americans in the South.

·        Attempt by South Carolina to “nullify” a national law about a tariff and how Jackson crushed that attempt
(Could states block a national law against slavery?)

·        Newly-independent Texas asks to be annexed, but its slavery means it is too volatile a time.

Presidency and Decline of Economic Nationalism – Only notice the yellow.

Background on economic nationalism: In the first years of the new nation after the Constitution was written, Alexander Hamilton pushed for national economic policies—laws passed by Congress—to improve the national economy. He focused on 2 national laws:

·        national bank

·        protective tariffs

. A 3rd form of economic nationalism was internal improvements.  See the Learning Quizzes on state and national internal improvements to transportation. 

The major parties favoring economic nationalism begin with the Federalists pre-1800. There is no other political party until they develop below. Military heroes are in this color—and in future years there will be more military heroes as candidates.

Why? Because North and South following the 1820s and beyond are so divided that the political parties need to find candidates who are:

·        Well-known as a name or personality – something that a battle can make happen

·        Unknown for what they believe politically – so they cannot be Senators or Representatives

Issue

Pre-1800

Circa 1800

Circa 1820

Circa 1840 and Beyond

Presidents (and number of terms)

George Washington (2)
John Adams (1)

Thomas Jefferson (2)
James Madison (2)
James Monroe (2)

John Quincy Adams (1)
Andrew Jackson (2) – a new party the Democrats
Martin Van Buren (1)

William H. Harrison (1 month) – a new party the Whigs

Federalist Party and other parties favoring economic nationalism – mainly the 3 items below

Federalist Party favored economic nationalism.

It attacked freedom of the press and speech, angered the public, and for led to a new party, the Democratic Republicans. They did grass roots campaigning (a new thing) and they won the election of Jefferson in 1800.

Grassroots campaigning continues By 1816, the Federalists are gone and there is only 1 party, the Democratic Republicans until 1824—thus the name the Era of Good Feelings

1824 – 4 candidates run. One is an economic nationalist, John Quincy Adams (son of president John Adams). In the tied election, Adams was helped—a person that Adams later appointed Secretary of State. The Jacksonians called it a “corrupt bargain.” This led to increased emotion in grassroots campaigning.

1828 Jackson wins.

Politicians do not talk about economic nationalism in any of its 3 forms.

Politicians do continue grassroots campaigning and it becomes increasingly volatile.

1. Economic nationalism and Secretary of Treasury Hamilton’s national bank

Chartered by Congress in the first years of the new nation for 20 years

Renewed for 20 years, but blamed by Westerners for the Panic of 1819 (People bought land because of market for crops during a war. When the war stopped, the market stopped.)

1832 Destroyed by Jackson & Congress (Northeast still favors). The destruction of that bank is 1 cause of the 6-year depression started with the Panic of 1837, but it does not start until the 1st year of his successor’s term. (A panic is another word for an economic depression.)

Politicians do not talk about the national bank anymore.

(A national bank will not be passed until the South is out of Congress during the Civil War.)

2. Economic nationalism and Secretary of Treasury Hamilton’s protective tariff!

Rejected initially

Rejected, but put in place for textiles in 1816

Threatened secession over Tariff of Abominations by South Carolina.

Politicians do not talk about protective tariffs any more.

(A high protective tariff will not be passed until the South is out of Congress during the Civil War.)

3. Economic nationalism with internal improvements

(Note: state projects for internal improvements in the North occur.)

--

Not in your textbook that I can find:
In Jefferson’s era, Congress authorized the National Road (Cumberland Road) and its construction starts. The Panic of 1819 and politics stops its construction.

Not in your textbook that I can find:
Jackson vetoes a road project at national expense.

(Although desired in the 1850s by North and South, the major internal improvement of a transcontinental railroad will not be passed until the South is out of Congress during the Civil War.)

Constitution’s Protection of Slave Owners and How Slavery and Southerners’ Wanting New Land Came to a Crisis in 1820 – Notice the yellow and Missouri.

Click here for the numbers showing the North will become the majority  Look at the numbers. Link Address:  http://www.cjbibus.com/1820_Slave_Free_Stats.jpg)

The South is outnumbered because immigrants will not move there and because the South’s birth population rates are low.

Issue

Pre-1800

Circa 1800

Circa 1820

Circa 1840 and Beyond

Protection of slavery and slave trade

The Constitution protects the slave trade (for 20 years) and slavery--but the Constitution can be amended and protections can end at the date in the Constitution

At the end of the 20 years, the end of the slave trade during Jefferson’s term.

Northern population and representatives higher than the South after 1820. (The numbers are in a link above.)

The solution to avoid argumentrigorously keeping the # of Senators from slave states and from free states the same.

BUT slavery and worn out land

1783 to Miss. River; Northwest Ordinancesno slavery

Louisiana. Purchase – understood to be no slavery in this area at line (latitude) as the Northwest Ordinances had already been set up

Missouri-planters (slave holders with a plantation) who move into this section of the Louisiana Purchase and submit their territory for statehood.

The North is shocked.

Lesson 4 shows that having slaves without new and productive land is just a cost—it’s just overhead, not an asset.

The solution that the North requires—no slaveholders can move into the Louisiana Purchase above the bottom line of Missouri.

Implications: The South has nowhere to go to get new land to maintain their wealth..

This solution will hold until 1856.

Representation in the House and the Senate

3/5s Compromise – helps the South only with the House of Representatives and the Electoral College

Territories becoming states for the North and South. Reminder: a state gets 2 Senators.

Missouri Compromise over the Louisiana Territory means:

·        not just no more land for slave holders

·        but also—Notice this!--no more Southern Senators or Representatives from that Territory.

Blocked in the United States, the South looked for other ways to expand their land and their Senators and Representatives. One example was Cuba, a Spanish colony that had slavery.

