American Cultural History

ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Inspired by the European Romantic movement, the Hudson River school artists continued. These artists, shifting their focus from classical imitations of the 18th century, included Thomas Cole, George Innes, Thomas Doughty, and John Frederick Kensett. They concentrated on painting the natural beauty of the U.S., particularly the Hudson River Valley, the Catskill Mountains, and Niagra Falls. William Prior was one of the many itinerant (traveling) portrait painters. His highly stylized works are referred to today as 'naive' or 'primitive.' Folk paintings and other folk art, many of them anonymous, reveal the crudeness of color and flat surface of the primitive style. Portrait of a Woman and The Buffalo Hunter are examples of this style which continued for several decades. Nathaniel Currier went into the lithograph business with James Merritt Ives, calling the new business Currier and Ives . It was during this period that George Catlin painted the American Indian.

Approximately 8200 American makers created fancy chairs in the Adam, Sheraton, Directore, and Empire styles. The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. was begun from plans by Robert Mills. Classic Revival style architecture continued to be built. The Hodges-Field House, an excellent example of Greek Revival architecture, was built in North Andover, Mass. An other example is Washington Square North, a row of private houses with uniform facades by architect Martin Thompson. Richard Upjohn submitted plans for the rebuilding of Trinity Church in New York. James Renwick (architect of the Smithsonian) began planning the beautiful Grace Church. Andrew Jackson Downing was a leading architect of country house and landscape gardening. His book, Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening Adapted to North America, became the standard work in its field.

• 19th Century Architecture digital files and photos.
• Types of American Architecture description of 19th century architecture with drawings From Great Buildings.
• 19th Century Portraiture by the National Portrait gallery.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

By 1831 goods traveling to cities west of St. Louis, were being transported by steamboat to various trading posts.  Returning to St. Louis, furs were sent by boat to New Orleans or down the Ohio River eastward to be sold.  Bison hides became popular after over trapping of beaver helped cause a shortage of beaver pelts.  In 1833, the National Road reached Columbus, Ohio, allowing greater commerce with the west.  The Ohio and Erie Canal opened, connecting the Ohio River with Lake Erie in 1833. Railroad construction continued and combined with new roads helped to improve westward travel.

After President Jackson vetoed the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States in 1832, and withdrew federal funds from the Second bank of the United States in 1833, the Era of Free Banking began. From 1836 to 1860, individual "wildcat" banks issued currency not always supported by gold or silver. Land speculation grew as public lands were bought by speculators like John Jacob Astor, and William Gilpin with wildcat currency.  President Jackson issued the Specie Circular in 1836, demanding that public lands be bought with gold or silver.  This decree by Jackson curbed land speculation with questionable bank notes, but also helped destabilize the Western economy.  Wildcat banking and land speculation, a fall in the price of cotton and tightening of British credit halted an overheated economy, and helped cause the Panic of 1837, a depression which lasted until the mid 1840's.

In 1830, Congress had passed the Indian Removal Act, forcing many tribes to relocate (Trail of Tears) to the Indian Territory in the current state of Oklahoma.  Native American tribes suffered economic setbacks as white settlers moved into territories where tribes had long lived, and began to compete for the same natural resources.  Many tribal groups traded with white settlers, but as towns and cities grew, these tribal groups were displaced.  

Machines such as Cyrus McCormick's mechanical reaper,  John Deere's steel-blade plow, and the Pitts brothers' grain thresher, began to reshape American agricultural business. The first nationwide farm journal, The Cultivator, was published in 1834 by Jesse Buel.  Cotton, the crop that dominated southern agriculture, relied heavily on slave labor.  Southern society stratified around land and slave ownership, and the wealth derived from cotton plantations.

In 1833,  the New York General Trades Union, the first national labor federation, was organized.  In 1834, Irish laborers on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal rioted in protest over terrible working conditions, causing President Jackson to send in Army troops to subdue the protest.  In 1836, female workers in Lowell Massachusetts textile mills went on strike to protest their masters, who had been co-workers, becoming non-producing investors.  Henry Carey published the first volume of Principles of Political Economy in 1837.

