Spring 2006, H105, American History I (Prof. Konstantin Dierks)
Week 10 timelines

expansion of white male suffrage:

1790        Vermont was first state legislature to ban property restrictions on male voting

1843        Rhode Island was last state legislature to ban property restrictions on male voting

1790s-     expansion of white male suffrage
1830s      alongside curtailment of free black male suffrage

1776        “All men are created equal….”

1843        [“All (white) men are created equal….”]

from republic to democracy:

republic            premised on property ownership

                        premium on personal independence

democracy       premised on universal white male suffrage

                        premium on social equality

middle-class respectability:

Colonel and Mrs. Little, Ulster County NY, by Ammi Phillips (ca.1825)
George and Abigail Reynolds, Amenia NY, by Ammi Phillips (1829)
Mr. and Mrs. Day, Hudson River valley NY, by Ammi Phillips (ca.1835)
Moore family, western Massachusetts, by Erastus Field (1839)

1824 presidential election:

John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson

AJ 42% of popular vote, but not enough electoral votes to win
JQA 32% of popular vote
Henry Clay 13%; William Crawford 13%

Henry Clay supported JQA instead of AJ
House of Representatives elected JQA
Henry Clay became secretary of state

1828 presidential election:

Andrew Jackson (56%) defeated John Quincy Adams (44%)

"spoils system" -- systematic replacement of federal office-holders

1830s-1850s -- "second party system" -- origin of modern American party politics (not yet of modern American parties)

Andrew Jackson:

Andrew Jackson homestead (1804)
Andrew Jackson homestead, “The Hermitage” (1821)
Robert Cruikshank, "All Creation Going to the White House" (Jackson's inauguration, 1828)

Abel Clemmens:

1775    born in New Jersey:

1790    moved to Pennsylvania

1794    moved to Virginia, and married; wage laborer, farm renter, 8 children

1805    tried to move from Virginia to Ohio, but....

boxing as entertainment:

September 13, 1842; Hastings, New York

Christopher Lilly versus Thomas McCoy

Irish immigration to United States, 1815-1855:

1815-1845       800,000 in 30 years

1845                Great Famine in Ireland

1845-1855       1,800,000 in 10 years

magazine imagery:

magazine illustration (1867)
magazine cover, “The Ignorant Vote” (1876)

new “sciences” popularized in the 1830s:

phrenology – study of bumps on head

physiognomy – study of facial features

craniology – study of skulls

rise of essentialism:

physiognomy textbook (1866)

monogenesis and environmentalism:  Samuel Stanhope Smith, Essay on the Causes of the Varieties of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810)

polygenesis and essentialism:  Samuel Morton, Crania Americana (1839)

18th century theory:

monogenesis – one creation, one species with variation

environmentalism – culture stronger than nature

                           – people CAN change (becoming)

19th century theory:

polygenesis – multiple creations, separate “races” in hierarchy

essentialism – nature is stronger than culture

                   – people CANNOT change (being)

nativist movement, 1844-1856:

1844  Philadelphia riot (20 killed)

1849  United Sons of America in Philadelphia (local)

1949  Order of the Star-Spangled Banner (national)

1853  American Party (strongest in MA, NY, PA)

1854  “Know Nothing” Party

1856  American Party splintered over slavery