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Nationalism
Nationalism is the feeling of pride and loyalty to a nation. This new concept was strongly supported by Henry Clay, a rising leader from Kentucky. Americans were feeling successful because they had made treaties with other countries and had just come off of winning yet another war, they felt very happy and they were proud to be an American, thus beginning nationalism. -
Era of Good Feeling
During this time, Americans fell into an “era of peace, pride, and progress.” This time was used to not only be of peace but to reinforce the power federal government. They also used this time to create a national bank. A court ruling stated that the states could not interfere with the power of the congress. This is notable because we still maintain this federal government power today and we still have the national bank in the capitol of the nation. -
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Notable Events
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Adams-Onis Treaty
America and Spain signed this treaty which settled all border disputed between the two countries. When signing this treaty, Spain released eastern Florida and gave it to the United States. To pay back for that, the United States gave up modern day Texas. America also paid $5 million to Spain. This is notable because Florida is a very largely populated state in America now and is one of the most populated. -
Sectionalism
Sectionalism was disagreements between different regions. Missouri had a specific disagreement about whether or not it should be a slave state. There was an even number of slave states and Free states and Missouri would make it uneven. They decided to just keep Missouri as territory and not consider it a state until they settled the manner. This was notable because the dispute between southerners and northerners caused anger and eventually led to the Civil war. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
Maryland tried to impose a tax on its residents to limit the power of the national bank. James McCulloch did not want to pay this tax and the state took him to court which then advanced to the Supreme Court. In this case, the Court ruled that the national bank was constitutional. This is notable because now, states do not have the right to tax federal institutions. -
Missouri Compromise
Henry Clay decided that Missouri would enter the Union as a slave state under the Missouri Compromise. Also, Maine would join the Union as a free state, making the number of free and slave states even. Slavery would be prohibited in any land north of Missouri’s southern border. Although the number of slave and Free states was equal, the rising debate of slavery made many angry and the expansion of it would only cause more dispute. -
Jacksonian Democracy
(Period of expanding democracy) Specifically when the Federalist Party died off and became the democrats instead. The Democratic Party was beginning to rise because of Jackson’s influence and it was becoming the more popular party. This is notable because we still use this party today and it still continues to win elections on occasion. -
Monroe Doctrine
This document was put together in the interest of protecting the Americans. It was an “exclusive statement of American policy warning European powers not to interfere with the Americans.” It had 4 main points: USA couldn’t interfere with Europe, USA couldn’t interfere with existing colonies in America, Western Hemisphere was off limits to future colonization, and any European attempt to interact with American or their land would be a hostile act. This is notable because we still use this for ou -
Bureau of Indian Affairs
In 1824, secretary of war, John Calhoun, created the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It was responsible for administrating the United States’ relationship with Native American tribes. For many Native American tribes it represented mistrust, fraud, and cultural destruction. By the mid 1830s, the relationship between the two became even worse. In fact, President Andrew saw the tribes an obstacle for America’s expansion. -
Era of Good Feeling (end)
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Tariff of Abominations
This act placed a high tax on imports, it was named by angry southerners. Northerners wanted this tax to protect the shipping industries from other countries, but the southerners claimed it would hurt their economy. This dispute made the union even angrier with one another and kept leading to the Civil War. -
Spoils System
When Jackson was elected President, he rewarded some of his supporters with jobs in the government. The spoils system is giving government jobs to political backers. This is notable because then the government was filled with only his supporters and democrats. It separated the house which made people angry. -
States' Rights Doctrine
Because the states had formed the nation, Calhoun believed that the states should have more power than the federal government. He thought the states should be able to reject any law they judged to be unconstitutional. However, the northerners liked it and the southerners didn’t, leading to more dispute. This could be seen as foreshadowing into the Civil War because of the built up anger. -
Indian Removal Act
In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. IT authorized the removal of Native American who lived East of the Mississippi RIver to lands in the West. Native Americans had lived in large settlements stretching from Georgia to MIssissippi. President Jackson and other political leaders wanted this land opened to settlements and to American farmers. Under pressure from Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. -
Spoils System (end)
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Nullification Crisis
