UNITED STATES IN 1830.
X
THE NATIONAL DEMOCRACY, 1829-1844
Books for Study and Reading
References.--Scribner's Popular History, IV;
Lodge's Webster; Coffin's Building the Nation,
251-313.
Home Readings.--Roosevelt's Winning of the West;
Hale's Stories of Inventions; Wright's Stories of
American Progress.
CHAPTER 28
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN 1830
Changes in conditions.]
293. A New Race.--Between the election of President
Jefferson and the election of President Jackson great changes had
taken place. The old Revolutionary statesmen had gone. New men had
taken their places. The old sleepy life had gone. Everywhere now
was bustle and hurry. In 1800 the Federalists favored the British,
and the Republicans favored the French. Now no one seemed to care
for either the British or the French. At last the people had become
Americans. The Federalist party had disappeared. Every one now was
either a National Republican and voted for Adams, or a Democratic
Republican and voted for Jackson.
Population, 1830.
Area, 1830.
Growth of the cities.
Settlement of the West.
294. Numbers and Area.--In 1800 there were only five and
one-half million people in the whole United States. Now there were
nearly thirteen million people. And they had a very much larger
country to live in. In 1800 the area of the United States was about
eight hundred thousand square miles. But Louisiana and Florida had
been bought since then. Now (1830) the area of the United States
was about two million square miles. The population of the old
states had greatly increased. Especially the cities had grown. In
1800 New York City held about sixty thousand people; it now held
two hundred thousand people. But it was in the West that the
greatest growth had taken place. Since 1800 Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri had all
been admitted to the Union.
Difficulties of transport over the Alleghanies.
McMaster, 252, 280-282.
The Cumberland Road.
295. National Roads.--Steamboats were now running on the
Great Lakes and on all the important rivers of the West. The first
result of this new mode of transport was the separation of the West
from the East. Steamboats could carry passengers and goods up and
down the Mississippi and its branches more cheaply and more
comfortably than people and goods could be carried over the
Alleghanies. Many persons therefore advised the building of a good
wagon road to connect the Potomac with the Ohio. The eastern end of
this great road was at Cumberland on the Potomac in Maryland. It is
generally called, therefore, the Cumberland Road. It was begun at
the national expense in 1811. By 1820 the road was built as far as
Wheeling on the Ohio River. From that point steamboats could steam
to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, St. Louis, or New Orleans. Later on, the
road was built farther west, as far as Illinois. Then the coming of
the railroad made further building unnecessary.
The Erie Canal, 1825. McMaster, 282-284.
De Witt Clinton.
Results of the building of the Erie Canal.
296. The Erie Canal.--The best way to connect one
steamboat route with another was to dig a canal. The most famous of
all these canals was the one connecting the Hudson River with Lake
Erie, and called the Erie Canal. It was begun in 1817 and was
completed so that a boat could pass through it in 1825. It was De
Witt Clinton who argued that such a canal would benefit New York
City by bringing to it the produce of the Northwest and of western
New York. At the same time it would benefit the farmers of those
regions by bringing their produce to tide water cheaper than it
could be brought by road through Pennsylvania. It would still
further benefit the farmers by enabling them to buy their goods
much cheaper, as the rates of freight would be so much lower by
canal than they were by road. People who did not see these things
as clearly as De Witt Clinton saw them, spoke of the enterprise
most sneeringly and called the canal "Clinton's big ditch." It very
soon appeared that Clinton was right. In one year the cost of
carrying a ton of grain from Lake Erie to the Hudson River fell
from one hundred dollars to fifteen dollars. New York City soon
outstripped all its rivals and became the center of trade and money
in the United States. Other canals, as the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal, were marvels of skill. But they were not so favorably
situated as the Erie Canal and could not compete with it
successfully.
[Illustration: CONESTOGA WAGON AND TEAM.]
The first railroads. McMaster, 285-289.
297. Early Railroads.--The best stone and gravel roads
were always rough in places. It occurred to some one that it would
be better to lay down wooden rails, and then to place a rim or
flange on the wagon wheels to keep them on the rails. The first
road of this kind in America was built at Boston in 1807. It was a
very rude affair and was only used to carry dirt from the top of a
hill to the harbor. The wooden rails soon wore out, so the next
step was to nail strips of iron on top of them. Long lines of
railroads of this kind were soon built. Both passengers and goods
could be carried on them. Some of them were built by private
persons or by companies. Others were built by a town or a state.
