Era Of Reform Essay

Unfortunately, with few exceptions, navigable rivers and lakes did not link up conveniently to form usable transportation networks. Before the war of 1812m some Americans considered canals as a likely solution, but enormous costs and engineering problems had limited canal construction to less than 100 miles. After the war, the entry of development opened the way to an era of canal building. New York State was most successful at canal development. In 1817 the state started work on on a canal that would run over more than 350 miles’ form Lake Erie to the Hudson River. About three thousand workers worked on digging a huge ditch that would eventually form the Erie Canal. The last leg was completed in 1825 and the first freight boat made its way from Buffalo to Albany and then on to New York

Anti-slavery, perfect societies, connections with nature, and less alcohol were just some of the issues discussed and acted upon during the Age of Reform. The Age of Reform was a social reform, or an attempt to improve upon issues in society, occurred in America during the mid-1800’s. Reform movements such as public education and women’s rights both made essential impacts on American Society.

Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States of America, can be debated as either a good president or bad president. But if one were to weigh out the positives and negatives of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, one would realize that his positives outweigh his negatives for a variety of historic facts. Andrew Jackson was a good president because he represented the majority of America’s people by being a common, prevented a civil war when South Carolina threatened to secede from the nation, and because he technically found or instigated the two major parties used in America today (Democratic and Republican). Many Jackson oppositionists despise him because of he is a hypocrite, however America was founded on hypocrisy so as an

With the dissipating property qualifications, Jackson did little to help others who needed rights for which the Constitution was created. “We hold these truths self evident that all men are created equal” (Doc. A). Yes, it does say all men, but Jackson did nothing to help men who needed it the most. He did not help men such as blacks and native americans and did nothing about women's rights. During his presidency, women were petitioning for rights and jobs besides factory workers, stay at home mothers, and school teachers and yet he did nothing about it. Also, he did not help workers who wanted labor unions. Instead, he stated that the employer has full control over them and that it was illegal to form labor unions. Then there is the slavery issue which no president had yet

Andrew Jackson had a big impact on American politics. Some people think that he influenced politics in a benefiting way, while other people dislike his ideas. It was because of him that there was a so called “Jacksonian Era.” This era lasted from 1824 to 1860. During this time, Jackson was President of the United States. It was an era that “addressed the inequalities in American society.” The Jacksonian Era was a crucial period of time in American history when the role of the President and Federal Government changed. Things like the Bank War, Missouri Compromise, Gold Rush, Seneca Falls Convention, Indian Removal Policy, a change in voting requirements and the split of the Democratic Republicans changed the United States forever.

Numerous factors brought unity to an adolescent nation which prevailed the confidence Americans needed for self-identity. As rapid mass-communication and transportation became easily available, any individual had the luxury of pursuing a life with personal freedoms just a grasp away. Moving west was made attractive for numerous reasons. For example, shipping products such as beaver fur enable a fashionable trend which sparked a demand in garments. The construction of the Erie Canal in 1825 that connected the Great Lakes with the Hudson River boomed the motivation, whether it was cost effective or not, completing miles into small distances, according to a journalist, “In thirty-six minutes we had passed near three miles, and reached the east of an embankment about 136 chains long across the valley of the Sedaqueda creek”. This economic process boomed with new opportunities for average Americans during the Era of Good Feeling. The early republic also had more busted effects from internal

Andrew Jackson’s presidency should not be admired by our current generation because he did whatever he wanted and only that. Many, many times during his presidency Jackson decided to simply not follow the rules. One example is when the Cherokee went to the supreme court about their land being taken. The supreme court ruled that their actions in removing the Cherokee Violated their treaties with the federal government, and that they had a right to their land. To which Jackson responded by saying “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” (Crashcourse). This basically means that even if there was a new rule he had to follow, it didn’t matter because he didn’t care. He was going to do what he wanted, and only what he wanted. No matter who or what tried to stop him. Andrew Jackson treated other people just as badly as the Cherokees.

Gender inequality and slavery were the two biggest evils that reformers tried eliminating in the time period. The abolition of slavery had many reformers behind it. Two very important men trying to achieve this were Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, a white man, going to show there was support from all types of people. Two of the women’s rights advocates were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sarah Grimke. They both achieved great things to help out their cause. Although slavery and gender equality are arguably the most important evils in the time period there were still many other. One of these was alcohol. During the time period the Temperance

Between the years 1825 and 1850, the US underwent a series of social and political reforms which attempted to democratize American life. Reform movements during this period of Jacksonian Democracy attempted to dissolve disunity in the social ladder and pushed for equal rights among all citizens. Stemming from the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century, many of these reforms were backed by religious ideals over democratic principles. At the forefront of the cause, however, was the hope for a more democratic system in which there was not only popular sovereignty, but a sense of social leveling.

In the 1820s and 1830s Andrew Jackson had a big part in the United States society, politics, and economy. There were positive outcomes, such as more opportunity for people of other classes. Some negative outcomes came too, such as riots happening in the country. Different factors, such as The Bank of the United States and tariffs, are both positive and/or negative effects on the country. The Jacksonian Democrats affected politics, the economy, and the society in both positive and negative ways. Some factors that affected these was The Bank of the United States, the common man idea, and the power the president had.

Even though Jackson was very successful during his presidency, there were some events in history that really showed his “weaknesses”. Jackson was classified as a lunatic. He was feared by many, especially his opponents. Due to his temper and poor decisions, Jackson did not mind to go to war for what he believed in or did not care to remove anyone against him. He was a real savage, and I feel the country at this time of period needed this type of mentality in the presidency. A negative event that took place during his term was the Trail of Tears, which was the forced removal of Native Americans from their homeland, resulting in the death of thousands of people. He also promoted slavery and he himself owned many and showed cruelty towards them. Andrew Jackson was stubborn and only cared about himself, but I do believe he

Jackson, uneducated as he was, was a very shrewd man. Using the spoils system, he all but totally replaced the cabinet from the previous administration. By rewarding the men who had helped him reach his current state, he made it clear that the middleclass could improve their condition. The cabinet was no longer filled with wealthy men of status, but instead of more every day people.

This made it very hard for the individual states to come up with the money. Usually private investors took care of this issue (Roark, 260). Canals were another way for an increase in transportation. They would connect cities, such as the Erie Canal, which covered the area between Albany and Buffalo and connecting New York City to the area of the Great Lakes (Roark, 261). Railroads also came into the picture with the first railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio in 1829 (Roark, 262).

In my opinion, the most important reform during the Progressive Era was his antitrust policy. Monopolies and trust, most of the time are very bad for consumers. First, because their is only one company controlling them, they can set any price they choose regardless of the demand, because they know that the consumer has no other choice whatsoever. Considering this, they will raise cost for consumers leading to inflation. Now, one of the many problems caused by this marketing controlling, is that sadly, they have no economic reason to improve or revolutionize their product, which means that as long as they are up, consumers will not have any new product coming from them. Being so, when Teddy Roosevelt created the antitrust act, he immediately

The years between 1825 through 1850 were filled with reforms ranging from political reforms to religious reforms. This era is commonly known as the Jacksonian Era. Prior to the Jacksonian Era, the early 19th century was classified to be a period of extreme instability. The Jacksonian Era involved many new ideas such as King Mob, the spoils system, expansion towards the West, and the Bank War. These characteristics of the Jacksonian Era brought stability and set a foundation for which its people could start reform movements. Even though not all these reforms were successful, they all had the goal of expanding democratic ideals.