The Jeffersonian
Republic
1801-1825
Election of 1800
• Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
• Bulk of Jefferson’s strength was in the South and West and barely
won New York.
• Jefferson and Aaron Burr: Equal in votes!!
• Thrown into the House of Representatives
• Alexander Hamilton steps in and sways support to defeat Burr
• 12th Amendment-created procedure for electing the President and
Vice President. It replaced Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the
Constitution
• Burr kills Hamilton in duel in 1804
• “Revolution of 1800”-felt it returned to revolutionary spirit and
was a peaceful transfer of power,
• “ballots replaced bullets”
Election 1800
The Beginning
• First president to be inaugurated in the new capital
• His first inaugural address outlined his political philosophy
which included:
• Support for states’ rights, peace with nations, maintaining a
sound economy, freedom and equality, and merits of agriculture
• He was moderate in administration and policy
• Left Hamiltonian framework intact
• Alien and Sedition had expired
• Did remove whiskey tax
• Reduced military; distrusted large standing armies
• Chief Justice John Marshall (Federalist) will extend the power
of the Supreme Court
First Barbary War
• Pasha of Tripoli
declares war with the
United States for
failing to pay annual
tribute.
• Jefferson sent the first
naval fleet to the area
to deal with
harassment of US ships
• Success at Battle of
Derna brought about a
treaty and bolstered
confidence
LOUISIANA PURCHASE
• Administration sought purchase of New Orleans
• Napoleon offered to sell for all for $15 million
• France gave up imperial goals in Americas with Toussaint
L'Ouverture’s successful revolution in Haiti
• Needed money for war in Europe
• Strict Constructionism vs. Loose?
• Privately proposed a constitutional amendment
• Submitted treaty to Senate
• Jefferson admitted privately that he thought it was
unconstitutional
• Lewis and Clark explore the new territory
The Louisiana Purchase
Problems of Neutrality
• 1803 - Renewal of the Napoleonic Wars between
France and Great Britain
• America was once again trapped between the two
nations
• Impressment was an issue
• Chesapeake-Leonard Affair (1807)
• The USS Chesapeake refused to allow the British
on the Leopard to board to look for deserters, so,
the Leopard fired on the Chesapeake killing 3
• USA wanted war, but Jefferson did not!
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair
Embargo Act of 1807
• Jefferson wanting to stay neutral proposed
an embargo on all foreign trade
• Act forbade ALL exports
• Tremendous failure and devastated the
American Economy, however spurred US
manufacturing
The Embargo Act 1807
Legacy
• Expanded the size of
the U.S.
• 12th Amendment
separating votes for
President and VicePresident
• Expanded the power
of the presidency
New Administration Goes to War
• 1808—James Madison elected president
• 1809—Embargo repealed in favor of NonIntercourse Act
U.S. would resume trade with England and France on
promise to cease seizure of U.S. vessels
• Macon’s Bill Number Two replaced the Non-Intercourse
Act
•
• Trade with both England and France re-established
• First nation to respect American rights won halt of U.S. trade with
the other
Mr. Madison’s War
• Reasons to fight the British:
• Frontier people accuse British of encouraging
Indian leader Tecumseh and his brother the
Prophet. When Tecumseh was defeated by US at
Battle of Tippecanoe, he will turn to British for help.
• Gain more territory
• Assert American Rights and revenge for
impressment of American sailors
• Restore confidence in the American Experiment!
14
• Wipe out renewed Indian resistance
• Widespread disunity led to America’s worst fought war:
apathy not anger!
• Army was ill-trained and scattered.
• Three U. S. invasions were complete failures.
• But Francis Scott Key wrote a great song!
• The most famous battle was fought 2 weeks after the
War of 1812 was over.
• The Treaty of Ghent concluded the War of 1812.
15
War of 1812
Era of Good Feelings
• Rapid growth and development of West after 1815 by the lure of
cheap land, construction of new roads, and the subduing of the
Indian tribes after the War of 1812.
• Henry Clay’s American System reflected sense of unity:
• Tariff to protect manufacturing
• Charter the Second Bank of the U.S.
• Internal improvements-roads, canals, turnpikes
• Erie Canal connected the Hudson R to the Great Lakes by
1825
16
• War of 1812 ushered in wave of nationalism-”Era of
Good Feelings”
• Era saw:
Era of Good Feelings?
• Name is something of a misnomer, the period
was a troubled era
• The Panic of 1819:
• First setback for postwar nationalism, and hurt the
West
• However, led the Land Act of 1820 which reduced cost
of land, led to legislation against debtors jail
• Sectionalism and was stimulated and political
divisions widened by the Panic of 1819
Missouri Compromise
• Missouri petitioned for statehood.
• Tallmadge Amendment (1819): House bill tried to
stop the spread of slavery into Missouri. Defeated by
the Senate.
• Henry Clay “The Great Compromiser” helped to end
deadlock.
• Missouri Compromise, 1820:
•
•
•
•
•
Extremists (No & So) not satisfied,
Missouri enters as a slave state,
Maine as a free state, and
North/South balance of power remains equal.
Parallel 36°30’ set as northern boundary for slavery
18
• Angered slaveholders and those who wanted open
western expansion.
John Marshall
• After establishing Supreme Court power to
judicial review (constitutionality of laws), he
continued to promote judicial nationalism
• Decisions of Chief Justice Marshall reveal his
beliefs:
• Strong central government
• Sanctity of private property
• Hamiltonian principles.
President James Monroe
21
• Elected with little opposition from Federalists
• Served 1817-1825
Monroe and Foreign Relations
• Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819:
• Spain ceded Florida for American claim to Texas.
• Monroe Doctrine (1823):
• Reaction to European re-interest in the Americas
and beginnings of revolutions in Latin America.
• Asserted a stern warning to European powers:
• No colonization and no intervention
• Not enforceable at the time (But had British
support)