Any one having horses and wagons with flanged wheels could use the
railway on the payment of a small sum of money. This was the
condition of affairs when the steam locomotive was invented.
AN EARLY LOCOMOTIVE.
Invention of the locomotive, 1830.
Hardships of early railroad travel.
298. The Steam Locomotive.--Steam was used to drive boats
through the water. Why should not steam be used to haul wagons over
a railroad? This was a very easy question to ask, and a very hard
one to answer. Year after year inventors worked on the problem.
Suddenly, about 1830, it was solved in several places and by
several men at nearly the same time. It was some years, however,
before the locomotive came into general use. The early railroad
trains were rude affairs. The cars were hardly more than
stagecoaches with flanged wheels. They were fastened together with
chains, and when the engine started or stopped, there was a
terrible bumping and jolting. The smoke pipe of the engine was very
tall and was hinged so that it could be let down when coming to a
low bridge or a tunnel. Then the smoke and cinders poured straight
into the passengers' faces. But these trains went faster than canal
boats or steamboats. Soon the railroad began to take the first
place as a means of transport.
A LOCOMOTIVE OF TO-DAY.
Use of hard coal.
Growth of the cities.
299. Other Inventions.--The coming of the steam
locomotive hastened the changes which one saw on every side in
1830. For some time men had known that there was plenty of hard
coal or anthracite in Pennsylvania. But it was so hard that it
would not burn in the old-fashioned stoves and fireplaces. Now a
stove was invented that would burn anthracite, and the whole matter
of house warming was completely changed. Then means were found to
make iron from ore with anthracite. The whole iron industry awoke
to new life. Next the use of gas made from coal became common in
cities. The great increase in manufacturing, and the great changes
in modes of transport, led people to crowd together in cities and
towns. These inventions made it possible to feed and warm large
numbers of persons gathered into small areas. The cities began to
grow so fast that people could no longer live near their work or
the shops. Lines of stagecoaches were established, and the coaches
were soon followed by horse cars, which ran on iron tracks laid in
the streets.
AN EARLY HORSE CAR.
Growth of the school system.
Dictionary."
American men of letters.
American men of science.
300. Progress in Letters.--There was also great progress
in learning. The school system was constantly improved. Especially
was this the case in the West, where the government devoted one
thirty-sixth part of the public lands to education. High schools
were founded, and soon normal schools were added to them. Even the
colleges awoke from their long sleep. More students went to them,
and the methods of teaching were improved. Some slight attention,
too, was given to teaching the sciences. In 1828 Noah Webster
published the first edition of his great dictionary. Unfortunately
he tried to change the spelling of many words. But in other ways
his dictionary was a great improvement. He defined words so that
they could be understood, and he gave the American meaning of many
words, as "congress." American writers now began to make great
reputations. Cooper, Irving, and Bryant were already well known.
They were soon joined by a wonderful set of men, who speedily made
America famous. These were Emerson, Lowell, Longfellow, Holmes,
Hawthorne, Prescott, Motley, Bancroft, and Sparks. In science,
also, men of mark were beginning their labors, as Pierce, Gray,
Silliman, and Dana. Louis Agassiz before long began his wonderful
lectures, which did much to make science popular. In short,
Jackson's administration marks the time when American life began to
take on its modern form.
[Illustration: NOAH WEBSTER.]
CHAPTER 29
THE REIGN OF ANDREW JACKSON, 1829-1837
Jackson's early career.
His "kitchen cabinet".
301. General Jackson.--Born in the backwoods of Carolina,
Jackson had early crossed the Alleghanies and settled in Tennessee.
Whenever trouble came to the Western people, whenever there was
need of a stout heart and an iron will, Jackson was at the front.
He always did his duty. He always did his duty well. Honest and
sincere, he believed in himself and he believed in the American
people. As President he led the people in one of the stormiest
periods in our history. Able men gathered about him. But he relied
chiefly on the advice of a few friends who smoked their pipes with
him and formed his "kitchen cabinet." He seldom called a regular
cabinet meeting. When he did call one, it was often merely to tell
the members what he had decided to do.
Party machines.
