The Jeffersonian Era

The Jefferson Vision

• The Republican vision of America sought a society of sturdy, independent farmers, unlike that found in the industrial, and big cities, in Europe.

Republican Ambition

• Jefferson dismantled much of the bureaucratic power structure that the Federalists had erected in the 1790s.

• Insured the federal government would not be a force in American life by limiting its power.

• Recognized that which they could not change.

Public Education

• Called for a national crusade against ignorance• Purpose was to educate the electorate.• All male voters should receive free education• States did little to fund or enforce

Private Education

• Open to only those that could afford.• In the South and Mid-Atlantic religious groups

ran most of the schools.• New England academies trained its members

for the ranks of the elite.• Few schools open to the poor, and those that

were, were inferior.

Women in Education

• At the turn of the 19th century, the illiteracy rate among women exceeded 50%.

• Female academies created to teach Republican Motherhood.– Teach children to be enlightened

• Men believed women should be educated so that they were better wives and mothers.

Women in Education

• Judith Sargent Murray published an essay defending women’s rights to education

• Argued men and women were equal in intellect and potential.

• Believed women should have the same opportunities which would set themselves apart from their husband and traditional roles.

Minority Education• Reformers began a movement to educate the

ignorant and ‘backward’ people of America.• Focus was on Indian education.• Jefferson viewed the Indians as “Noble

Savages” who, unlike the Africans, were less inferior

• Free blacks had little choice for education, what choice they did have was segregated and in the north.

• Some slaves taught themselves to read and write.

Higher Education

• Less widely available.• Only nine colleges at the start of

the Revolution.• Most all colleges relied on

tuition and private funding• Only 1 in 1,000 men attended

college.• Theology, Classics, and Law

taught– Clergy only accepted profession in

which college was a prerequisite.

Medicine and Science• University of Pennsylvania

created the first medical school• Medicines were met with

opposition due to the use of ‘scientific’ studies and age old traditions.

• Benjamin Rush would change some views.

Medicine and Science• Common practice was ‘Bloodletting’• Doctors/Barbers would slice a patients

wrist and drain their blood in order to ‘cure’ them.

• Medicine changed the role of the woman by restricting ‘Midwives’ and removing a traditional role held by many women.

• Rush convinced others that inadequate sanitation was the cause of disease.

Nationalism• Jedidiah Morse, Geography Made Easy,

preached that the United States should author its own textbooks to prevent the aristocratic ideas of England.

• Noah Webster argued that American students should be educated as patriots with nationalistic and American thoughts.

• Webster authored the first American Dictionary to break away from English spelling.

Nationalism• Many authors attempted to capture the

American spirit and remove themselves from English literature.

• Washington Irving wrote popular folk tales with such characters as Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod Crane.

• Mercy Otis Warren is best known for her work on the History of the Revolution, which emphasized the heroism of the American struggle.

• Literature helped instill an early influx of nationalism for a people trying to find themselves.

Religious Skepticism• The American Revolution helped to dismantle

the union between church and state.• During this time new theologies developed

that incorporated more science and less god.• Deism became widely accepted.• Universalism emerged to challenge

predestination• The Holy Trinity was challenged, arguing that

Jesus was a disciple, not the son of god.• These thoughts became known as rationalism

and were more popular and powerful than other religions.

Second Great Awakening• Many religious pundits recognized the decline of religious values

and set forth to reign the people back in the late 18th century.• The Methodist and Baptist became the fastest growing religions.• Revivalists were held throughout the country, in which people

began embracing the sensation in large numbers.• Camp meetings, emotional behavior, religious fervor, and the

decline in predestination helped to assuage the people.

Second Great Awakening• The impact of the Awakening affected

almost everyone; but more so blacks, young women, Native Americans, and people on the frontier.

• The SGA allowed for social stability in communities because it was accepted that people were committed to the same Christian faith.

• Revivalism stirred racial unrest in the south

• Handsome Lake preached to his fellow Indians the need to give up the destructive behaviors of the white man.

Inventions

• Samuel Slater is considered the Father of American Industrialization in the United States, but known as Slater the Traitor in the United Kingdom.

• Slater memorized each detail and piece of textile mills for Spinning Jenny’s and brought this to America.

• It severely crippled the dominance of the British in world production.

Inventions

• The Industrial Revolution: • Led to a rise in the standard of

living.• Developed the Middle Class• Created a working-class culture

• Eli Whitney• Revolutionized cotton production

with the cotton gin• Created interchangeable parts

for weapons

Inventions

• The Cotton Gin• Believed to be developed by Nathaniel Greene but stolen

by Eli Whitney• Separated cotton quickly from the seed• Allowed for an increase in production to meet demand• Created new textile factories in the North

• BUT!!!!!• This invention also created the need for more

slaves!!!!• Cotton was now produced in the upland

South.

Urbanization• With the rapid growth of industrialization

came the need for a major change in the transportation network and transport of raw materials to factory.

• Tariffs were passed favoring American ships and American ports.

• The war in Europe increased the American Merchant Marines.

Urbanization• Internally

• Rivers were used extensively to transport goods.• The invention and rise in Steamboat use propelled the

United States as one. • Robert Fulton’s Clermont began a series of profitable

trades for goods from Pittsburgh to New Orleans.• Turnpikes were built as a win-win profit for the builders

and owners of goods.• All of this created an expansion of domestic

shipping.

Urbanization• Cities began populating in great numbers• Cities offered:

• Music• Theater• Dance• Restaurants• Horse Racing

• Philadelphia was known as the “Athens of America”

• Most of the United States was stillwilderness.

Jefferson as President• Inwardly Jefferson

believed that his victory in the election of 1800 was a revolution over Adams that hadn’t been seen since 1776.

• It was Jefferson’s chance to reduce drastically the size and power of the national government.

Washington, D.C.

• Designed by French architect Pierre L’Enfant• It was to rival Paris on a grand scale• At best, Washington was nothing more than a

raw provincial village whose population would grow slowly, but steady.

• It never rivaled New York or Philadelphia• Had few public buildings of consequence• Was drained from its marsh beginnings

Thomas Jefferson the Man

• Jefferson was a widower• Believed to be the reason his social affairs were never in order.• Owned more than 100 slaves• Rumored to have a child with his slave Sally Hemings.

• Displayed excellent political skills• Writer of the Declaration of Independence• Considered shrewd• Eliminated the aura of royalty that surrounded

the presidency• Used the office of Presidency for Patronage

purposes.

Marbury v. Madison

John Marshall

Impeachment

Aaron Burr

The Embargo, 1808

Non-Intercourse Act, 1809

Indian Problems

Battle of New Orleans

Hartford Convention

Treaty of Ghent

Rush-Bagot Agreement