Submitted by: Submitted by stephenslm1
Views: 352
Words: 333
Pages: 2
Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 10/29/2009 09:14 PM
After the War of 1812, there was an agricultural boom (254). There was a rising price of agricultural commodities such as wheat, corn, and cotton which drew settlers westward in search of better farmland. There was also a lot of inequality that was growing in a few of the larger cities. The richest 10% of the population had owned a little over half of the city’s real estate and personal property in 1771. By 1833, the richest of 4% owned 59% of the wealth, and by 1848 nearly 2/3 (268). After the War of 1812, the growth of interregional trade, commercial agriculture, and manufacturing changed not only the lives of individuals, but also the ways in which they related to each other. Two broad generalizations encompass these changes. Many Americans questioned authority to an unprecedented degree. In 1775, they had rebelled against their king. Now, it seemed, they were rebelling against as well against their lawyers, physicians, ministers, and even their parents. An attitude of individualism sprouted and took firm root in antebellum America. Once individualism had meant nothing more than selfishness, but now Americans used the word to signify positive qualities: self-reliance and the conviction of that each person was the best judge of his or her own true interests. Ordinary Americans might still agree with the opinions of their leaders, but only after they had thought matters through on their own. Those with superior wealth, education, or social position could no longer expect the automatic deference of the common people. Even as Americans widely proclaimed themselves a nation of self-reliant individualists and questioned the traditional basis of authority, they sought to construct new foundations for authority. For example, middle-class men and women came to embrace the idea that women possessed a “separate sphere” of authority in the home. In addition, individuals increasingly joined with others in these years to form voluntary associations through which they might...