The Spoils System.
302. The Spoils System.--Among the able men who had
fought the election for Jackson were Van Buren and Marcy of New
York and Buchanan of Pennsylvania. They had built up strong party
machines in their states. For they "saw nothing wrong in the
principle that to the victors belong the spoils of victory." So
they rewarded their party workers with offices--when they won. The
Spoils System was now begun in the national government. Those who
had worked for Jackson rushed to Washington. The hotels and
boarding-houses could not hold them. Some of them camped out in the
parks and public squares of the capital. Removals now went merrily
on. Rotation in office was the cry. Before long Jackson removed
nearly one thousand officeholders and appointed political partisans
in their places.
The North and the South. McMaster,
301-304.
303. The North and the South.--The South was now a great
cotton-producing region. This cotton was grown by negro slaves. The
North was now a great manufacturing and commercial region. It was
also a great agricultural region. But the labor in the mills,
fields, and ships of the North was all free white labor. So the
United States was really split into two sections: one devoted to
slavery and to a few great staples, as cotton; the other devoted to
free white labor and to industries of many kinds.
The South and the tariff, 1829.
Calhoun's "Exposition."
304. The Political Situation, 1829.--The South was
growing richer all the time; but the North was growing richer a
great deal faster than was the South. Calhoun and other Southern
men thought that this difference in the rate of progress was due to
the protective system. In 1828 Congress had passed a tariff that
was so bad that it was called the Tariff of Abominations (p. 231).
The Southerners could not prevent its passage. But Calhoun wrote an
"Exposition" of the constitutional doctrines in the case. This
paper was adopted by the legislature of South Carolina as giving
its ideas. In this paper Calhoun declared that the Constitution of
the United States was a compact. Each state was a sovereign state
and could annul any law passed by Congress. The protective system
was unjust and unequal in operation. It would bring "poverty and
utter desolation to the South." The tariff act should be annulled
by South Carolina and by other Southern states.
[Illustration: DANIEL WEBSTER, 1833.]
Hayne's speech, 1830.
Webster's reply to Hayne.
305. Webster and Hayne, 1830.--Calhoun was Vice-President
and presided over the debates of the Senate. So it fell to Senator
Hayne of South Carolina to state Calhoun's ideas. This he did in a
very able speech. To him Daniel Webster of Massachusetts replied in
the most brilliant speeches ever delivered in Congress. The
Constitution, Webster declared, was "the people's constitution, the
people's government; made by the people and answerable to the
people. The people have declared that this constitution ... shall
be the supreme law." The Supreme Court of the United States alone
could declare a national law to be unconstitutional; no state could
do that. He ended this great speech with the memorable words,
"Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable."
Tariff of 1832.
"Nullified" by South Carolina, 1833.
Jackson's warning.
He prepares to enforce the law.
The Force Bill, 1833.
306. Nullification, 1832-33.--In 1832 Congress passed a
new tariff act. The South Carolinians decided to try Calhoun's
weapon of nullification. They held a convention, declared the act
null and void, and forbade South Carolinians to obey the law. They
probably thought that Jackson would not oppose them. But they
should have had no doubts on that subject. For Jackson already had
proposed his famous toast on Jefferson's birthday, "Our federal
Union, it must be preserved." He now told the Carolinians that he
would enforce the laws, and he set about doing it with all his
old-time energy. He sent ships and soldiers to Charleston and
ordered the collector of that port to collect the duties. He then
asked Congress to give him greater power. And Congress passed the
Force Bill, giving him the power he asked for. The South
Carolinians, on their part, suspended the nullification ordinance
and thus avoided an armed conflict with "Old Hickory," as his
admirers called Jackson.
Tariff of 1833.
307. The Compromise Tariff, 1833.--The nullifiers really
gained a part of the battle, for the tariff law of 1832 was
repealed. In its place Congress passed what was called the
Compromise Tariff. This compromise was the work of Henry Clay, the
peacemaker. Under it the duties were to be gradually lowered until,
in 1842, they would be as low as they were by the Tariff Act of
1816 (p. 231).
Second United States Bank, 1816.
Jackson's dislike of the bank.
308. The Second United States Bank.--Nowadays any one
with enough money can open a national bank under the protection of
the government at Washington. At this time, however, there was one
great United States Bank. Its headquarters were at Philadelphia and
it had branches all over the country. Jackson, like Jefferson (p.
