Chapter 12
The Second War for
Independence and the
Upsurge of Nationalism,
1812–1824
Themes
• The American effort in the War of 1812 was
plagued by poor strategy, political divisions,
and increasingly aggressive British power.
Nevertheless, the United States escaped with
a stalemated peace settlement and soon
turned its isolationist back to the Atlantic
European world.
• The aftermath of the War of 1812 produced a
strong surge of American nationalism that was
reflected in economics, law, and foreign policy.
The rising nationalistic spirit and sense of
political unity was, however, threatened by
the first severe sectional dispute over slavery.
• Chief Justice John Marshall’s Supreme Court
strengthened the federal government by
supporting a loose construction of the
Constitution, asserting the federal judiciary’s
power over state courts, and enforcing
economic provisions in the Constitution
(interstate commerce, sanctity of contracts).
Causes of the War of 1812
• British impressment
• British Orders in Council
• American desire to wipe out Indian threat in
West and eliminate Canada as a sanctuary
• Republican belief that war would restore
confidence in American democratic
experiment
Major Battles
• Canada
• - British repulsed American invasion of Canada
• - U.S. won naval battles on Lake Erie and Lake
Champlain
• Washington D.C. burned (1814)
• Baltimore defended (Fort McHenry)
• Battle of New Orleans (1815)- American forces
led by Andrew Jackson defeated British
p225
Map 12-1 p226
p227
Federalist Grievances and the Hartford
Convention
p228
Map 12-2 p229
The Second War for American
Independence
Results of the War
•
•
•
•
U.S. gained new respect
Sectionalism was weakened (temporarily)
Federalists ceased to be an effective party
Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison
emerged as war heroes
• U.S. manufacturing prospered
• increased nationalism (spirit of national
consciousness or national oneness)
p230
Nascent Nationalism
Nationalism- loyalty and devotion to a nation; a
sense of national consciousness
In what ways do we see evidence of American
nationalism today?
Was America more or less unified after the War
of 1812 than before it?
Nationalism after the War of 1812
• One result of the War of 1812 was a new sense of
nationalism
• Examples
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
National literature
School textbooks
Painters
Renewed Bank of the U.S.
Larger army
Rebuilt national capital in D.C.
Manufacturing (and protectionism)
p232
Tariff of 1816
• First tariff in American history instituted
primarily for protection, not revenue
• 20-25% rates
• Beginning of a protectionist trend
“The American System”
• Plan by Henry Clay for developing a profitable
home market
• Three parts
– A strong banking system which would provide
easy credit
– A protective tariff
– A network of road and canals in the Ohio Valley
funded by the proceeds from the tariff
• Foodstuffs and raw materials from the South
and West would go to the North and East
• Manufactured goods would go to the South
and West
• The country would be tied together
economically and politically
p231
Opposition to internal improvements
• Madison vetoed a bill by Congress to fund
internal improvements as unconstitutional
-(Republicans returned to strict
constructionism on this issue)
• New England also opposed federally
constructed roads and canals since this would
lead to new states in the west
Election of 1816
• Republican James Monroe (DemocraticRepublican) defeated Rufus King (Federalist)
The So-Called Era of Good Feelings
In what ways was the ‘Era of Good Feelings’ an
appropriate name for the period after the War
of 1812, and in what ways was it inappropriate?
Underlying Issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
The tariff
The bank
Internal Improvements
The sale of public lands
Sectionalism
Slavery
p233
The Panic of 1819 and the Curse of
Hard Times
• A significant cause was overspeculation in
frontier lands (The Bank of the U.S. through its
western branches had played a role in this)
• The Bank of the U.S. eventually forced the
“wildcat” banks to foreclose mortgages on
many farms
– Resulted in western debtor distrust of the Bank of
the U.S.
• Political and social repercussions
Growing Pains of the West
Technology and internal improvements
• The Cumberland Road (begun 1811) from
Maryland to Illinois
• The use of the steamboat on western waters
(1811)
• The Erie Canal (1825)
Slavery and the Sectional Balance
• In 1788 the North and South were comparable in
terms of wealth and population
• Over time, the North grew wealthier and more
populous
• Balance was maintained in the Senate
• Missouri’s request for admission as a slave state
upset this delicate balance
– House of Representatives tried to pass the Tallmadge
amendment which would have prevented more slaves
from being brought into Missouri and would have
provided for gradual emancipation
• South was upset with the amendment fearing
it could set a precedent for other territory
west of the Mississippi and that it might even
represent the beginning of Congressional
efforts to abolish slavery
• The issue of slavery was political and
economic although a small group of antislavery advocates increasingly raised it as a
moral issue
p234
The Missouri Compromise
• 1820
• Led by Henry Clay, Congress found a
compromise
• Missouri admitted as a slave state
• Maine admitted as a free state
• Slavery prohibited north of the 36 30’ line
Map 12-3 p235
Thomas Jefferson to John Holmes
• “this momentous question, like a fire bell in
the night, awakened and filled me with terror.”
