Chapter 10- The Jefferson Era
Lesson 1- A New Party in Power
The Election of 1800

• Federalists nominated John Adams and Charles Pinckney
• Republicans nominated Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr
• Candidates didn’t travel around the country to campaign
  • Letters published in newspapers with the candidates’ views
• Federalists said Jefferson was “godless”
• Republicans warned that Federalists would bring back monarchy

 
The Vote Is Tied

• Jefferson and Burr tied with 73 votes in the Electoral College
  • House of Representatives had to decide the election
• Federalists supported Burr to keep Jefferson from being president
  • Tied for 35 ballots until one Federalist decided not to vote for Burr and Jefferson won
• Twelfth Amendment (1803)- electors vote once for president and once for vice president

 
Jefferson’s Inauguration

• Adams didn’t attend
• Supported states’ rights
• Wanted to limit the power and size of the federal government

 
Jefferson as President

• Surrounded himself with people who shared his views
  • Albert Gallatin- secretary of the treasury; reduced the national debt and cut military expenses
• Limited the number of government workers
• Got rid of most federal taxes
  • Collected customs duties (taxes on imported goods)
    • Government also got money from the salve of western lands

 
Judiciary Act of 1801

• Passed before Jefferson took office
  • Set up a system of courts
  • Adams made hundreds of appointments
    • John Marshall became chief justice of the Supreme Court
    • Ensured Federalist control of the courts
• Appointments (“midnight judges”) could not take effect until judges got their commissions
  • Some commissions not delivered when Jefferson took office
    • Told Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver them

 
The Growing Power of the Supreme Court

• William Marbury didn’t receive his commission
  • Went to the Supreme Court
    • Court said it didn’t have the jurisdiction (legal authority) to force the delivery of Marbury’s commission and ruled that an act of Congress violated the Constitution
• John Marshall set out the principles of judicial review:
  • Constitution- supreme law of the land
  • Constitution must be followed if there is a conflict with any other law
  • Judicial branch can declare laws unconstitutional
• Expanding federal power with John Marshall as Chief Justice:
  • McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)- Congress has implied powers and states cannot tax the federal government
  • Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)- Federal law overrules state law in matters affecting more than one state
  • Worcester v. Georgia (1832)- only the federal government (not the states) could regulate Native Americans

 
Lesson 2- The Louisiana Purchase
Westeward, Ho!

• US territory went to the Mississippi River
• The Louisiana Territory belonged to Spain (New Orleans to the Rocky Mountains)
• Americans moved west in search of land and adventure
  • Many were farmers
  • Traveled in Conestoga wagons (sturdy vehicles topped with white canvas)
• Spanish allowed Americans to use the Mississippi River and trade in New Orleans

 
The French Threat

• Spanish stopped allowing Americans into New Orleans in 1802
• Spain transferred Louisiana to France
• Napoleon Bonaparte wanted to build a French Empire in Europe and the Americas
• Robert Livingston authorized to offer them up to $2 million for New Orleans and West Florida

 
Napoleon and Santo Domingo

• Slaves and other laborers revolted against plantation owners in the French colony of Santo Domingo (Haiti)
  • Toussaint L’Ouverture declared it an independent republic
  • Napoleon sent troops in 1802
  • French driven out of Haiti in 1804

 
An Expanding Nation

• Napoleon needed money for war against Britain
  • France offered the entire Louisiana Territory to Livingston and Madison
    • US bought Louisiana for $15 million
• Jefferson worried about whether the purchase was legal
  • Government’s treaty-making powers allowed for the purchase of land
• Senate approved in October 1803
  • Size of the US doubled

 
The Lewis and Clark Expedition

• Expedition to learn about the Louisiana Territory’s people, plans, and animals
  • Also would look for the Northwest Passage
• Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their crew to explore Louisiana
  • Left from St. Louis in 1804 and traveled on the Missouri River
  • Kept a journal with notes about what they saw
  • Sacagawea joined their group as a guide
  • Reached the Pacific Ocean after 18 months
  • Inspired people to move westward

 
Pike’s Expedition

• Zebulon Pike led two expeditions between 1805 and 1807
  • Traveled through the Upper Mississippi River valley and into Colorado
  • Found Pikes Peak
  • Mapped part of the Rio Grande and traveled across parts of Mexico and Texas

 
A Federalist Plan to Secede

• Federalists opposed the Louisiana Purchase
  • Would weaken New England’s power
  • Plotted to secede (withdraw) from the Union and form a “Northern Confederacy”
    • Wanted to include New York as well as New England and turned to Aaron Burr for support

 
Hamilton and Burr Duel

• Hamilton accused Burr of plotting treason
• Burr blamed Hamilton for his political troubles and challenged him to a duel
  • Hamilton pledged not to shoot at Burr
  • Burr shot and killed Hamilton in 1804

 
Lesson 3- A Time of Conflict
American Ships on the High Seas

• American ships brought back goods from around the world
  • Increased trade because of war between Britain and France (less competition)

 
Piracy on the Seas

• Piracy- robbery on the seas
• Barbary pirates from North Africa demanded tribute (protection money) to let ships pass safely in the Mediterranean

 
War With Tripoli

• Ruler of Tripoli asked for more money from the US in 1801
  • Jefferson refused
• Tripoli declared war on the US
  • Jefferson sent ships to blockade Tripoli
• Pirates seized the US warship Philadelphia in 1804
  • Stephen Decatur burned the ship to keep the pirates from using it
• War ended in June 1805
  • Tripoli agreed to stop demanding tribute
  • US paid $60,000 for the release of American prisoners

