Chapter 8: The Triumphs and Trials of Jeffersonianism, 1800-1815

1. The "Revolution of 1800"
   1. The Lesser of Republican Evils
      1. The Federalists were again split internally.
         1. Hamilton sought Adams’s defeat as president and the election of C.C. Pinckney instead.
         2. Southern Federalists supported Jefferson.
      2. Jefferson’s election as president was decided by the House of Representatives.
         1. Jefferson and Burr (who was running for vice president) had tied in the Electoral College.
         2. Hamilton threw his support to Jefferson.
         3. Two states mobilized their militias to prevent Jefferson’s defeat.
         4. The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted to prevent a recurrence of this kind of crisis.
   2. Federalist Defenses and Party Acceptance
      1. The outgoing Federalist-controlled Congress consolidated its hold on the judiciary.
         1. The Judiciary Act of 1801 created new judicial positions, which Adams rushed to fill before he left office.
      2. Jefferson sought reconciliation with the Federalists.
         1. His inaugural address stressed the similarities between Republicans and Federalists and advocated free speech for the party out of power.
         2. In turn, the concept of the loyal opposition began to take root.
   3. Madison versus the Midnight Appointments
      1. The Republicans moved to end Federalist control of the courts.
         1. They repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801.
         2. James Madison withheld undelivered letters of appointmentincluding William Marbury’s.
      2. John Marshall developed the doctrine of judicial review.
         1. In Marbury v. Madisonhe ruled that the relevant law in Marbury’s attempt to obtain his letter of appointment was unconstitutional.
         2. It established the principle that federal courts, rather than states, could decide the constitutionality of acts of Congress.
      3. The Republicans attempted to remove presiding Federalist judges from the bench.
         1. John Pickering was impeached.
         2. The effort to impeach Samuel Chase failed.
         3. This solidified Jefferson’s leadership of the Republican party.
2. Republicanism in Action
   1. Jefferson’s Vision for America
      1. Jefferson favored a nation of small farmers.
         1. The evils of overpopulation and large cities would thereby be avoided.
         2. Manufactured goods could be imported from Europe in return for American produce.
         3. Government would stay away from shaping the economy on behalf of business.
         4. Free trade would benefit both America and Europe.
      2. Albert Gallatin implemented Jefferson’s economic policies.
         1. The government’s budget was slashed.
         2. All internal taxes were repealed; customs duties and sale of western lands alone remained to finance the government.
   2. War in the Mediterranean
      1. Conflict erupted again with the Barbary pirates.
         1. Jefferson decided on war with them, rather than continue to pay them not to attack American shipping.
         2. Hostilities lasted until 1805, when the United States ransomed captured Americans in return for a cessation of Barbary piracy.
   3. Crisis in America’s Interior
      1. Jefferson feared conflict with France over American access to the Mississippi River.
         1. Spain had given its lands in North America to France and had suspended free trade at New Orleans.
         2. America feared the French army sent to recapture Santo Domingo might next head for New Orleans.
         3. Jefferson went so far as to contemplate an alliance with the British.
   4. The Louisiana Purchase
      1. France offered to sell all of Louisiana for $15 million.
         1. Jefferson’s representatives in Europe agreed, though originally authorized to spend only $2 million.
      2. Congress quickly ratified the purchase.
         1. Only Federalists from the Northeast opposed it.
      3. Even before the purchase, Jefferson sent a secret expedition to explore the area.
         1. The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
3. Challenge and Uncertainty in Jefferson’s America
   1. The Heritage of Partisan Politics
      1. Federalists found themselves in a weak position as the election of 1804 approached.
         1. Jefferson’s policies and achievements made the Republicans exceedingly popular and gave them the election by a wide margin.
         2. The Federalists tried to make an issue of the Louisiana Purchase.
   2. Westward Expansion and Social Stress
      1. The West attracted huge numbers of settlers, giving rise, in turn, to new anxieties.
         1. Eastern businessmen feared a decline in their political influence and profits and a rise in labor costs.
         2. Western authorities struggled to absorb all the newcomers and to keep peace with the Indians.
      2. The West’s economy was problematic.
         1. Exporting produce proved expensive because of the country’s limited transportation routes. The ebb and flow in new settlement led to economic unpredictability.
