Hist 110American Civilization I

Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer

Upper Iowa University

Lecture 10American Commerce in the Early Republic

Capitalism advanced in the Early Republic with republican ideology which was friendly to commerce, banks, and manufacturing Both Federalists and Republicans

believed in capitalism and commerce The only major difference was the

Republican’s emphasis on agriculture and concern about government promotion of economic privilege

Yet both parties encouraged commerce through the promotion of transportation and commerce more generally and thought such intervention proper

Panic of 1819 Caused by collapse of agricultural

prices after the end of the Napoleonic Wars

Demonstrated how enmeshed merchants, farmer, artisans, and others had become in the capitalist system and market

Samuel Slater’s textile mill inPawtucket, Rhode Island

First textile mill in the U.S.

Lecture 10The Rise of Democracy

Americans in the Early Republic enjoyed unprecedented social and political equality—if they were white and male

This equality was denied to women and African Americans

Increasingly Americans rejected social hierarchy, but accepted social divisions that reflected personal achievements

The attitude proved curious to Europeans where social advancement from humble origins often was seen as unnatural

This proved a threat to Americans from wealthy and long established families

Manifestations Increasingly state legislatures

instituted white male suffrage cutting the tie between suffrage and property ownership

Only 3 states had universal white male suffrage in 1800; 10 by 1830; all but two by 1860

Women briefly had suffrage in New Jersey in the early 1800s until the state legislature cut a loophole that had allowed it

Torchlight paradeWith the rise of democracypolitics had to have mass

appeal

Lecture 10Developing Republican Marriage

Just as hierarchy came under attack in the Early Republic so did patriarchy

Part of this trend was simply due to the weakening hold of parents over children due to growing land scarcity

Rise of Companionate Marriage Under the influence of early 19th-

century European romanticism, feelings became more important in the discernment of truth than the rationality of the Enlightenment

Increasingly, young people followed their hearts in deciding who to marry rather than the rational arrangements of their parents

The role of parents shifted from dictators to protector trying to save their children from the consequences of their actions, although with love based marriages parents and the government were increasingly inclined not to intervene

Divorce did become a bit easier, but was still difficult in a society and marriages that remained dominated by men

Fall in birthrates In 1750, the average women had 7 or

8 children, by 1810 it was down to 6 The decline was the result of changing

preferences of both men and women, and use of birth control

Fewer children meant that parents could devote more resources to each child

There was also a change in the view of women, with the new belief that women were morally superior to men

This made women ideal for the role of inculcating virtue in the next generation, preparing them for their role of citizens of the republic—which scholars today call Republican motherhood

Education of women Preparing women for their role as

Republican mothers encouraged institutional female education and the formation of young women’s academies

Lecture 10 Republican Motherhood

Lecture 10Education in the Early Republic

As indicated before, republican values gave greater weight to the individual and tended to be against privilege

Which helps explain why state legislatures required parents to divide their estates among their children

While state constitutions encouraged support for education legislatures did little to implement that philosophy

Outside of New England, there was little government support for education until the 1820s

Only about 25 percent of boys and 10 percent of girls had any formal education, and only about 1 percent attended college

Starting in the 1820s, a new generation of reformers, mostly merchants and manufacturers, began to push for government support of education outside of New England to prepare children for republican citizenship

A “dame school” – an informalschool inside a private hometaught by women – where theeducation of many Americansbegan and often ended in the

Early Republic

The American Revolution produced a wave of emancipation Slaves used the disrupted conditions of

the war to flee their owners, probably about 30,000 in all

After the war, some states, like Virginia, made it easier to free slaves probably resulting in about 10,000 manumissions spurred on by Enlightenment philosophy, religious convictions (for Quakers), and low tobacco prices

The Revolution also resulted in the gradual end of slavery in the North, although slaves could be found there in the tens of thousands for decades

In the Lower South, planters firmly rejected any manumission of slaves and the Upper South joined them in the 1790s backing away from manumission The white South increasingly embraced

a rsepublicanism that excluded blacks

Lecture 10Slavery in the Early Republic

George Washington famouslyfreed his slaves in his will,

givingthem freedom when his wife

died

Lecture 10Growing Sectional Divisions

The North and the South grew apart in the decades following the American Revolution, largely due to slavery

Even white Southerners acknowledged that slavery seemed to encourage ignorance and poverty even among the white population

Planters refused to invest in public education, which meant that about 1/3 of the white population in the South could not read or write (as opposed to the North where literacy was near universal)

While a few Southerners dabbled in the idea of emancipation early in the 19th century, the increasing profitability of slave-based plantation agriculture eventually silenced such sentiments

While legal American participation in the Atlantic slave trade ended in 1808, the cotton boom in the Lower South made slaves more profitable and led planters to recommit themselves to the institution which made them rich

The invention of the cotton gin

led to an explosion in cottoncultivation and the

revitalization of slavery in the American South

Lecture 10The Crisis Over Missouri

The growing differences between North and South over slavery first came to the surface in Missouri’s bid for statehood Congressman James Tallmadge of

New York proposed an amendment that statehood for Missouri would only be accepted if the state banned new slaves and enacted gradual emancipation for slaves already there

White Southerners passionately opposed the amendment, increasingly taking the position that slavery was not a necessary evil, but a positive good

Solid southern opposition led to a political compromise engineered by Henry Clay Maine admitted with Missouri to keep

balance between the number of free and slave states (key in the U.S. Senate)

Slavery banned in future states in the Louisiana Purchase above 36o 30’

Lecture 10 Religious Change in the Early Republic

The American Revolution broke the bonds between church and state, as legislatures disestablished denominations who had previously enjoyed privileged legal status

In places like Pennsylvania where there had been no established church before the Revolution this process was not necessary

The process took a long time in New England where the Congregational Church was not disestablished completely until the 1830s

The disestablishment of denominations following the Revolution did not result in the separation of church and state

Most people continued to see a positive connection between religious belief and republican citizenship

Church property usually remained exempt from taxation

Some states even prohibited non-believers in Protestant Christianity from serving in political office

Read Jefferson’s tombstoneWhat is relevant here to this

slide?

Lecture 10 The Second Great Awakening

A new wave of religious revivals began in the United States in the early years of the 19th century

This new revival was a boon to the Baptists and Methodists, both denominations whose operations were compatible with the egalitarian and democratic ideology of the American Revolution

Camp Meetings The revival was spread in large part

through camp meetings These were large gatherings of

people for several days of continuous religious activity, which focused on getting people to have a conversion experience

Not all the momentum of the revival came from camp meetings

Methodists also increased their numbers through the work of itinerant preachers, the so-called “circuit riders”

People overcome by the Holy Spirit

during a sermon at a camp meeting

Such emotionalism was quite common at these gatherings

Lecture 10 Impact of the Second Great Awakening

While Baptists and Methodists prospered from the revival, other denominations, especially those practicing Calvinism did not

Predestination not compatible with the optimistic spirit of Americans after the Revolution, who believed that people were capable of change

The revival’s impact was blunted by its accommodation with powerful social and political forces

For example, in the South the revival went from challenging the socio-economic hierarchy of the region to increasingly justifying it

Other groups in society also tended to adapt the message of revival to their own needs, including disempowered groups such as African Americans and women who managed to use it in ways that empowered them, although not enough to seriously threaten the established order

While men tended to lead therevival, women were the

majorityOf the converts. What is thehistorical significance of that

fact?