Contextualizing Period 5 in two minutes
- In 1844 the Union had 26 states, 13 free and 13 slave, and the Missouri Compromise line at 36°30′ had limited slavery in the Louisiana Purchase since 1820.
- The market revolution linked regions: canals and railroads carried Western grain east and Eastern goods west, while cotton grown by enslaved people made up over half of exports.
- Whigs and Democrats competed closely in both North and South, and about four in five eligible men voted in 1840. Both parties tried to keep slavery out of national politics.
- A House gag rule blocked antislavery petitions from 1836 until John Quincy Adams won its repeal in December 1844, and Texas stood independent while Oregon was shared with Britain.
- Samuel Morse's telegraph sent "What hath God wrought" from Washington to Baltimore on May 24, 1844, and within days the Democrats nominated James K. Polk, who wanted Texas and Oregon.
- From 1844 to 1877 the country reached the Pacific, took in millions of immigrants, split over slavery in a civil war and amended the Constitution to end slavery and define citizenship.
- On the exam: contextualization prompts ask what was already true in 1844: westward movement, a North and South growing apart, and deals that kept slavery quiet. Use these to explain sectional conflict.
Topic 5.1 key terms
- Telegraph
A machine that sends messages as pulses of electricity down a wire. Morse's 1844 line between Washington and Baltimore proved it worked, and by 1852 more than 23,000 miles of wire ran across the country. News, prices and politics could now move faster than any person or train.
- Nominating convention
A meeting of party delegates that picks the party's candidates. The parties of the 1830s and 1840s replaced the old caucus of congressmen with conventions, so the choice looked like it came from the party's members.
- Dark horse
A candidate few people expected to win, who takes the nomination out of nowhere and sometimes the election too. James K. Polk in 1844 is the classic example.
- 36°30′
The Missouri Compromise line (1820). Slavery was banned north of it in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase, except in Missouri, and allowed south of it.
- Market revolution
The early-1800s shift from making goods for home and local use to making them for sale in distant markets, carried by canals, steamboats, railroads and factories.
- Second Party System
The rivalry between the Democrats and the Whigs, from the 1830s to the 1850s. Each party had Northern and Southern wings, so both worked to keep slavery out of national politics.
- Gag rule
A House rule (1836–1844) that tabled antislavery petitions without reading or debating them. Adams moved to repeal it, and the House did so on December 3, 1844, 108 to 80.
Transcript
Quotes are from the historical record and name their source. Lines marked Dramatized are reconstructions.
What Hath God Wrought
May 1844
Key terms: Telegraph, Nominating convention, Dark horse
The U.S. Capitol May 24, 1844
Samuel Morse was a painter. He'd spent twelve years trying to send words down a wire.
Annie Ellsworth, the patent commissioner's daughter, chose the first words. She took them from the Bible.
Samuel F. B. Morse
What hath God wrought?
Congress had paid thirty thousand dollars for that wire. It ran about forty miles, to Baltimore.
In Baltimore, Alfred Vail read it and sent it straight back. It took seconds.
Three days later, Democrats met in Baltimore to pick a presidential candidate. Vail wired the news to Washington, ballot by ballot.
On the ninth ballot, they picked James K. Polk of Tennessee. He stayed home in Tennessee, hoping at best for vice president.
For vice president they chose Senator Silas Wright, who was in Washington. Wright wired back: no. They wired: please reconsider. He wired: no.
So the convention sent five delegates, by train, to ask him in person.
Polk wanted Texas. He wanted Oregon. Within ten years the country reached the Pacific, and Morse's machine was ticking in Japan.
Twenty-Six Stars
1844 (preview to 1877)
Key terms: 36°30′, Market revolution, Second Party System, Gag rule
In 1844, the American flag had twenty-six stars. Thirteen were free states. Thirteen allowed slavery.
One line had kept an uneasy peace since 1820. No slavery north of thirty-six thirty in the Louisiana Purchase, except in Missouri.
Beyond them lay Indian Territory, home to the Cherokee and other nations forced west. Then came Mexico, the Texas Republic, and an Oregon shared with Britain.
The market revolution had already made the country smaller. Canals and railroads carried Western grain east and Eastern goods west.
Cotton was over half of America's exports. Nearly two and a half million people were enslaved. Their work grew almost all of it.
Democrats and Whigs fought for every vote. In 1840, about four in five men who could vote did.
Both parties tried to keep slavery out of politics. A House gag rule had blocked antislavery petitions since 1836. In December 1844, John Quincy Adams got it repealed.
A country moving west · A North and South growing apart · Deals that kept slavery quiet
Keep those three things in mind. Period 5 is what happens when they collide.
Here are the next thirty-three years in one breath. First, the country grows to the Pacific.
Then it splits in two, and is stitched back together. Amendments end slavery and say who counts as a citizen.
It starts with land. Every new acre raised two questions. Who already lives here? And will it be slave or free?