Events in History from 1820-1850

The period from 1820 to 1850 was a time where several important and diversified events in American history occurred. This period was a period of extreme reform. There were many conflicts during this period in which brought about great change. Such conflicts include the Gibbons vs. Ogden, Erie Canal, American Temperance Society, David Walker’s Appeal, Anti-slavery society, Sack of Lawrence, and the Dred Scott Decision. All of these events had one goal, to make the society a better, improved place for everyone, both in the North and South. Inside three people’s lives: free black man, slave women and a middle class white woman, none of them actually had the freedom and rights as opposed to today. If a middle class white woman was married, her life was controlled by her husband. She had no property rights and could not vote. The free black man could own property and vote in many states outside the South. The slave woman had no rights at all. Her "master" could rape her and she could do nothing about it.

The economies of each region (North and South) at the time where really only similar in the way they were expanding and growing stronger. One way the two regions differed in economics was in the base of the economy. For example, the South’s economy was based on cotton farming, while the North’s economy was based on manufacturing. Because the South did not manufacture goods, they were forced to purchase finished products from the North- thus adding to the North’s economy. With the South’s money they would acquire cotton from the southern states. Also, in the South, there were little job opportunities for whites since slaves had the jobs in the field, unlike the North where jobs were abundant in factories for the unskilled workers. Many...

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...made today. The period between 1820 and 1850 was an interlude of great reform. The conflicts discussed in this phase were crucial in the developments, such as the development of the political party Democrats lead by Andrew Jackson in 1832 and the Whig Party in 1836 showing resistance to Andrew Jackson’s ideas. Though the era did include of opposition in both the parties, but their ultimate goal was to make the society a better, improved place for the citizens, which did eventually occur.

Works Cited

• Boyer, Paul S. "Chapter 14: From Compromise to Secession." The Enduring Vision: a History of the American People. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. 412-42. Print.

• Harding, Vincent. 1981, There Is A River: The Black Struggle for Freedom in America. Vintage Books

• Nichols, Alice. "Bleeding Kansas." New York: Oxford University Press, 1954.