Summary American Civil War - A Level History - Concise and Complete Revision Notes - 100 UMS

US Civil War Complete Revision
The Missouri Compromise ­ 1820
 Built on the precedent set by the Northwest Ordinance in 1787
 Clay’s compromise admitted Maine (free) alongside Missouri (slave), maintaining the Congressional
balance
o It set the precedent that states could only join in pairs
 Slavery was prohibited above the 36­30 parallel

Why was it a cause of the civil war?
 Increased tensions as the area above was greater than below, upsetting the Congressional
and sectional balance and allow the North to suppress slavery through the government
 Made the South more defensive and protective over slavery, and increased their distrust of a
Northern­biased federal government
o Increased paranoia and slave power conspiracy
 Overall, it set the tone for political and sectional divide

Quotes:
 “A clever compromise but a clumsy one. It simply put off the evil day” – Grant
 “A fire bell in the night” and “the knell of the Union” – Jefferson

Evaluation – why wasn’t it a cause of war?
 It delayed conflict and maintained relative peace in the short term
 “It helped keep the peace for the next decade” – Brogan



Andrew Jackson:
Did Jackson democratise politics?
Enhanced participation and the two­party system
 Voting and participation
o ‘Jacksonian Democracy’
o Property requirement began to be removed
o Written ballots replaced caucusing and voting aloud
o Nomination conventions meant voters directly voted for presidential electors, compared to
previously being done by state legislatures – 1824, only 6 state legislatures elected, and by
1832 only 1
o Newspapers and communication – by 1835 there were 1200 newspapers, compared to 31
in 1775, encouraging media involvement and partisanship
 Two­party system
o His divisive nature and representing of the common man led to the creation of the
Democratic Party for the 1828 election – democratising politics by providing platforms that
gave greater voter choice, and improving accountability
o This sectionalisation of politics increased partisanship and involvement
 Evaluation
o Much of this was happening before him – he inherited much of the change
 Universal male suffrage was all but achieved by 1820
 His politics coincided with the transportation revolution, which made his impact
seem greater
 Nomination conventions were occurring before him too – only 6 states elected
presidential electors in 1824
 He did nothing for women or free blacks’ suffrage
o The modern campaigning style and the two­party system was mainly down to Martin van
Buren, not Jackson

,  Van Buren had utilised similar methods in the Albany Regency in New York in the
early 20s
 Jackson merely brought these methods onto a national stage
 Conclusion
o Jackson did democratise participation and voting through the two­party system
o Although he wasn’t the source of many of the ideas, he brought it to a national stage and
thus democratised national politics
 “Jackson’s election did not mean that America had become a democracy overnight…
it merely proved that the process was complete” – Brogan

War on corruption and privilege
 Spoils system
o Limited the time officeholders could remain in office through the ‘Tenure of Office Act’
o Ensured rotation in office and prevented the concentration of power in one individual
 1828 election
o Following the ‘corrupt bargain’ of the 1824 election – where Adams was elected despite
Jackson winning the majority (41%) of the popular vote – Jackson campaigned on a
platform against elitism and corruption
o It was very much representation of the common­man against the elite
o Jackson’s supporters described it as a choice between “the democracy of the country an a
lordly purse­proud aristocracy” – Boyer
 War on the Bank
o The anti­establishment sentiment that he campaigned on was most evident in the War on
the Bank
o Most of the public blamed the banks for the Panic of 1819 (monetary irresponsibility), and
Jackson too feared the power they had accumulated – their $35m capital was more
than double the annual government expenditure
o Through vetoing Congress’ bill the re­charter the bank, he was democratising politics by
preventing the build of power in one unelected, decentralised body
o It was also advocating states’ rights through removing deposits and placing them in state
‘pet’ banks
o As a result of the veto, the Whig party was formed, further democratising politics
 Evaluation
o The Spoils System wasn’t as democratic as first considered
 Most of the firings were concentrated in the Northwest, where most of Jackson’s
opposition was situated
 In his first 18 months, fewer that 1000 of the 10,000 civil servants and fewer
than 20% of federal officeholders were replaced
 Many of the replacements were like­for­like elitists, just now were Jackson
supporters
o The War on the Bank, although democratising, was parochial as monetary authority was
decentralised and uncoordinated – ultimately led to the Panic of 1837
 Conclusion
o Jackson waged a war on elitism fairly successfully and set a precedent, however, there were
some convenient loopholes

Big government intervention
 Nullification Crisis
o Events:
 South Carolina declared the 1828 ‘Tariff of Abominations’ as unconstitutional,
and therefore null and void, and threatened secession
 Jackson publicly clashed with Calhoun
 Jackson’s proposed 1832 Compromise Tariff was rejected by South Carolina, who
prepared for military action

,  March 1833, Jackson passed the ‘Force Bill’, which enabled the federal government
to use military force to enforce federal legislation
 The 1833 tariff was consequently accepted
o Impact:
 The government’s willingness to use military force was a blatant suppression of
states’ rights
 Showed that Congress was Northern biased, which by nature undermined the
democracy of the Union
 Indian Removal Act
o Jackson saw the 125,000 native Indians as impeding westward expansion and Manifest
Destiny
o Changed the policy of assimilation (Indians adopting US customs) to one of removal
o Forced relocation down the ‘Trail of Tears’
o Vast native casualties due to no government assistance – 4000 of the 15,000 Cherokee
members died
o Used military force – Black Hawk War (1832)
o The whole ordeal was coercive and completely counter to the democratic principles the
Union was founded upon

Conclusion
 Jackson laid the foundations for democratisation on a national stage, and set the precedent
for partisanship and elections
 “In structure and ideology, American politics had been democratised” – Gienapp (1982)




The Second Great Awakening and social reform in the North (1820s­40s)

The Second Great Awakening:
 An evangelist religious reformation that spread across New England and the Northeast that
sparked an atmosphere of widespread desire for social reform and liberalism (revivalism)

Education reform:
 Horace Mann in his Twelfth Report argued that:
o Education gave the poor the tools to fight the rich and eliminate the class system
o Education promotes industrialisation and advancement
 Mann’s report in 1848 embodied the Northern sentiment that education was vital to
modernisation, and their focus on it polarised them further from the South
 Why did Northern education reform unsettle the South?
o An educated North posed a threat to the South’s institutions, as they would press
moral charges against slavery
o The South didn’t want high quality education leaking into Southern society, as (a) it
wasn’t necessary for agrarianism, and (b) they were worried that blacks and slaves would
become educated
o The South therefore felt threatened by the prospect of education and possible
subversion

Reform for women:
 Women – especially in the South – were not respected the same as men, and had no right to vote
o They were “civilly dead” once married (Syracuse Recorder, 1848)
 William Lloyd Garrison led the campaign for women’s rights, and his paper ‘Liberty’
demanded voting and societal reform – Sarah Grimke also led the cause
 Why did reform for women unsettle the South?
o Fears that women’s rights would set the precedent for black rights