Conflicts between the northerners and southerners of the States’ rights doctrine began to grow and it became known as the Nullification Crisis. The two regions had completely different views and they could not come to a compromise. The Doctrine ended up being repealed because of conflict and it is important because it continued to lead to the Civil War. -
Nullification Crisis (end)
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Whig Party
In 1834 a new political party was formed to oppose Andrew Jackson. The members called themselves the Whigs after an English Political group who had opposed Monarchy. THey did this to show that Jackson was using his power like a king, and not a President. The Whig Party favored the idea of a weak president and a strong Congress. They decided to nominate four men to run in the election, so they could have someone in charge who they agreed with. Van Buren won the election with strong backing from A -
Alamo
The Texan’s actions angered santa Anna, causing him to assemble a force of thousands to stop the rebellion. This caused another group to assemble, as well. It was under the control of Colonel William Travis, which led the small force to occupy ALamo. Alamo was an abandoned mission near San Antonio that became an important battle site in the Texas Revolution. Some men in the volunteer group included, Davy Crockett and COlonel Jim Bowie. Although they had many lost the army overcame the group of v -
Trail of Tears
Following the Indian removal act the United States decided to relocate all of the Native Americans. It was called the trail of tears because thousands of indians were removed, and experienced harsh conditions along the way. More than 1,200 miles to Indian territory. Whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera and starvation were epidemic along the way, and historians estimate that more than 5,000 Cherokee died as a result of the journey. Some native americans wanted to stay and fight, but others -
Manifest Destiny
The Americans had always believed that they could build a new society based on the principles of democracy. By the 1840s the United States had a booming economy and already needed more room for farms and ranches. To find more space the United States decided that they should settle more out west. They believed it was their manifest destiny, obvious fate, to settle all of the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean in order to spread democracy. O’Sullivan was well known for stating this in 1845. -
Oregon Trail
In 1843, a group of fur trappers and missionary groups made a 2,000 mile journey to Oregon. They followed a route blazed by fur traders, which took them west along the Platte River through the Rocky Mountains via the easy South Pass in Wyoming and then northwest to the Columbia River. They did this because there were dozen of books and lectures proclaiming Oregon to have high potential agricultural success. This caused many farmers to make the long journey to Oregon. -
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was another path west. It led from independence, Missouri to santa Fe, New Mexico. The trail use to be an ancient trade route used by the native americans. Many American traders used this route because it was known to produce high profits. It was a long and dangerous route, but they were protected by troops to ensure that the Native Americans were not a threat. -
Donner Party
The Donner Party was a group of travelers who were traveling western to get to California. When they left in the summer of 1846 they decided to take a shortcut, which caused them to get lost. When they finally found the sierra Nevada Mountains it was winter time and they were trapped. They became stuck with almost no food or water. A rescue party found them in 1847. Of the original 87 travelers, 42 had died. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
In 1848 the war between Mexico and America finally ended. During February of this year the United States and Mexico signed the Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty stated that Mexico had to turn over most of its land. The land that Mexico gave to us became known as the Mexico Concession. This included: California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and part of Colorado and Wyoming. This land was more than 500,000 square miles, and increased the size of the United States by twenty five percent -
California Gold Rush
In January of 1848 John Sutter, swiss Immigrant given permission to start a colony, sent James Marshall to build a sawmill beside a nearby river. While working near the river he found gold. Stories of the discovery rapidly spread across the nation. The news of this caused many people to come to california in search of gold. THose gold seeking migrants to California were called Forty-niners. Since so many people traveled to California their economy boosted. Their only problem was they were runnin -
Forty-Niners
After the stories of gold started traveling across the nation many people wanted to travel to California to see for themselves. In 1849 80,000 people had come to California in search of gold and riches. Those gold seeking migrants to California were known as the forty-niners. Nearly 80 percent of the forty-niners were American the other 20 percent came from all over the world. THose who had come traveled long and dangerous trails to get there. -
Gadsden Purchase
After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo the United States had agreed to pay Mexico $15 million dollars in return for the land. Many Americans argued that the railroad stretching all the way to California should be only on American soil. That is why the United States created a deal with James Gadsden, U.s minister to Mexico. The United States would pay Mexico $10 million dollars in return for the southern part of Arizona and New Mexico. With this purchase, the existing boundary with Mexico was fina
