NATIONAL GROWING PAINS
• Madison in Power
– in 1808, Republicans won both houses of
Congress, and Madison won presidency
– Non-Intercourse Act not only proved
difficult to enforce, but failed to prevent
British from continuing to seize American
ships
– Macon’s Bill No. 2 removed all restrictions
on trade with Britain and France
– when Napoleon announced he would
revoke his restrictions if Britain agreed to
abandon its own restrictive policies,
Madison reapplied the non-intercourse
policy to Britain
– France continued to seize American ships
– Britain refused to modify the Orders in
Council until French actually lifted theirs
– Madison refused to admit that he had been
deceived by Napoleon and concluded that,
unless Britain ended its restrictions, the
United States must declare war
• Tecumseh and the Prophet
– growing numbers of American settlers
steadily drove Indians out of the Ohio
Valley
– Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, attempted to
unite all tribes east of Mississippi into a
great confederation
– his brother, the Prophet, added force of a
moral crusade; he argued that Indians
must give up white ways and preserve their
Indian culture
– in 1811, a military force led by General
William Henry Harrison engaged Indians at
Battle of Tippecanoe and destroyed the
hopes of Tecumseh’s federation
• Depression and Land Hunger
– some westerners attributed low prices
received for agricultural goods to loss of
foreign markets and British depredations
against American shipping
– American commercial restrictions and an
inadequate transportation system actually
contributed more significantly to
agricultural depression
– Western expansionism fed war fever;
westerners wanted Canada and Florida
– United States took western part of Florida
without opposition from Spain
• Opponents of War
– maritime interests in east feared war
against Britain
– Napoleon posed genuine and serious
threat to United States, and going to war
with Britain would aid Napoleon
– by 1812 conditions in England made
change in British maritime policy likely
– growing effectiveness of Napoleon’s
Continental System caused depression in
Britain
– British manufacturers, who blamed hard
times on loss of American markets, urged
the repeal of Orders in Council
– gradually, British government moved to
suspend Orders, but not until Congress
had declared war on Great Britain in 1812
• The War of 1812
– the War of 1812 was poorly planned and
managed
– U.S. Navy could not challenge Britain’s
mastery of Atlantic
– Canada appeared to be Britain’s weak
spot, but an American invasion failed
because of poor leadership and
unwillingness of some American militiamen
to leave their own soil
– soon Americans were fighting to keep
British from taking American territory
– Captain Oliver Hazard Perry defeated
British fleet and gained control of Lake Erie
– this made British control of Detroit
untenable, and when they fell back,
Harrison defeated British at Thames River
– British captured Fort Niagara and burned
Buffalo
• Britain Assumes the Offensive
– war against Napoleon occupied British until
1814
– after Napoleon’s defeat, British put more
effort into war with America
– British undertook a three-pronged attack
– central British force did take Washington
and burn most public buildings
– they moved up the Chesapeake, American
forces stopped them at Baltimore
• “The Star Spangled Banner”
– an American civilian, Francis Scott Key,
observed bombardment of Fort McHenry
from deck of a British ship, where he was
being held prisoner
– when he saw American flag still flying over
fort the next morning, he wrote the words
to “Star-Spangled Banner,” which was later
set to music and eventually became
national anthem
– the burning of Washington shocked many
Americans, and thousands came forward
to enlist
• The Treaty of Ghent
– in 1814, the British and Americans met at
Ghent to discuss terms for peace
– British prolonged negotiations in the hope
that their offensive would give them upper
hand
– news of British defeat at Plattsburg forced
British to modify their demands
– they eventually agreed to American
demands for the status quo ante bellum
– negotiators signed Treaty of Ghent on
December 24, 1814
• The Hartford Convention
– news of treaty had not yet reached
America when a group of New England
Federalists met to protest the war and plan
for a convention to revise Constitution
– their opposition to war made them
unpopular in rest of country, which in turn
encouraged extremists in New England to
talk of secession
– moderate Federalists controlled Hartford
Convention
– their resolutions argued that states had
right to interpose their authority to protect
themselves from violations of Constitution
– they also proposed a series of
amendments to Constitution
– news of the Treaty of Ghent discredited
Federalists, who had predicted a British
victory
• The Battle of New Orleans
– news of the Treaty of Ghent failed to arrive
in time to prevent Battle of New Orleans
– Americans, commanded by General
Andrew Jackson, successfully withstood
British assault and inflicted heavy
casualties on British while suffering only
minor losses themselves
• Victory Weakens the Federalists
– America’s ability to hold off British
convinced European powers that the
United States and its republican form of
government were there to stay
– the war cost United States relatively few
casualties and little economic loss