163), had very grave doubts as to the power of the national
government to establish such a bank. Its size and its prosperity
alarmed him. Moreover, the stockholders and managers, for the most
part, were his political opponents. The United States Bank also
interfered seriously with the operations of the state banks--some
of which were managed by Jackson's friends. The latter urged him on
to destroy the United States Bank, and he determined to destroy
it.
Jackson, Clay, and the bank charter.
Constitution, Art. I, sec. 7, par. 3.
Reëlection of Jackson, 1832.
309. Struggle over the Bank Charter.--The charter of the
bank would not come to an end until 1836, while the term for which
Jackson had been elected in 1828 would come to an end in 1833. But
in his first message to Congress Jackson gave notice that he would
not give his consent to a new charter. Clay and his friends at once
took up the challenge. They passed a bill rechartering the bank.
Jackson vetoed the bill. The Clay men could not get enough votes to
pass it over his veto. The bank question, therefore, became one of
the issues of the election of 1832. Jackson was reflected by a
large majority over Clay.
The people were clearly on his side, and he at once set to work
to destroy the bank.
The bank and the government.
Removal of the deposits, 1833. McMaster, 305-308.
310. Removal of the Deposits.--In those days there was no
United States Treasury building at Washington, with great vaults
for the storing of gold, silver, and paper money. There were no
sub-treasuries in the important commercial cities. The United
States Bank and its branches received the government's money on
deposit and paid it out on checks signed by the proper government
official. In 1833 the United States Bank had in its vaults about
nine million dollars belonging to the government. Jackson directed
that this money should be drawn out as required, to pay the
government's expenses, and that no more government money should be
deposited in the bank. In the future it should be deposited in
certain state banks. The banks selected were controlled by
Jackson's political friends and were called the "pet banks."
[Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON, 1815. "Our Federal union, it must
be preserved." --Jackson's toast at the Jefferson dinner.]
Speculation in Western lands. McMaster,
309.
The specie circular, 1836.
311. Jackson's Specie Circular, 1836.--The first result
of the removal of the deposits was very different from what Jackson
had expected. At this time there was active speculation in Western
lands. Men who had a little spare money bought Western lands. Those
who had no money in hand, borrowed money from the banks and with it
bought Western lands. Now it happened that many of the "pet banks"
were in the West. The government's money, deposited with them,
tempted their managers to lend money more freely. This, in turn,
increased the ease with which people could speculate. Jackson saw
that unless something were done to restrain this speculation,
disaster would surely come. So he issued a circular to the United
States land officers. This circular was called the Specie Circular,
because in it the President forbade the land officers to receive
anything except gold and silver and certain certificates in payment
for the public lands.
[Illustration: A SETTLER'S CABIN.]
Payment of the national debt. McMaster,
309-310.
312. Payment of the Debt, 1837.--The national debt had
now all been paid. The government was collecting more money than it
could use for national purposes. And it was compelled to keep on
collecting more money than it could use, because the Compromise
Tariff (p. 248) made it impossible to reduce duties any faster than
a certain amount each year. No one dared to disturb the Compromise
Tariff, because to do so would bring on a most bitter political
fight. The government had more money in the "pet banks" than was
really safe. It could not deposit more with them.
Distribution of the surplus.
Van Buren elected President, 1836.
313. Distribution of the Surplus, 1837.--A curious plan
was now hit upon. It was to loan the surplus revenues to the states
in proportion to their electoral votes. Three payments were made to
the states. Then the Panic of 1837 came, and the government had to
borrow money to pay its own necessary expenses. Before this
occurred, however, Jackson was no longer President. In his place
was Martin Van Buren, his Secretary of State, who had been chosen
President in November, 1836.
CHAPTER 30
DEMOCRATS AND WHIGS, 1837-1844
Causes of the Panic.
Hard times, 1837-39.
