Following consideration of the transportation revolution, ask students two questions. First, was transportation of great, moderate, or little influence in the economic development of the United States? Second, was geography of great, moderate, or little importance in the transportation revolution? Whatever the answers, proceed to the next step. Display a blank outline map of the United States. This can be done relatively easily using an overhead projector. Where the Rocky Mountains are, write in "mountains." From approximately Montana all the way east and south to Virginia, write in "rain forest." Put two major rivers in the rain forest, one emptying into the sea at approximately Boston, the other at Washington. Put in another river flowing northwest in the state of Washington and still another flowing southeast from the rain forest to the coast at about Charleston. The area surrounding this last river is "grasslands." The very center of the country is labeled "generally inhospitable: some farmland, much wasteland." On the west coast from San Francisco south, mark "desert." Give each student a photocopy of this geographic arrangement and ask each--using what he or she knows about the development of roads, canals, rivers, and railroads--to devise a theoretical scheme of transportation development leading to economic growth. After wrestling with the problem, students will recognize that given the technology of the early nineteenth century, the United States was geographically very fortunate and that economic growth might otherwise have been much feebler.

It is almost a certainty that in any given October, politicians seeking office will speak about traditional American values. How they are defined seems to matter rather less than that they are "good." Let us not permit students the luxury of such ambiguity. Ask them to define traditional American values and give them some headings: "democracy," "opportunity," "sex," "love," "religion," "table manners," and others that the instructor, or the class, may care to name. In class ask students for responses and initiate a discussion. It will be surprising if there is widespread agreement on anything except that such ideas change over time. See especially Jack Larkin, The Reshaping of Everyday Life, 1790-1840 (1988).

Chapter 9 points out the difficulty of defining adequately words like democracy and equality. Equality before the law is one thing, equality of opportunity another, and social equality a third. Without reference to the several types of equality, ask each student to define the word in writing. Tocqueville has pointed out that equality of opportunity leads to inequality of condition. Have students confront this dilemma. Initiate a class discussion and attempt to arrive at some consensus. Add the word democracy. Students will invariably begin the definition with a reference to majority rule, although some will recognize the need to include minority rights. Providing for equality of opportunity, majority rule, and minority rights while accepting inequality of condition is no easy matter. How were the elements in this pattern dealt with in the 1830s and 1840s? Students may wish to consult Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1833).

Those who are "other" to white Americans must also be involved in any discussion of democracy. Return to the story of the Cherokee removal. Ask two students to prepare a statement on the relationship between U.S. Indian policy and Tocqueville's view of American democracy. Consult the brief account by Anthony F. C. Wallace, The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians (1993).

Chapter 9 makes several references to the mobility of Americans. Have students read, or read to them, significant excerpts from George W. Pierson, "The M-Factor in American History," American Quarterly 14, Part 2 (Summer 1962): 275-289. Ask students to list where their family has lived as far back as they are aware up to three generations. Assuming that there has been migration, ask students to account for the family's reasons for moving. Relate these questions to the Pierson article and to the previous discussion on democracy and equality. Ask students to ascertain in their own minds whether such frequent mobility is a good thing or a bad thing and to defend their point of view.

One characteristic of a group of people that helps explain their view of life is the kind of stories that they tell. Among many American folk stories are those of Johnny Appleseed, Mike Fink, Paul Bunyan, and John Henry. In thinking about the changes in the 1830s and 1840s, it will be interesting to have students examine such folk tales and try to identify some of their themes. A chief resource will be Benjamin A. Botkin, editor, A Treasury of American Folklore (1944). Other leads can be found in Cathleen C. Flanagan and John T. Flanagan, American Folklore: A Bibliography, 1950-1974 (1977). Some contrast with lonely and dangerous reality can be found in Michael Allen, Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse (1990).