Jacksonian America, 1815-1848

Introduction

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) is often regarded at the father of the modern presidency. A man of enormous energy, vigor, and ambition, he was the first president who was born into poverty to rise to the pinnacle of national political power. During his two-term presidency (1829-1837), Jackson triumphed over Congress, defied the Supreme Court, and dominated the age like few politicians ever have before or since.

In many respects, President Jackson’s personal power and dynamism simply reflected an increasingly self-confident United States that was rapidly growing in demographic, geographic, and economic terms. During the years 1815-1848, moreover, the nation was becoming politically more open, more democratic, and increasingly committed to the principle of equality among men.

This course will examine both Andrew Jackson and the dynamic age that frequently bears his name. We will examine not only dramatic political and economic changes, but also social and religious transformations, expansion toward the Pacific, and the growing tensions between North and South, which eventually tore the country apart.

Course Objectives

This course will deepen your awareness of the Jacksonian era and make you want to learn more about this topic in general. In specific terms, at the end of this course, you will:

1. understand both Andrew Jackson pivotal role in American politics as well as the other major historical figures involved in the nation’s development during the early 19th century.

2. recognize how and why the United States evolved into a more open and democratic society in terms of its politics and culture.

3. be able to place important historical figures and events in time. This does not mean that you will simply memorize dates and events. Instead you will be able to place events and people in chronological order and within a larger and more meaningful context

4. develop your critical reading and writing abilities as well as increase your oral communication skills.

Course Readings:

The following books are available at the Campus Bookstore:

• Paul E. Johnson, A Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-37, (reprint edition: New York: Hill and Wang, 2004)

• Harry L. Watson, Liberty and Power: The Politics of Jacksonian America (New York: The Noonday Press; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1990)

• Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, edited by C. Heffner (Signet Edition)

• John F. Marszalek, The Petticoat Affair: Manners, Mutiny, and Sex in Andrew Jackson’s White House

• Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 4th edition, Optional Book (strongly recommended). The History Department requires that all bibliographies and source citations in research papers be in the Chicago form. Hacker’s volume is excellent in discussing this form of source citation and documentation. You may also access her website: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/.

There will also be a number of documents and articles that you will access online and which you will need to read. The dates upon which reading assignments are to be completed are listed below under specific dates in the "Schedule of Topics." Note that there will be in-class writing exercises and class discussions on the readings.

You should also own a standard dictionary of the English language (preferably a hardbound edition). If you don't, go out and buy one. You are expected to know the meaning(s) of every word in the assigned reading and to correctly spell the words that you write.

Course Assignments:

• Eight in-class writing exercises at scheduled times (60 points total, 15% of final grade). You will answer 2-3 questions provided in advance on the required reading in the course.

• Attendance and participation in class discussions (40 points, 10% of final grade). During the semester we will have a number of class discussion days during which we will examine and question the context, themes and importance of topics dealt with in the required readings. Each student will lead class discussion at some point during the semester.

Several points about the importance of class discussions to your learning: Although many people feel intimated by class discussions, learning to participate in such conversations involves social and intellectual skills that are an essential part of your liberal arts education. These include: listening to others and learning to absorb and synthesize their remarks; learning to respond constructively and analytically to others' ideas; learning to develop and articulate positions of one's own; being able to respond to criticism; and learning to modify or discard an argument in favor of another, more satisfactory one. You should come to class eager to exchange ideas about the topics under study, ready to speculate and to question and also to ask for explanations when you feel confused. In short, if you put the effort in, you can gain a considerable amount from these meetings.

• Midterm Examination (80 points, 20% of final grade). This examination will cover the first half of the course and consist of a combination of a) short-answer identification in which you will identify and note the significance of various persons, places or events noted in the readings and lectures; and b) essay questions in which you will analytically discuss a specific topic(s) dealt with in the course.

• Research Paper (100 points or 25% of your final grade). You will write a research paper that will be approximately 15 pages in length (typed, double-spaced). You may select any topic of the Jacksonian era that is of interest to you. Your research should be based largely upon primary (i.e., original) documents. All topics must be approved by me. Toward this end, you will submit a one-to-two paragraph summary of your topic, along with a list of at least four sources from which you will begin your research (no encyclopedia or Internet sources at this stage).

• Student Oral Reports (20 points or 5% of your final grade). You will present a 10-minute oral report about your research paper. In your report, you will state your paper’s thesis major points which you discovered. You will also review the sources you used in the course of your research.

• Final Examination (100 points, 25% of final grade). This examination will cover the latter half of the course and will be structured like the Midterm Exam.

