Regional Economies
How were the northern mill system and the southern plantation system economically similar?
Each depended on the mass production of a single commodity. Each was owned by a wealthy individual who earned profits from the work of laborers.
Why did conflict arise when Missouri requested admission into the Union?
Missouri’s admission as a free state or a slave state would upset the existing sectional balance.
What approaches could President Jackson have taken to address relations between Native Americans and white settlers?
Assimilating the Native Americans in white culture, allowing them to live in their own areas, or moving them to lands farther west
How did Jackson’s actions hurt the nation’s economy?
Jackson had funds deposited in pet banks—which were often wildcat banks—and made specie the only acceptable form of payment for public lands, which contributed to the panic of 1837
What inventions and technological advancements changed lives as part of the market revolution?
Inventions: sewing machine, vulcanized rubber, telegraph; technological advancements: canals, steam power
How was the American System expected to unite the nation’s economic interests?
Provide several examples. The industrial North would supply manufactured goods to the South and West. The agricultural South and West would supply grain, livestock, and cotton to the North. A national currency and improved transportation would aid in the exchange of goods.
How did the expansion of the United States to the west affect American democracy?
Westward expansion increased the number of states in the country and, over time, the size of the voting population.
Why did Jackson think that Native Americans should be moved west of the Mississippi?
He did not think assimilation would work; he thought it would take too many white troops to police Native Americans in the East among white settlers.
What were Jackson’s and Calhoun’s differing opinions on states’ rights versus federal authority?
Jackson thought that federal authority was supreme, while Calhoun thought that states’ rights were supreme.
What are the basic principles of capitalism?
People are free to pursue economic success through lawful means.
Business owners can produce the goods and services they wish, determine how to produce them, and sell them as they choose.
Consumers can purchase from whomever they would like.
In what ways did New England possess the four necessary factors of production?
New England was able to industrialize since it possessed the land and resources, labor force, capital, and industrialists. It had many rivers to power factories. It had a labor force, such as young women who left their families’ farms, to work in the factories. It had capital to invest since international trade was declining in New England, and Americans chose to invest their money in other ventures. Finally, there were industrialists such as Samuel Slater and Francis Cabot Lowell willing to take the risk to build factories.
What were the terms of the Missouri Compromise?
Maine became a free state and Missouri a slave state. Slavery would not be permitted in the Louisiana Territory north of 36° 30 ́, except in Missouri.
To what does the term Jacksonian democracy refer?
A shift in political thinking from believing that only the social elite were suited to hold office to believing that anyone could serve; it led to the involvement of more common Americans in the political system
What were some of Jackson’s reasons for opposing the Second Bank of the United States?
Jackson was suspicious of big banks; he thought the national bank was a symbol of big business; he saw the bank as a tool of the upper classes and a threat to democracy.
How did the inventions and innovations of the mid-19th century encourage various regions to specialize in certain industries?
Transportation systems made the Northeast a manufacturing and commercial center. The steel plow and reaper made the Midwest an agricultural giant. Steam engines allowed the South to ship agricultural products north.
How did economic developments, such as industrialization and the growth of plantations, influence where people lived in the United States?
As the North became more industrial, more people moved to cities and mill towns, which were generally located near the rivers that provided power. In the South, people tended to live on farms and plantations in fertile areas.
How was the Monroe Doctrine part of a desire to protect U.S. economic interests in the Western Hemisphere?
The Monroe Doctrine served as a warning to European countries interested in establishing new colonies, which would threaten U.S. economic interests in the Western Hemisphere. The United States wanted to be able to trade with the newly independent countries in the Western Hemisphere. This could not happen if Spain and Portugal reestablished control over their former colonies in Central and South America. Also, new Russian trading posts along the California coast threatened existing U.S. trade with China.
How would the spoils system be useful for elected officials?
Elected officials could appoint supporters to government jobs under the spoils system. Elected officials would know the political appointees would carry out their policies. Also, elected officials seeking reelection would know they could depend on their political appointees for continued support in getting reelected.
How did Jackson’s policies contribute to the formation of the Whig Party?
The Whig Party was formed by people who were angry with Andrew Jackson and were in opposition to a too-powerful president. Because Jackson’s policies were growing in unpopularity, this was a good time for the Whigs.
Why did innovators look for new forms of communication and transportation in the 1800s?
As the country grew and regions became more specialized, people needed new ways to transport goods and information. Individuals also hoped to profit from their inventions.
Why did the demand for slaves gradually end in the North?
Farmers in the North did not typically grow crops that required a lot of labor. And the crops grown in the North, such as corn, were not as profitable as the cash crops grown in the South, such as tobacco and cotton. As such, there was little incentive for northern farmers to spend large quantities of money on slaves to work on their farms. Therefore, as settlers moved west into the Old Northwest, the farms they established there would be less profitable if using slave labor than if not using it.
How did the cases Gibbons v. Ogden and McCulloch v. Maryland strengthen the power of the federal government?
Gibbons v. Ogden established the concept that the federal government could regulate all interstate trade and communication. McCulloch v. Maryland stated that states could not overturn congressional laws.
Why do you think many states removed the property qualification for voting?
Many states probably removed the property qualification for voting so that more of the population could vote. Having a property qualification meant that only white men with enough money to own land could vote. Removing this qualification allowed white men of more modest means to vote. Leaders in many states probably saw the removal of the property qualification as making their states more democratic.
What was Calhoun’s nullification theory?
Calhoun argued that since the U.S. Constitution was based on a compact among sovereign states, then the states must still be sovereign and had the right to determine whether an act of Congress was unconstitutional and, if it was, to declare it illegal within their borders.
List three ways the North and the South differed in the mid-1800s.
The North had an industrial rather than agricultural economy and had more railroads;
the North mostly opposed slavery, while the South relied on slave labor;
the North had more urban growth as well as more growth in immigrant population.