B. The New American House
3.
Jeffersonian America
i. Purpose: Students will learn about the Jeffersonian era; in short, how the
nation’s third president influenced the American political scene and how the
United States’ international outlook changed. Special attention will be paid to
the rise of the Supreme Court and the extent to which the Louisiana Purchase
impacted the people of the fledgling republic. In addition, the War of 1812 and
the Missouri Compromise will also be investigated in order to provide students
with a comprehensive understanding of the social, military, and political
ramifications of this crucial episode in American history.
ii. Background Website:
1.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/subtitles.cfm?titleID=21
iii. Key Terms:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Marbury vs. Madison, 1803
The Louisiana Purchase
The Embargo Act, 1807
The Battle of New Orleans, 1815
The Missouri Compromise
iv. Key Concepts:
1.
How did Marbury vs. Madison, 1803 help define the Supreme Court as
a more effective check and balance?
2.
Was Jefferson's vision of Republican Simplicity a pipedream that was
simply not compatible with the modern world and “progress”?
3.
How was the War of 1812 the United States’ Second War of
Independence?
4.
Why was the Missouri Compromise necessary? What did it mean for
the young nation?
v. Document:
1.
Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/jefinau1.htm
Lecture on Jeffersonian America
I.
Thomas Jefferson: President of a Growing American Nation
When Jefferson recalled the year 1800 as a moment of revolution, he was probably referring to the new
vision of republican simplicity he brought to bear on the federal government. During his presidential
tenure, he aspired to limit “big” government, but, when it suited him, he used the vast powers of the
executive to his advantage.
a. The “Revolution of 1800” and the New President’s Vision of
“Republican Simplicity”
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Thomas Jefferson, the Republican VP to John Adams won the 1800 presidential election,
but it was by no means an inevitable ascent to executive ascendancy for the distinguished
Virginia gentleman
Jefferson was the first president inaugurated in Washington D.C. (1801). To emphasize
frugality and simplicity he dressed in everyday wear, to strike the tone of republican
simplicity
Jefferson didn’t like what the Federalists, under Alexander Hamilton’s leadership, were
doing. He had watched with distrust as they had increased the public debt, established a
national bank, and secure commercial ties with England. Jefferson saw these programs as
helping to line the pockets of the few, rather than being in the nation’s best interests. He
believed that such things were not guaranteed to be promoted under the Constitution
Jefferson believed that the source of true freedom for America was the independent
farmer, the man who owned and worked his land, producing enough agricultural products
for both himself and for the market
To Jefferson, the unsettled west held the opportunity for all free white men to become
independent farmers and so could guarantee American freedom
Jefferson sought to dismantle as many Federalist plans as he could:
o He reduced the size of the army by a third (to 3,000 men)
o He cut back the navy from 25 ships to 7
o He abolished all internal federal taxes; for example, the taxes based on
population and the whiskey tax
o A further example of how he tried to keep things as simple as possible was the
number of people he employed in the executive branch of govt. was just a mere
130 men (which shrank to just a few dozen in the hot summer months)
b. Law and Order: The Rise of the Supreme Court
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The 1789 Judiciary Act created six Supreme Court justices and six circuits. But in 1801,
in the weeks leading up to Jefferson’s inauguration, John Adams set up an additional ten
Supreme Court districts.
The rationale was sound – more courts were needed; however, this would also provide
the Federalists with more appointments, thereby depriving the Republicans with the
opportunity to do so. He increased the number of judicial, diplomatic, and military posts
by 217 in the last weeks of February!
Adams was still working until 9pm on the last night he was president signing and
delivering commissions to the new appointees!
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The appointment of the “midnight judges” infuriated the Republicans and as soon as
Jefferson was inaugurated he cancelled the appointments
Because of the government’s failure to make good on its offer, one of these people,
William Marbury, decided to sue the secretary of state, James Madison
This action gave rise to the landmark Supreme Court case, Marbury v. Madison, decided
in 1803 which essentially ushered in the principal of judicial review as the court declared
the Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional = big thing!
