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Jacksonian Democracy
Also called the Spoils System, the Jacksonian Democracy was where Jackson hired his own supporters to replace the previous administration’s staff. He believed that removing officials time to time prevented any one party from maintaining a stronghold on the government. -
The Indian Removal Act
Congress, with Jackson’s support, passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. Under this law, the federal government funded treaties that forced tribes west. This ended the previous policy that allowed Native Americans to stay on their lands. They had to move west to a new area called the Indian Territory. -
The Abolitionist Movement
In the 1830 to 1870's the Abolitionist Movement to free African Americans from slavery arose. The leader was a white radical named William Lloyd Garrison. Abolitionists called for immediate emancipation of all slaves. -
The Black Hawk War
Native Americans resisted removal from their lands as they struggled to grow enough food for their families. In 1932 they rebelled and their leader Black Hawk led his people back to their lands. The U.S. military fought against them and it was bloody as 600 Native Americans lost their lives. The U.S. won and imprisoned Black Hawk for defending his land. -
The Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution, also called War of Texas Independence, was a war fought from October 1835 to April 1836 between the people of Mexico and Texas. It resulted in Texas’s independence from Mexico and the founding of the Republic of Texas. -
The Panic of 1837
After the Second Bank of the U.S closed all the people went to Jackson's Pet Banks which was easy money and it led to inflation. All of the out of control inflation led to the panic of 1837. The state banks were in trouble and it led to a widespread fear and panic. Many of the banks closed and people lost their jobs and it led to a deep economic depression. -
The Trail of Tears
Jackson set the stage for the forced removal of the Cherokees from Georgia to Oklahoma Indian Territory. This became known as The Trail of Tears as about 4000 Cherokees died on the long journey from cold, illness, and starvation. Jacksons policies had racial and political superiority and had a huge impact on Native Americans. -
The Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening spread Christianity through
revival meetings from 1790-1840. A growing religious group called the Unitarians
practiced the ideas of Enlightenment and the teaching of the Bible..
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Unitarian preacher who
developed Transcendentalism. These and other religions
became the impetus for reforming our society in the mid-1800's. -
Trails to the West
Between 1841- 1866, nearly a half million Americans followed trails to build new lives in the west. These trails were the Santa Fe Trail, Old Spanish Trail, Oregon Trail, Mormon Trail, and California Trail. The trails also opened up opportunities for the trade in the West. -
Manifest Destiny
Editor John O' Sullivan wrote an article initiating the belief that is was our Manifest Destiny to move Westward. He believed acquiring land led to prosperity and wealth, economic mobility, and social freedoms. People who embraced this concept not only wanted new opportunities and freedoms, but believed it was their God given right to spread across the continent. -
Irish Immigration
Between 1845 and 1850, a plant disease called Blight killed Ireland's potato crop. During these years, famine and diseases claimed as many as a million lives. Record numbers of Irish people immigrated to the United States in search of new opportunities, where they accounted for more than half of all immigrants in the 1840s. -
The Mexican American War
The Mexican-American War was a conflict between the United States and Mexico. It was fought from April 1846 to February 1848. It started from the annexation of the Republic of Texas by the U.S. in 1845, and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River or the Rio Grande. The United states eventually won the war and it ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which set the Rio Grande as the border between Mexico and Texas. -
Women's Rights Movement
Reform movements of the 19th century spurred the development of a Women’s movement. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott had both been ardent abolitionists. In 1848, they organized the Women’s Right Convention in Seneca Falls, N.Y. where more than 300 women participated. They fought for a change so women could enjoying all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States. -
The Gold Rush
The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848 started the largest migration in United States history and drew people from all over. The promise of wealth led people to quit their jobs, leave their families and set off on a long dangerous journey. It changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who flooded California in 1849 and the decade that followed. -
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, and used by enslaved African-Americans to primarily escape into free states and Canada. Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist born into slavery. She escaped and made some 13 missions to rescue about 70 enslaved people, using the network of the Underground Railroad.