314. The Panic of 1837.--The Panic was due directly to
Jackson's interference with the banks, to his Specie Circular, and
to the distribution of the surplus. It happened in this way. When
the Specie Circular was issued, people who held paper money at once
went to the banks to get gold and silver in exchange for it to pay
for the lands bought of the government. The government on its part
drew out money from the banks to pay the states their share of the
surplus. The banks were obliged to sell their property and to
demand payment of money due them. People who owed money to the
banks were obliged to sell their property to pay the banks. So
every one wanted to sell, and few wanted to buy. Prices of
everything went down with a rush. People felt so poor that they
would not even buy new clothes. The mills and mines were closed,
and the banks suspended payments. Thousands of working men and
women were thrown out of work. They could not even buy food for
themselves or their families. Terrible bread riots took place.
After a time people began to pluck up their courage. But it was a
long time before "good times" came again.
The national finances.
The Sub-Treasury plan.
Independent Treasury Act, 1840.
315. The Independent Treasury System.--What should be
done with the government's money? No one could think of depositing
it with the state banks. Clay and his friends thought the best
thing to do would be to establish a new United States Bank. But Van
Buren was opposed to that. His plan, in short, was to build vaults
for storing money in Washington and in the leading cities. The main
storehouse or Treasury was to be in Washington, subordinate
storehouses or sub-treasuries were to be established in the other
cities. To these sub-treasuries the collectors of customs would pay
the money collected by them. In this way the government would
become independent of the general business affairs of the country.
In 1840 Congress passed an act for putting this plan into effect.
But before it was in working order, Van Buren was no longer
President.
New parties.
The Democrats.
The Whigs.
316. Democrats and Whigs.--In the Era of Good Feeling
there was but one party--the Republican party. In the confused
times of 1824 the several sections of the party took the names of
their party leaders: the Adams men, the Jackson men, the Clay men,
and so on. Soon the Adams men and the Clay men began to act
together and to call themselves National Republicans. This they did
because they wished to build up the nation's resources at the
expense of the nation. The Jackson men called themselves Democratic
Republicans, because they upheld the rights of the people. Before
long they dropped the word "Republican" and called themselves
simply Democrats. The National Republicans dropped the whole of
their name and took that of the great English liberal party--the
Whigs. This they did because they favored reform.
[Illustration: Log Cabin Song Book.]
"A campaign of humor." Higginson, 269;
McMaster, 315-316.
Harrison and Tyler elected, 1840.
317. Election of 1840.--General William Henry Harrison
was the son of Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, one of the signers of
the Declaration of Independence. General Harrison had moved to the
West and had won distinction at Tippecanoe, and also in the War of
1812 (pp. 202, 209). The Whigs nominated him in 1836, but he was
beaten. They now renominated him for President, with John Tyler of
Virginia as candidate for Vice-President. Van Buren had made a good
President, but his term of office was associated with panic and
hard times. He was a rich man and gave great parties. Plainly he
was not a "man of the people," as was Harrison. A Democratic orator
sneered at Harrison, and said that all he wanted was a log cabin of
his own and a jug of cider. The Whigs eagerly seized on this
description. They built log cabins at the street corners and
dragged through the streets log cabins on great wagons. They held
immense open-air meetings at which people sang songs of "Tippecanoe
and Tyler Too." Harrison and Tyler received nearly all the
electoral votes and were chosen President and Vice-President.
Death of Harrison, 1841.
318. Death of Harrison, 1841.--The people's President was
inaugurated on March 4, 1841. For the first time since the
establishment of the Spoils System a new party came into control of
the government. Thousands of office-seekers thronged to Washington.
They even slept in out-of-the-way corners of the White House. Day
after day, from morning till night, they pressed their claims on
Harrison. One morning early, before the office-seekers were astir,
he went out for a walk. He caught cold and died suddenly, just one
month after his inauguration. John Tyler at once became
President.
President Tyler.
His contest with the Whigs.
319. Tyler and the Whigs.--President Tyler was not a Whig
like Harrison or Clay, nor was he a Democrat like Jackson. He was a
Democrat who did not like Jackson ideas. As President, he proved to
be anything but a Whig. He was willing to sign a bill to repeal the
Independent Treasury Act, for that was a Democratic measure he had
not liked; but he refused to sign a bill to establish a new Bank of
the United States. Without either a bank or a treasury, it was
well-nigh impossible to carry on the business of the government.
But it was carried on in one way or another. Tyler was willing to
sign a new tariff act, and one was passed in 1842. This was
possible, as the Compromise Tariff (p. 248) came to an end in that
year.
