Nation Comes of Age - People's History of Ante-Bellum Years 0070590184

Table of contents :
The election of 1828 -- President Andrew Jackson -- The Webster-Hayne debate -- Black Hawk's War -- Nullification -- Jackson and the bank -- The Indian removal -- Jackson at bay -- Jackson vindicated -- Tocqueville's America -- The panic of 1837 -- Texas becomes a bone of contention -- The Mexican war -- Visitors -- Hell in harness -- The near West -- A modest competence -- The fur West -- Jedediah Smith -- A trapper's life -- The Southwest -- John Charles Fremont -- The taking of California -- The gold rush -- The Northwest -- Religion -- Converting the heathen -- The Mormons -- "This huge misery": slave life in the South -- The church of abolition -- Free Blacks -- Utopian communities -- Reform -- The women Immigration -- Urban life -- Entertainment -- High society -- "The devil is in the people" -- Technology -- The economy -- Education -- The kindly killers -- Home life -- Work and nature -- American character -- American art -- American originals -- American literature: the precursors -- People's poetry -- Breaking out -- The darker side -- The historians -- The United States and the world -- The new politics -- The Republicans -- Bleeding Kansas -- Lincoln reenters politics -- A decision deferred -- The Lincoln-Douglas debates -- Way out West -- John Brown -- The election of 1860 -- War

Citation preview

L.

THE

• •*

NATION

GOMES OF AGE A ftople's History of the

Ante-BeUum\iears

MJE SMITH VOLIMKRHK S

UNITED STATES Paul

J.

Puglicse

GC1

1858

LOWER CANADA

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PENNSYLVANIA ^j^~^o S^f^

Ft.

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\ Harrison, 182-183, 200 disavowal of annexation ol Texas, 200 elected President. 130 election of 1840, 182

election

t

184

1.

-'110-201

1228

/

INDEX

Van Buren, Martin fails to first

(cont.):

get nomination,

203-204

annual message to Congress, 171-172

fiscal affairs,

leadership, 405-406 oxen for drawing wagons, 432, 467

167-168

inauguration of, 163-168 Jacksonian Democrat, 8-10

125-216 panic of 1837, 166-167 political tactics and organization,

Peoria Train, 461-463 rules and regulations, 436 Santa Fe trade, 404-418

letters to Vatican,

9,

124-125, 128 Presidential candidate (1836), 123-126 resignation of, 42 secretary of state, 23-24 Van Rensselaer brothers, 792-793, 801-802 revolt of tenants, 801-802

Vancouver Island, 495-497 trade with Indians, 497-498 Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 780, 1048 Vanderlyn, John, 922, 925

Vann, Joseph, 96-97 Vegetarianism, 686-687, 882, 1102 Venezuela, 1065 Veracruz, 213-214

American

seizure,

219-222, 230-231

Vethake, Henry, 843 Vice President, selection process, 1071 Vicksburg, Mississippi, slave revolt, 119 Victoria, Queen of England, 818, 945 Vigilante groups, 314-317, 908

Henry, 1148-1149 Vincenne Indians, 310 Violence, 116, 256 (See also Riots and violence) Virgin River, 368-369 Virginia Establishment, 24-25 Virginia Resolution, 35, 39 Villard,

Vision of Columbus, Visitors:

guns and ammunition, 407 hunters and trappers, 432, 460 Indians and, 398-418, 433-440, 461-463

The (Barlow), 834

impressions of America, 242-267 writers interested in republican

government, 260-261 Votes and voting: election of 1828, 13 rights of immigrants, 189-190 universal suffrage, 253 (See also Electoral votes)

Wages and hours, 798, 801-802, 805, 843-845 Wagon trains or caravans, 373-374, 432-435 buffalo hunts, 408

cargoes, 405

Conestoga wagons, 460 custom duties, 411-412 dust on the trail, 490-491 electing captain and lieutenants, 433-434 fording rivers, 406-407 guides, 460, 463

survival

on

trail,

433, 435, 438-442

teamsters, 432

Walden (Thoreau), 993, 995, 1026 Walker, Joseph, 426, 438-439 Walker, Dr. Mary, 881 Walker, William, 1048 Walker's Pass, 441 Wall Street, 164, 177, 199, 842 depression of 1837, 178 financial crises, 837, 840 War of 1812, 27, 35, 217, 231, 340 Battle of the Thames, 123 effect on fur trade, 340 Ward, Henry Dana, 56 Ward, Julia (see Julia Ward Howe) Warsaw, Missouri, 313-314 schoolteacher driven out, 318, 32U slaveowners and slaves in, 317

Washington, George, 113, 1044, 1064, 1188 Bingham's painting of Washington crossing the Delaware, 951-952 corruption and political favoritism, 9 fiftieth anniversary of inauguration,

179-180

member of Freemasons,

3

officers serving with, 18

Washington, Lewis, 1157 Washington, D.C. (see District of Columbia) Washington Globe, 79, 203 Washington Territory, Union sentiment, 1153