– http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/159.html
• “I take it for granted that the present question
is a mere preamble- a title page to a great
tragic volume.” –John Quincy Adams
p236
p237
John Marshall and Judicial Nationalism
• The Supreme Court under John Marshall
strengthened the power of the federal
government
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
• Maryland tried to destroy a branch of the Bank of
the U.S. by taxing its notes
• The Supreme Court ruled the bank constitutional
by invoking the doctrine of implied powers
• Marshall denied the power of Maryland to tax the
bank
• “the power to tax is the power to destroy.”
Significance
• Strengthened the concept of loose
construction
• The Constitution derived from the consent of
the people and thus permitted the gov’t to act
for their benefit
• It was intended to endure and therefore could
adapt to new circumstances
• “Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the
scope of the Constitution, and all means
which are appropriate, which are plainly
adapted to that end, which are not prohibited,
but consist with the letter and spirit of the
Constitution, are constitutional.” –John
Marshall
Cohens v. Virginia (1821)
• The Cohens brothers were convicted in
Virginia of illegally selling lottery tickets
• Marshall and the Supreme Court upheld the
conviction
• Established the principle that the Supreme
Court could review a state court’s decision
involving any of the powers of the federal
government
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
• New York attempted to grant a monopoly to a
steamboat company that operated between
New York and New Jersey
• The Supreme Court ruled that Congress alone
had the power to regulate interstate
commerce (Article I, Sec. VIII)
Judicial Dikes Against Democratic
Excesses
• Marshall and the Supreme Court also issued a
series of decisions that affirmed protections
for property rights
Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
• The Supreme Court ruled that a state could
not invalidate a contract
• The first time the Court declared a state law to
be unconstitutional
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
(1819)
• New Hampshire had tried to change
Dartmouth from a privately chartered college
into a public institution
• The Supreme Court ruled that the original
charter should remain because it was a
contract, and the Constitution protected
contracts from state encroachment
• At the same time that the nation was moving
in the direction of greater popular sovereignty
and control (especially at the state level),
Marshall reaffirmed the power of the federal
government and helped to create a stable
environment for business along more
conservative, centralized lines
p239
Sharing Oregon and Acquiring Florida
• President Monroe and Secretary of State John
Quincy Adams were both staunch nationalists
in terms of foreign policy
• Treaty of 1818
– Americans were permitted to share the
Newfoundland fisheries with Canada
– Northern boundary of the Louisiana territory was
established at the 49th parallel
– Oregon territory was to be jointly occupied for 10
years
• During War of 1812, Americans seized western
Florida
• 1818 Andrew Jackson moved into Florida
using as an excuse the presence of hostile
Seminole Indians and runaway slaves
• Florida Purchase Treaty of 1819
– Spain ceded Florida and Spanish claims to Oregon
in exchange for America abandoning claims to
Texas
Map 12-4 p240
Map 12-5 p240
p241
The Menace of Monarchy in America
• Fear existed that European monarchies
(Russia, Austria, Prussia, and France) would try
to crush the newly free colonies in Latin
America
• 1823 Britain wanted to join with America in
warning European monarchies to keep out of
Latin America
– Britain wanted to maintain its newly opened trade
with the Latin American republics
p242
The Monroe Doctrine
• 1823
• In his annual message to Congress, Monroe
warned the European powers against
intervention in the Western Hemisphere
• Two basic features
– Non-colonization
– Non-intervention
Monroe’s Doctrine Appraised
• The doctrine had little practical significance at the
time
• It was an expression of America’s post-1812
nationalist spirit
• The U.S. did not have the military power to back
it up (the British navy was, in fact, what stood
between the Americas and the European powers)
• “While giving voice to a spirit of patriotism, it
simultaneously deepened the illusion of
isolationism. (Pageant, p.255)”
Map 12-6 p243
p245