[Illustration]
Northeastern boundary dispute.
The Ashburton Treaty, 1842.
320. Treaty with Great Britain, 1842.--Perhaps the most
important event of Tyler's administration was the signing of the
Treaty of 1842 with Great Britain. Ever since the Treaty of Peace
of 1783, there had been a dispute over the northeastern boundary of
Maine. If the boundary had been run according to the plain meaning
of the Treaty of Peace, the people of Upper Canada would have found
it almost impossible to reach New Brunswick or Nova Scotia in
winter. At that time of the year the St. Lawrence is frozen over,
and the true northern boundary of Maine ran so near to the St.
Lawrence that it was difficult to build a road which would be
wholly in British territory. So the British had tried in every way
to avoid settling the matter. It was now arranged that the United
States should have a little piece of Canada north of Vermont and
New York and should give up the extreme northeastern corner of
Maine. It was also agreed that criminals escaping from one country
to the other should be returned. A still further agreement was made
for checking the slave trade from the coast of western Africa.
[Illustration: JOHN TYLER.]
[Illustration: THE FIRST MORSE INSTRUMENT.]
The Morse code.
First telegraph line, 1844.
Usefulness of the telegraph, McMaster, 372.
321. The Electric Telegraph.--Benjamin Franklin and
Joseph Henry made great discoveries in electricity. But Samuel F.
B. Morse was the first to use electricity in a practical way. Morse
found out that if a man at one end of a line of wire pressed down a
key, electricity could be made at the same moment to press down
another key at the other end of the line of wire. Moreover, the key
at the farther end of the line could be so arranged as to make an
impression on a piece of paper that was slowly drawn under it by
clockwork. Now if the man at one end of the line held his key down
for only an instant, this impression would look like a dot. If he
held it down longer, it would look like a short dash. Morse
combined these dots and dashes into an alphabet. For instance, one
dash meant the letter "t," and so on. For a time people only
laughed at Morse. But at length Congress gave him enough money to
build a line from Baltimore to Washington. It was opened in 1844,
and proved to be a success from the beginning. Other lines were
soon built, and the Morse system, greatly improved, is still in
use. The telegraph made it possible to operate long lines of
railroad, as all the trains could be managed from one office so
that they would not run into one another. It also made it possible
to communicate with people afar off and get an answer in an hour or
so. For both these reasons the telegraph was very important and
with the railroads did much to unite the people of the different
portions of the country.
[Illustration: THE FIRST MCCORMICK REAPER.]
Problems of what growing.
The McCormick reaper, 1831. McMaster, 31-372.
Results of this invention.
322. The McCormick Reaper.--Every great staple depends
for its production on some particular tool. For instance, cotton
was of slight importance until the invention of the cotton gin (p.
185) made it possible cheaply to separate the seed from the fiber.
The success of wheat growing depended upon the ability quickly to
harvest the crop. Wheat must be allowed to stand until it is fully
ripened. Then it must be quickly reaped and stored away out of the
reach of the rain and wet. For a few weeks in each year there was a
great demand for labor on the wheat farms. And there was little
labor to be had. Cyrus H. McCormick solved this problem for the
wheat growers by inventing a horse reaper. The invention was made
in 1831, but it was not until 1845 that the reaper came into
general use. By 1855 the use of the horse reaper was adding every
year fifty-five million dollars to the wealth of the country. Each
year its use moved the fringe of civilization fifty miles farther
west. Without harvesting machinery the rapid settlement of the West
would have been impossible. And had not the West been rapidly
settled by free whites, the whole history of the country between
1845 and 1865 would have been very different from what it has been.
The influence of the horse reaper on our political history,
therefore, is as important as the influence of the steam locomotive
or of the cotton gin.
[Illustration: MODERN HARVESTER.]
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
CHAPTER 28
§§ 293, 294.--Compare the condition of the United
States in 1830 and 1800 as to (1) extent, (2) population, (3)
interests and occupation of the people. Illustrate these changes by
maps, diagrams, or tables.
§§ 295, 296.--a. How had the use of steamboats
increased?
b. Why had this led to the separation of the West and the
East? How was it proposed to overcome this difficulty?
c. Do you think that roads should be built at national
expense? Give your reasons.
d. Mark on a map the Erie Canal, and show why it was so
important. Describe the effects of its use.
