THE TRIUMPHS
AND TRAVAILS OF
THE JEFFERSONIAN
REPUBLIC
AP U.S. History
Chapter 11
THE JEFFERSONIAN “REVOLUTION OF
1800” – JEFFERSONIAN RESTRAINT
• "Revolution of 1800" --
significant for its unprecedented
peaceful transfer of power
•
“We are all Republicans, we are all
Federalists” – more harmonious spirit in
politics
• "Honest friendship with all nations,
entangling alliances with none."
• Simple inauguration - simple
administration – reduced number of
grand balls/dinners, sent annual
messages to Congress by clerk (done
until Woodrow Wilson), rode horseback,
small dinners served at a round table,
wore no wig and homespun clothes
(once answered callers in dressing
gown/slippers).
• Real threat to republic – taxes, standing army, public
corruption
• Most vigilant/virtuous people – educated farmers.
Least – residents of cities (breeding grounds for mobs)
• Studied science – every scientific advance would
increase human happiness
• Jefferson - kept most of Hamilton's
financial plan intact
• Did not keep excise taxes
• Maintained Bank
• Retained tariff
• Did not tamper with funding national debt at par and
assumption of state debts.
• Jefferson reversed certain Federalist policies
– Pardoned/returned fines - guilty under the Sedition Law
– New naturalization law in 1802 – 5 year requirement
• Succeeded in substantially reducing the national debt
($80 million to $57 million) while balancing the budget
- cut gov’t spending – Albert Gallatin – Sec. of
Treasury
• Reduced Hamilton’s standing army but kept strong
navy. 1802 – 3,350 officers and men – rely on it only for
national defense.
JEFFERSON, A RELUCTANT WARRIOR
•1801 – Ordered Navy to Mediterranean
• Tripolitan War (1801-1805)
• After 4 years of fighting, Tripoli was
forced to sign a treaty 1805
• Jefferson - build up
a fleet of small gunboats
(later criticized as the
"mosquito fleet") as it
later proved ineffective
during the War of 1812
Jefferson and the
Judiciary
• No Republicans sat on federal judiciary
• Still upset over enforcement of A and S Acts
• Judiciary Act of 1801 – reduced Supreme Court
judges from 6 to 5 (Jefferson could not appoint when
there was a vacancy), and increased the number of
federal judges (16) – assured Federalists
domination of the federal courts.
• "midnight judges"
• Act repealed by Rep congress (1802)
John Marshall
• Chief Justice - 34 years
• Committed to
strengthening the
federal
government.
• Maintained Federalist
principles - “Ghost of
Alexander Hamilton”
Marbury vs Madison, 1803
• William Marbury sued for delivery
of his commission - held up by new
secretary of state James Madison.
• Madison was ordered by Jefferson
to withhold Adams' appointments
under the Judiciary Act of 1801.
• Marshall ruled Madison under no
legal obligation b/c Congress had
exceeded its
constitutional authority.
MEANS…
Marbury
Madison
Judicial Review
• Marshall ruled part of the Judiciary Act of 1789, an act
of Congress, unconstitutional
• Supreme Court - power to rule legislative acts
Supreme Court has the
ultimate say-so.
unconstitutional.
• Power of Supreme Court
greatly enhanced
Inscription on the wall of the Supreme Court Building
from Marbury v. Madison, in which Chief Justice John
Marshall (statue, foreground) outlined the concept of
judicial review.
Meantime….
• Impeaching two Federalist
Judges – John Pickering (insane/
alcoholic) and Samuel
Chase (big-time Federalist
who jailed Republicans under
Sedition Act)
• Impeachment – treason, bribery,
and “high crimes and
misdemeanors”
• Does excessively partisan fit this?
The Louisiana Purchase
• 1800 - Treaty of
San Ildefonso –
Spain ceded to
France
– 6 months to get
news, minutes to
realize…
• Monroe/Livingston to
Paris – buy New
Orleans, as much of
Florida as possible
• Spanish - 1802
withdrew right of
deposit at New
Orleans
guaranteed under
the Pinckney
Treaty of 1795.
• Louisiana Territory purchased for $15 million
(1/4 was debts owed by French to Americans
that we would pay). Doubled our size,
gave farmers enough land for long
time, insured access to MS river.
• Constitutional?????
• Jefferson accepted TREATY reluctantly
– Justified if as providing farmers with more land.
Federalists
opposed LA
Purchase
• Decrease
Eastern
stronghold
•
Most important land
purchase in U.S. History
1. Doubled size of U.S. for only 3 cents an acre – a BARGAIN and a
SURPRISE PACKAGE!!!
2. Guaranteed MS River/New Orleans
3. Paved way for westward expansion - By 1890 all
remaining Native Americans in West would be killed or forced onto
reservations.
John Jacob Astor formed the American Fur Company in 1808 - tap
into the newly purchased territory; eventually resulted in U.S. claim
to Oregon
4. Ended European expansion in North America (for the most part)
5. Avoided possible war with France, entangling alliance with Britain.
However, a few weeks after the LA Purchase, FR declared war on
GB, which dominated American politics for the next 11 years
6.
Boosted American nationalism
The Lewis and Clark
Expedition
• Western boundary???
• Meriwether Lewis
• William Clark, 50 others
• French fur-trader/wife, Sacajawea
• U.S. claim to Oregon; further opened West to Indian trade,
exploration. Demonstrated viability of an overland trail to
the Pacific – missionaries, fur trades and settlers.
• Collected scientific info, tall tales
• Zebulon M. Pike 1806-1807, went into Colorado & New
Mexico; discovered Pike’s Peak
Republicans
got rid of
Burr…
First term
success
Jefferson wins again in
1804
– U.S.
doubled its
territory,
taken steps
to pay off
debt,
remained at
PEACE!
