This week we will be examining post-1815 nationalism and the effort to guide building the nation. We will also explore the positive and negative effects of Jacksonian democracy. Answer one question as completely as possible, citing names, events, ideas, and other historical issues. Support all answers with citations and references.
Citations and bibliographic references should be in the University of Chicago/Turabian style. For works in history, foot-notes or end-notes are required. (Avoid social science parenthetical citations). When in doubt, cite your sources of information. Work to write clear and flowing essays with smooth transitions from point to point. The instructor encourages the use of outside sources but does not require it.
The student’s main post should be submitted by Thursday, end of day, Maryland time.
Please answer or discuss ONE or more of the following:
1. The passing of the Monroe Administration in 1825, the Lafayette visit in 1826, and the simultaneous deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1826, all symbolized the end of the leadership of the Revolutionary generation in America. What concerns or issues did a new generation of Americans have for their country? (Examples, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Andrew Jackson, and others). Did changes in American society affect these concerns?
2. What is nationalism and how did it manifest itself after 1815? How did John Quincy Adams and the Monroe Doctrine represent geographic expansion? What impact did this expansion have on Indian tribes, Spanish territories, and others? What impact did rapid settlement and the extension of the frontier have on American culture. For each question, explain, providing specific examples to illustrate your argument.
3. The creation of a national market economy and the beginnings of the industrial revolution on the development of the United States after 1815. What is a national market economy and why did it create such a dynamic economic system. How did it affect agriculture, commerce, and banking? What is the industrial revolution and how did it manifest itself in the U.S.? How did the putting-out system change? (Hint: textiles). How do these affect Americans and their daily lives?
4. How did Americans communicate and travel prior to 1815? How fast did goods and people move? What is the transportation revolution and how did it manifest itself in the United States? Discuss roads, steamboats, canals, (and, after 1830, railroads). How did this revolution affect economics, politics, and every day lives? Explain.
5. Nationalism seems to dominate the period 1815 to 1828. In fact, one might say Hamilton’s ideas of government and economics dominate this period. How does John Marshall and the Supreme Court reflect Hamiltonian ideas regarding the developing market economy, banking, and commerce? Explain, citing specific cases.
6. With the disappearance of the Federalist Party after 1815 (because of perceptions of the Hartford Convention), the only political party was the Jeffersonian Republicans. How did this party reflect the nationalism of the post-war period? Explain, providing examples from politics, banking, and other areas. (Hint: discuss the Second Bank of the United States, tariffs, the National Road and internal improvements, and Henry Clay’s American System). Who were opposed to these and why? (Keep this in mind for next week’s reading and questions).
7. Democracy had always meant “mob rule by the poor” in classical political theory and to the Founding Fathers. After 1815, what did the the term mean and why had it changed? Why does democracy describe the United States after the War of 1812? Who was included and who was excluded? How did the culture change because of the democratic impulse of the age? Explain.
8. How did politics change after 1815? (Hint: expansion of suffrage and rise of mass political parties). Why? Why do economic issues reflect democracy and democratic issues? Why are hotels a symbol of this new age? Explain. The text suggests the thrust of this period is equality of opportunity, not result. What does that mean in the context of Jacksonian America?
9. Why did the single party that existed in the 1820s split into competing political parties? What did the National Republicans and then Whigs support (John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay)? What did the Jeffersonian Republicans and then Jacksonian Democrats support? Why did Andrew Jackson come to characterize this age? Discuss elitism and privilege, Indian removal, the bank war, and elections in the context of politics and democracy. How does the second two-party system compare to the first?
10. Sectionalism (geographic sections of the U.S. pursuing perceived self-interest) continues to appear in this period. What does the Hartford Convention (see ch. 9), the crisis over the admission of Missouri (1819-1821), and the Nullification Crisis reflect sectionalism? Discuss. Why is this an issue to keep in mind as we move into the 19th century?
11. After answering one of the questions above, are there any issues you think need to be discussed? Please submit your questions and issues for consideration by your colleagues.
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