      3. Social instability also appeared.
         1. Settled mostly by young men, western communities were not orderly.
         2. In the East, the young reached independence at an earlier age because they could leave home to migrate west.
   3. The Religious Response to Social Change
      1. Religious developments mirrored the nation’s changing society.
         1. Rationalism, culminating in Unitarianism, appealed to easterners seeking to advance in commerce and manufacturing.
         2. Evangelical churches grew rapidly in the South and especially in the West.
   4. The Problem of Race in Jefferson’s Republic
      1. Jefferson believed that whites were superior to blacks.
      2. In the North, blacks undertook to develop their own institutions.
         1. Despite emancipation in the North, they were systematically excluded from white society.
         2. African Methodist Episcopal churches developed in many communities.
         3. The churches, in turn, developed educational and other institutions.
      3. Jefferson regarded American Indians not as inferior to whites but as culturally backward
         1. Services for Indians developed by his administration aimed to transmit white culture to them.
         2. Until acculturation was complete, the Indians should be protected.
      4. Some American Indian groups - Cherokees, Creeks - began to centralize and to build their own economies.
         1. Nearby whites regarded these developments as impediments to their own westward expansion.
         2. Fearing conflict, Jefferson encouraged such American Indians to move farther west.
         3. This idea of segregating Native Americans would form the basis for Indian policy for the rest of the century.
4. Troubling Currents in Jefferson’s America
   1. Emerging Factions in American Politics
      1. Federalists in the Northeast began to plan to secede from the United States.
         1. Timothy Pickering and the Essex Junto believed their interests could not succeed under the Republicans.
      2. Divisions appeared also among the Republicans.
         1. John Randolph of Virginia opposed the expansion of the government’s power under Jefferson and his proposed solution to the Yazoo controversy.
         2. Randolph formed a third party, the Tertium Quids, because of Jefferson’s scheme to acquire Florida.
      3. Aaron Burr caused the Republicans considerable discomfort.
         1. Burr schemed with the Essex Junto to bring New York State into their proposed secession.
         2. After losing election as governor of New York, he killed Hamilton in a duel.
         3. He next participated in a scheme to establish a new republic in the West.
         4. During Burr’s trial for treason, Jefferson clashed with Chief Justice Marshall and then suffered the embarrassment of Burr’s acquittal.
   2. The Problem of American Neutrality
      1. Renewed warfare in Europe led to American prosperity between 1803 and 1807.
         1. Exports to Europe rose.
         2. Re-exports of foreign goods to Europe also increased.
      2. America was neutral in the war, but faced pressure from the warring powers.
         1. England seized British sailors on American ships.
         2. France’s Berlin Decree barred neutral ships from landing at French ports if they had been at English ports.
         3. Britain’s Orders in Council required neutral ships going to Europe to first pay a tax at an English port.
      3. Efforts by the Europeans to enforce their policies led to tension with the United States
         1. The British Leopardfired on an American ship and seized sailors on it while in American waters.
         2. In the Milan Decree, France announced it would seize neutral ships that traded with England or that had been boarded by English impressment parties.
