8.4.3

Analyze the rise of capitalism and the economic problems and conflicts that accompanied it (e.g., Jackson's opposition to the National Bank; early decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that reinforced the sanctity of contracts and a capitalist economic system of law).
             Capitalism, an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, investments that are determined by private decision, and prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market, was the system of government in the childhood of America. A compromise and special district would be set along the banks of the Potomac River, which soon became known as Washington, D.C.  Alexander Hamilton proposed to Congress that a national bank be created in which both private investors and the national government would own, and a tariff, otherwise known as a tax on imports, to encourage Americans to purchase American products. The tariff would protect American industry from foreign competition. Native Americans living between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River denied that the U.S. had authority over them and caused more problems. Two political parties arose; the Federalists, which supported a strong national government, and the Republicans, which supported states’ rights and feared a powerful federal government would endanger people’s liberties.
             Under John Marshall, Chief Justice of Supreme Court until 1835, the Court upheld the power of the national government over states’ rights.  Meanwhile, the U.S. was expanding westward through expeditions by Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike. Britain was seizing and searching American ships taking prisoners, so President Madison declared war with Britain. However, Britain had decided to stop their policy of search and seizure at the same time, but because it took so long for news to travel across the Atlantic, this change in policy wasn’t known in Washington. The war ended with the treaty of Ghent. Around the 1800s, industry and technology were growing quickly, with the invention of the cotton gin and factories popping up all around New England; therefore, cotton production increased dramatically. Americans felt a strong allegiance to the region in which they lived; this was known as sectionalism, and led to the Missouri Compromise. Maryland imposed a tax on the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank of the United States and the bank refused to pay. This case was taken to the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Marshall decided that Maryland had no right to tax the bank because it was a federal institution. When Andrew Jackson was elected president, he fired many federal workers and his supporters were taking the place. The Cherokee Nation refused to give up its land and Georgia ignored the treaties of the 1790s; therefore, the Cherokee sued the state government and took their case to the Supreme Court. Marshall ruled that Georgia had no right to interfere with the Cherokee, but President Jackson ignored the decision and forced the Cherokee out of their homes. The trail was brutally harsh and the Native Americans were grieving over their loss, so historians called it the Trail of Tears. Few groups of Native Americans lived east of the Mississippi. Later, Jackson decided to “kill” the Bank ahead of schedule withdrawing all government deposits and placing them in smaller state banks.


More Information:

   1.    http://www.gliah.uh.edu/index.cfm
          The history of America, the U.S., summarized in eras or time periods. A very informational site.


Recommended Books:

   1.    The American Journey
          by Appleby, Brinkley, McPherson, National Geographic Society; Glencoe McGraw-Hill