• Overview of Economics in 1830's  from the Living History Museum of Conner Prairie, Indiana.

BOOKS AND LITERATURE

America continued to publish real American works: works with Southern humor, or ones that depicted the Indian and the pioneer or described frontier life. We even had our own few tall tale characters. The Mike Fink Tall Tales came to life during this decade. Romantic novels were gaining popularity and we now had several poets of our own - ones who are read today. In the 1830s newspapers flourished and literary journals were established. Writers from earlier in the century continued to write. It was during this decade that Ralph Waldo Emerson published Nature, the Transcendental philosophy 'bible.' Joseph Smith published The Book of Morman. Herman Melville visited the South Seas, which he wrote about in Typee and other books. Shoshone Valley, the last novel of Timothy Flint was published. Flint had married a Chinese woman, and they lived among the Indians, and his depictions of frontier settings, pioneer ways, and scenery are said to be realistic. Other books about Indians were published and one, Nick of the Woods by Robert Montgomery Bird, a melodrama depicting the backwoods of Kentucky showed the Indian as 'varmint'. This book has gone through more than 25 printings in the U.S.

Oliver Wendell Homes' poem Old Ironsides (which saved the USS Constitution from being dismantled) was published in the Boston Daily Advertiser and he continued to publish light verse throughout his life. The collected poems of William Cullen Bryant were published by the North American Review, including favorites like O Fairest of the Rural Maids, 'To a Fringed Gentian, and A Meditation on Rhode Island Coal Nathaniel Hawthorne's second book, Twice Told Tales, an allegory, was extremely popular. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published a collection of poems (although he wasn't famous until 1847 when he published Evangeline.) James Fennimore Cooper continued writing adventures. Another important romantic adventure, set in Vermont, was The Green Mountain Boys (don't miss the wonderful illustrations from the book) by Danel Pierce Thompson. This popular book had 50 printings by 1860. Godey's Lady's Book (1830-98) was published.Caroline Kirkland wrote A New Home, Who'll Follow? Glimpses of Western Life. Alexis. de Tocqueville published Democracy in America (1831-1835)

John Greenleaf Whittier supported abolition and published poems on the topic, including The Moral Warfare, and The Slave Ship. The Liberator, an abolitionist paper was begun and sensationalism in newspapers was established firmly with the New York Sun. The paper sold for 6 cents. The New York Herald, a penny daily, was begun. Edgar Allen Poe began his prolific writing career by winning $50 for Ms. Found in a Bottle. Edward Bulwer-Lytton published a historical novel, The Last Days of Pompeii,which was an instant success. Bancroft published the first volumes of his vast History of the United States (1834 to 1874.) James Kirke Paulding published his Collected Works, and two popular romance novels, The Dutchman's Fireside, and Westward, Ho! Catherine Maria Sedgwick was the most popular woman author of the period, publishing novels set in the Northeast, local customs, and simple American life. She was a pioneer for the domestic novel in America. Novels and books about women were growing in interest, like Lydia Maria Child's Appeal in Favor of that class of Americans called Negro. Spirit of the Times ,published stories and sketches of the Southwestern humorists. Writers of the American South included Augustus Longstreet who wrote Georgia Scenes, humorous sketches of southern life. Another Southern favorite was Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee(1834) by David Crockett.

