Sunteți pe pagina 1din 7

American History 2

George Washington 1st president of the United States (Federalist


government)
- wise leader (his name is connected to the consolidation of the
national government, national bank + policies for the settlement
of territories
The Departments of State & Treasury (Thomas Jefferson &
Alexander Hamilton = appointed Secretaries)
the American Presidential Cabinet (reunites the heads of all
Congress-created departments)
-

country growth, increasing immigration from Europe, Americans


moving westward
dawn of the Industrial Revolution (various industries textiles,
glass, iron, paper etc.)

Federalists (Hamilton = urban mercantile interests of seaports


central government, industrial development, businessmen: proBritish) Antifederalists (Jefferson = rural & southern interests
decentralized agrarian republic; pro-French) = REPUBLICANS
1797 John Adams (Federalist president)
- undeclared naval war with France (sea battles, crisis)

Alien and Sedition Acts (passed by the Congress, 1798)


repression against Republicans + their supporters
[Naturalization Act requirement for citizenship: 14 years (up from
5) directed against Irish & French immigrants, pro-Republican
individuals
Alien Act President: granted power to expel/imprison dangerous
aliens in times of war
Sedition Act proscribed writing, speaking, publishing anything of
a false, scandalous or malicious nature against the President or the
Congress)

opposition by Jefferson + J. Madison


1801: Thomas Jefferson - president (ends Acts)
-

1803: bought huge Louisiana territory from France for $15


million (during the French-British wars, Napoleon sold the
territory to put Louisiana beyond British reach)
Thus doubled the countrys territory (West: Rocky Mountains; one
of worlds greatest granaries + plains, mountains, forests, rivers)

American History 2

1805: 2nd Jefferson mandate declared neutrality during the


Britain vs. France wars
harassment of American merchant ships
embargo on American exports to Europe (repealed in 1809)

1809: James Madison = president


Report: instances in which British (in Canada) had hurt Americans,
instigated Indians against them
American desire to conquer Canada (to eliminate the British
influence, and open new lands for colonization)
-

country: internally divided South + West favored war


New York + New England opposed it (it interfered w/ their
commerce)

THE WAR OF 1812


about 7000 trained soldiers in scattered posts + undisciplined
state militias
American warships: scored some impressive victories BUT the
vastly superior British Navy blockaded American ports
- the attempts to invade British Canada miscarried British
occupation of Detroit
-

1813: campaign on Lake Erie General Harrison occupied


Detroit + pushed into Canada (British + Indian defeat)
American control

1814 (August 24) British forces captured + burned Washington


(president Madison fled to Virginia)

Britain & the U.S. agreed on a compromise peace: The Treaty of


Ghent (December 1814)
cessation of hostilities, restoration of conquests, commission to
settle boundary disputes
-

meanwhile, general Andrew Jackson scored the greatest land


victory in New Orleans, Louisiana

The Era of Good Feelings


period of rapid economic expansion
- national network of roads and canals, steamboats on rivers
- first steam railroad Baltimore, Maryland, 1830
- The Industrial Revolution: growth of manufacturers, technological
developments (textile mills, iron foundries, factories rubber

American History 2

goods, sewing machines, shoes, clothing, farm implements, guns,


clocks)

The Westward Movement


-

settlers begin to cross the Mississippi;


Native Americans are pushed farther West, theirs lands occupied
division of old territories, drawing of new boundaries
(1816-1821:
Indiana, Illinois, Maine free states;
Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri slave states)

1828: Andrew Jackson = first president born into a poor family


in the West
heir to Jeffersons Republicans: creed of popular democracy,
appeal to the humble members of the society (farmers, mechanics,
laborers)

Post-war prosperity: critically described by Alexis de Tocqueville


Democracy in America
The Panic of 1819: first major financial crisis in the U.S. until 1824
(gradual recovery)
-

Latin American revolutions (first decades of 19 th century) new


countries by 1822
1823: president James Monroe The Monroe Doctrine

refusal to tolerate any further expansion of European domination


in the Americas, solidarity with the new republics

Ideas:
The Western Hemisphere = no longer open for colonization;
The political system of Americas = different from Europe;
The U.S. would regard any interference in Western hemispheric
affairs as threat to its own security;
The U.S. would refrain from participation in European wars + would
not disturb existing colonies in the Western Hemisphere

- no immediate attempts at recreating Spanish empire


- the doctrine kept Spain, France, and others out of the region:
Britain remained, however, the dominant trade power in Latin
America
- Latin American countries resented the U.S. Big Brother attitude

