In February 1801 the House of Representatives voted 35 times without choosing a president. Thomas Jefferson and his own running mate, Aaron Burr, had tied in the Electoral College. On the 36th ballot the House chose Jefferson. Power then passed from one party to another without bloodshed, which Jefferson later called "the revolution of 1800". The Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, made sure that kind of tie couldn't happen again.
This lesson covers Period 4 of AP US History, from 1800 to 1848.
The big themes
- Democracy expands, for some. Most states dropped property requirements for white men to vote, and turnout rose. Women, enslaved people and most free Black men remained shut out.
- The economy changes. The market revolution linked farms, factories and cities into a national economy.
- Reform movements grow, many inspired by religious revival.
- Expansion brings conflict, with Native nations, with foreign powers, and between North and South over slavery.
Jefferson and Marshall
In 1803 Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, roughly doubling the country's size. He wasn't sure the Constitution allowed it, and bought it anyway. The same year, in Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall's Court established judicial review, the power of courts to strike down unconstitutional laws.
The War of 1812 and after
America went to war with Britain over the impressment of sailors, trade restrictions and British support for Native resistance in the west. The Treaty of Ghent (1814) ended it with no change in territory. New England Federalists had met at the Hartford Convention to protest the war, and after it ended they looked disloyal. The party soon faded, leaving a period of one-party rule called the Era of Good Feelings.
In 1823 the Monroe Doctrine warned Europe against new colonies in the Americas. At home, Marshall's Court strengthened federal power: McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) upheld the national bank and barred states from taxing it. Henry Clay's American System proposed a protective tariff, a national bank and federally funded roads and canals to bind the regions together.
The market revolution
The Erie Canal, opened in 1825, linked the Great Lakes to New York City. Canals and then railroads cut the cost of shipping goods. In New England, textile mills such as those at Lowell hired young women as wage workers. In the South, cotton grown by enslaved people became the country's leading export, tying slavery ever more closely to the national economy.
Jacksonian democracy
Andrew Jackson won the presidency in 1828 as the champion of the "common man". He vetoed the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States in 1832. When South Carolina declared federal tariffs void within the state, Jackson threatened force, and a compromise tariff ended the Nullification Crisis. Opponents of Jackson's strong presidency formed the Whig Party, and the contest between Democrats and Whigs became the Second Party System.
Jackson also signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. In Worcester v. Georgia (1832) the Supreme Court ruled that Georgia had no authority over Cherokee land, but Georgia ignored the ruling, it wasn't enforced, and removal went ahead. In 1838 and 1839 the Cherokee were forced west on the Trail of Tears, and thousands died.
Reform
The Second Great Awakening spread the idea that people could improve themselves and society. Reformers campaigned for temperance, public schools and better asylums. William Lloyd Garrison began publishing The Liberator in 1831, demanding an immediate end to slavery. In 1848 the Seneca Falls Convention issued the Declaration of Sentiments, which called for women's rights, including the vote.
Sectional tension
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, and banned slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of 36°30′. It kept the balance in the Senate for a generation. Expansion kept forcing the question of slavery back onto the agenda.
Common mistakes students make
- Treating Jacksonian democracy as democracy for all. Voting rights expanded for white men only.
- Confusing Marbury and Worcester. Marbury established judicial review; Worcester ruled for the Cherokee, but Georgia ignored it and removal went ahead.
- Calling the War of 1812 a clear American victory. The treaty restored the prewar borders.
- Saying the Missouri Compromise banned slavery everywhere north of 36°30′. It applied only to the Louisiana Territory.
Frequently asked questions
What years does APUSH Period 4 cover?
Period 4 covers 1800 to 1848.
What was the market revolution?
The shift from local, household production to a national market economy, driven by canals, railroads, factories and commercial farming.
What did the Indian Removal Act do?
Signed in 1830, it authorized the president to trade land west of the Mississippi for Native lands in the East, and set aside $500,000 for removal. It led to forced removals such as the Trail of Tears.
Why was the Missouri Compromise important?
It kept the balance of free and slave states in the Senate and drew a line, 36°30′, for slavery in the Louisiana Territory.
Try it
Say each answer before you flip the card. Then think about the Missouri Compromise: it held for more than 30 years, and then it didn't. What changed, and why then?
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