Major Events
1800 - 1850
VUS.6
Mrs. Saunders
Go West Young Man!
• Economic and strategic interests,
supported by popular beliefs, led to
westward expansion to the Pacific Ocean.
• Prior to the Civil War U. S. experienced
dramatic territorial expansion, immigration,
economic growth, and industrialization.
• The ideology of “Manifest Destiny” cause
people to go to new frontiers.
Washington’s Presidency
President
Washington
Vice President
John Adams
Secretary
of State
Thomas Jefferson
Secretary
of War
General Henry Knox
Secretary of
the Treasury
Alexander Hamilton
Washington’s Presidency
The new government faced enormous debt. Alexander Hamilton
proposed a two part plan for a national economic system including a
national bank.
•
One made government responsible for
all Revolutionary War debts, and
funded that debt at its full value.
• Second part, adopted over the strong
objections of Madison and Jefferson,
created a National Bank, to give the
government some control of the money
system. The Bank was a private stock
corporation, but one-fifth of the
members of its board of directors were
to be appointed by the government.
The dispute over the constitutionality of the Bank was a fundamental
reason for the beginning of the first political party system.
Washington’s Presidency
• The French Revolution
became an important domestic
issue when France declared
war against England in 1793
• The French position argued
that the 1778 treaty that
obligated the U.S. to support
France against her enemies.
• Hamilton argued that the treaty
was with the French king, and
did not apply. Jefferson
believed the treaty was with
the French people. Neither
wanted war with England.
• The French ambassador,
Genét, angered possible
supporters by recruiting
Americans as privateers.
•Washington received Genét
coldly, and in the end
proclaimed American neutrality.
Washington’s Presidency
Both the British and French were angered by the
Proclamation of Neutrality and policy led to
undeclared war with both. U.S. merchant ships
were attacked by both.
U.S. Soldiers were forced into “impressments”.
John Jay, the first Supreme Court
Chief Justice, was sent to England to
negotiate what became Jay’s Treaty.
Many politicians did not like it
because it did not stop attacks on
merchant ships and restricted trade.
However, It did get the British to
leave western forts and stop
supplying Indians with weapons.
Washington’s Presidency
Part of Hamilton's plan to
pay the Revolutionary War
debt was to impose an
excise tax on whiskey. In
1794 farmers in western
Pennsylvania resisted tax
collectors in the Whiskey
Rebellion.
President Washington led a force of 15,000 men to put
down the rebellion but when he got there, there were no
rebels to be found! The contrast between this rebellion
and Shay’s rebellion is often used to show the effect of
the Constitution and a strong central government.
1st Political Parties
After George Washington’s presidency ended in the late
1790s, the first political parties emerged.
•
•
•
•
The Federalists
John Adams and
Alexander Hamilton
believed in a strong
national government
industrial economy
supported by bankers
and business interests in
the Northeast
•
•
•
•
Democratic
Republicans
Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison
believed in a weak
national government
agricultural economy
supported by farmers,
artisans, and frontier
settlers in the South.
John Adams’ Presidency
• XYZ Affair - John Adams sent three
ministers, Pinckney, Gerry and John
Marshall, to Paris to try to negotiate an
end to the Quasi-War with France. The
French minister communicated with them
through three underlings and demanded
an enormous "bribe" from the Americans.
The Americans refused to pay the bribe,
and referred to the agents as "X, Y, and Z"
in their report, thus naming the episode.
John Adams’ Presidency
• Alien and Sedition Acts – After the XYZ Affair,
Anti-French feelings grew and many felt war with
France was inevitable. In preparation for war,
the Federalists passed the "Alien and Sedition
Acts," providing for the deportation of enemy
aliens and fining persons who criticized the
government. Democratic-Republicans believed
that the acts had the political purpose of
silencing their party and was against the 1st
amendment of Free Speech.
The Election of 1800
• Tie between Aaron Burr
and Jefferson.
• Hamilton used influence
to help Jefferson win in
electoral college tie
breaker
• first presidential election
in which power was
peacefully transferred
from one party to another.
Won by Thomas Jefferson
Burr kills Hamilton
Aaron Burr and Alexander
Hamilton dueled on July 11,
1804. Burr was still Vice
President, although
Jefferson had chosen a new
running mate for that year's
presidential election, when
his quarrels with Hamilton
reached a climax in April
1804.
Hamilton had played a decisive role in Burr's defeat in the
1804 race for governor of New York. In the duel that
resulted, Hamilton was killed, but the duel ended Burr's
political career.
Supreme Court under Chief Justice
John Marshall
• Marbury v. Madison established the power
of the federal courts to declare laws
unconstitutional (“judicial review”)
• McCulloch v. Maryland prohibited the
states from taxing agencies of the federal
government (“the power to tax is the
power to destroy”)
Jefferson’s Presidency
Meriwether Lewis
William Clark
• In 1803 Jefferson
purchased Louisiana
Territory from France
• doubled the size of the
United States.
• He authorized the Lewis
and Clark expedition to
explore the new territories
that lay west of the
Mississippi River
• Sacajawea, an Indian
woman, served as their
guide and translator.
James Madison’s Presidency
• James Madison elected
President in 1808
• Secretary of State
under Jefferson
• Democratic Republican
• Last “Founding Father”
to become President.
• Declares War on
Britain
War of 1812
Causes of the War:
• Impressments (Britain took
American sailors off of American
ships and made them serve in the
British navy.)
• Freedom of the seas (The United
States was being forced by both
Britain and France to choose sides if
the United States wanted to trade
freely with either country)
• The Embargo of 1807 (Jefferson
decided to cut off all trade.This had a
ruinous effect on the American
economy.)
