Unit 2: Building the Nation
1776-1860
• Chapter 9: The Confederation and the Constitution, 1776-1790
• Chapter 10: Launching the New Ship of State, 1789-1800
• Chapter 11: The Triumphs and Travails of the Jeffersonian Republic, 18001812
• Chapter 12: The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of
Nationalism, 1812-1824
• Chapter 13: The Rise of a Mass Democracy, 1824-1840
• Chapter 14: Forging a National Economy, 1790-1860
• Chapter 15: The Ferment of Reform and Culture, 1790-1860
• Unit Exam: Politics & Power
Chapter 11
The Triumphs and Travails of the
Jeffersonian Republic, 18001812
“Timid men . . . prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of
liberty.”
Thomas Jefferson, 1796
I. Federalist and Republican Mudslingers
• Late 1790s - Federalists were in
trouble!
• Alien and Sedition Acts were very
unpopular
• Adams had not brought war with France
– prep for war had brought more debt
• 1800 Election: Federalists focused on
destroying Jefferson – Rumors!
• Robbing a widow and her children of a
trust fund - FALSE
• Fathering numerous mulatto children by
his slave woman – Sally Hemings - TRUE
• He was an atheist – FALSE
• Dirty campaigns are nothing new!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_zT
N4BXvYI
II. The Jeffersonian “Revolution of 1800”
• Jefferson won by an electoral vote of 73-65
• http://www.270towin.com/
• TJ most popular in the south and west (3/5 clause
helped!)
• NY was delivered by Aaron Burr, who almost became
President (by accident?)
• Sometimes referred to as the Revolution of 1800.
• TJ saw his mission:
• To restore the republican experience
• To check the growth of government power
• To halt the decay of virtue
• Significant: This was a peaceful and orderly transfer
of power.
III. Responsibility Breeds Moderation
• TJ was inaugurated president on March 4,
1801 in Washington DC
• “We are all Federalists. We are all Republicans.”
• DC was a village at that time – which fit in more
with the beliefs of the D-R.
• As president, Jefferson was forced to reverse
many of his political principles.
• Ideology vs. Reality – he was consistently
inconsistent
• Jefferson showed unexpected moderation
• He dismissed few Federalist public servants – little
patronage
Thomas Jefferson
3rd President of the United States
IV. Jeffersonian Restraint
• Jefferson was determined to undo the Federalist
abuses:
• Alien and Sedition Acts had already expired
• Pardoned those serving sentences under the Sedition Act
• Supported new naturalization law of 1802 to help
immigrants
• He had Congress repeal the excise tax (whiskey distillers
rejoice!)
• Albert Gallatin: valuable as Secretary of the Treasury
• By strict economy they reduced the debt while balancing
the budget
• Despite changes, Jeffersonians left the Hamilton’s
framework in place.
•
•
•
•
Funded national debt at par
Assumed state debts
Did not attack Bank of the United States
Did not repeal protective tariffs
Albert Gallatin (1761-1849)
One of the most important Americans
that no one remembers, he was the
longest serving Secretary of the
Treasury and founded what became
New York University.
V. The “Dead Clutch” of the Judiciary
• Judiciary Act of 1801: Federalists’ last minute
attempt to create judgeships filled by federalist
“midnight judges.”
• Marbury v. Madison (1803)
• William Marbury was appointed a justice of the peace by
Adams
• He sued when he learned that his commission would not
be delivered by Sec. of State Madison
• Chief Justice Marshall dismissed Marbury’s suit because
he declared the law on which Marbury based his claim to
be unconstitutional – Judiciary Act of 1789
• Whose “side” was Marshall on?
• Marshall promoted the principle of “judicial review”
• The idea that the Supreme Court alone had the last word
on the question of constitutionality
John Marshall
4th Chief Justice of SCOTUS
1801-1835
VI. Jefferson, a Reluctant Warrior
• First action of Jefferson was to reduce
the military establishment
• He wanted to forgo the military and win
friends through “peaceful coercion”
• Pirates of the North African Barbary States
made this difficult  WAR?
• Tripolitan War (1801-1805)
• TJ sent the infant army to Tripoli.
• Treaty of peace from Tripoli in 1805 after
paying $60,000 in ransom for captured
Americans.
VII. The Louisiana Godsend
• 1800 a secret pact was signed: Spain gave Louisiana
back to France (Napoleon).
• New Orleans now in French hands – uh-oh!
• TJ sent James Monroe to France to discuss the issue.
• GOAL: buy New Orleans and surrounding land for $10
million
• Napoleon suddenly decided to sell all Louisiana – WHY?