Water cures (hydropathy), 865-866 Waterhouse, Dr. Benjamin, 77-78 Watts, Isaac, 544 Wayland, Francis, 844, 856-857 Wealth and money-making, 827-828 accumulation of, 827, 843-844 pursuit of, 259, 264 (See also Money and power) Webb, James Watson, 187, 905-906, 1123 Weber, Max, 844, 918 Webster, Daniel, 944, 947, 969, 985, 1094 Bank of the U.S., 28 on California annexation, 427 censure of Jackson, 138 Clay and, 180 death and funeral, 1086-1088 death of son, 236 debates with Hayne, 32-48, 56 defense of the "Union," 37-39, 70,

1068-1070, 1086-1087

INDEX election of 1836, 124, 130 flashy manner of dressing, 881 Fugitive Slave Law, 982

"South" West, 283 Southern, 302-305

on Jackson's inauguration, 17 on Kossuth, 1043

to Texas,

leader of Whigs, 1058 Mexican War, 229, 236

visitors' interest in,

strains

wagon

278, 903, 988 popularity of, 1085 presidential ambitions, 123-124, 129,

1080-1088 on Revenue Bill, 69-70 secretary of state, 184, 1048-1049, 1072

and accomplishments, 1086-1088

tariff issue, 5,

68

Webster, Edward, 236 Webster, Noah, 248, 252 Webster- Ashburton Treatv (1842), 188 Weed, Thurlow, 55, 129, 130, 1081, 1120,

1164-1165 Weld, Theodore, 195, 607-608, 610, 612, 618-621, 627, 633, 716, 718 Welles, Gideon, 1181, 1186 Wells, Horace, 861 West, Benjamin, 813, 921-922

Westward migration, books about, 431 characteristics, 284,

cost of land,

114, 172, 261,

283-499

330-344

and

trains (see

244

Wagon

trains)

Western lobby, 421, 424, 427 Yellowstone Expedition, 324-330, 345-354 West Point, officers in Mexican War, 217-218, 223-224, 236 Whales and whaling, 181, 496 Wheat, 414, 442 transportation by rails, 276 Whig politics, xii, 115, 123-126, 129, 772 aligned with British against French, 243 alliance with Republican Partv, 182, 1116-1117 antislavery wing, 1081, 1116, 1122 Baltimore convention (1844), 1083-1084 Baltimore convention (1848), 1061-1062 coalition, 187,

207-208

conservative coalition, 197, 240 death of, 1090, 1096, 1121, 1167 effect of Taylor's victory, 224-225 election of 1836, 124, 130 election of 1837, 169

176-177

950 202-203, 205 election of 1852, 1080-1081, 1090 election of 1840, 180-185, election of 1844, 105,

63

"Fur" West, 283, 323-344 free-states

436-437

stresses,

election of 1838,

300-302, 916, 918

deplored in New England, 32, 34, 1153 Emancipation issue, 1153 exploring expeditions, 323 Far West, 283 fur traders,

1229

133 Union sentiment, 1150-1154

oratorical ability, 164, 168, 170-171, 246,

talents

and

/

slave-states,

285

gold rush and, 486 Great Basin region, 283 for health reasons, 433 Indians destroyed by, 394-396 interest in Wild West, 244 investments in Western lands, 63, 301-302

on road to Pacific, 431-437 Mormons, 556-558, 562 Near West, 283-305 New England's anxiety over, 33-34

life

established in West,

289-290

nominate Clay, 180 Free Soil, 1085, 1090, 1116 membership, 207-208 merchants and business men, 186-188 opposition to Mexican War, 215, 225 Oregon question, 210-211 failure to

principles, 171

170 Southern, 1 167 rise of,

strategy,

125-126

use of political svmbolism, 181-182 White, Hugh. 76. 124 White House, 113 inauguration of Gen. Harrison, 184 Jackson's inauguration, 18-19

North-South differences, 1154 "North" West, 283-284 Old or Near West, 283-284 Pacific Coast West, 283 Prairie Plains and Lake Plains, 284

social life, 26 White River, 347, 365 Whitehead, Alfred North, 990

prejudices against, 1 143 public lands grab, 15 relationships of ideas to geography, 284

489-490, 531, 541 massacre bv Indians, 490, 492 Whitman, Walt. xii. 810-811, 822, 996-1007, 1026-1028. 1041-1042, 1187

settlement of, 265, 284 slave versus free states, 33 Smith's, Jedediah, expedition, 355-374

Whiting,

Anne

Beverly,

Whitman, Marcus and

early

life.

