America in the 18th and 19th Centuries

The United States grew as a divided nation of ideologies, politics, and of morals throughout the years, while at the same time being unified by several events that inspired unification amongst several people. Politically, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, immigrants and people of color typically had to endure harsh differences in the political system such as being unable to vote due to the change in voting systems, or being enslaved and unable to represent themselves. Americans were socially united by events such as the Second Great Awakening and were torn apart by other events such as the Abolitionist Movement. Economically, Americans were divided by depression, differences in economic status based on gender, and conflicts between other nations. As a result, Americans were in a state of constant division and unification for all purposes religious, moral, economic, and political, in a time where all of the maxims of discrimination occurred.

The Haitian Revolution served to both unify and divide Americans by using violence to inspire slaves to revolt and to terrify white slaveholders into having them even further reinforce pro-slavery views. Slaves were brought together as a result of the Haitian Revolution due to the knowledge of the revolution being a call for attaining, according to the textbook, “full abolition and the rights of citizenship denied in the United States”. On the other hand, the Haitian Revolution divided Americans by sparking a series of white supremacist attempts to even further restrict the political rights of blacks, calling for meetings solely for ridiculing abolitionists and all equal rights movements.

In regards to the paranoia of the arcane and religiously alien, Americans were both unified and divided in regard to the topic of immigration. Americans were terrified by the Masonic brotherhood as a result of their European organizational secrecy and the stories of the death of a man named William Morgan. It was due to the circulation of the Morgan story that the political fear of Masonry, according to the textbook, “transformed local outrage into a political movement that… had significant power in New York and parts of New England”. For instance, according to the source, “Samuel Morse Fears a Catholic Conspiracy, 1835,” Morse believed that Catholic Irish immigrants were conspiring to destroy the United States, and proceeded to publish his fears. It was therefore that Anti-Mason parties were formed alongside Nativists in order to directly oppose Catholic immigration and anything Masonic with violence.

The War of 1812 had Americans join together to commit to the war effort in an attempt to end the repeated processes of impressment, in which American sailors were forced to join the British navy. According to the source, “America Guided by Wisdom Engraving, 1815,” the image depicted the pride of Americans in their military victory against the British, which represented the union of said Americans after the War of 1812. However, before the war officially began, there was reluctance amongst Congress. According to the source, “Congress Debates Going to War, 1811,” Congress argued against the suggestion to go to war with Britain, claiming that such a war would only be an attempt at conquest, which would go against the interests of the nation, and would jeopardize the safety of the people in their homes. Ultimately, before the war had begun, Americans were in opposition towards each other over the ethics of going to war and feared the consequences were the United States losing against Britain. It was only after the war that they would unite in celebration, expecting a future of prosperity from thereon.

The Second Great Awakening spurred a series of movements that led to a great unification amongst Americans. Caused by the Market Revolution, evangelicals gained the time and resources to begin several reformation campaigns in order to eliminate the social evils of society. As a result, the Second Great Awakening led to the concept of perfectionism, which according to the textbook, was the idea that “true Christianity required that a person give up self-love in favor of loving others”. Being an emphasis on the idea of an almost selfless, humble outlook towards others, perfectionism would pave the way for establishing connections between others under the advocacy of reformation and postmillennialism, later transitioning to such reformation campaigns as the Temperance Movement.

The Temperance Movement served to unify Americans over the topic of curbing alcohol consumption. As the largest American reform movement during the antebellum period, the Temperance Movement led to a massive crusade comprised of middle-class Protestants and women who attempted to spread Christianity as well as to expel moral vice in relation to alcoholism. More specifically, according to the textbook, there was a perception that “heavy drinking was associated with men who abused, abandoned, or neglected their family obligations”, which led to women mainly contributing to the Temperance Movement in order to combat this social problem.

Antislavery Movement caused a distinct unification of Americans against slavery to combat the social problems it had caused. The Antislavery Movement led to the rallying of American Baptists and Quakers who used a tactic dubbed “moral suasion” to, according to the textbook, “convince slaveholders to voluntarily release their slaves by appealing to their sense of Christian conscience”. Also according to the textbook, “slavery was the most God-defying of all sins and the most terrible blight on the moral virtue of the United States”, and by utilizing moral suasion to this extent, Americans would be religiously connected with each other for a greater moral purpose.

Due to the Embargo Act of 1807 failing to maintain a neutral peace among nations, in which the British continued to force Americans to join the British Navy, Thomas Jefferson’s term in office came to economically divide Americans. With the support of Congress, according to the textbook, Jefferson set an embargo on all American ports to restrict foreign trade, which led to Americans smuggling goods out of the country to avoid a restricted economy. Consequently, Americans would, also according to the textbook, “label Jefferson a tyrant”, with Federalists coming together to further criticize and antagonize Jefferson over his economic policies.

As a result of innovations that bolstered production and the lack of change towards the legal role of women, the Market Revolution came to greatly divide Americans economically. According to the textbook, “depressions devastated the economy in 1819, 1837, and 1857… counterfeit bills were endemic during this early period”. Due to the dilemma of counterfeiting during a period of economic depression, economic inequality amongst individuals who could not meet a “confidence man” who provided such counterfeit bills skyrocketed. Furthermore, women were economically controlled by men, as according to the textbook, “upon marriage… women could not earn their own money, own their own property, sue, or be sued”. The husbands would control all economic activity within the family, which ultimately left women economically powerless and therefore brought women to oppose their husbands, especially during the Temperance Movement, in which alcoholism was speculated to be directly linked to abusive husbands.

When Andrew Jackson’s first term led to the vetoing of a bill that was to renew the national bank’s charter, this led to Jackson followed up with declaring the Bank War, which both united and separated Americans over the ethics of doing so. As a consequence of the controversy surrounding Andrew Jackson’s veto, according to the textbook, “a newspaper editor said Jackson was trying… to take over as a military tyrant”, while supporters of Jackson stated that he was attempting to “keep a ‘monied aristocracy’ from conquering the people”. With there being an increase in both opposition and of support in Andrew Jackson in response to the veto, Americans were thus united against each other to a dispute over the deployment of the national bank.

In conclusion, the United States was both united and divided throughout the 18th and 19th centuries due to a series of events that brought Americans together and set them apart. Politically, people of color were united to fight for their own rights as slaves, while others were in opposition towards Catholics, immigrants, and Britain over fear and impressment. Americans were socially united by events such as the Second Great Awakening and the Temperance movement, and torn apart by conflicts involving the Abolitionist Movement. Finally, Americans were divided by differences in economic status, depression, and conflicts between other nations.