      4. To preserve neutrality, Jefferson decided to embargo all trade with Europe.
5. Crises in the Nation
   1. The Depression of 1808
      1. The embargo caused a severe depression.
         1. Northeastern shipping crashed.
         2. Southern and western agricultural exports went down sharply.
   2. The Prophet, Tecumseh, and the War Hawks
      1. An American Indian religious and cultural revival arose in the West.
         1. The Prophet appealed to Indians displaced from their homes by the Treaty of Greenville.
         2. He established the community of Prophetstown where his followers settled.
         3. The Prophet at first preached nonviolence but later advocated resistance by the Indians.
      2. Tecumseh began to organize frontier Indians in a confederation to end white expansion.
         1. Americans charged that he and the Prophet (his brother) were British agents.
      3. Westerners began to advocate war with Britain.
         1. War would provide an excuse for breaking up emerging Indian confederations.
         2. War would make it possible to seize Canada and to secure American control of the Northwest Territory.
         3. Frontiersmen blamed England for the depression of 1808.
   3. Choosing War
      1. Madison’s easy victory for the presidency disguised divisions in the nation.
         1. Federalists attracted support because of the depression caused by the embargo.
         2. Some southern Republicans (the Tertium Quids) attempted to nominate James Monroe.
         3. Northeastern Republicans tried to elect George Clinton, because of the embargo.
      2. Republican strength increased in the congressional elections two years later.
         1. But the new Republicans in Congress did not support Madison’s moderate approach to England; they wanted war.
      3. Early in 1811, Madison was forced to suspend all trade with the British.
         1. France’s devious use of Macon’s Bill No. 2 required a suspension of all trade with England.
      4. Developments in the West increased pressure for war with Britain.
         1. Tecumseh and Governor William Henry Harrison reached a stalemate over the Fort Wayne Treaty.
         2. Harrison assembled an army at Prophetstown after an isolated Indian raid elsewhere.
         3. At the Battle of Tippecanoe, the Prophet’s forces attacked but were defeated by Harrison, who then destroyed Prophetstown.
         4. Tecumseh assembled an army.
         5. Harrison asked for federal military support against what he said was a British-Indian declaration of war.
      5. Congress declared war on Britain.
6. The Nation at War
   1. The Fighting Begins
      1. The land war included a three-pronged attack on Canada and attacks against the Indians.
         1. The attacks against Canada failed.
         2. Raids against Indian villages succeeded.
      2. The naval war was more successful.
         1. The American navy sank several British ships.
         2. Privateers captured many British vessels.
      3. The election of 1812 reflected misgivings about the war.
         1. Madison won, but barely, and Republican strength in Congress declined.
         2. The Federalists supported DeWitt Clinton - a northeastern Republican opposed to the war.
   2. The War’s Fruitless Second Year
      1. America scored victories on Lake Erie.
      2. In the North, the two sides harassed each other.
         1. Tecumseh - who was fighting with the British - was killed during an American foray into Canada.
      3. War erupted in the South with part of the Creek Nation.
         1. The Red Stick faction, which had joined Tecumseh’s confederation, scored a victory in the Fort Mims Massacre.
         2. Tennessee and Georgia forces inflicted severe losses on the Red Sticks in retaliation.
      4. The British seized control of the Atlantic.
         1. American ships were blockaded in port.
   3. The War’s Strange Conclusion
      1. Negotiations with the British began at the end of 1813.
      2. Congress took action to strengthen the army and to raise money.
         1. The army’s size was increased, and incentives were offered to increase enlistments.
         2. Congress authorized a loan and new treasury notes.
   4. The Politics of Waging War
      1. Congress enacted the Embargo of 1813.
         1. Its purpose was to end trade with Britain via neutral ships.
         2. The ban on all trade affected the economies of all states, particularly those in the Northeast.
   5. A Stumbling British Offensive
      1. France’s defeat led to a British buildup in North America.
      2. The British began a three-pronged offensive.
         1. The British invasion at Plattsburgh, New York, was turned back.
         2. The British burned Washington, D.C., but failed to take Baltimore.
   6. The Gulf Coast Campaign
      1. In their third prong, the British began to move from Pensacola in Spanish Florida toward New Orleans.
      2. Andrew Jackson undertook the defense of the Gulf Coast.
         1. He had earlier inflicted total defeat on the Red Stick Creeks at Horseshoe Bend.
         2. He then organized the defense of New Orleans and defeated the British invasion force there.
   7. The Treaty of Ghent
      1. The treaty merely ended the war and restored diplomatic relations.
      2. The War of 1812 also proved to be a pivotal experience in the nation’s history.
         1. The conflict discredited Jefferson's plan for an agricultural nation that would rely on Europe for its manufactured goods.
         2. Decreased Indian resistance allowed white settlers to move westward.
         3. Americans became convinced that they had to improve inland transportation.
         4. There was also an end to political factionalism and the Federalists' power declined.