– among the big losers were Native
Americans and the Federalist party
– as Europe settled down to what would be a
century of relative peace, major foreign
threats to United States ended, and
commerce revived and European
immigration to America resumed
• Anglo-American Rapprochement
– American trade had become more
important to British economy, and in 1815
the two countries signed a commercial
agreement ending discriminatory duties
and making other adjustments favorable to
trade
– in 1817, in Rush-Bagot Agreement, the two
countries agreed to demilitarize Great
Lakes
– in 1818, a joint Anglo-American
commission settled disputed boundary
between U.S. and Canada by designating
49th parallel as northern boundary of
Louisiana Territory from Lake of the Woods
to Rocky Mountains
– they also agreed to joint control of Oregon
country for ten years
• The Transcontinental Treaty
– Jackson’s pursuit of Indians into Spanish
Florida and his capture of two Spanish
forts raised Spanish fears that America
would eventually seize all of Florida
– Spain was even more concerned about
security of its holdings in northern Mexico
and was ready to give up Florida in
exchange for an agreement protecting its
Mexican empire
– Spain had to accept a boundary to
Louisiana Territory that followed Sabine,
Red, and Arkansas rivers to Continental
Divide and 42nd parallel to Pacific
– the U.S. obtained Florida for $5 million, to
be paid to Americans with claims against
Spain
• The Monroe Doctrine
– fears of Russian expansion in the Western
Hemisphere prompted Monroe and
secretary of state, John Quincy Adams, to
warn: “The American continents are no
longer subjects for any new European
colonial establishments”
– Russia agreed to abandon territorial claims
south of 54 degrees, 40 minutes and to
remove restrictions on foreign shipping
– a greater threat came when several
European powers decided to try to restore
Spain’s empire
– neither British nor Americans wanted to
see a restoration of Spanish empire
– Britain had no desire to recognize new
revolutionary republics in South America
– America had already recognized them
– Monroe rejected a British proposal for a
joint declaration and included a statement
of American policy in his message to
Congress in 1823
– U.S. would not interfere with existing
European colonies in North or South
America and would avoid involvement in
European affairs
– any attempt to extend European control to
countries that had won their independence
would be considered hostile to U.S.
– Monroe Doctrine may be seen as final
stage of American independence
• The Era of Good Feelings
– political factionalism diminished during
Monroe’s presidency, known as “Era of
Good Feelings”
– Jeffersonians had come to accept most of
Hamilton’s economic policies
– Jeffersonian balance between individual
liberty and responsible government had
survived both bad management and war
– when political divisions reappeared, they
were about new issues emerging out of the
growth of the country
• New Sectional Issues: Protection,
Western Lands, Banking, Slavery
– War of 1812 and depression that struck
country in 1819 shaped many of
controversies of Era of Good Feelings
– the panic of 1819 strengthened position of
protectionists, who argued that American
industry needed protection from foreign
competition
– with exception of shipping interests, north
favored protectionism and the South
initially favored protectionism to foster
national economic self-sufficiency
– eventually South rejected protectionism on
ground that tariffs increased price of
imports and hampered export of cotton and
tobacco
– charter of First Bank of U.S. was not
renewed when it expired in 1811
– many new state banks were created after
1811, and most recklessly overextended
credit
– after the British raid on Washington created
a panic, all banks outside New England
– a second Bank of the U.S. was established
in 1816, but it was poorly managed and
irresponsibly created credit
– easy credit policies of the banks led to a
boom in land sales
– agricultural expansion in America and
resumption of agricultural production in
Europe after Napoleonic Wars resulted in
falling prices
– as prices fell, many western debtors faced
ruin
– although slavery became the most divisive
sectional issue, it caused remarkably little
– Congress abolished African slave trade in
1808 with little controversy
– new free and slave states were added to
Union in equal numbers, thus maintaining
balance in Senate
– cotton boom led southerners to defend
slavery more aggressively
– West tended to support the South’s
position
– Southwestern slave states naturally
supported slavery; northwest was also
sympathetic, partly because it sold much of
its produce to southern plantations
• Northern Leaders
– John Quincy Adams emerged as the bestknown northern leader of early 1820s
– began career as Federalist but became a
Republican
– nationalist, supported Louisiana Purchase,
internal improvements and he was
opposed to slavery
– Daniel Webster, nationalist, reflected the
interests of his native New England
– opposed Embargo Act, War of 1812, high
tariff of 1816, cheap land, internal
improvements, and initially opposed
Second Bank (largely on partisan grounds)
– Martin Van Buren avoided taking positions
– expressed no clear opinions on such major
issues as slavery or the tariff
• Southern Leaders
– most prominent southern leader, William H.
