Essay about The Indian Removal Act

Question 1 Indian Removal The Indian Removal Act was the forced relocation of Indian Tribes from their homelands to federal lands further West. The people of the South supported this Act because they wanted to gain the fertile Indian lands. A type of Indian resistance would be that they attempted to adopt “white” practices, like large farms and even owning slaves. Another type of Indian resistance would be going to war. The First Seminole War, for example, tried fighting against the Americans for their land. They had help from the fugitive slaves that they were harboring.

The Cherokee attempted to write a constitution that declared themselves as a sovereign nation. This was unsuccessful because the Supreme Court ruled against them. Question 2 Nat Turner Rebellion/slave treatment/life Nat Turner was a slave that led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. This rebellion was one of the most violent ones and resulted in many fatalities. Slavery changed in the South after Nat Turner’s rebellion. Stricter Slave Codes were created to prevent future rebellions and many slaves that were a part of the rebellion were tortured and/or killed.

Slaves were treated differently on large plantations because they were kept on a tighter “leash. ” Their owners created new ways to make sure that they were doing their work and not attempting to escape. For example, they created a choke type of collar with bells hanging from them so they could hear where they were at all times. Question 3 Transportation Systems One new type of transportation would be the steamboat. Steamboats helped the economy because they could transport goods faster and cheaper than other means of transportation at this time. Another new type of transportation would be the railroads.

Railroads could transport goods fast and cheap as well as steamboats, but the difference between the two is that railroads could also work in the winter, whereas steamboats couldn’t because the canals would freeze over. One of the goals for increased transportation would be an increased economy. More goods could be created and shipped to consumers faster and cheaper, allowing more to be sold and bought. Question 4 Lowell Factory System A fact about the Lowell Factory system would be that they mainly employed young women. This was due to the fact that women could get paid lower wages than men, allowing the factory owners to save more money.

Another fact about the Lowell Factory System would be that the workers lived in company housing. They did not stay with their family because their hours were so intensive that they were rarely not at work anyways. The Lowell System was replaced because textile competition grew and the owners dropped wages, so strikes started to occur. Also, foreign workers willing to work for a smaller wage started taking over jobs. Question 5 The Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival movement in the United States.

Its members were mostly Baptists and Methodists. One reform that is associated with the Second Great Awakening would be the abolitionist movement. More and more people were willing to fight for the African slaves’ freedom; there were even African preachers during this Awakening. A second reform that is associated with the Second Great Awakening would be the women’s rights movement. This also stemmed off of the abolitionist movement because women started to realize that, if they could change people’s minds about slaves, then they could surely change their mind about women.

Question 6 Hamilton’s Financial Plan One example of Hamilton’s Financial Plan in dealing with the nation’s debt would be the Bank of the United States. This was created to standardize the currency of America and to help cope with the debts that were originated. A second example of Hamilton’s Financial Plan would be protecting American industries. He believed the nation could not thrive if they just relied on expensive goods from foreign countries, so protective tariffs were passed in order to protect the industries and goods in America. One benefit to this plan would be that he helped America not have to rely on Britain anymore.

He passed protective tariffs so people wouldn’t have to purchase foreign goods and his bank helped establish the US dollar, which allowed people to convert from the British currency. Question 7 Seneca Falls The “Declaration of Sentiments” was a document created by Elizabeth Cady Stanton that was very similar to the Declaration of Independence, but it was written mostly about women’s rights. This was created at the Seneca Falls Convention. Two female leaders that were at the Seneca Falls Convention would be Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

Two male leaders that were at the Seneca Falls Convention would be Frederick Douglass and Jacob Chamberlain. The women’s rights movement stemmed from the abolitionist movement. Many women were a part of the abolitionist movement and they realized that, if they could convince people to change their minds about the slaves, then they could convince people to change their mind about women, as well. Question 8 Louisiana Purchase One fact about the Louisiana Purchase would be that the United States purchased 828,000 square miles from France.

This purchase doubled the size of the United States and includes fifteen current US states. A second fact about the Louisiana Purchase would be that the US originally intended to only purchase New Orleans and its’ coastal lands, but France was willing to sell all of it. The cheap price and massive amount of lands easily changed the US’ mind. Jefferson almost did not approve of the Purchase because many argued that it was unconstitutional to acquire any new territory or land. He had “full treaty power” though, and that was enough for him to allow this purchase to happen.

Question 9 Alien and Sedition Act One reason the Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Act was to strengthen security in the nation. These laws made it harder for immigrants to vote. One law of the Act would be that nobody could say anything negatively about the government in public. If caught doing so, the punishment would be a charged fine or even going to prison. The Republicans countered the Act by attempting to speak out about how they believed that these Acts were only created to enforce Federal power and to lower Republican power.

Many were punished for speaking out against the government, which was prohibited as a part of these laws. Question 10 Virginia and Kentucky Resolution One reason the Republicans passed the Virginia and Kentucky Resolution was to fight against the Alien and Sedition Acts. This Resolution stated that people had the right to speak out against unconstitutional doings by the government, which the Alien and Sedition Acts prohibited. A second reason for passing the Resolution was to try and strengthen individual states’ rights.

This brought up the topic of nullification alot; if a state found a law unconstitutional, then nullification was the solution to it. The relevance to the Constitutional debate of the Resolution is because of the fact that it makes it seem as if the nation is not one whole nation, but many separate states. This led many people to wonder whether this Resolution was constitutional or not. Question 11 Missouri Compromise of 1820 One aspect of the Missouri Compromise was that Maine entered as a free state and Missouri entered as a slave state.

This was due to the fact that Missouri requested to be a slave state, but the nation did not want to have a different number of slaves states from free states, so that’s why Maine was entered as a free state. A second aspect of the Missouri Compromise would be that it established an imaginary boundary between the free and slave regions. This imaginary line crossed through the Louisiana territory and divided the two sections into pretty much the North and the South. This resolve the issue of slavery in 1820 because it temporarily made each side, the North and the South, happy.

They were both happy because they had roughly equal land on each side of the boundary line and an equal number of slave vs. free states. Question 12 Monroe Doctrine One fact about the Monroe Doctrine was that it was created to protect and enforce US domination of North America. It stated that any European efforts to take/colonize lands on the continent would be seen as an act of aggression and then dealt with by US troops. A second fact about the Monroe Doctrine would be that it also prohibited the US from interfering with European colonies/countries.

This helped both the US and Europe, because it prevented anyone from Europe from leaving and establishing land in North America. This was important to US history because it led to the belief of Manifest Destiny, which is the belief that the US has the right and the power to establish a country out of the entirety of North America. This was significant because it led to many things, such as forced Indian Removal and annexing Texas. Question 13 Marbury v. Madison One aspect to this case would be that it was the first one in history to use “judicial review. This allowed courts to void acts from Congress that they deemed unconstitutional.

A second aspect to this case would be that John Adams appointed many family and friends government jobs with commission, but refused to send out these commissions. William Marbury took it to court, which led to this case. The importance of Marshal’s ruling in this case is that it led to making the Supreme Court a separate entity from the Executive Branch. It also allowed for the Supreme Court to have just as much power as the Executive Branch.