Chapter 12Shaping America in the Antebellum Age.ppt

Chapter 12Shaping America in the Antebellum Age The American People, 6th ed. Religious Revival and Reform Philosophy Finney and the Second Great Awakening From the late 1790s to the late 1830s, a wave of religious revivalism swept through the United States. Personified by the flamboyant Charles Finney who preached every night for six months in Rochester, New York. Revivalists toned down the Calvinist rhetoric and preached a religion of inclusiveness. The Transcendentalists A small but influential group of New England intellectuals who lived around Ralph Waldo Emerson, the era’s foremost thinker. The group was called Transcendentalists because of their belief that truth was found in intuition beyond the senses. They questioned slavery and the pursuit of wealth. Members included Nathanial Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau (“On Civil Disobedience”) The Political Response to Change Changing Political Culture Andrew Jackson’s presidency was instrumental in bringing politics to the center focus of many American lives. Jackson promised a more democratic system of politics. He was personally not very democratic, owned slaves, and favored the forced removal of Indians to the west. His administration did see the effectual emergence of a competitive party system. Old Hickory’s Vigorous Presidency Jackson’s key principles: Majority rule Limited power of the national government The obligation of the government to defend the nation’s average people against the tyranny of the wealthy Aggressive use of the presidential veto Favored a rotational system of staffing the government Jackson’s Indian Policy Andrew Jackson favored forcible removal and relocation westward on reservations. A Supreme Court decision in 1823 stating that Indians could occupy but not hold title to land in the United States made Jackson’s policy easy to implement. Using harassment and bribery, Jackson’s administration forced many of the Indian Nations to march west to present-day Oklahoma. Jackson’s Bank War