American History 2

THE MEXICAN WAR (1846-1848)


thousands of Americans had been settling in Texas (the part of
Mexico)
- Texas found General Santa Anna rule oppressive rebellion the
creation of the independent Republic of Texas (1835)
- 1845: the U.S. annexed Texas and Mexico suspended diplomatic
relations
- 1847: the American army captured Mexico City
for $15 million, Mexico surrendered an enormous territory
(most of todays California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico,
Colorado)
-

1846: by the settlement of border dispute with British Canada, the U.S.
acquired todays Oregon, Washington, Idaho

America = continental power (from the Atlantic to the


Pacific)
Standing issue: SLAVERY
-

all men are created equal (Declaration of Independence) =


meaningless to 1.5 million black slaves
many northern states moved towards the abolition of slavery
Southern states based on plantations, use slave workers (cotton,
rice, tobacco, sugar)

constant debate upon the legal status of slavery in the new


western territories

1850 (compromise): California = free state; Utah + New Mexico


= allowed to decide
The Fugitive Slave Act (the Southerners could recapture the
slaves who had escaped to free states)
The abolitionists did not enforce the law and continued assisting
fleeing blacks

Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Toms Cabin (anti-slavery novel)


violent fights between pro- and anti-slavery settlers

1857: Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott decision:


o blacks had no rights as American citizens
o Congress had no authority to bar slavery in western
territories

American History 2

1858: Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party (new anti-slavery


party, related to Jeffersons Republicans) election for the US Senate
-

historic debates, demands to halt the spread of slavery

Lincolns famous speech after chosen to run for Senator The


House Divided
[A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe that the
government cannot last as long as America is half slave and half free.
Either the people against slavery will stop it forever, or it will
become lawful in all the states, old and new, north and south alike. I
do not expect the Union to be dissolved I do not expect the house to
fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided]
-

slavery = presented as moral wrong: violated the Declaration of


independence
supported national legislation (aim: to restrict, abolish slavery)
a concern of U.S. as a whole, not only of local inhabitants

Lincoln lost the senatorial race

Presidential election 1860: Lincoln = Republicans candidate


(The Democrats: not united split, separate candidates
Southern/Northern/Border states)
- The majority in Southern + Border states voted against Lincoln
but the North supported him Lincoln won

The Confederate States of America (South Carolina, Mississippi,


Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas,
Tennessee, North Carolina 11) voted to leave the Union Secession

CIVIL WAR (1861 1865)


-

The Confederates war for independence


o fight on their home territory
o excellent morale, troops, preparation (many people who had
served the U.S. military prior to the war), great commanders
o BUT greatly outnumbered by the Union (Northern) forces
The South lacked sufficient railroads, factories, industries to support
the war
The Union navy = dominant, army = better trained + supplied

American History 2
-

The Union navy imposed blockade


shortages of war material = consumer goods in Confederacy

Lincolns priorities: to keep the United States one country + to rid the
nation of slavery
January 1, 1863: issued the Emancipation Proclamation freedom
to all slaves in areas still controlled by Confederacy
The Southern army won some victories (early part of the war)
Summer of 1863: general Robert E. Lee marched north into
Pennsylvania
Gettysburg = largest battle ever fought on American soil
(Confederates = defeated)
-

November 19, 1863: The Gettysburg Address (maybe most


famous in American history) upon inauguration of the new national
cemetery
3000 Union soldiers, 4000 Confederates dead
Vicksburg (on the Mississippi) general Ulysses S. Grant
captured after q six-week siege
the Union controlled the entire Mississippi, splitting the
Confederacy in two
- The Election of 1864: Lincoln wins a second mandate (after the
capture of Atlanta and other victories)
- in late 1863: his formal plan for reconstruction had been opposed
by the Congress
- April 5, 1865: general Robert E. Lee is forced to abandon
Richmond (Confederate capital) + surrenders to general Ulysses S.
Grant (followed by all Confederate forces)
-

April 14, 1865: president Lincoln is assassinated by the Virginia


actor John Wilkes Booth (while at the theater, because the
murderer was embittered by the Souths defeat)

Andrew Johnson (Lincolns vice-president; a Southerner loyal to the


Union) President
The Civil War = the most traumatic episode in American history (all
others fought abroad)
- 635,000 soldiers dead on both sides
TWO fundamental issues resolved:

American History 2
1. it put an end to slavery, completely abolished by 13 th amendment

to Constitution (1865)
2. it was decided that America was not a collection of semiindependent states, but a single indivisible nation
[ - pardons were granted to those taking a loyalty oath;
- no pardons were available to high Confederate officials + persons
owning property in excess of $20,000;
- states needed to abolish slavery before being readmitted;
- states required to repeal secession ordinance before being readmitted]
+ The Civil Rights Act (1866), The Reconstruction Acts (1867-1868) etc.

S-ar putea să vă placă și