Schedule of Classes

Because of the complexity and quantity of material we are covering, this schedule is tentative:

PART ONE: JACKSONIAN SOCIETY, RELIGION, AND CULTURE

• Week 1, Class 1: Introductions and Syllabus Review

• Week 1, Class 2: The Market Revolution

• Week 1, Class 3: The Market Revolution

• Week 2, Class 1: In-class writing exercise and Class Discussion on Shopkeeper's Millennium, read Introduction, Chapters 1-3.

• Week 2, Class 2: Second Great Awakening, 1790-1840

• Week 2, Class 3: In-class writing exercise and Class Discussion on:

1. Shopkeeper's Millennium, (read Chapters 4-6, Afterwards)

2. Charles Finney, “What a Revival of Religion Is" http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=1430

• Week 3, Class 1: Benevolent Reform Movements

• Week 3, Class 2: Benevolent Reform Movements

• Week 3, Class 3: In-Class Writing Exercise and Class Discussion on Walter, American Reformers (read entire book except chapter 4)

• Week 4, Class 1: Romanticism and Perfectionism in 19th century America

• Week 4, Class 2: Spiritual Individualism: The Transcendentalists and Their Critique of American Society

• Week 4, Class 3: Class Discussion on:

1. Trollope, Domestic Manners of the Americans, and

2. Tocqueville, Democracy in America (assigned pages: 9-38, 55-71, 143-68, 221-253)

3. Tocqueville's America: A Virtual Tour http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/TOUR/home.html

PART TWO: ANDREW JACKSON AND THE SECOND AMERICAN PARTY SYSTEM:

• Week 5, Class 1: America After the War of 1812

• Week 5, Class 2: The Era of Good Feeling: James Monroe’s Presidency

• Week 5, Class 3: The Era of Bad Feelings: the Elections of 1824 and 1828

• Week 6 Class 1: In-class Writing Exercise and Class Discussion on Watson, Liberty and Power, Chapters 1-3

• Week 6, Class 2: The Presidency of Andrew Jackson: Power, Politics, and Rivalries

• Week 6, Class 3: The Presidency of Andrew Jackson, the Bank War

• Week 7, Class 1: In-Class Writing Exercise and Class Discussion on Marszalek, The Petticoat Affair

• Week 7, Class 2: Andrew Jackson and His Indian Policy

• Week 7, Class 3: The Whig Response – “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”

• Week 8, Class 1: In-Class Writing Exercise and Class Discussion on Watson, Liberty and Power (rest of the book)

• Week 8, Class 2: Midterm Examination, Part I

• Week 8, Class 3: Midterm Examination, Part II

PART THREE: SLAVERY AND ABOLITION

• Week 9, Class 1: The South as a Slave Society: The White Perspective

• Week 9, Class 2: The South as a Slave Society: The Black Perspective

• Week 9, Class 3: The Abolition Movement and Its Importance, Part 1

• Week 10, Class 1: The Abolition Movement and Its Importance, Part 2

• Week 10, Class 2: In-Class Writing Exercise and Class Discussion on:

1. Walter, American Reformers, chapter 4

2. Newspaper article on Nat Turner’s Rebellion, 1831 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=78

3. Thomas Roderick Dew pamphlet (1832) http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=79

4. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, read chapters 8-9 http://lehrman.isi.org/teaching_resources/members/details/?id=642

5. Frederick Douglass, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2927t.html

• Week 10, Class 3: Student Oral Reports

• Week 11, Class 1: Student Oral Reports

• Week 11, Class 2: Student Oral Reports

• Week 11, Class 3: Student Oral Reports

PART FOUR: MANIFEST DESTINY AND WAR WITH MEXICO

• Week 12, Class 1: Research Paper Due – Class will not meet

• Week 12, Class 2: American Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

• Week 12, Class 3: The Texas War of Independence and Jacksonian Era Diplomacy

• Week 13, Class 1: The War with Mexico, Part 1

• Week 13, Class 2: The War with Mexico, Part 2

• Week 13, Class 3: In-Class Writing Exercise and Class Discussion on:

1. Stephen F. Austin, “Gone to Texas”, 1836 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=93

2. E.G. Fisk letter to His Sister on the Texas War of Independence, 1836 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=95

3. James Buchanan on Texas Annexation, 1844 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=97

4. Zachary Taylor on the Mexican War and Wilmot Proviso, 1847 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=112

5. Abraham Lincoln on the Mexican War and end of his Congressional career, 1848 http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=116

• Week 14, Class 1: Film: U.S.-Mexican War (PBS)

• Week 14, Class 2: End of an Era and Toward the Sectional Crisis

• Week 14, Class 3: Review for Final Examination

Final Examination, Date and Time to be Announced