The period from 1607 to 1877 was significant in the history of the United States. During these years, the United States faced the change of political parties (from The Federalist Party to the Democratic Party and the Whig Party), the establishment of the Constitution, the abolition of slavery, the Nullification Crisis, women’s rights movement, and so forth. This period was quite important since the government of the United States was establishing the policies and the ideology of this new country.
The Federalist Party promoted a strong central government. The main requirement for the government was being able to pay its debts. The party was largely supported by such social groups as merchants, bankers, shippers, and aristocrats. The Federalist Party created all necessary conditions for inventions and the development of science (for example, the first patent law was pass signed by Washington). Furthermore, the party established the Bank of the United States and the central banking system.
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The Federalist Party believed that the states should be inferior to the central government and they must submit to the higher authority. The main representatives of the Federalists were Adams (he was against speculation and inflation) and Hamilton (on the contrary, he supported speculation and inflation). The party can be described as conservative and right-leaning. The leaders and founders of Democratic Republicans were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The aim of this political party was to oppose the Federalist Party. Contrary to the Federalists, Democratic Republicans were liberal and left-leaning. The policies of the party advocated progressive taxation and the implementation of minimum wages. In the United States, the First Party System was introduced by the Federalist Party and the Democratic Republican Party, while the Second Party System featured the Jacksonian Democrats and the Whig Party.
The presidential election of 1824 showed the collapse of the Republican-Federalist one-party system. It was the first time when Federalist candidates were not presented (five candidates competed with one another as Democratic-Republicans). The main consequence of this election was the end of Democratic-Republican Party dominance. The presidential election of 1828 included only John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, other candidates did not compete in this race. Jackson won over Adams with approximately 70% of the votes.
Jacksonian Democracy was a quite controversial and ambiguous phenomenon in American society. It was a democratic movement that advocated an egalitarian thrust. At the same time, this movement privileged white men and included racial prejudices. Whig Party appeared as the opposition to the Democrats. This party included completely different policies and vision for the American nation and its future. Whigs’ the most important preference was economic improvement through the active government support. A plan to strengthen and unify the nation, the American System was advanced by the Whig Party and a number of leading politicians including Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams.
Regarding economics and the financial aspects, two national banks functioned in the United States during1607-1877. The Second Bank of the United States was created in 1816. It had the same responsibilities as the First Bank of the United States. At the same time, the power of the Second Bank was more limited in comparison to the First Bank because of the poor management and the presence of numerous frauds. The Market Revolution was a historical model that concerns a considerable change of economy that was believed to disorient and coordinate all the market. The Market Revolution was a process of transforming American artisan business to mass production and global trade. The market revolution is connected to the Government policies created to foster the growth of capitalism. American products were turning into profitable global products shipped to distant markets. One of the best-selling products was cotton produced by African slaves. The most considerable social class in the United States was middle class. The income varies considerably, from near the national median to well in excess of US $100,000. Typical occupations for members of the middle class are those identified as being part of “the professions” and often include managerial duties as well, with all being white collars.
Webster/Hayne Debate concerned the limitation of sale of western lands. Hayne was against the Foot Resolution labeling it as selfish, while Webster emphasized the lack of appreciation for the union and the Southern positions in the United States. Webster accentuates the idea of national supremacy: “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!”.
Another important question for this period of time was composing the U.S Constitution. Later on, people adopted such ways of the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution (as well as other juridical documents) as textualism, original meaning, judicial precedent, pragmatism, moral reasoning, national identity, structuralism, and historical practices. According to textualism, the Constitution (the text of the Constitution) has to be read as it was written. Pragmatism believes that the Constitution was written as intended. It should be interpreted and applied as written. However, pragmatism contradicts with the understanding that the Constitution includes practices that were quite acceptable in the eighteenth century but not acceptable now. For example, the right to vote was given to a white male citizen who possesses land. The compact theory is connected to the emergence and development of the Constitution of the United States. The compact theory claims that the formation of the American nation was created due to the compact by each of the states. Furthermore, it indicates that the national government should be considered as a creation of all the states.
One of the most controversial points in the Constitution was slavery, which received a lot of protections in the Constitution. As it is known, slavery emerged in the 17th century in the United States. In 1619, twenty Africans were brought to Virginia in a Dutch ship. Two centuries later, in the period from the 1830s to the 1860s, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison (a white man, the founder of The Liberator), Harriet Beecher Stowe and others made a great contribution to deployment of the movement to abolish slavery; the movement gained strengths during these years. In this period, many protests and raids took place (for example, John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859). Overall, Lincoln made slaves “forever free” on January 1, 1863. However, the former slaves who received the rights of citizenship faced that their rights are often violated. Furthermore, African Americans suffered from a range of racist organizations (for example, the Ku Klux Klan (1877)). During the period of slavery, the States of the USA were divided into slave-free and those where slavery was permitted.
The Missouri Compromise relates to the problem of the division mentioned above. The Missouri Compromise was the result of the request of Missouri for admission of becoming a slave state. At that moment, the United States contained 22 states, including 11 slave states and 11 slave-fee states. The total number of states was evenly divided. The requested admission could make this number unequal; it could also lead to the expansion of slavery. Missouri was proclaimed as a slave state, while Maine was declared as a free state.
In the 19th century, the United States faced the Nullification Crisis of 1832 caused by the introduction of Protective Tariff (May 19, 1828), a tax that increases the costs of imports. This tariff serves to protect industries of the United States (mostly in the northern part of the USA) from the influence of foreign competitors. Nullification means declaring a federal law as unconstitutional or null within a state. One of the examples of nullification is the Ordinance of Nullification (the state of South Carolina) in 1832 as a response to a heavy tariff introduced in 1828. Therefore, the state convention adopted the Ordinance of Nullification that declared that the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were void and null. The ordinance claimed that this tariff was unconditional and that South Carolina decided to ignore this tariff. The state of South Carolina threatened secession. However, the state did not find any support among other southern states. Jackson asserted the supremacy of the government over the states by “Proclamation to the People of South Carolina”.
Another important event in the period of 1607-1877 was the War of 1812, which was caused by the restrictions put on U.S.by the Great Britain. The War of 1812 led to the apparition of a generation of great American generals (such as A. Jackson, J. Brown and W. Scott). Another significant consequence of the war was that the United States obtained the greatest naval power in the world through the Great Britain.
Women’s rights movements (including the Abolition and Temperance movements) were based on the principles of social justice. These movements led to a considerable number of reforms. These reforms related both to women’s rights and the state of social wellbeing and justice. For example, Maine adopted the first law prohibiting the sale of alcohol in 1847 thanks to Temperance Movement. Women played an important role during the second great awakening, when the blacks and women stuck to the following religious movements: congregationalists, angicans (episcopalians), quakers, evangelical methodism and baptism. At the same time, the citizens promoted the crusade against the Catholics and catholic thinking.
The historical period 1607-1877 was incredibly rich for political and social events. This period should be considered one of the most important pages in the History of the United States because it provided the foundation for the future development of the USA.
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