Patriot's History: Growth 1815-1837 (Chap 6,7)
Music: Piano Variations
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Summary It was a time of steam technology, which powered shipping, spurring industry. And Europe, said the "Doctrine" of Monroe, should keep its borders. And the status quo of slavery was causing argument, as Andy Jackson fattened government. Chapter It was an era of religious growth, and slavery was on the minds of both the north and south. And now industrial development would lead to radical advances using steam technology, especially for shipping - land and sea. The men were born who were to take the stage for a remarkably productive age: like Rockefeller (oil) and Carnegie (in steel); and Vanderbilt was soon to be in shipping, J. P. Morgan in the banks. And commerce started heading westward, thanks to routes for trading, like the Santa Fe. The great frontier potential would convey the need to stave off the scenario of Europe's meddling in or overthrow of western land: the Doctrine saying so, attributed in time to James Monroe, did not, of course, discount our own desire to cite some lands as vital to acquire. Americans were talking slavery as well: tradition or debauchery, it heated up when certain western states - Missouri, one - engendered great debates of "slave or free." Missouri's Compromise, devised by Henry Clay, would neutralize the warring sides (just temporarily) by welcoming the state of Maine as free, Missouri slave. But then to minimize the controversial matter in the eyes of angry critics in the south and north, Van Buren (the "Magician") ventured forth with plans to formulate a modern style of party based on "spoils," to reconcile the troubling issues, seeking unity through patronage, the sly philosophy of "Jackson Democrats." The President, war hero Jackson, seemed to represent the common man, but truly he relied on patronage and cronies, satisfied to fight the banks and Indians to please the public, while his arrogant decrees imbued him with an autocratic pose that rendered him "King Andrew" to his foes. |