Welcome to the 19th century! We have covered 3 centuries of US History thus far, only 2 more to go. In the 19th century many US cultural elements start to take form as Nationalist cultural forms are created in architecture, literature, art and even ideology (Manifest Destiny anyone?). The United States also becomes more democratic, only for white men at this point though . . . Economic relationships are transformed by the Market Revolution, in a precursor to even greater change after the Civil War. Speaking of the Civil War, this time period also sees the great deepening of sectional tension between the North and the South over many issues. Those issues are slavery, slavery and finally, slavery. Brace yourselves, a Civil War is coming, but for now lets focus on what some historians call the age of Jefferson and Jackson . . .

Unit IV Key Concepts

Key Concept 4.1: The United States began to develop a modern democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans sought to define the nation's democratic ideals and change their society and institutions to match them.

I. The nation's transition to a more participatory democracy was achieved by expanding suffrage from a system based on property ownership to one based on voting by all adult white men, and it was accompanied by the growth of political parties.

In which John Green teaches you about founding father and third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson is a somewhat controversial figure in American history, largely because he, like pretty much all humans, was a big bundle of contradictions. Jefferson was a slave-owner who couldn't decide if he liked slavery.

A. In the early 1800's, national political parties continued to debate issues such as the tariff, powers of the federal government, and relations with European powers.

In which John Green teaches you about the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and its former colonial overlord England. It started in, you guessed it 1812. The war lasted until 1815, and it resolved very little.

B. Supreme Court decisions established the primacy of the judiciary in determining the meaning of the Constitution and asserted that federal laws took precedence over state laws.

C. By the 1820's and 30's, new political parties arose -- the Democrats led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whigs , led by Henry Clay -- that disagreed about the role and powers of the federal government and issues such as the national bank, tariffs and federally funded internal improvements.

In which John Green teaches you about the presidency of Andrew Jackson So how did a president with astoundingly bad fiscal policies end up on the $20 bill? That's a question we can't answer, but we can tell you how Jackson got to be president, and how he changed the country when he got the job.

D. Regional interests often trumped national concerns as the basis for many political leaders' positions on slavery and economic policy.

II. While Americans embraced a new national culture, various groups developed distinctive cultures of their own.

A. The rise of democratic and individualistic beliefs, a response to rationalism, and changes to society caused by the market revolution, along with greater social and geographic mobility, contributed to a Second Great Awakening among Protestants that influenced moral and social reforms and inspired utopian and other religious movements.

B. A new national culture emerged that combined American elements, European influences, and regional cultural sensibilities.

C. Liberal social ideas from abroad and Romantic beliefs in human perfectability influenced literature, art, philosophy, and architecture.

D. Enslaved blacks and free African Americans created communities and strategies to protect their dignity and family structures, and they joined political efforts aimed at changing their status.

III. Increasing numbers of Americans, many inspired by new religious and intellectual movements, worked primarily outside of government institutions to advance their ideals.

In which John Green teaches you about various reform movements in the 19th century United States. From Utopian societies to the Second Great Awakening to the Abolition movement, American society was undergoing great changes in the first half of the 19th century.

A. Americans formed new voluntary organizations that aimed to change individual behaviors and improve society through temperance and other reform movements.

B. Abolitionist and antislavery movements gradually achieved emancipation in the North, contributing to the growth of the free African American population, even as many state governments restricted African American's rights. Antislavery efforts in the South were largely limited to unsuccessful slave rebellions.

C. A women's rights movement sought to create greater equality and opportunities for women, expressing its ideals at the Seneca Falls Convention.

In which John Green finally gets around to talking about some women's history. In the 19th Century, the United States was changing rapidly, as we noted in the recent Market Revolution and Reform Movements episodes. Things were also in a state of flux for women.

Key Concept 4.2 -- Innovations in technology and commerce powerfully accelerated the American economy, precipitating profound changes to US society and to national and regional identities.

I. New transportation systems and technologies dramatically expanded manufacturing and agricultural production.

A. Entrepreneurs helped to create a market revolution in production and commerce, in which market relationships between producers and consumers came to prevail as the manufacture of goods became more organized.

In which John Green teaches you about the Market Revolution. In the first half of the 19th century, the way people lived and worked in the United States changed drastically. At play was the classic (if anything in a 30 year old nation can be called classic) American struggle between the Jeffersonian ideal of individuals sustaining themselves on small farms vs.

B. Innovations including textile machinery, steam engines, interchangeable parts, the telegraph, and agricultural inventions increased the efficiency of production methods.

C. Legislation and judicial systems supported the development of roads, canals and railroads, which extended and enlarged markets and helped foster regional interdependence. Transportation networks linked the North and Midwest more closely than either was linked to the South.

II. The changes caused by the market revolution had significant effects on US society, workers' lives, and gender and family relations.

A. Increasing numbers of Americans, especially women and men working in factories, no longer relied on semisubsistence agriculture; instead they supported themselves producing goods for distant markets

B. The growth of manufacturing drove a significant increase in prosperity and standards of living for some; this led to the emergence of a larger middle class and a small but wealthy business elite but also to a large and growing population of laboring poor.

C. Gender and family roles changed in response to the market revolution, particularly with the growth of definitions of domestic ideals that emphasized the separation of public and private spheres.

III. Economic development shaped settlement and trade patterns, helping to unify the nation while also encouraging the growth of different regions.

A. Large numbers of international migrants moved to industrializing northern cities, while many Americans moved west of the Appalachians, developing thriving new communities along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

B. Increasing Southern cotton production and the related growth of Northern manufacturing, banking, and shipping industries promoted the development of national and international commercial ties.