§§ 297, 298.--a. Do you think that railroads
should be carried on by the state or by individuals? Why?
b. What influence has the railroad had upon the Union?
Upon people's minds? Upon the growth of cities? (Take your own city
or town and think of it without railroads anywhere.)
§§ 299, 300.--a. Explain how one discovery or
invention affected other industries (as shown, for instance, in the
use of anthracite coal).
b. How did these inventions make large cities
possible?
c. Why is the education of our people so important?
d. What were the advantages of Webster's
"Dictionary"?
CHAPTER 29
§§ 301, 302.--a. Why is this chapter called the
"Reign of Andrew Jackson"? Do you think that a President should
"reign"?
b. In what respects was Jackson fitted for President?
c. What is meant by his "kitchen cabinet"?
d. What is a "party machine"? How was it connected with
the "spoils system"?
e. Did the "spoils system" originate with Jackson?
§§ 303, 304.--a. Compare carefully the North
and the South. Why was the North growing rich faster than the
South?
b. Where have you already found the ideas expressed in
Calhoun's Exposition? Why was this doctrine so dangerous?
Are the states "sovereign states"?
§ 305.--a. What view did Webster take? How does his
speech show the increase of the love of the Union?
b. What is the "supreme law of the land"? Whose business
is it to decide on the constitutionality of a law? Is this
wise?
§§ 306, 307.--a. How did South Carolina oppose
the Act of 1832?
b. How did Jackson oppose the South Carolinians?
c. Would a state be likely to nullify an act of Congress
now? Give your reasons.
§§ 308, 309.--a. Was the United States Bank
like the national banks of the present day?
b. Why did Jackson dislike and distrust the United States
Bank?
c. If a bill is vetoed by the President, how can it still
be made a law?
§§ 310.--a. Where did the United States
government keep its money?
b. How did Jackson try to ruin the United States
Bank?
§§ 311-313.--a. Why did people wish to buy
Western lands? How did the favoring the "pet banks" increase
speculation?
b. What was done with the surplus? What was the effect of
this measure?
c. How did Jackson try to stop speculation?
CHAPTER 30
§§ 314, 315.--a. Why did "prices go down with a
rush"?
b. Describe the Independent Treasury plan. Where is the
nation's money kept to-day?
§§ 316, 317.--a. State briefly the reasons for
the split in the Republican party. Had you lived in 1840, for whom
would you have voted? Why?
b. Give an account of the early life of Harrison.
c. Describe the campaign of 1840, and compare it with the
last presidential campaign.
§§ 318, 319.--a. What party came into power in
1841? Under the spoils system what would naturally follow?
b. To what party did Tyler belong?
c. Why was it difficult for the government to carry on
its business without a bank or a treasury?
§§ 320.--a. What dispute had long existed with
Great Britain?
b. Why did the British object to the boundary line laid
down in the Treaty of 1783? Show on a map how the matter was
finally settled.
§§ 321, 322.--a. Explain carefully the
application of electricity made by Morse. Of what advantage has the
telegraph been to the United States?
b. How did the McCormick reaper solve the difficulty in
wheat growing? What were the results of this invention?
c. Compare its influence upon our history with that of
the cotton gin.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
a. Why is the period covered by this division so
important?
b. Give the principal events since the Revolution which
made Western expansion possible.
c. Explain, using a chart, the changes in parties since
1789.
d. What were the good points in Jackson's administration?
The mistakes?
TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK
a. Select some one invention between 1790 and 1835,
describe it, explain the need for it, and the results which have
followed from it.
b. The Erie Canal.
c. The career of Webster, Clay, or Calhoun.
d. Life and works of any one of the literary men of this
period.
e. The Ashburton Treaty, with a map.
SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER
The personality of Andrew Jackson, representing as he does a new
element in social and political life, deserves a careful study. The
financial policy of his administration is too difficult for
children. With brief comparisons with present-day conditions the
study of this subject can be confined to what is given in the text.
Jackson's action at the time of the nullification episode may well
be compared with Buchanan's inaction in 1860-61. The constitutional
portions of Webster's great speeches are too hard for children, but
his burning words of patriotism may well be learned by the whole
class. The spoils system may be lightly treated here. It can best
be studied in detail later in connection with civil service
reform.
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