419-420

Narcissa, 381,

996-997

Emerson's influence, 985, 997-1007

I23O

/

INDEX

Whitman, Walt

treatment in India, 548

(cont.):

907 Leaves of Grass, 998-1007, 1022, 1026 Whitney, Eli, 821, 824, 830 Whittier, John Greenleaf, 108, 561-562, 976-977, 980, 983, 1062 abolition sympathies, 603, 606, 621, 623 Whittling, obsession for, 250, 957 Whittredge, Worthington, 930 Wide Awakes, Republican group, 1168 Wilberforce, William, 1136 Wild West, interest in, 244 (See also Westward migration) Willamette Valley, 370, 391-392, 424, 491 settlements, 492 Frederick Evans,

Williams, David, 44-45 Williams, Isaac, 467-468 Williams, Roger, 806 Wilmot, David, 219, 1121 Wilmot Proviso, 219, 221, 1060, 1064-1065, 1085, 1121 Wilson, Alexander, 937 Wilson, "Blackjack," 314 Wilson, Henry, 1070-1071, 1121

Wind Wind

1103

726 religions and, 508 political action,

right to speak,

617-618

City),

754, 761-764 Woodbury, Levi, 42, 202, 1081 Woodville, Richard Caton, 932

Wool,

372 River Mountains, 350-351, 423, 437 Winnebago Indians, 50, 289, 295 Winthrop, John, 228, 240, 265, 568 Wirt, William, 57, 62, 85 Wisconsin Territory, 291-292

292-300

life,

issue of dress, 722, 881,

Seneca Falls convention, 718-721 temperance reform and, 688 Wood, Fernando (mayor of New York

River,

frontier

unmarried girls, 712 upper middle class, 707, 713, 715 Western women compared to Eastern, 736 writers and reformers, 246 Women's rights movement, 286, 620-621, 717-736,802 abolitionist movement, 120-121 abortions, 755-756 antislavery movement and, 622-623, 718, 726 "Declaration of Sentiments," 719-721 importance of, 736

German and Scandinavian immigrants, 292-300

Ellis,

98

Woolen goods, tariff issue, 6 Worcester, Samuel A., 86-88 Work, 887-900 application of grace and ingenuity, 888-889 North-South attitudes toward, 917 and success, 890 Whittier's poems celebrating, 976 Worker's cooperative workshops, 803, 808 Workingmen, 183 attitudes toward, 116 prejudice against blacks, 641

Indian attacks, 51, 110, 292 pioneer settlements, 285-286 townships, 295 Wise, Henry, 198, 1124 Wiser, Peter, 331

Women: with character and intellect, 708-709,

712-713 college education, 858 colonial period, 707

compliant wife, 707-708

(See also Labor movement) Workingmen's Party, 126, 795-805 issues, 796 significance of, 805 World Anti-Slavery Convention, London, 716, 718 Worth, William, 219, 231, 235-236

feminism, 726-727

Wright, Frances (Fanny), 126, 244, 516, 526, 675, 796-798, 801 Wright, Silas, 200, 203-204, 802 Wyandot Indians, 110 Wyeth, Nathaniel, 375, 381

"feminization of churches," 513-515

Wyoming, 353

freedom, 712

Wyoming

discrimination against, 715-717 effect of capitalism on, 715-716 father-daughter relationships, 712, 722

frontier

Valley Massacre,

939

women, 730-736

health of,

714-715

Yale College, 854-855, 860

Indian squaws, 335, 464-465 observations by foreign visitors, 708-709 prostitutes and mistresses, 713, sexual attitudes, 710, 713-714 shortage in West, 468

stereotypes,

708-710

752-755

Yancey, William, 1168 "Yankees, 261, 314, 824, 888, 915-917

824-826 294 "westernized," 287-288 inventors,

settlers,

Yellowstone basin area, 939, 941

INDEX beaver trapping, 331, 375-393, 432

339 Yellowstone Expedition, 324-330, 345-354 "collections" in Philadelphia Museum, 330 consequences of, 330 Indian attacks, 345-346 membership, 324 object of, 325 visits to Indian tribes, 325-330 Colter's expedition,

/

1231

Yellowstone River, 406-407

Yokut Indians, 361-362 Yorba, Don, 360 Young, Brigham, 555, 557, 559, 562-567, 1097 Young, Joseph, 555 Young Men's Republican Convention, 58 Youth, participation in politics, 912

About the Author

R

age Smith was educated at Dartmouth College and Harvard UniverHe has served as research associate at the Institute of Early American History and Culture and has taught at the University of California at Los Angeles and at Santa Cruz, where he was Provost of Cowell College. He is now Professor Emeritus of that university, as well as co-director of the William James Association. Dr. Smith is the author of The Historian and History; Daughters of the Promised Land: Woman in American History; As a City upon a Hill: The Town in American History; the highly acclaimed twovolume biography John Adams, which was a selection of the Book-of-theMonth Club, a National Book Award Nominee, and a Bancroft winner; A New Age Now Begins and The Shaping ofAmerica, both Main Selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club. The Nation Comes of Age continues Dr. Smith's extensive People's History of the United States, of which A New Age Now Begins and The Shaping of America are the first volumes. Page Smith lives in Santa Cruz, California. sity.

UNITED STATES Paul J.PuglicseGCI

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