HISTORY 1DD3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Boston Manufacturing Company, Pauperism, Making Money
22 Jun 2018
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Chp 9 Identifications
Alexis de Tocqueville and changes in America
● In 1813, Tocqueville and Beaumont, 2 young French aristocrats on a mission to find
out more about the American republic, found themselves stuck in Memphis,
Tennessee because of the frozen Ohio River en route to New Orleans.
● On Christmas, the Frenchmen along with a federal agent accompanying relocating
Choctaw Natives persuaded the captain to turn the boat.
● Tocqueville wrote about the dispirited Natives, and later published the greatest
masterpiece of American history written by a foreigner in Democracy in America.
● Tocqueville had come at a time when America was quickly changing, with new
transportation, expansion west, new cities, and transforming social relationships.
● To Tocqueville, Americans main goal was to “become rich” and did not let much
tradition get in their way. He identified slavery as a block in American character.
Still, to Tocqueville, American whites were all animated by the goal of getting ahead.
Westward Expansion
● By 1840, 1/3 of all Americans would be living in the “West”.
● With more land available, the federal govt.’s brutal put down of Natives, and a boom
in agricultural prices after 1812, most migrants desired a better version of life than
in the East. Pioneers desired security, often migrating in families and to places
where they hoped to find familiar faces. (eg: created Vermontville in Michigan)
● Most settlers in the 1820s settled near rivers, as they depended on the
transportation system of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Later, in the 1830s and
40s, the spread of canals would allow them to venture farther from rivers.
● Western society was characterized by group activities.
● Before 1840, few westerners could afford elegant living and believed they had the
right to borrow from those in a better position. Some were also intolerant of refined
living. For example, politicians lost votes if they rode buggies and not on horseback.
● This created a regional split between a more refined East and a simpler West.
The Far West
● Fueled by explorers such as Zebulon Pike, Lewis, and Clark, an adventuring spirit
carried a few Americans beyond the Mississippi.
● In 1811, John Jacob Astor founded the fur-trading post of Astoria in the Oregon
Country. In the 1820s and 30s, fur traders also operated along the Missouri River
from St. Louis to the Rocky Mountains.
● At first, these people relied on Natives, but in the 1820s “mountain men” gatheed
furs on their own. Among them were Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith, and Jim
Beckwourth.
● Smith as the representative of these men and had voyaged trips even Native avoided
because of its dangers. The adventures of Smith and other “mountain men” became
popularized in biographies and became legends in their own day.
The Federal Government and the West
● Background Info: The Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787
provided guidelines to westward expansion, while the Louisiana Purchase in 1803
and the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819 eliminated Spain from east of the
Mississippi.
● Men who enlisted in the War of 1812 were promised 6 million acres and migrated
West. Congress facilitated migration by extending a highway begun in 1811. By
1838, the road was busy with people and stretched all the way to Illinois.
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● A powerful national govt. that took charge in the West was good for Whites, but
disastrous for the Natives, who were stripped from Spanish protection.
● The Natives are also seen as the only real losers of the War of 1812 because after
defeat at Plattsburgh, the British dropped their demand of a creation of a Native
buffer state, abandoning the Natives to the control of Americans.
Five Civilized Tribes and the Removal of Indians
● Large number of Natives stood in the paths of expanding white settlers, especially in
the South, where the Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, and Seminoles
became known as the Five Civilized Tribes.
● These tribes, esp. the Cherokees, had an influential minority of mixed-bloods who
embraced Christianity, practiced agriculture, and even owned slaves. New England
missionaries were impressed, but Southerners viewed them with envy for their land.
● Some mixed-bloods, such as Creek leader McIntosh, agreed to selling lands and
moving west. When McIntosh sold a huge chunk of Creek lands in the Treaty of
Indian Springs (1825), a Creek tribal council executed him.
● More and more in the 1820s, the Natives were pressed to leave, as laws threatened
to conquer Natives’ lands, gave states power over the tribes, and declared no Native
could be a witness in a court case involving whites.
● In 1830, President Jackson secured passage of the Indian Removal Act, which
authorized him to exchange lands in the West for territories in the East.
● The federal govt. forced Natives to exchange 100 million acres for 32 million acres in
Oklahoma. Choctaws, Creeks, and Chickasaws began “voluntary” removal, while
Seminoles were removed from FL after a bitter war between 1835 and 1842.
● In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), John Marshall denied claim to status as a
republic within Georgia. In Worchester v. Georgia a year later, Marshall clarified
that the Cherokees were entitled to federal protection from Georgia. Jackson
ignored him, and in 1835, some minor chiefs signed the Treaty of New Echota
which ceded all Cherokee lands. The end came in 1838 as the Cherokees were
forcibly removed. The journey west became known as the Trail of Tears.