C. Southern business leaders continued to rely on the production and export of traditional agricultural staples, contributing to the growth of a distinctive Southern regional identity.

D. Plans to further unify the US economy, such as the American System, generated debates over whether such policies would benefit agriculture or industry, potentially favoring different sections of the country.

Key Concept 4.3 -- The US interest in increasing foreign trade and expanding its national borders shaped the nations foreign policy and spurred government and private initiatives.

I. Struggling to create an independent global presence, The United States sought to claim territory throughout the North American continent and promote foreign trade.

A. Following the Louisiana Purchase, The United States government sought influence and control over North America and the Western Hemisphere through a variety of means, including exploration, military actions, American Indian removal, and diplomatic efforts such as the Monroe Doctrine.

B. Frontier settlers tended to champion expansion efforts, while American Indian resistance led to a sequence of wars and federal efforts to control and relocate American Indian populations.

II. The United States acquisition of lands in the West gave rise to contests over the extension of slavery into new territories.

A. As overcultivation depleted arable lands in the Southeast, slaveholders began relocating their plantations to more fertile lands west of the Appalachians, where the institution of slavery continued to grow.

B. Antislavery efforts increased in the North, while in the South, although the majority of Southerners owned no slaves, most leaders argued that slavery was part of the Southern way of life.

C. Congressional attempts at political compromise, such as the Missouri Compromise, only temporarily stemmed growing tensions between opponents and defenders of slavery.

Unit IV in Maps

US Expansionism (1789-1854)

US Urban areas 1820 vs 1860

Industry and Agriculture in the US (ca 1860)

Early 1800's Native Removals

Property Qualifications to Vote (1800-1860)

Missouri Compromise or Compromise of 1820

Videos and Links

In which John Green teaches you about founding father and third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson is a somewhat controversial figure in American history, largely because he, like pretty much all humans, was a big bundle of contradictions. Jefferson was a slave-owner who couldn't decide if he liked slavery.

In which John Green teaches you about the War of 1812. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and its former colonial overlord England. It started in, you guessed it 1812. The war lasted until 1815, and it resolved very little.

In which John Green teaches you about the Market Revolution. In the first half of the 19th century, the way people lived and worked in the United States changed drastically. At play was the classic (if anything in a 30 year old nation can be called classic) American struggle between the Jeffersonian ideal of individuals sustaining themselves on small farms vs.

In which John Green teaches you about America's "peculiar institution," slavery. I wouldn't really call it peculiar. I'd lean more toward horrifying and depressing institution, but nobody asked me. John will talk about what life was like for a slave in the 19th century United States, and how slaves resisted oppression, to the degree that was possible.

In which John Green teaches you about the presidency of Andrew Jackson So how did a president with astoundingly bad fiscal policies end up on the $20 bill? That's a question we can't answer, but we can tell you how Jackson got to be president, and how he changed the country when he got the job.

In which John Green teaches you about various reform movements in the 19th century United States. From Utopian societies to the Second Great Awakening to the Abolition movement, American society was undergoing great changes in the first half of the 19th century.

In which John Green finally gets around to talking about some women's history. In the 19th Century, the United States was changing rapidly, as we noted in the recent Market Revolution and Reform Movements episodes. Things were also in a state of flux for women.

In which John Green teaches you about the Mexican-American War in the late 1840s, and the expansion of the United States into the western end of North America. In this episode of Crash Course, US territory finally reaches from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific Ocean.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/history-vs-andrew-jackson-james-fester Andrew Jackson was both beloved and loathed during his presidency. In this imaginary courtroom, you get to be the jury, considering and weighing Jackson's part in the spoils system, economic depression, and the Indian Removal Act, as well as his patriotism and the pressures of the presidency.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-true-story-of-sacajawea-karen-mensing In the early 19th century, a young Agaidika teenager named Sacajawea was enlisted by explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to aid her husband Toussaint Charbonneau as a guide to the Western United States.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-audacity-behind-the-louisiana-purchase-judy-walton When the French offered up the Louisiana Territory, Thomas Jefferson knew this real estate deal was too good to pass up. How did the President justify the purchase that doubled the size of the United States? Judy Walton provides President Jefferson's reasoning.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-inventions-change-history-for-better-and-for-worse-kenneth-c-davis Invented in 1793, the cotton gin changed history for good and bad. By allowing one field hand to do the work of 10, it powered a new industry that brought wealth and power to the American South -- but, tragically, it also multiplied and prolonged the use of slave labor.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/gerrymandering-how-drawing-jagged-lines-can-impact-an-election-christina-greer District lines, and the groups of voters within them, may seem arbitrary, but a lot of thought (and political bickering) is put into these carefully drawn lines. From "packing" a district to "cracking" a district--learn how the shape of districts impacts political parties during election season.

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-fight-for-the-right-to-vote-in-the-united-states-nicki-beaman-griffin In the United States today, if you are over eighteen, a citizen, and the resident of a state, you can vote (with some exceptions). So, how have voting rights changed since the first election in 1789? Nicki Beaman Griffin outlines the history of the long fight for a more inclusive electorate.

Downloads

Unit IV socratic seminar reading

Unit IV Readings

Unit IV Questions sheets

Unit IV Assignments

Unit IV Vocabulary words

Unit IV Slideshow

**The Following sites and materials are useful in reviewing the content of this unit**

Gilder Lehrman AP US History

The Gilder Lehrman site offers review videos, key concepts and an interactive timeline of the era. It also contains study guides and sample essays from key topics in the time period. Visit the Gilder Lehrman AP US History Unit IV website HERE

Covers the time period from 1800 to 1848: The growth and expansion of America and the American spirit.