 
Violating Neutral Rights

• Jefferson reelected in 1804
• War between Britain and France threatened to interfere with American trade
• Neutral rights- the right to sail the seas and not take sides
  • US traded with both Britain and France
• Britain blockaded the French coast in 1805
  • Threatened to search all ships trading with France
  • France said it would search and seize ships trading with Britain

 
The British Abuse American Shipping

• Many British sailors deserted
  • British searched American ships for deserters
    • Led to impressment of American citizens
• British demanded to search the Chesapeake near Virginia
  • Killed three crew members and when the captain of the Chesapeake refused
• Americans were outraged
  • Jefferson wanted to avoid war

 
More Problems for American Trade

• Jefferson banned some trade with Britain
• Embargo Act passed in 1807
  • Embargo- prohibits trade with another country
  • Banned imports from and exports to all foreign countries
  • Unemployment rose in New England
  • South couldn’t sell tobacco or cotton
  • Price for wheat fell in the West
  • Britain bought goods from other countries
• Embargo Act repealed in 1809
• Nonintercourse Act prohibited trade with Britain and France
  • Also unpopular and unsuccessful

 
The Election of 1808

• Jefferson didn’t run for a third term
• Republicans nominated James Madison
• Federalists nominated Charles Pinckney
• Pinckney won most of New England, but had little support in other regions
• Madison won easily

 
War at Home and Abroad

• Madison took office when Americans wanted war with Britain

 
War Looms

• 1810 law allowed trade with France or Britain depending on which country lifted trade restrictions with the US
  • Napoleon promised to end France’s trade restrictions
    • French continued to seize and sell American ships
• Americans were angry with both Britain and France
  • Madison saw Britain as the bigger threat to the US

 
Broken Treaties

• Ohio became a state in 1803
  • White settlers wanted more land in the Ohio River valley
• Shawnee chief Tecumseh tried to build a confederacy among Native American nations in the Northwest
  • Believed an alliance supported by the British would stop white movement onto Native American lands
• Tecumseh’s brother was known as the Prophet
  • Wanted Native Americans to return to their ancient customs
  • Founded a village in northern Indiana (Prophetstown)

 
Tecumseh Meets the Governor

• William Henry Harrison was the governor of the Indiana Territory
  • Warned Tecumseh that the US had more warriors than the Native Americans
• Tecumseh said Native Americans couldn’t remain at peace with the US

 
The Battle of Tippecanoe

• Harrison attacked Prophetstown and won
• Tecumseh joined forces with the British

 
The War Hawks Call for War

• War Hawks- Republicans in Congress who wanted a more aggressive policy toward Britain
  • Henry Clay (Kentucky) and John Calhoun (South Carolina) were leading War Hawks
  • Supported increases in military spending
  • Wanted land in Canada and Florida
  • War Hawks’ nationalism (loyalty to their country) appealed to a renewed sense of American patriotism
• Federalists in the Northeast opposed war

 
The Eve of War

• Madison believed war with Britain couldn’t be avoided
  • Asked Congress to declare war
• British ended their policy of search and seizure of American ships
  • News didn’t reach the US in time to stop war

 
Lesson 4- The War of 1812
Defeats and Victories

• War Hawks predicted a quick victory
• Regular army had fewer than 12,000 troops and 5,000 were new recruits
• States had 50,000-100,000 militia
  • Poorly trained
• Commanders from the American Revolution were too old to fight
• Some states opposed “Mr. Madison’s War”
• US underestimated the strength of the British and their Native American allies
• War started in July 1812
  • General William Hull led the American army from Detroit into Canada
    • Surrendered Detroit to the British
• General William Henry Harrison was also unsuccessful in invading Canada
  • British control of Lake Erie helped them in Canada

 
US Naval Strength

• US Navy had three of the fastest frigates (warships)
• The Constitution destroyed two British vessels
• Privateers (armed private ships) also captured many British ships
• Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British on Lake Erie in September 1813
• Tecumseh killed in the Battle of the Thames
• Americans attacked York (Toronto)
  • Still couldn’t conquer Canada

 
Defeat of the Creeks

• Hopes for a Native American confederation ended with Tecumseh’s death
  • British-Native American alliance ended
• Andrew Jackson attacked the Creeks in March 1814
  • More than 550 Creek people killed in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend
    • Creeks gave up most of their lands

 
The British Offensive

• British defeated Napoleon in 1814
  • Allowed them to send more forces to the US
• British marched into Washington, DC, in August 1814
  • Burned the Capitol and the president’s mansion
• British attacked Baltimore in September
• Americans fought the British from Fort McHenry in the harbor
  • Francis Scott Key wrote “The Defence of Fort M’Henry” (“The Star-Spangled Banner”)

 
A Turning Point at Plattsburgh

• General Sir George Prevost led British troops into New York from Canada
  • Wanted to take Plattsburgh
• American navy defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain
  • Convinced the British that the war was too costly and unnecessary

 
The End of the War

• Treaty of Ghent ended the war in December 1814
  • Didn’t change any existing borders
  • No mention of the impressment of sailors
• Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815
  • Andrew Jackson defeated the British
    • Became a national hero

 
Nationalism and New Respect

• Federalists gathered in December 1814 at the Hartford Convention
  • Some favored secession
  • Made a list of proposed amendments
  • Seemed unpatriotic and lost respect of the people
• Republican War Hawks carried on the Federalist belief in a strong national government
  • Favored trade, western expansion, development of the economy, strong army and navy
• Americans felt a new sense of patriotism after the War of 1812
• US gained respect from other nations