Discuss the democratization of politics in early nineteenth-century New York and the development of the Second Party System. How did the rivalry between DeWitt Clinton and Martin Van Buren transform politics? What role did Martin Van Buren’s Albany Regency political machine play in the rise of party politics and the Democratic Party? What impact did democracy have on race? How did Antimasonry shape politics? How did the Whig party rise to oppose the Democrats and overthrow the Albany Regency? What role did William H. Seward play in Whig politics in New York ? Discuss the symbolism of the funeral rites for Andrew Jackson in New York (read the article by Matthew Warshauer, “Contested Mourning: The New York Battle Over Andrew Jackson’s Death”). How did New York’s rival Democrats and Whigs interpret Jackson’s historical importance? What role did Jackson play in shaping the Second Party System?
Discuss the growth of cities, population, and the transportation and industrial revolutions in antebellum New York . What factors led to urban growth? How did new forms of transportation (canals, railroads) stimulate economic development? Discuss the origins, building, and impact of the Erie Canal . How did the Erie Canal transform the economy and society of New York ? What new industries were created in these years? How did cities transform the state?
Discuss the formation of New York City’s antebellum working class. What factors led to the development of the working class? What was the impact of immigration? The rise of labor protest and unions? How did working-class culture transform New York ? Discuss the rise of nativism and anti-Catholicism in 1830s-1840s New York .
Discuss the Second Great Awakening in New York. What was “The Burned-Over District” and why was it important? How did Charles Grandison Finney shape the development of evangelical religion? How did evangelical religion shape the development of reform movements such as temperance, abolitionism, and women’s rights? What were some of the more radical religious movements to emerge from the Second Great Awakening and what impact did they have?
How did antebellum New York respond to social disorder? How did tavern violence and riots like the Astor Place Riot shape the culture and politics of New York City? (read the articles by Michael Kaplan “New York City Tavern Violence and the Creation of a Working-Class Male Identity” and Leo Hershkowitz, “An Anatomy of a Riot: Astor Place Opera House, 1849”).
Discuss the life of working-class women in antebellum New York. How did cities shape the lives of women? What challenges did women face in the industrializing metropolis? How did men react to the growing independence of working-class women? How did elites respond to working-class women? (base answers on your reading of Christine Stansell, City of Women ).
Discuss the politics of the 1840s and 1850s. What role did the antislavery and antirent issues play? What impact did demands for constitutional reform and the new state constitution of 1846 have on New York government and politics? How did the slavery issue factionalize the Whig and Democratic parties? What role did nativism and the Know Nothing Party play in New York politics in the 1850s? How did the crises of the 1850s lead to the emergence of the Republican Party? Discuss the role of William H. Seward in the rise of the creation of New York ‘s Republican Party. How did New York respond to the crisis of the Union?
Discuss New York and the Civil War. How did New York prepare for war? What was the nature of support for the war? Why did some New Yorkers oppose the war? What were the causes and results of the New York City Draft Riots of July 1863?
