Early 19th Century America Essay, Research Paper

On March fourth, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was elected President

of the United States of America. Thomas Jefferson was a Republican.

Republicans strongly supported farmers, and they wanted an agrarian

nation. An agrarian nation means some changes had to be made in the

country. The country needed strong trade with other countries, and

they also needed more land to farm on. This led to the Louisiana

Purchase.

The French owned a huge amount of land west of the United

States. Inside all of this land was the mouth of the Mississippi

River, New Orleans. Because the Republicans wanted a farming nation,

America needed a port like New Orleans. Jefferson didn’t think that

Napoleon would sell all of this land, but he asked him anyway if he

was willing to sell. To his surprise Napoleon did want to sell this

land because he needed more money for his fight with Great Britain. So

Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory, and doubled the nation’s

size. This purchase was a mastermind move by Jefferson that let the

farming nation trade using the whole Mississippi.

Another achievement of Thomas Jefferson was the exploration of

the Louisiana Territory. He hired Lewis and Clark to explore the

uncharted territory. He told them to search the land for a river

passage to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson also told them to keep diaries

and make maps. This was Clark’s task. In May, 1804, forty-four men set

out on the expedition. The travelers tried to be friendly with the

Indians on their way. When they reached North Dakota they hired the

French trapper Toussaint Charbonneau, and his wife Sacajawea to be

guides and interpreters. With them they traveled all the way to the

Pacific Coast and back. Even though many people were disappointed upon

their return that they had not found an all water route, Lewis and

Clark were the first to map most of this land we call America. They

also aroused an interest in the people to move westward in the growing

nation.

Let’s go back a little bit to when Napoleon sold the Louisiana

Territory to the United States. He needed money to fight in the war he

was having with Great Britain. Since the United States had a small

military, it did not want to be involved in the French-British War.

America tried to stay neutral while trading with Europe, but France

and Great Britain kept on violating their neutrality rights. The

United States kept on trying to trade, but both sides put blockades on

each others ports. This meant that the other countries took their

ships. The British, however, not only took their ships, but they also

impressed American sailors.

During all of this mayhem President Madison came to power.

Because of Britain’s violations of America’s sailors, he asked

congress to declare war against Britain. Congress voted yes to the

war. Afterwards, it was named the War of 1812. After two years of

fighting, General Andrew Jackson came out victorious. A treaty was

signed in Belgium, and the growing nation finally earned a little

respect. They did this by changing the attitude of the Europeans

towards them.

Following the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson ran for president in

1828 and won. Jackson is said to be the first western president.

President Jackson was odd in a the way he sided with states on some

things and on other things he did not. He wanted to remove the

Indians, get rid of the National Bank, and in 1828 he let a tariff

pass that taxed imports. This angered Vice President Callhoon, and

other people from South Carolina who said it was unfair. The

consequence was that South Carolina nullified the tariff, Callhoon

resigned, and South Carolina threatened to form their own government.

Even though the Civil War wasn’t until many years later, this was a

sign of internal conflict that could threaten the growth of the

country.

Part of the reason that there was this internal conflict was

that our nation was growing very rapidly, and each area of the country

had huge differences. For example I will take political parties. The

Republicans were farmers. They wanted a farming nation much like the

South was. The Federalists were much different being from New England.

They supported industry and manufacturing goods. An example of party

differences is that of the Whisky Rebellion. In this the Federalists

who were in power at the time past a law which put a twenty-five

percent tax on whisky. This angered Republican farmers who turned

their grain into whisky. A full scale revolt came out of this which

threatened the ever-changing young country.

Another difference was in the people themselves. Many Germans

and Irish people immigrated to the United States. The Germans left

their country because of their bad government, war, persecution, and

because of unemployment. The Germans came to America looking for land,

gold, opportunity, and adventure. About 1.5 million German immigrants

came to America from 1820 to 1859. The Germans settled in the Midwest

because most of them were skilled farmers with enough money to

move there and buy land.

The Irish, however, were a different story. They left their

country for most of the same reasons as the Germans, but they also

were having a food shortage because of the Potato Famine. They came to

America looking for a new life. Their journey was terrible because

they were poor and unskilled people. Many of them died on their way.

The Irish mostly settled in the ports and worked for dirt cheap

because they were poor. About 2 million Irish people came to the

United States from 1820 to 1859. These different people helped change

the new nation.

The different people of the nation faced new hardships in

their new country. The immigrants could be imprisoned or expelled from

the country if the president thought the foreigner was dangerous. This

was known as the Alien Act. Another act that disturbed the people was

the Sedition Act. The Sedition Act restricted freedom of speech and

freedom of the press which was unconstitutional. The Irish were the

ones who really had hardships though. They had to settle right in the

port in the town and because they had no money or skills, factories

like Lowell Mills and other businesses took advantage of them, making

them work for pennies. The Lowell Mill was a cotton factory. Mostly

young women whose family needed money worked there, and that was about

everybody. They worked 13 hours a day during the summer and from dawn

until dusk in the winter. They had 30 to 45 minutes to eat until the

bells rang, and they were rushed off. The mill was hot, loud, and very

dangerous. In the boarding house six girls were in each room, and two

girls had to share a bed. There was no privacy, and the girls had a

miserable time. Even though it was almost like slavery it did help the

American Economy grow.