• 1803: treaties were signed ceding Louisiana to the
United States for about $15 million
• The territory would more than double the size of the
United States.
• Where in the Constitution does it say the president can
buy land? How could Jefferson say no to such a deal?
VIII. Louisiana in the Long View
• Louisiana Purchase (1803)
• America secured the western half of the richest
river valley in the world
• And laid the foundation of a future major power
• Showed the U.S. could be isolationists (GW!)
• Lewis and Clark’s Expedition(1804-06)
• Meriwether Lewis & William Clark sent by TJ to
explore the northern part of the Louisiana
Purchase
• Scientific observation, maps
• Knowledge of the local natives
• Early Oregon Trail (greatest PC game ever!)
• Greatest rap ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eqGm
M6ze2s
“Don’t Call Me
Meriwether” Lewis
IX. The Aaron Burr Conspiracies
• How could the government actually hold on to its
expanding territory? – Fear of secession grew.
• The Burr Conspiracies
• Joined a group of Federalist extremists to plot the
secession of New England and New York
• Killed Alexander Hamilton for exposing his plans – Nooooo!!!!!
• Tried for secession again in the West – failed.
• Burr was arrested and tried for treason.
• Chief Justice John Marshall, strictly interpreting the Constitution,
insisted that a guilty verdict required proof of overt acts of
treason, not merely treasonous intentions (see Art. III, Sec. III)
• Burr was acquitted and fled to Europe.
• Burr urged Napoleon to make peace with Britain and
launch a joint invasion of America – enough already!!
Aaron Burr
3rd Vice-President of the U.S. &
the original Bond Villain
X. A Precarious Neutrality
• Jefferson was reelected in 1804.
• Electoral Vote: 162-14 (http://www.270towin.com/)
• Napoleon deliberately provoked a renewal of his war with Britain.
• Great Britain ruled the seas, France ruled continental Europe.
• Orders in Council (1806)
• British “closed” the French ports unless vessels stopped at a
British port first.
• Violated freedom of seas & continued impressment
• Napoleon ordered the seizure of all merchant ships that entered
British ports.
• Americans stuck in the middle – again!
• The Chesapeake affair: British fired on the ship when
American captain refused to allow impressment of four
American sailor – WAR?
Britain and
France divide
up the
World, 1805
XI. The Hated Embargo
• National honor was at stake.
• Jefferson: if America voluntarily cuts off its
exports, GB & France would struggle
• Embargo Act (1807): forbade the export of all
goods from the United States – “peaceful
coercion”
• The American economy staggered & smuggling
flourished.
• 1809: Congress repealed the embargo.
• The Non-Intercourse Act then opened trade
with all nations, except Britain and France.
• Why the embargo act failed after 15
months:
• Jefferson underestimated the determination of
the British and overestimated the dependence
of Europe on America’s trade.
• Jefferson miscalculated the unpopularity of such
a self-sacrificing tool.
Besides being gross, what is this cartoon trying to do?
XII. Madison’s Gamble
• Madison took the presidential oath on March 4, 1809
(www.270towin.com)
• GB & France were still fighting.
• The Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 was to expire in 1810
• Congress dismantled the embargo completely with a
bargaining measure—Macon’s Bill No. 2
• Macon’s Bill No. 2: if either Britain or France repealed
its commercial restrictions, America would restore its
embargo against the non-repealing nation.
• Napoleon: French restrictions would end if Britain also lifted
it Orders in Council
• Madison’s gamble: the threat of seeing the United
States trade exclusively with France would lead the
British to repeal their restrictions—and vice versa
• Didn’t work – GB continued its naval practices
• War seemed inevitable by the end of Madison’s first term.
James Madison
“Father of the Constitution”
4th President of the United States
(1809-1817)
Mediocre Gambler – He lost
thousands on Draft Kings
XIII. Tecumseh and the Prophet
• Congress in 1811:
• Many new, young hotheads from the South and West: War
Hawks
• Wanted to wipe out the renewed Native American threat for
pioneers
• Two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, known to nonnatives as “the Prophet,” rose up.
• In the fall of 1811, William Henry Harrison gathered an army and
advanced on Tecumseh’s headquarters.
• Tecumseh was absent, but the Prophet attacked Harrison’s
army, with a small force of Shawnees.
• Victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe made Harrison a national hero
XIV. Mr. Madison’s War
• President Madison, a protégé of Thomas Jefferson, abhorred war.
• He felt, though, that war was necessary with Great Britain in 1812 in
order to defend the republican experiment that was the United
States.
• He asked Congress to declare war on June 1, 1812.
• Big Question: Was the new nation ready??