The Development of Ideas about Government the American Revolution into the Second Party System (2)

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1 The Development of Ideas about Government the American Revolution into the Second Party System Name: Instructor: Institute: Course: Date:

2 The Development of Ideas about Government the American Revolution into the Second Party System After the Civil War, American manufacturing underwent alterations. The cost of manufacturing and distribution significantly lowered as a result of societal expenditures and technological breakthroughs. The weight of large corporations was supported by new administrative structures. The ambiguities surrounding the quick transfer of funds between financiers, producers, and merchants were reduced by national credit agencies (Locke & Wright, 2019). Various products were nationalized by advertising agencies using new national media made possible by falling transportation and communication expenses. As such, the era saw significant strides in the civil rights, activists and formation of political alliances that defined the ideas of the American government. Appreciation of political parties in the 1840s Government establishment in the 1940s gained traction following various political alliances and factions. For instance, Washington's Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, and Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, started party divisions within the government. Jefferson proposed a less active central government than Hamilton—until he became president and completed the Louisiana Purchase without Congress's authorization. In Federalism, Madison also cautioned against partisanship. Jefferson and Madison united the Democratic-Republican party. In 1797, the Federalists replaced Washington with John Adams. The Democratic- Republicans responded with Jefferson's two-term government starting in 1801, Madison's two terms, and Monroe's two terms concluding in 1825 (Locke & Wright, 2019). Federalists vanished fast in the process.

3 With the Federalists dwindling, the Democratic-Republicans became significant. Still, in the 1820s, they split into two groups: the Democrats, which remain to this day, and the National Republicans, which evolved into the Whig Party and disintegrated over enslavement in the 1850s. In the 1830s and 40s, the Democratic Party elected its representatives, including Andrew Jackson. Whigs elected two unlucky presidents. Another Whig president was Zachary Taylor. Acute gastroenteritis killed him sixteen months after gaining office in 1849. The Whigs supported "public works projects" like canals and highways in the antebellum national party system (Locke & Wright, 2019). The Democrats continued to be the organization of the "ordinary citizen," but they openly hated African Americans, enslaved and free, losing support from such groups. The opposition to Andrew Jackson’s leadership The government's notions in the early 1840s were based on opposition to Andrew Jackson’s leadership. The opposition significantly challenged and united various forces to take control of government affairs throughout the period. The Whig Party, which challenged Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party, benefited from the Panic of 1837. The National Republicans, a loose Northeastern group, led a new anti-Jackson effort. Jackson's opponents were pro-slavery southerners and anti-slavery Yankees (Locke & Wright, 2019). Henry Clay, who had run against Jackson for the presidency and was now a Kentucky senator, held private sessions to unify anti- Jackson politicians from varied cultures. He named the new Whig Party anti-monarchical. The Whigs initially opposed "King Andrew" from Congress, gaining support. Regional and ideological divisions persisted. In 1836, Vice President Martin Van Buren handily succeeded Jackson. After the Panic of 1837, Whigs acquired popular backing and mobilized. The Whig convention nominated General William Henry Harrison of Ohio for president in 1840,

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4 disappointing Henry Clay (Locke & Wright, 2019). Harrison died after thirty-one days in office after contracting pneumonia after giving an inauguration speech in the cold (Locke & Wright, 2019). Vice President Tyler became president and followed Jacksonian ideas. After Tyler twice vetoed charters for another Bank of the United States, practically his whole cabinet quit, and Congress removed "His Accidency" from the Whigs (Locke & Wright, 2019). Whigs elected two more presidents but stayed fractious. In the 1850s, enslavement stretched the Union, worsening its issues. By 1856, the Whigs had split over enslavement and could not find a new cause. Increase in democracy The 1940s saw Americans appreciate democracy through several party and representative elections. As such, the country had grown to appreciate the value of democracy in government formation significantly. Structural racism showed American democracy's shortcomings most of all. Poorer males may vote when state governments cut property requirements over the years. After northern states abolished slavery, whites fretted that free African American men would vote in significant numbers. Only two states prohibited African American men's voting rights during the Revolution. by 1839, nearly all states did, but New England had the poorest Democratic Party. The 1821 New York state constitution enfranchised almost all white male taxpayers but only the wealthiest African American men. Pennsylvania's 1838 constitution outlawed African American men from voting. James Forten, a free-born sailmaker and American Revolution veteran, was a prosperous trader and proprietor (Locke & Wright, 2019). After the 1838 constitution, he sued to protect his voting rights. He lost, losing his voting privileges.

5 Additionally, the social tensions that helped Andrew Jackson ascend deteriorated racial relations in the 1830s. About four hundred thousand free African Americans lived in America by the decade's end. Native Americans blocked white progress in the South and West. Irish Catholic foreigners and working-class whites generally viewed nonwhites as rivals for limited jobs, homes, and prestige (Locke & Wright, 2019). Dozens of white Philadelphia demonstrators burned an abolitionist conference center and assaulted African American churches and residences. Nevertheless, some 1830s whites protested structural racism with free African American militants. They were skilled lower-middle-class workers from northern towns. Many were poor, but they wanted to succeed. The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society comprised rich women and women whose husbands traded coal, repaired clothes, and baked bread. Many Lynn suffragists made shoes. They traded handcrafted items at anti-slavery fund-raising events and boycotted slave-labored consumption goods, including sugar (Locke & Wright, 2019). Thus, slavery discussions mirrored society's evolving conflicts. The fundamental challenge was whether American democracy could accommodate many races, faiths, and classes. Parties started to grow strong across America with their machinery more organized Several parties formed and gained traction in the 1840s, uniting various stakeholders to champion multiple rights and liberties across the United States. Such traction of parties across the country marked the establishment of democracy and new government notions. For example, In 1840, the Whig Party sponsored a "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" operation to portray their presidential nominee, Virginia nobleman William Henry Harrison, as a commoner and heroic (Locke & Wright, 2019). Whigs supported the strong government with a national bank and congressional supervision of enslavement under a weak interpretation of the Constitution. Whigs