● Natives in the northwest were forced them west. Of two notable uprisings, the first
by Red Bird was crushed quickly, while the second led by Black Hawk resisted
removal until 1831, before moving west, only to try and return the following year
and fail. His downfall persuaded other Natives to move west voluntarily.
The Agricultural Boom
● After the govt.’s policies, which made possible expansion, high market prices made
migration attractive. The United States had quickly captured former British and
Spanish markets during the Napoleonic Wars, and after 20 years of war ended,
American farmers found their wheat and corn in high demand.
● Also, the East became more and more industrialized, while the West provided land as
well as a magnificent sea route for trade.
● Lastly, Eli Whitney’s cotton gin invention in 1793, along with exceptional
conditions in Alabama and MI, led to a “gold rush,” with the price of land as high as
$50 an acre!
Growth of Market Economy
● High prices of agricultural goods tempted many farmers to add a cash crop. This
addition was called the market economy, as it provided markets. Market economy
made slaves increasingly more valuable and encouraged westward expansion.
● Market economy also launched farmers into taking heavy risks. Farmers had no
control over prices, and there was often a long time between harvesting the cash
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crop and selling it. Therefore, farmers went into short-term debt with an eye for
long-term gain, but most found the debt worse then expected.
Federal Land Policy
● At the root of federal land policy was the Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest
Ordinance of 1787. However, with the adoption of a new constitution and
development of parties, the Federalists were not fully committed to the West.
● The national govt. under Federalists collected revenue by encouraging sale of large
tracts of land to wealthy speculators, people who had no intention of farming the
land themselves. A federal land law in 1796 reflected this, as the minimum purchase
was declared 640 acres at a minimum price of $2 per acre.
● Once the Republicans entered in 1800, federal land laws increasingly reflected their
desire of the small farmer as the backbone of the nation. From 1800, several land
laws had decreased the minimum purchase to 40 acres in 1832 and the minimum
price to $1.25 in 1820.
● But speculators were one step ahead, as they had already been selling 40-acre lands
before 1832. Speculators assumed land would continue to rise in value, and were
willing to bid high on new land, and resell to farmers at higher prices.
● Chartered in 1816, The Second Bank of the United States had the dual effect of
increasing money in circulation, and stimulating private/state banks, which would
lend directors money for land speculation.
● Nevertheless, most of the land eventually found its way into small farmers’ hands
because speculators gained nothing by holding land for too long.
● Even before the creation of public domain, people known as squatters had helped
themselves to western land. These people were scornful of those who lived in ease
and luxury and disdained land speculators above all.
“the moving frontier”
● Countless farmers who carried conservative expectations became adventurers as
they were forced to raise cash crops in a hurry to stay afloat.
● They often exhausted their land, and kept moving in search of new land. This
constant shift further west has been given the phrase “the moving frontier.”
Panic of 1819
● Background Info: Like the Bank of the United States, state banks also issued their
own bank notes, which at the time were no more than a printed paper paying a
certain amount of specie on demand. State banks had been issuing far more bank
notes than they could redeem, which fueled the economic boom after 1815.
● After 1817, the combination of bumper crops in Europe as well as a recession in
Britain trimmed foreign demand for US produce when farmers were becoming more
dependent on exports to pay off debts.
● In the summer of 1818, reacting to state bank’s over releasing of bank notes, the
Bank of the United States insisted that state banks redeem them in specie notes held
by the branches of the federal bank. To pay off the federal bank in specie, the state
banks had no choice but to force farmers and land speculators to repay loans.
● Land speculators lost big as prices dropped over 90% in some areas. Low
agricultural prices meant less profit for farmers who could not pay debts.
Speculators could not collect money owed them by farmers, and land they still held
plummeted in value.
● The Panic had severe economic consequences, as well as left the people bitter about
banks, especially the Bank of the United States. The Panic and the fall in prices also
accelerated the search for better transportation which would lower a farmer’s costs.
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Document Summary
In 1813, tocqueville and beaumont, 2 young french aristocrats on a mission to find out more about the american republic, found themselves stuck in memphis, Tennessee because of the frozen ohio river en route to new orleans. On christmas, the frenchmen along with a federal agent accompanying relocating. Choctaw natives persuaded the captain to turn the boat. Tocqueville wrote about the dispirited natives, and later published the greatest masterpiece of american history written by a foreigner in democracy in america. Tocqueville had come at a time when america was quickly changing, with new transportation, expansion west, new cities, and transforming social relationships. To tocqueville, americans main goal was to become rich and did not let much tradition get in their way. He identified slavery as a block in american character. Still, to tocqueville, american whites were all animated by the goal of getting ahead. By 1840, 1/3 of all americans would be living in the west .