• American Literature-1820 - Events and Authors
• 19th Century Literary Figures and Texts Great list from Washington State University

MIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION

Westward Ho!  The cry rang out as covered wagons continued to rumble (and bounce) along the trails that led ever farther across the continent.  At this time the "West" extended from the Appalachian Mountains to a little beyond the Mississippi River.  More land became available in Mississippi as the federal government removed the Choctaw Indians into Indian Territory in 1831.  The Ohio and Erie Canal opened in 1833.  The National Road reached as far as Vandalia, Illinois before the government halted construction in 1838.   All  of these events spurred on the movement west before an economic depression brought on by falling cotton prices temporarily halted the expansion of roads and waterways.  The first travelers on the Oregon Trail, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, made their journey in 1836.  However, it was in the next decade that most of the pioneers made the trek on this trail.  Not all travelers made their way by wagon.  In the early 1830's a young seaman from Baltimore, Maryland,  jumped ship in New Orleans.  He made his way inland by the Mississippi River and other waterways until he bought land, married, and remained  in the brand new state of Arkansas in 1836.    Life for the new settler was not easy.  First the land had to be cleared of trees in order to plant crops, and homes built.  The major crop for most was corn or, in the South, cotton.  Isolation forced the settlers to be self- sufficient  in their social, cultural, and culinary needs.     Despite the hardships, many chose to seek a more independent lifestyle on the fertile land of the frontier.

The number of people coming to the United States in the 1830s was 599,000, four times the number that came in the 1820's, as Europeans were lured by the prospect of cheap and fertile land.  The largest groups continued to be the Germans, the Irish, and the British escaping the political and economic conditions in the Old World.  Some religious groups came to America to evade either persecution or the "wicked ways" of their fellow citizens.  The Stephanists, who set sail from Bremen, Germany for New Orleans in 1838, are an example.  They ended up buying land in Perry County, Missouri.  Though the immigrants soon expelled their leader, Martin Stephen, the colony prospered in their new country and stimulated others to follow them.  The voyagers to America suffered difficulties and mistreatment and were sometimes the victims of scams and theft.  Most traveled on sailing ships that were originally intended as cargo vessels.  Their quarters were small and cramped, the food inadequate, and the sanitary conditions unsatisfactory.  There were outbreaks of diseases such as cholera which took the lives of many passengers.  Many of the immigrants were artisans and craftsmen seeking work in the cities.  Not many became pioneers.  They lacked the survival and agricultural skills necessary to tame uncultivated land.  They mainly took over already cleared farms from the original owners who had ventured further westward.

BOOKS:

• Getting Ahead, a Swedish Immigrant's Reminiscences, 1834-1887  E184.S23H564
• Westward Expansion; a History of the American Frontier    E179.5.B63  1960
• The Health of the Country: How American Settlers Understood Themselves and Their Land  RA792.V354

• Ken Burns Presents the West  F591.B87.W48  

SITES:

•  Frances Anne Kemble, Boat, Stage, Railroad and Canal, 1832-33
•  United States Population Growth Areas, 1830
•  Immigration: the Living Mosaic of People, Culture, and Hope

EDUCATION

The course for  "common" or public schools continued to be debated and the status quo defended during the 1830s.  The schools of this time were mainly governed  and supported by the local community with very little state-wide supervision.  Reformers such as Horace Mann, the first Secretary of Education for Massachusetts, and Henry Barnard, first U.S. Commissioner of Education. Agitated for more state control of  funding and curriculum, better school facilities, and education of all children. McGuffey Readers introduced texts geared to different grade levels.  Michigan became the first state to enter the Union written in its constitution was the statement that the government would be responsible for promoting and supervising the public schools.  The education of women and African-Americans made some progress.  In 1831 the first public coeducational high school opened in Lowell, Massachusetts.  In 1833 Oberlin Collegiate Institute in Ohio became the first coeducational college.  Prudence Crandall  began a two-year struggle in 1832 to run a seminary which included African-American girls among its students.  In 1836 Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia, was the institution to first grant college degrees to women.  Massachusetts continued to set the pace for educational advancement.  In 1837 the legislature required that children receive schooling before working in mills and factories.  In 1839 the state established a minimum six-month school year.  
Instiutions for higher education continued to increase.  No less than eight new colleges  and universities were founded between 1830 and 1839 - University of Alabama( 1831); St. Louis University (1832); Wabash College, Tulane University, and University of the Ozarks (1834); Illinois College (1835); University of Kentucky (Bacon College), St. Mary's College, and De Pauw University (1837); and the University of Missouri (1839).  New York State established People's College, a technical and scientific school for craftsmen.  In 1831 Ohio University began a program to prepare students to become school teachers, and in 1838 the first "normal" school, (a teacher's college) was founded in Lexington, Massachusetts.  The need for colleges and universities to prepare young people for jobs and careers as well as provide for a classical education was being recognized.
BOOKS:

