Question

Homework help!
What do you notice about government and its role in America in the years spanning 1800-1850? Look at the legislation the government passed, topics discussed, and issues brought before Congress and the President during this time period

Answer 1

1800-1850 (Jefferson - Taylor)

Oh boy… so many things… there was the two-party system for example, rise of Jacksonian democracy; laissez-faire policy, the Marshall supreme court cases of Marbury v. Madison that gave the court power to exercise judicial review & McCulloch v. Maryland which ruled that federal law was superior to that of state law, there was also a big issue going on with slavery & boundaries of slave states (e.g. Missouri Compromise.) You can also talk about Jackson and the Bank War, the Nullification Crisis of S.C., the Force Bill & the specie circular. The Panic of 1819 & 1837. The Second Great Awakening and the few reform movements in the North that came from it (temperance movement, abolitionist, education, childhood.)

I could go on and on…

I suppose you could focus on any one of these topics and easily expound on them from there. I would say that the government had a lot to do with keeping the nation together (slave & non-slave states) with the Missouri Compromise for example. You can also talk about the free-soilers & their support for the Wilmot Proviso; the whole issue with the Mexico Cession of 1848 from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Also, there was the Nullification Crisis the Jackson had to deal with, stemming from the Tariff of 1828 (aka Tariff of Abominations) which was settled with the Tariff of 1833(Compromise Tariff).

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Thank you so much! This helped!