Under John Marshall, the Supreme Court had become an institution as strong and
effective a check as both the legislative and executive branches of government.
c. The Louisiana Purchase
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In 1800, the Mississippi River was the western boundary of the United States. The land
beyond it was owned by Spain.
However, the Louisiana Territory soon came into the possession of France.
Napoleon had taken control of the French government in 1799 and now sought to bring
the rest of Europe under his rule. As a result, he needed cash to fund his armies of
conquest
In short, the Americans negotiated to buy the Louisiana Territory for the cut price bargain
of $15 million
The land (828,000 square miles) practically doubled the size of the US – Jefferson did
have qualms about doing it though, namely b/c there was no provision for it in the
Constitution! But, he invoked his treaty making powers as president to authorize the
addition of territory
Also, New England was not too happy about the purchase either as they saw that their
power would one day become marginalized due to the fact that such a large land grant
would be sure to accommodate a number of new states…
d. Impressment and the Embargo Act
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During the 1790s, while Great Britain and France, the two great superpowers of the age
had been at war, American shipping had prospered. In the early 19th century, however,
the European giants had resolved not to lose so much of its trade to American merchants
and so started to enforce restrictions on trade with the enemy.
In addition to these trade restrictions, the British navy increased its impressments of
Americans into British service. Between 1807 and 1812, about 2,500 men were taken
captive by imperious British commanders. This, of course did not sit well with the
American president nor the people
As a diplomatic response, Congress passed the Embargo Act in 1807, which forbade any
American ships engaging in any trade with any foreign port. It was a disaster because in
an instant, the act wiped out all commerce and proved to very unpopular!
The Act was repealed by the Congress as soon as Jefferson left office, and was replaced
with the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 (whereby, officially, Americans were only
prohibited from trading with England and France)
II.
The War of 1812
a. The War Begins
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The Indian conflicts to the west (Northwest Territory) in the first decades of the 19th
century soon merged into a wider conflict with England which culminated into what is
known as the War of 1812
In June of 1812, the Congress declared war on England. The vote divided along sectional
lines: New England and some of the Middle Atlantic states opposed the war, while the
South and the West were strongly for it
The war started off with an attempted American invasion of Canada, but the combined
strength of British soldiers and their Indian allies proved unexpectedly powerful
In fact, the northern invasion of Canada turned out to be a series of strategic blunders that
revealed the grave unpreparedness of the country for war
The tide of war did begin to turn a little in late 1812 and early 1813, however, as the US
won some naval encounters and also set Toronto ablaze on a successful foray into Canada
The young General Andrew Jackson had a number of victories over some Indians on the
western and southern borders of the US
b. The British Offensives of 1814
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But in August of 1814, the British went on the offensive and landed 5,000 troops in
Chesapeake Bay with the intent of marching on Washington DC
They were met on the way by a number of inexperienced militia units from Maryland
whom they quickly dispatched. President Madison and his cabinet, fearing the worst, fled
The British entered Washington D.C. and burned the White House to the ground, with
only a violent thunderstorm saving the rest of the city from the flames
Next, the British moved onto Baltimore, but were met with a much sterner defense. The
spirited defense of the port city inspired lawyer Francis Scott Key to compose a poem he
later called the Star Spangled Banner
The final British assault of its campaign came when a large army landed in lower
Louisiana in December, 1814, but General Jackson with his militiamen saved the day in
the New Orleans swamps. Jackson became an instant hero and was hailed as the savior of
the American nation
c. The War Ends
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The irony of the Battle of New Orleans was that a peace treaty had already been signed
between Britain and America in Ghent two weeks earlier!
The upshot of the war was that neither side could be called the victor and no land had
changed hands. Instead, the treaty of Ghent reflected a mutual agreement to give up
certain things:
o The Americans yielded on impressment and gave up their territorial claims to
Canada
o The British agreed to evacuate their western forts and relinquished their plans to
create a buffer state reserved for Indians in the Northwest Territory
Mainly, both governments were glad to see the war come to an end
No one really won the war, but it was a kind of second war for independence in that
America had once again proved her sovereignty and liberty to the rest of the world
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III.