• For "Children Who Vary From the Normal Type" Special Education in Boston, 1838-1930   EBook
• Historical Perspectives on the Education of Black Children   LC2741.M67 1995
• School, the Story of American Public Education  LA212.S353 2001
  

• A Timeline of Women's Legal History in the United States
• School: The Story of American Public Education
• Antebellum and Civil War America, 1784-1865: Education
  

IN THE NEWS

MUSIC AND THEATER

During the 1830s, European musicians saw the United States as a market for their talents.  To their dismay, however, the promoters geared the concerts to American tastes.  Europeans found the state of American music apalling.  Mary Ann Lee and Augusta Maywood were among the first American ballet dancers, making their debut together in Maid of Cashmere in 1837.  George Washington Smith was the only male ballet star of the nineteenth century. Circus menageries and horse shows toured the country.  

Religious music remained popular.  The Negro spiritual was a cross between west African music and the religious music the slaves learned from white masters.  Although the overseers feared music might lead to insurrection, they allowed work music. Singing was the means of communication for the field slaves. The spirituals sung in the fields, therefore, included double meanings.  William Walker's book,  The Southern Harmony , published in 1835, included folk hymns, such as "On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand", and "Rock of Ages" using shape notes.

Lowell Mason established the first singing school for children.  By 1838, he convinced the Boston school board to include vocal music in the curriculum. "My Faith Looks up to Thee" uses a melody by Mason.  Music gradually spread through the country as transportation and communication improved.  "America," or "My Country 'Tis of Thee" used new lyrics to the tune, "God Save the King."  "Woodman, Spare that Tree" was a popular song.

• Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music 1820 - 1870

PASTIMES - FOOD, FADS, SPORTS

The fashionable magazine for women, Godey's Lady's Book,was first published in 1830. A magazine for men, Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, edited by Edgar Allen Poe, was published from 1837 through 1840. Men and women could learn about the current styles by subscribing to these magazines.  Phrenology, the "science" of understanding the human mind by measurung the skull was a hot topic.  Wealthy families began celebrating their children's birthdays with a party.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, launched The Liberator, a weekly newspaper advocating abolitionists to take action.   Nat Turner led a revolt in Southhampton, County Virginia frightening slave holders and strengthening pro-slavery feelings.  At the same time, anti-abolitionist groups organized to protest abolition and the integration of freed slaves into American society.  Calling for a more immediate end to slavery, Theodore Dwight Weld, a student at the Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati in 1834, led a campaign against his seminary's president, Charles Finney, who advocated a less provocative abolitionist style.  In 1837, the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery society devoted to Black education was formed by Grace Bustill Douglass.   In 1839, Weld published an abolitionist piece compiled from newspapers and court records titled American Slavery As It Is.  An even greater challenge to the social order came from abolitionists who included African American former slaves Frederick Douglass, Samuel Ringgold Ward, and Lunsford Lane.   The American Colonization movement continued to help establish Liberia in western Africa.

Native Americans were pushed out of their historical tribal areas as white settlers moved westward.  Cherokees from Georgia were forced into Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears. Gradually displaced and relocated to reservations or Indian territories, these tribes had to find new ways of life.   Old ways of making their living were no longer available or practical.

• Documenting the American South  primary materials with a Southern perspective on American history and culture. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill