Antebellum America: Political Events and Figures

• Antebellum America refers to the period before the Civil War.

Political Figures and Events

• Martin Van Buren succeeded Jackson as President
• Van Buren's presidency coincided with an economic crisis.
• The Panic of 1837 was a severe economic downturn lasting seven years.
• William Henry Harrison was the Whig candidate in the 1840 presidential election.
• John Tyler was the first Vice President to become President after the President's death.
• Harrison's nickname, "Old Tip," came from his victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 against Shawnee Indians.
• The Whig Party gained strength from the Panic of 1837.
• The Whigs effectively used parades, slogans, and mudslinging in their campaigns.
• "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" was a Whig campaign slogan.
• Harrison's presidency was the shortest, lasting only one month due to his death.
• Harrison's lengthy Inaugural Address was delivered on a cold, rainy day.
• Tyler rejected Whig policies, leading to his unpopularity.
• Tyler was nicknamed "His Accidency" after leaving the Whig Party.

Economic and Technological Transformations

• The Industrial Revolution was a technological transformation that began in Great Britain.
• Cottage industries declined as factories became the primary production sites.
• The Market Revolution marked a shift from producing goods for personal use to buying and selling.
• Capitalism is an economic system where private businesses control production.
• Samuel Morse invented the telegraph, enabling instant long-distance communication.
• Morse Code uses dots and dashes for telegraph messages.
• The Southern economy heavily relied on cotton cultivation, known as "King Cotton".
• The cotton gin increased cotton cultivation profitability.
• Southern plantations produced 60% of the cotton for American and European factories.
• Enslaved African Americans provided the labor force for cotton production in the South.

Religious and Philosophical Movements

• The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival emphasizing salvation through faith and works.
• Revivalists were preachers who aimed to revive religion in America.
• Western New York was known as the "Burned Over District" because of intense revivalism.
• Charles Grandison Finney was a prominent revivalist.
• Mormonism is a Christian denomination founded by Joseph Smith in 1830.
• Joseph Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
• Polygamy, the practice of having multiple wives, is associated with Mormons.
• Brigham Young succeeded Joseph Smith and led the Mormons to Utah.
• Transcendentalism emphasized intuition and nature over established doctrine.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson was a key figure in Transcendentalism, working as an essayist and poet.
• Henry David Thoreau authored 'Walden' and advocated for simple living.
• Thoreau lived at Walden Pond for two years.
• Thoreau's essay "Civil Disobedience" advocated moral resistance to unjust laws.

Social Reforms

• Horace Mann was an education reformer who advocated for free public schools.
• Mann proposed education reforms in the Massachusetts State Senate.
• Dorothea Dix advocated for mental health reform and humane treatment.
• Mormons established a community in Nauvoo, Illinois, after being driven out.
• Brigham Young led the Mormons to settle near The Great Salt Lake.
• Abolitionists were people who advocated for the end of slavery.
• A spiritual awakening refers to a personal transformation towards deeper understanding of life.
• Thoreau's principle of self-reliance promoted independence and personal responsibility.
• Emerson held meetings and Thoreau had his cabin in Concord, Massachusetts.
• The Mormons' economic power came from owning land and voting as a unified group.
• Dorothea Dix advocated for humane facilities for the mentally ill.

Social Movements and Slavery

• The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival emphasizing hope for all.
• The Temperance Movement campaigned to end alcohol abuse.
• Carrie Nation, known as "Hatchet Granny," was a leader in the Temperance Movement.
• The Abolitionist Movement aimed to end slavery in America.
• Southern slaves faced harsh labor and inadequate living conditions.
• Cotton farming drove the expansion of slavery in the South.
• The Underground Railroad was a network that aided escaped slaves to freedom.
• Denmark Vesey planned a large slave revolt in 1822.
• Nat Turner led a significant slave rebellion in 1831.
• Rehabilitation is the idea of reforming sick or imprisoned individuals.
• Temperance reformers believed alcohol caused crime and poverty.
• Family separation was a common consequence of slavery, causing distress.
• Slaves used various methods of resistance to oppose their oppression.
• Tight kinship networks developed among enslaved people.
• Religious faith provided comfort to slaves, with hope for freedom after death.
• Physical punishment was used to enforce work routines on slaves.
• Mental humiliation was used for psychological control over enslaved individuals.
• Vesey's plan leaked, leading to his execution and failure of the slave revolt.
• Turner believed a solar eclipse indicated divine guidance.
• Nat Turner's rebellion occurred in Richmond, Virginia.
• Local militia suppressed Turner's rebellion.
• Escape to Mexico was a destination for fleeing enslaved individuals.
• Nat Turner led a slave revolt and was captured after six weeks.

Abolitionist Efforts

• The American Colonization Society was founded in 1816 to resettle freed African-Americans.
• Liberia was a colony established by the American Colonization Society.
• David Walker published a pamphlet urging African-Americans to fight slavery.
• William Lloyd Garrison founded The Liberator and was a prominent abolitionist leader.
• Frederick Douglass, a former slave, became a powerful speaker for abolition.
• Garrison published the antislavery newspaper The Liberator in 1831.
• Garrison founded the American Anti-Slavery Society, which had over 150,000 members by 1840.
• Theodore Weld was an abolitionist leader who preferred church collaboration over confrontation.
• Angelina Grimke wrote "Appeal to Christian Women" as an anti-slavery advocate.
• Sarah Grimke, Angelina's sister, also spoke against slavery.
• Many Americans continued to support slavery despite opposition to it.
• The Second Great Awakening opposed slavery as a sin.
• Slave revolts involved armed uprisings by enslaved people against their owners.
• Strict slave laws were passed to control the behavior of enslaved people, including banning education and requiring overseers for gatherings.
• Northerners objected to slavery on moral grounds.
• The Southern economy relied on slave labor for cotton production.
• Southerners claimed slave labor was superior to northern wage labor.
• Frederick Douglass's autobiography, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," was influential in the abolitionist movement.

Women's Rights

• The Antebellum era refers to the period before the American Civil War.
• The Gag Rule was a law prohibiting slavery debate in Congress.
• The Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 was the first women's rights convention.
• The Declaration of Sentiments highlighted grievances against gender inequality.
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention.
• Lucretia Mott was an abolitionist and women's rights advocate.
• Susan B. Anthony was a key figure in the women's rights and abolition movements.
• Lowell Mill Girls were young women working in textile mills in the Northeast.

Explore Antebellum America, focusing on political figures like Van Buren, Harrison, and Tyler. Learn about the Panic of 1837, Whig strategies, and Harrison's short presidency. Understand the key events shaping the pre-Civil War era.