Use this only if you need detail:

·        Click here for what the Constitution does to protect slave owners. Link Address: http://www.cjbibus.com/1789_Plus_Constitution_Clauses_on_Slavery.htm

Optional: If You Want More on Shifts in Who Votes (Suffrage), How Candidates Are Chosen, and How Campaigning Works

There are several shifts in suffrage (voting) and in politics:

  1. The evolution from property requirements to vote to white universal manhood suffrage about 1828.
  2. The shift in how candidates were chosen:
  1. The Jacksonian era use of the “spoils system” meant that federal workers chosen by their political party did campaigning for their party as part of their jobs on the federal payroll.

 

Other things are going on as well to alter voting that your book does not cover. Examples:

 

Issue

Pre-1800

Circa 1800

Circa 1820

Circa 1840 and Beyond

Selection of candidates

Done by a caucus (a meeting) of all current members of Congress.

Done by a caucus (a meeting) of all current members of Congress.

Shifted to conventions (mass meetings of delegates who made—then--surprise decisions).

Jackson added the spoils system where supporters of the winning candidate got a federal job. They were expected also to constantly campaign.

Politicians added the convention system and the “spoils system.”

Selection of military heroes as candidates

Washington as revered military hero.

Battle of Tippecanoe (Hero: W.H. Harrison)

War of 1812 (Hero: A. Jackson)

Jackson starts the new pattern. Why a military hero? They have name recognition but no one knows their views as they do a Congressman’s views.

This continues to the Civil War and resumes after it.

Increase in voters

Had been more voting in the colonies than in than England

Had been more voting in the West than the East because land was required for voting and land was easier to get in the West.

By the 1820s, there is universal white male suffrage – any white male could vote

This continues in this era.

Optional: If You Want More on American Revolutions Including Indirectly With the Monroe Doctrine – Notice the yellow

Issue

Pre-1800

Circa 1800

Circa 1820

Circa 1840 and Beyond

A history of Revolution

 

American Revolution

Shays’s Rebellion leading to the Constitutional Convention – Stopped by a mercenary army paid by merchants in Massachusetts.

Whiskey Rebellion --Suppressed an army led by Washington

Generally a favorable response in the US to the Latin American revolutions, but to Haiti – a slave rebellion that overthrew the French planters and stopped (along with yellow fever) the French army (One positive is it encouraged Napoleon to sell Louisiana Territory to us.)

The Monroe Doctrine is primarily an issue of stopping foreign powers taking over the new republics (such as Mexico who succeeded in revolutions against Spain.). It says—in brief—we will consider a takeover of a republic by an empire (like the French) to be a treat to us and we will intervene.

(Note: Do not get confused. The Monroe Doctrinechanges twice after 1900.)

 

With the slavery issue increasing, we do not talk about revolution as a positive.

On the other hand, we had stopped both Shays’s and the Whiskey Rebellion. Further, the Constitution says it guarantees a “republican” form of government to the states. In other words, you can vote out a government you do not like, but you cannot shoot it out.

Nullification (to void at state level a national law) or secession (to leave the Union) threat

Threatened nullification but it did not happen because the Federalist Party lost in the next election. The Federalists violated freedom of speech/press, something protected in the Constitution. (The laws are called the Alien & Sedition Acts.)

Secession threat over War of 1812 (NE)

Nullification of tariff (but done as a hope for a method to protect slavery); Jackson & Congress stop secession.

For Southerners trying to continue to have slaves, this might have made it possible of the Northerners who had a much greater population voted to end the protections for slavery in the Constitution.

The Southern method of nullification will not work in face of opposition of both Congress and the executive branch.

 

Optional: If You Want to Know about Slave Rebellion and the Shift from Colonization (A Few Members But in Both North and South) to Abolitionism (A Few But in North Only)

Click on the endnotes (such as IV below) if you want details.

Issue

Pre-1800

Circa 1800

Circa 1820

Circa 1840 and Beyond

End of slavery

1776 and black hopes for freedom. Northern states were abolishing slavery, with the first example being Pennsylvania.

Gabriel (VA)[i]

Colonization movement developing to send freed slaves to Africa[ii]

In the South, slave insurrections (attempts to escape and sometimes attempts to kill whites)[iii]

In North, abolition developing[iv]

From now on, the end of slavery is discussed only in North and only by few. In the coming years, those against slavery will increase.

In the coming years, the South allowed no one to speak against slavery.

 



 

[i] 1800, Gabriel, slave, blacksmith, VA, est. 1000 slaves. Expected support from poor whites.  Whites warned. 26 hanged.

[ii] 1816 American Colonization Society to send “free blacks back to Africa.” 1822 1st to Liberia in Africa

[iii] Slave insurrections:

·        1811, Charles Deslondes, a slave overseer, trusted - Louisiana Territory, est. 200 slaves. Killed whites.
Response: Army, militia, civilians. The death count on slaves killed and beheaded is about 100.

·        1822, Denmark Vesey, free black, Charleston, South Carolina. Plan was to kill whites and to flee to Haiti. Response: 34 executed.

·        1831, Nat Turner, overseer and preacher, trusted - Southampton, VA, est. Killed 57 whites.
The death count of slaves was widespread. Following this rebellion laws on slave control changed in the South

[iv] Abolitionists developing, including:

·        1829 David Walker, African American clothing store owner, MA, David Walker’s Appeal

·        1831+  William Lloyd Garrison, white newspaper editor, The Liberator, MA, American Anti-Slavery Society

·        1845+  Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, writer, lecturer in England, newspaper editor, The North Star

 

 

Copyright C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003-2020

 

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu

Last Updated:

2020

WCJC Home:

http://www.wcjc.edu/