Last Best Hope of Earth

Tag: Early Republic

  • The Panic of 1839

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    Martin Van Buren.

    Not long after the Panic of 1837 had set in and gripped America’s economy, a second shock came: the Panic of 1839.

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  • The Panic of 1837

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    A Political Cartoon About the Panic of 1837.

    In Martin Van Buren’s inaugural address, in March of 1837, he boasted of the prosperity and expansion of commerce that had occurred under his predecessor, Andrew Jackson. Just months later, the Panic of 1837 would begin. Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: Transformation of America, 1815-1848, 502.

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  • Patronage and Prosperity

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    Photograph of Amos Kendall.

    Amos Kendall was a journalist and a staunch supporter of President Andrew Jackson. In return for his support, he was one of President Jackson’s closest advisors, save Martin Van Buren. Kendall even “formulated the rationale for the spoils system as ‘rotation in office’ and ghostwrote the Bank Veto Message as well as several of Jackson’s other major state papers.” Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: Transformation of America, 1815-1848, 495.

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  • Voting in the Early 1800s

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    Depiction of Voting in the Early 1800s.

    In the early 1800s, an American polling place “displayed many of the worst features of all-male society: rowdy behavior, heavy drinking, coarse language, and occasional violence.” Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: Transformation of America, 1815-1848, 491.

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  • The Spread of Enfranchisement

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    Politics in an Oyster House. By: Richard Caton Woodville.

    Following the War of 1812, enfranchisement broadened in American society considerably.

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  • The Decline of the Militia

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    Depiction of a Militia in 1828.

    From the War of 1812 on, for the next few decades, the use of militias would become less and less prominent in America.

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  • The Early Federal Government Surplus

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    Henry Clay Addressing the Senate.

    Toward the end of President Andrew Jackson’s second term, the federal government had come to enjoy a substantial surplus, primarily coming as a result of land sales and “proceeds from the Tariff 0f 1833.” Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: Transformation of America, 1815-1848, 499.

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  • The “Positive Good” of Slavery

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    Engraving of John C. Calhoun.

    John Calhoun, one of the staunchest supporters of states’ rights, was widely known for his view that slavery as a “positive good” in American society.

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  • A First Test for Separation of Church and State

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    A Depiction of the Cholera Outbreak in New York City in 1832.

    With the communications and transportation revolution came new, unforeseeable consequences. One such consequence was the spread of cholera and other contagious diseases, which would test the mettle of Americans.

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  • Seeds of Division

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    Cassius Marcellus Clay.

    In America, slavery was not always an issue that could be separated by the North and the South.

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