The Gathering Storm…
• 1803-1814
• Renewal of Napoleonic Wars
• Federalists weakened, but
Republicans - internal
squabbles…
– Burr big problem…
– “Quids”
The Suppression of
American Trade
• 1803 – Britain and France resumed their war…
• U.S. – carrying supplies from FR/SP Caribbean colonies to
Europe
• Napoleon – supplies, HURT Britain (driving down prices
from their colonies – economic probs)
• 1803 – 1807 U.S. exports rose from $66.5 million to $102.2 million.
• England – “Orders in Council" – blockade of Frenchcontrolled ports of Europe.
• France – “Continental System” – ships obeying British
regulations subject to seizure…
• RESULT – ALL AMERICAN TRADE WITH
EUROPE HAD BEEN OUTLAWED!!
• Both FR/BR seizing ships…
–British more humilitating…
• Off OUR coast
• British Impressment
• 6,000 Americans impressed between 1808-1811
• Chesapeake-Leopard
Affair (June 21, 1807) - H.M.S.
Leopard demanded surrender of
four** alleged British deserters
on U.S.S. Chesapeake . Leopard
fired at the Chesapeake: 3 dead;
18 wounded.
• Chesapeake Affair enraged country
• Made some preparations for war, BUT…
Sought PEACE
THE HATED EMBARGO
• Jefferson wanted to avoid war – taxes, debt,
defeat would be bad for the U.S. BUT – at the
same time could not give in to the mistreatment.
• Embargo Act – 1807 – prohibited
ships
from leaving American ports for
foreign ports.
• Prohibited only exports, but…
• “Peaceable coercion” – pressure both nations to
respect our rights
• British sales to the U.S. dropped 50%, but
they found new markets in South
America
• Also – Embargo Act contained loopholes
–Ships blown off course…
• Napoleon seized ships (enforcement??)
• Embargo Act disaster to the U.S. economy
• In 1807 U.S. exports = $108 million ; in 1808 =
$22 million. Merchants (bankrupt/jail),
shipping (30,000 seamen out of work),
farmers (can’t pay debts) all hurt.
• Congress repealed - March 1, 1809 (3 days
before Jefferson left office)
Election of 1808
• Republican - James Madison
• Federalists - significant gains in Congress
(although still in minority) and gained control
of several state legislatures.
• Non-Intercourse Act (1809) – replaced
Embargo Act
– Reopened trade with all nations of the world
except BR and FR (trade would reopen if they
stopped violating our rights) – they didn’t, so…
– Macon’s Bill #2 – Opened trade with BR and FR,
then a bribe – if either nation repealed its
restrictions we would stop trade with other.
Reasons for embargo's
failure
1. Overestimated British dependence on U.S. trade
2. Embargo not in effect long enough,
administered effectively
3. Embargo Act proved to be three times as costly
as war
-- U.S. lost opportunity to build a strong
navy
4. Northeastern Federalists undermined Embargo
through smuggling.
• The Embargo Act inadvertently
sparked the Industrial Revolution
• New England - self-sufficient
-- Textile factories
•The Embargo
eventually hurt
Britain British importers
and textile
manufacturers saw
major losses
• Madison (now President) under fire from
aggressive Republicans
• South and West –
“War Hawks”
• Henry Clay (KY) and John C.
Calhoun (SC)
• Economic Recession 1808-1810
TECUMSEH AND THE
PROPHET
• Fear of Indian threat in
west (with help of British
in Canada)
– Tecumseh, brother
“the Prophet”
organized several
tribes in OH, IN and
attacked settlers.
• William H. Harrison’s army - defeated the Prophet at
Battle of Tippecanoe, Tecumseh at Battle of the Thames
“Tecumseh’s Curse”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1840 – William H. Harrison - pneumonia
1860 – Abraham Lincoln - assassination
1880 – James Garfield - assassination
1900 – William McKinley - assassination
1920 – Warren G. Harding – heart
attack/stroke/poison?
1940 – Franklin D. Roosevelt – cerebral hemorrhage
1960 – John F. Kennedy - assassinated
1980 – Ronald Reagan – attempted assassination
(injured but not killed)
2000 – George W. Bush – attempted assassination (not
injured)
Congress Votes for War
• June 1st – War message to Congress
Causes:
•
•
•
•
•
Impressment
British ships in American waters
British violations of neutral rights
Incitement of Indians
Underlying cause – economic recession
affecting S and W
• Madison
• U.S. declared war on
st
Britain in June, 1812 - 1
declaration of war under
the Constitution
The War of 1812
• British – naval blockade on American coast
• Ally – Native Americans
• Americans – few militiamen understood goals
of war
• Focused on Canada, unsuccessfully…
The Treaty of Ghent
• 1814 – Ghent, Belgium (signed Christmas Eve)
• British really not gaining anything, wanted
peace in Europe, so…
Treaty:
• restored the status
quo ante bellum
• Boundary issue between U.S./Canada referred
to joint commissions for future settlement
• Nothing done about impressment
Battle of New
Orleans
• Most dramatic
American victory!!!
– Jan. 1815
• Andrew Jackson and
men in an hour
inflicted more than
2,000 casualties
while losing only 13
Americans.
The Hartford Convention
• Battle of New Orleans – impact on domestic
politics…
• Northeast – hurt by Embargo, “Mr.
Madison’s War”
– Talk of secession
• Late 1814 – convention in Hartford, CT –
series of resolutions:
•
•
•
•
•
Abolish 3/5 clause
2/3 vote in Congress required to declare war
2/3 vote in Congress to admit new states
Limit President to 1 term
Prohibit election of 2 successive presidents
from same state
• Bar embargoes lasting more than 60 days
• Seen as a TRAITOROUS PLOT
• Federalists finished as a force
in national politics!!!