6 unanimously nominated Henry Clay for president on the same program as in past elections. Mexican War conquest separated Whigs. Whigs enforced the Compromise of 1850, which comprised admitting California as a free state and tightening fugitive enslavement laws (Locke & Wright, 2019). However, Winfield Scott opposed the slavery movement and supported the Compromise of 1850. They were not staunchly pro-slavery, and numerous Southern Whigs joined the Democrats. In 1840, Democrats supported the "strict interpretation" of the Constitution. They resisted the federal government's involvement in enslavement, a national bank, and public works projects. Democrats wanted Texas and Oregon Territory, which England controlled, annexed. They chose Southerner James K. Polk to support westward development (Locke & Wright, 2019). However, the Mexican War conquest divided Democrats. Southern and Western Democrats supported a modest enslavement expansion plan, but most slaveholding Southerners wanted a more robust guarantee in 1848. Anti-slavery activists founded the Liberty Party. The organization did not nevertheless last as to split into conservative and radical factions in 1839, spawning it. The Liberty Party nominated James C. Birney again for an anti-slavery program that included equal treatment and equality in the North (Locke & Wright, 2019). William Lloyd Garrison led the radicals, who advocated the abolition of enslavement, criticized the Constitution, and included women. Conservatives created the Liberty Party to eradicate enslavement through political means progressively. Most nativists feared foreign invasion due to the midcentury immigration boom, especially from Catholic Ireland. The "Know-Nothings" or "Society of the Star Spangled Banner" became the American Party in 1856 after forming a covert operation (Locke & Wright, 2019). It was essentially ex-Whigs who were anti-Catholic, and anti-immigrant, wanted to

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7 increase the citizenship time, and enable only citizens to vote and only native-born residents to hold public offices. Social and economic policy differences The differences in social and economic policies held by various political movements, activists, and representatives significantly shaped the notion of American government in the 1840s. Various movements lobbied for varying economic and social engagement, attracting the attention of stakeholders in specific spheres, ranging from African American voting rights, expansion of enslavement, focus on manufacturing, and emphasis on farming. American political terror strengthened the Whig coalition. The Anti-Masonic Party demanded that Freemasons leave. Freemasonry, an international network of social clubs with occult rituals, may have begun as a trade organization for stonemasons in medieval Europe. Aristocrats in the republic had ties to freemasonry (Locke & Wright, 2019). Americans despised masonic secrecy, elitism, rituals, and secularism. The religious and social revolution in Upstate New York in the 1820s politicized opposition to the Masons. This was brought about by the disappearance and alleged murder of William Morgan. Morgan displayed his illustrations for masons in the book. Local Masons were exposed in this novel. To reduce book sales, they fired the press and put Morgan in jail for his debts (Locke & Wright, 2019). September saw Morgan disappear. He was shoved into a carriage by four Masons. Friends and Morgan's wife mistook his body in Lake Ontario for their own. Morgan advised against masonry. The trials spawned a minor political movement in New York and New England. Americans’ frustration with political and economic change was explained by the fact that a secret society controlled the country. In 1827, anti-Masonic organizations in New York vowed not to cast ballots for Freemason candidates (Locke & Wright, 2019). The Anti-Masonic Party was

8 established by a LeRoy assembly's 1828 "Anti-Masonic Declaration of Independence." The 1828 anti-Masonic New York rulers received 12%. In the process, Philadelphia hosted a nationwide Anti-Mason convention in 1830. Anti-Masonic Whigs came together after 1832. After the Whigs and Anti-Masonic Party alliance, conspiracies ruled America. Jackson's opponents regarded the Freemasons as part of a vast foreign conspiracy, while his supporters saw the Bank of the United States as such. Immigrants were accused of nativism. Nativists were terrified of Catholicism. German and Irish Catholics frightened nativists. The religions, languages, and cultures of immigrants were diverse. Importantly, nativists recalled Europe's battles between Catholics and Protestants. They were concerned that Catholics would introduce violent religion to America. Protestants invaded a Boston Catholic monastery in August 1834 (Locke & Wright, 2019). The mob believed that nuns had abducted a woman. Rebecca Reed, a former monastery student, claimed that nuns had abused both novices and students. Nativist sentiments sparked the monastery attack in the Northeast and New England in the early 19th century. Catholicism, according to Protestants, curtailed free thought. Victims of abuse by priests shared their ancestors' belief that Catholicism would transform American politics. on the other hand, Samuel F. B. Morse recommended to European governments in 1834 that Catholic immigrants should spread the Catholic faith. He believed American Catholic dominance would destroy democracy (Locke & Wright, 2019). Equally, racism exposed the faults in American democracy. The fear in the northern states was that formerly enslaved people would vote strongly. In conclusion, the civil rights, activists and formation of political alliances defined the American government ideas in the era. For instance, the ideals of American democracy in the era

9 were established on racism, wherein the pro-slavery and anti-slavery parties elected representatives to lobby for party interests.

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10 References Locke, J. L., & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2019). The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open US History Textbook, Vol. 1: To 1877. Stanford University Press.

The Development of Ideas about Government the American Revolution into the Second Party System (2)

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