Assignment

By the early nineteenth century, the regional character of the northern and southern economic and social systems were firmly established. The north and Mid-Atlantic region resembled the urban industrial systems that were evolving in the northwestern portion of the European continent. There was disparate distribution of wealth and at the same time social mobility. People from different parts of Europe mixed together with existing elements of the population. The south by contrast was more rural with fewer urban commercial and manufacturing centers. Agriculture with a lifestyle based upon the climate accounted for the production of tobacco and cotton. Amidst plantations, the majority of the population were independent farmers cognizant of the concomitant wealth and influence of the planter class and equally aware of the existence, cruelty and injustices of the racially defined slave community. As both sides grew increasingly apart in values and aspirations, journalist Horace Greely embodied the spirit of the process of expansion of the republic of liberty defined by Thomas Jefferson. Go west young man he implored. The seemingly limitless frontier represented a challenge and offered the prospect of individual renewal and opportunity. What common themes unified the American people and defined the agenda of the government during the first half of the nineteenth century? How did natural resources, existing Indian cultures and physical barriers such as mountains, deserts and rivers invite or hinder the effort to settle the vast and continually expanding national domain? Were Americans restless nomads who avoided their need to confront the injustices that contributed to their national wealth and power? Explain why.