Crawford of Georgia, was one of the first
politicians to try to build a national machine
– he supported states’ rights, he favored the
imposition of a moderate tariff
– John C. Calhoun of South Carolina took a
strong nationalist position on all issues;
devoted to South and its institutions
• Western Leaders
– Henry Clay’s “American System” reflected
his gift for seeing national needs from a
broad perspective
– advocated federal support for internal
improvements and a protective tariff
– although a slave owner, he opposed
slavery on principle and favored
colonization
– Thomas Hart Benton championed the
small western farmer
– William Henry Harrison made his
reputation as soldier before entering
politics; had little impact on developing
political alignments of 1820s
– Andrew Jackson resembled Harrison in
many ways
– his chief assets were his reputation as a
military hero and his forceful personality
– no one knew his views on important
issues, but this did not stop enthusiastic
supporters from backing him for president
• The Missouri Compromise
– Missouri’s request for admission as a slave
state touched off a serious political
controversy
– voting that split along sectional lines,
House added Tallmadge Amendment to
Missouri
– Enabling Act Tallmadge Amendment
prohibited further introduction of slavery
into Missouri and provided that all slaves
born in Missouri after statehood should be
– Senate defeated the amendment
– debate did not turn on morality of slavery
– Northerners objected to adding new slave
states because these states would be
overrepresented in Congress under Threefifths Compromise
– Missouri entered as a slave state, and its
admission was balanced by admission of
Maine as a free state
– to prevent further conflict, Congress
adopted a proposal to prohibit slavery in
the Louisiana Territory north of 36 degrees
30 minutes
• The Election of 1824
– politics continued to divide along sectional
lines, no issue divided country so deeply
as slavery
– by 1824, Federalists had disappeared as a
national party, and factional disputes
plagued the Jeffersonians
– no candidate won a majority of the
electoral college in a bitter contest
– in the House of Representatives, Clay
threw his support to John Quincy Adams,
who became the next president
• John Quincy Adams as President
– Adams took a Hamiltonian view and sought
to promote projects beneficial to national
interest
– he proposed a vast program of internal
improvements as well as aid to
manufacturing and agriculture
– a Jeffersonian nationalist would have had
difficulty gaining acceptance of these
proposals; with his Federalist background,
Adams had no chance
– Adams’s inability to garner popular support
and his refusal to use power of
appointments to win political support
impeded his administration
• Calhoun’s Exposition and Protest
– a new tariff in 1828 set high duties on
manufactured goods and agricultural
products
– Calhoun believed that tariff would
impoverish the South
– in response, he wrote the “South Carolina
Exposition and Protest,” an essay
repudiating the nationalist philosophy he
had previously espoused and defending
the right of a state to nullify an act of
Congress
• The Meaning of Sectionalism
– the sectional issues that strained ties
between people of different regions were
products of powerful forces, such as
growth and prosperity, that actually bound
the sections together
– other forces unifying the nation were
patriotism and commitment to the
American experiment in government