The biggest losers of the war were the Indians as they had lost protection from the British
and now had no real hope against the onward rush of western settlers
Madison’s Successors
After the War of 1812, the Federalist Party died a somewhat graceful death as the country moved into the
“Era of Good feelings” with a one party political system
a. The Missouri Compromise
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The question of Missouri’s admission to the Union in 1819 and 1820 raised some
distressing issues because although Missouri was essentially in the “north,” it already
contained a large number of slaves. The 10,000 slaves taken there by owners amounted to
a bout a sixth of the territory’s population. This raised the divisive question of should
Missouri be admitted to the Union as a slave state or a free state
There was a plan to introduce gradual emancipation of slaves, but this was unacceptable
to southerner slave-owners who saw themselves losing not only their livelihoods, but also
their political power (the 3/5 compromises meant that they had 17 more representatives in
Congress than it would have if only free whites were figured)
Without slaves, therefore, the South’s political power would be greatly diminished
Eventually, a compromise was hammered out whereby Maine (who was also awaiting
admission to the Union) would be admitted as a free state and Missouri as a slave state to
maintain the balance of power in the Senate. In addition, it was agreed that the Southern
latitude of Missouri, 36’30”, become a permanent line dividing slave from free. All of the
Louisiana Territory north of that line—except Missouri—would be closed to slavery
This would only be a somewhat temporary solution to the slavery issue, however.
Thomas Jefferson noted “We have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor
safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation is in the other”
b. The Monroe Doctrine
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The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 marked the breakup of the Spanish
empire in the New World. Between 1815 and 1822 Jose de San Martin led
Argentina to independence, while Bernardo O'Higgins in Chile and Simon
Bolivar in Venezuela guided their countries out of colonialism. The new republics
sought—and expected—recognition by the United States, and many Americans
endorsed that idea.
The United States was also negotiating with Spain to purchase the Floridas, and
once that treaty was ratified, the Monroe administration began to extend
recognition to the new Latin American republics—Argentina, Chile, Peru,
Colombia and Mexico were all recognized in 1822.
In Monroe's message to Congress on December 2, 1823, he delivered what we
have always called the Monroe Doctrine. Essentially, the United States was
informing the powers of the Old World that the American continents were no
longer open to European colonization, and that any effort to extend European
political influence into the New World would be considered by the United States
"as dangerous to our peace and safety." The United States would not interfere in
European wars or internal affairs, and expected Europe to stay out of American
affairs.
c. The Election of 1824
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The Election of 1824 clearly showed that the “era of good feelings” had come to an end.
All the candidates were Democratic-Republicans, but personal and sectional interests
outweighed political orthodoxy. The candidates included: John Quincy Adams, Henry
Clay, Andrew Jackson, and John C. Calhoun
When results were tallied it was evident that Clay had siphoned-off enough votes from
Adams to deny him an electoral majority. Adams finished with 84 votes, Jackson 99,
Crawford 41 and Clay 37
The Twelfth Amendment (adopted in 1804 following the disputed Election of 1800)
provided that elections in which no candidate received a majority should be decided by
the House of Representatives from among the top three candidates. Clay was out of
contention and Crawford was an unlikely prospect because of a serious illness.
Jackson clearly expected to win, figuring that the House would act to confirm his strong
showing. However, Clay, as Speaker of the House, used his influence to sway the vote to
Adams. Although they were not close, Clay knew that he and Adams shared a common
political philosophy; Clay also knew that Jackson was an avowed opponent of the Bank
of the United States, a vital component of the American System. Clay also was not
interested in doing anything to further the career of the hero of New Orleans, his main
rival in the West
Adams prevailed on the first ballot in the House of Representatives and became the
nation’s sixth president. His subsequent appointment of Henry Clay as Secretary of State
led to angry charges of a “corrupt bargain.”