A New Age 1820-1850 AP U.S. History

The Growth of Cities (1820-1860)

City Growth Seaports begin to focus on internal trade. “Instant” cities near networks of trade. Chicago, IL: RR. Utica, NY: Erie Canal. Dearborn, MI: Grain, slaughterhouses, & warehouses.

American Cities (1860)

“New” Immigration 20,000 in 1831 to 430,000 in 1854. Proportion of population: 1.6% (1820) to 11.2% (1860). NY: 48% are foreign born (1860). Who were they? Mostly from Ireland & Germany. Mostly Catholic.

Participation of Irish and German Immigrants in the New York City 1859

Sanitation No water, sewer, garbage collection. Pigs roam and eat garbage. Leads to yellow fever, typhus, & cholera. Middle Class: Leaves city & travels streetcar. Lower Class: Slums. Worst is 5 points in NY. Neighborhoods represent salad bowl.

City Class Structure 3-5%=Wealthy ($5,000+) 25%=Middle Class. Mansions & large town houses. Several servants. Summer in resort towns. 25%=Middle Class. House of 4-6 rooms. $1000/year 70%=Low Class ($100 or less). Depend on more than one income. Unskilled labor. Immigrants. Rented housing moving frequently.

Popular Culture Taverns: Sociability, brawls, & riots. Theaters: 1820’s Places for violence, prostitutes meet dates, 1830’s becomes more middle class. Blackface minstrel show: Stereotypes of black workers played by Irishmen.

Immigration to the United States, 1820-1860

Free African-American Life 1860: 500,000 in U.S (11% of black pop.) ½ live in northern cities. Annual Income: Black: $91, Irish: $131, $872 for average population. Residential & educational discrimination & segregation. Exclusion from concerts, theatres, libraries, zoo, restaurants, etc.

Labor Movement Artisans: cut out because of the putting-out system and large influx of immigrants. No safety for workers who were replaced by cheaper labor. Workers have to depend on one another for support, not employers.

Union Movement Working Men’s Party (“Workies”)-10 hour day, end of monopolies, public school system and cheap land in the west. Whigs & Democrats compete for vote. Workies turn to labor over political parties. 1833-1837: Skilled workers strike & win. First union’s only include white skilled men.

Machine Politics Power falls to the Political Boss to control large city politics. Only country in the world where property less men can vote. ½ voters in cities are foreign born. Usually three years of residency needed but the machine could speed it up.

Machine Politics (Cont.) 1780’s: Tammany Society leads to Tammany Hall (NY). Parades, rallies, newspapers, songs, gifts to the poor for the Democratic Party. Party loyalty buys contracts & jobs. Fosters community feeling to new arrivals. Widely corrupt and self-interested.

Social Reform Movements Movements are amplified by the press creating national networks of reform groups. Temperance Education Prisons Asylums Women’s Rights Abolitionism Evangelism

Evangelism & Social Control Fundamental to social reform. Charles Finney preaches “perfectionism.” Followers expect to convert the whole world, a world of god-like creatures. Middle Class: Apply morality to movement. Reform movement needs to be institutional. Not personal. Belief in basic goodness of human nature. Moralistic Dogmatism: Reformers know what is right for the rest of society. Impose beliefs upon others.

Evangelism-Negative Aspects Seek uniformity & not tolerance. 1830’s: Promoted hostility towards catholic Irish and Germans. Temperance movement targets immigrants. Promote nativism (1840-1860).

Per Capita Consumption of Alcohol, 1800–1860

Social Evil:Temperance Largest Reform Organization: American Society for the Promotion of Temperance. 200,000 members by 1830’s. Dominated by evangelicals. Drinking is mostly a man’s problem. Leads to violence, crime, abuse and poverty. Becomes social and political issue. 1840’s consumption is halved. About equal with today.

Additional Social Evils Prostitution Rescue women by offering them salvation, prayer, & shelter or domestic work. Not a moral issue, but an economic one. Asylum reform sponsored by Dorthea Dix (1843). Women were incarcerated with criminals, chained & caged. Led to state institutions in 28 states by 1860.

Reform Movements in the Burned-Over District

Utopianism “Burned-Over District” in upstate NY near the Erie Canal. Name comes from the many reform movements sweeping through area. Economic depression and social change lead to variety of religions developing. Millerites (founder, W. Miller) believed Judgment Day was Oct. 22, 1843. Disbanded, but core creates 7th Day Adventist Church. Shakers (“Mother” Ann Lee – 1774). Oldest utopian group. Offshoot of the Quakers. Abolishment of marriage and a world of equality with celibacy.

The Mormon Migration, 1830–1847

Utopianism Continued Oneida based upon sexual freedom ( J. H. Noyes, 1848). Complex marriage, with only certain men allowed to be fathers. Mormonism (Joseph Smith, 1830). Close cooperation, hard work, attract new members and create economic success. Harassed in NY, OH, then MO and finally to IL. After achieving stability and harmony, Smith & brother are arrested for advocating polygamy. Killed by a mob. Brigham Young (1846) moves followers to SLC to establish community.

Abolitionism-Quakers Found American Colonization Society. Compensation to owners and gradual emancipation. Resettlement in Africa. North eager to send free blacks away. Send 1,400 blacks to Liberia, West Africa.

Abolitionism-African Americans Reject colonization and advocate immediate freedom & equality. Pamphlet, Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World blamed for Nat Turner rebellion. First African American newspaper (1827), Freedom’s Journal.

Abolitionism-Militants Led by William Lloyd Garrison after a break with the ACS. Published the Liberator (1831). Garrison demands emancipation and the acknowledgement of the immorality of slavery. Found American Anti-Slavery Society with T. Weld. Held meetings with 1st hand accounts of slavery from S. Truth, F. Douglass and the Grimke sisters.

Southern Reaction 1835: Mail over 1M pieces of anti-slavery literature to southern states. Southern legislatures abolished literature and endorsed harassment of distributors. GA legislature offers $5K to anyone who will kidnap W.L. Garrison and make him stand trial for inciting rebellion. Southern states tighten laws of emancipation, movement and slave behavior. Reinforced laws making it a crime to teach a slave to read. Overall immediate result: stifle dissent and make slaves lives harder.

Northern Reaction Philadelphia is a center for the “anti” movements. Irish immigrants are anti-abolitionist. Compete with free blacks for labor. Mob violence leads to Garrison almost killed. Houses & churches burned.

Politics of Abolitionism Gag rule initiated in congress (Adams petitioned to have it removed in 1844). Amistad’s crew (1839). Groups begin to splinter. First between white and black. White group moves towards politics, founding the Liberty Party. Garrison hates politics and chooses to work as an agitator.

Women’s Rights Not accepted as political participants. Find political voice in social reform movements. Form all female chapters within reform movements. Majority of women could not participate (too busy). Mostly comprised of white middle class. Some transcend “acceptable” boundaries.

Active Women Angela & Sarah Grimke. SC slaveholding family. Moved to join Quakers in 1830’s. Battle male dominance and right to be heard in public. Breaks assumptions of women and southerners.

Seneca Falls Convention-1848 Meeting sprouts from World Anti Slavery Convention (London, 1840). 300 attendees. First women’s rights convention in U.S. history. Declaration of Sentiments modeled Declaration of Independence. Political, legal and social equality for all women.

Distribution of foreign-born residents (1860)