Apush Dbq Transcendentalism

* Transcendentalists- followers of a belief which stressed living a simple life and celebrating the truth found in nature and in personal emotion and imagination; believer in one’s self ability to penetrate the inner essence of things; promoted the belief of individualism; influenced social/humanitarian reforms; * Early-mid 19th century education- previously most common with wealthy; 1830s, demands for tax-supported public schools; Horace Mann, education public; slow increase in women’s educational opportunities beyond elementary school such as Emma Willard’s Troy Female Seminary(1821) and Mary Lyon’s Mount Holyoke Female Seminary(1837); * Transportation Revolution- period of rapid growth in the speed and convenience of travel because
of internal improvements of roads, canals, steamboats, etc.; increase of U.S. productivity and the growth of the economy as the various innovations allowed faster and cheaper shipping and connected the economies of the country; opened new markets and rapid growth in towns and cities(such as NYC) * Emancipation policies- abolitionists opposed slavery but didn’t advocate racial equality (most wanted gradual emancipation or resettlement of blacks in Africa); at the time, only radical abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison demanded immediate emancipation of all slaves; VA debate (gradually abolishing slavery but lost as leg. more of eastern slaveholders) * Declaration of Sentiments-Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, list of grievances written before Seneca Falls Convention(1848); declared that all "people are created equal"; used the Declaration of Independence to argue for women's rights; basis of attaining rights for women * Railroads- way faster mean of transportation than canals or roads; much more comfortable for passengers; did not expand fully until after 1850s; * Tocqueville democracy in America- published in 1835 as a result of Alexis de Tocqueville observations which reflected broad interest in American democratic process and the society it developed; * Charles River Bridge Vs. Warren Bridge- MA granted charter to Charles River Bridge which collected tolls and state responded to unhappiness of people to tolls by building Warren Bridge which was close to Charles and toll-free; CRB sued state for WB for violating contract; ruling in favor of state; marked beginnings of more flexible contract clause;
* Second Bank of the United States-chartered in 1816 part of American System; Clay wanted to use bank as campaign issue; Jackson vetoed bill to charter the bank again in 1832 and refused to put federal money into the national bank but put it into pet banks which put the nation into an economic depression, Panic of 1837; also united Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other Jackson haters to form the Whig party which saw Jackson as “king” instead of president * Early-mid 19th century women- cult of domesticity that women should do housework etc.; later women began to get education beyond elementary and were inspired by the Second Great Awakening to improve society and to participate in various reform movements for education, health, women’s rights, etc.; more women in the work force; * Mexican War- after Mexican refusal to sell California-new Mexico region, Polk sent troops(1846) and it ended w/ treat of Guadalupe-hidalgo; 15 million; war increased nation’s territory by one-third and brought to surface political issues that threatened to divide the country( slavery in the new
territories) * Early 19th century tariffs- * Jacksonian Reformers- Utopian- * Whigs vs. Jacksonian Democrats- * Erie Canal- canal between NY cities; completed in 1825; allowed western farmers to ship surplus crops to sell in north and allowed northern manufacturers to ship finished goods to sell in west; * William Lloyd Garrison- prominent American abolitionist, journalist and social reformer; editor of radical abolitionist newspaper "the liberator", and one of the founders of the American anti-slavery society; promoted emancipation of slaves and women’s suffrage * John C. Calhoun- South Carolina senator - advocate for state's rights, limited government, and nullification vice president for John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson; leading voice in southern states rights * Walt Whitman- American poet and transcendentalist famous for his beliefs on nature, as demonstrated in his book, Leaves of Grass; he was therefore an important part for the buildup of American literature and breaking the traditional rhyme method in writing poetry * Henry David Thoreau- American writer and transcendentalist who was against a government that supported slavery; he wrote down his beliefs in Walden; he started the movement of civil-disobedience when he refused to pay the toll-tax to support him Mexican war. * Ralph Waldo Emerson- American essayist, poet, writer, transcendentalist who was against slavery and stressed self-reliance, optimism, self-improvement, self-confidence, and freedom; he was a prime example of a transcendentalist and helped further the movement; * South Carolina Exposition and Protest- * Force Act of 1832- When South Carolina voted to nullify the tariff on imported goods, Jackson moved troops and federal marshals to South Carolina to collect the tariffs; claimed that if any state in the Union attempted secession, would use the military to subdue a state in rebellion, by using his powers as commander in chief * Peggy Eaton- woman who had affair with and married John Eaton, secretary of war and was unaccepted by higher society, especially the cabinet, she was defended by Jackson and Van Buren; dissolved the cabinet as members resigned, John C.
Calhoun- VP * Jackson’s “New Democracy”- * 1830s-1840s American Literature- * Brook Farm Community- * Antebellum Women’s Rights- * Manifest Destiny- expansionist; American nation destined to expand all the way to Pacific Ocean; American liberty and ideals should be shared with everyone possible even if it means by force; eventually influenced Mexican War and contributed to the expansion of the U.S. * Annexation of Texas/slavery- * Jackson and Native Americans- Indian Removal Act of 1830 which authorized removal of Indians east of Mississippi; Trail of Tears; inhumane and did not like the Native Americans; * Maysville Road Bill- * Webster-Hayne- * Chief Justice John Marshall- federalist whose decisions on the U.S. supreme court promoted federal power over state power and established judiciary as a branch of government equal to legislative and executive; established judicial review, which allows supreme court to declare laws
unconstitutional * Election of 1844- * 19th Century Immigration-Irish immigration, mostly males, had greatly increased beginning in the 1820s, as many became involved in canal building, lumbering, and civil construction works in the northeast; Germans * “Five Civilized Tribes”- Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, Seminoles; “civilized” because they followed many American practices * 19th Century Women Labor- * Temperance- alcohol as evil; * Mary Lyon- advocated for women’s education; 1837 founded the first college for women, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary * Antebellum Reform- * John Slidell to Mexico- a diplomat sent by Polk to buy California, New Mexico, and Texas from the Mexicans; Mexico rejected his offer and Polk sent army into Mexico * Nullification 1830s- South Carolina opposed of tariffs and revisited nullification; John C. Calhoun, VP of Jackson, supported nullification; debates such as Webster-Hayne * Andrew Jackson’s Presidency- * Polk’s War message to Congress- 1845 -Polk presented a message to congress with convincing arguments to go to war with Mexico, supposedly for defensive reasons -(us wins the war)