"The President's House after the Conflagration
of August 24, 1814." In order to cover up the
smoke marks above the windows, the mansion
was later painted white, which led to its being
called the White House
•
The Barbary pirates (These were privateers in the Mediterranean Sea off
•
the coast of North Africa who were also trying to impede American shipping.)
The Napoleonic Wars (In this ongoing European struggle between Britain
and France, both countries wanted the United States to be on their side.)
War of 1812
American incursions into the
Indian territories in northern
Ohio and Indiana had forced
the Indians in that area to form
a confederacy under the
brilliant leadership of
Tenskwatawa, and his brother,
Tecumseh.
The defeat of Tecumseh and his warriors at the Battle of
Tippecanoe by the American general William Henry
Harrison in November 1811 insured that the Indians would
have to ally themselves with the English to survive during
the War of 1812. The “War Hawks” in Congress wanted tyo
push “on the Canada”
War of 1812
• War of 1812 - American
victory over the British
• Treaty of Ghent ends war in
Dec. of 1814
• produced an American claim
to the Oregon Territory
• increased migration of
American settlers into
Florida, which was later
acquired by treaty from
Spain in 1819.
Battle of New Orleans – Andrew
Jackson wins against the British
The British had attempted to prevent American merchants from sending
supplies to France, and had further angered the Americans by "impressing"
seamen from American ships. These led to the War of 1812, in which the
Americans again fought off the British, ending the conflict between the two
countries. Actually, this battle (the Battle of New Orleans) took place after the
U.S.-British negotiators had signed the terms of peace in Ghent.
War of 1812
Francis Scott Key
described the
scene of the
British
bombardment of
the Fort in his
stirring poem,
The Star
Spangled Banner,
published in
Baltimore and
widely distributed
as a song sung to
a popular
drinking ballad
tune, Anacreon in
Heaven. The tune
and its verses
were not adopted
as the national
anthem until
1931.
James Monroe’s Presidency
• James Monroe become
President in 1816
• Democratic-Republican
• James Madison’s
Secretary of State &
Secretary of War
• Federalist Party dies out
• Starts the “Era of Good
Feeling”
The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
• The American continents
should not be considered
for future colonization by
any European powers.
• Nations in the Western
Hemisphere were
inherently different from
those of Europe, republics
by nature rather than
monarchies.
• The United States would regard as a threat to its own
peace and safety any attempt by European powers to
impose their system on any independent state in the
Western Hemisphere.
• The United States would not interfere in European
affairs
Go West Young Man!
• The belief that it was America’s “Manifest
Destiny” to stretch from Atlantic to Pacific
provided political support for territorial
expansion.
• American settlers poured westward from the
coastal states into the Midwest, Southwest, and
Texas, seeking economic opportunity in the form
of land to own and farm.
Go West Young Man!
• The growth of railroads
and canals helped the
growth of an industrial
economy and supported
the westward movement
of settlers.
• Eli Whitney’s invention of
the cotton gin led to the
spread of the slaverybased “cotton kingdom” in
the Deep South.
Don’t Mess with Texas!
• American migration into
Texas led to an armed
revolt against Mexican
rule and a famous
battle at the Alamo.
• The Texans’ eventual On March 1, 1836, Texas declared itself
independent. Mexican President Santa
victory over Mexican
Anna arrived in San Antonio in March
1836 with an inexperienced and poorly
forces subsequently
equipped army. He called for the
brought Texas into the surrender of the Alamo, but its
defenders, none of whom was TexasUnion.
born, refused and were martyred.
Don’t Mess with Texas!
• The American victory in
the Mexican War during
the 1840s led to the
acquisition of an
enormous territory that
included the present-day
states of California,
Nevada, Utah, Arizona,
and parts of Colorado
and New Mexico.
Policy of Indian Removal
• Conflict between American settlers and
Indian (First American) nations in the
Southeast and the old Northwest resulted
in the relocation of many Indians (First
Americans) to reservations.
Go West Young Man!
• During this period of westward migration,
the American Indians were repeatedly
defeated in violent conflicts with settlers
and soldiers and forcibly removed from
their ancestral homelands.
• They were either forced to march far away
from their homes (the “Trail of Tears,”
when several tribes were relocated from
Atlantic Coast states to Oklahoma) or
confined to reservations.
Indian Removal Act of 1830
All the major tribes in the
South would be forced by
Andrew Jackson and the
American militia forces to
give up extensive lands,
preparing the way for the
Jacksonian era Indian
removals that culminated
in the " Trail of Tears ."
The Cherokee fought back and took their case to the Supreme Court with
the help of a Christian Missionary. In Worcester vs. Georgia, John Marshall
ruled the federal government could not seize Cherokee land but Jackson
refused to abide by the decision saying, “John Marshall has made his
decision; not let him enforce it”.
The forcible removal of the American Indians (First Americans) from
their lands would continue throughout the remainder of the nineteenth
century as settlers continued to move west following the Civil War.
Women’s Rights
The women’s suffrage movement grew during the same
time as the abolitionist movement.
The first Women's Rights
Convention was in 1848 at
Seneca Falls, NY, where the
American feminist movement
was launched. presenting a
"Declaration of Sentiments"
which echoed the Declaration
of Independence. At this
meeting, 61 women and 34
men, most of them veterans of
the antislavery movement,
demanded the right for women
to vote.
A cartoon representing feminist
speaker denouncing men
Women’s Rights
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and
Susan B. Anthony
(standing), who became
involved in women’s
suffrage before the Civil
War, and continued with the
movement after the war.
In the 1870s and 1880s, Susan B. Anthony and her long-time
partner Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman
Suffrage Association in Washington, D.C. in 1869, and
published a newspaper The Revolution, which called for both
enfranchisement for women, and equal pay for women, for
child care centers, and more equitable divorce laws.