PROBLEMS WITH FOREIGN POWERS

Jefferson’s Foreign Policy

Jefferson did not want to get involved in foreign affairs…like Washington, wanted to remain neutral...

…But this was impossible:

1. American merchants were engaged in trade all over the world

2. Louisiana Purchase opened the country to westward expansion

3. US had little control over the actions of other nations

Problems with France and England

1805 the British began to clamp down on American shippingThey did not want Americans supplying

food to their enemies (i.e., the French!), so…

British set up a partial blockade only some American ships could bring

provisions to Europe

• British set up a partial blockade of ships, then also…

Britain began impressing (kidnapping) American sailors to work on British ships.1803-1812: British impressed about 6,000

Americans

British ship Leopard attacked the USS Chesapeake and caused 3 American deaths and aroused anger! If Congress was in session war might have

been declared

Trade as a Weapon Congress passed the

Embargo Act of 1807

American ships were no longer allowed to sail to foreign ports

American ports were closed to British ships

THIS WAS A DISASTER!!!

More harmful to U.S than to the British and French

American farmers and merchants, Southerners, Westerners, shippers, New Englanders all suffered!

James Madison, 4th President

Due to repeated threats by the British, Madison led the nation into the War of 1812.

Although France and Britain both threatened U.S. ships between 1805 and 1814, Americans

focused their anger on the British.

One reason was the British policy of impressment, the practice of seizing Americans at sea and

“impressing,” or drafting them into the British navy.

The British were also blockading the American coast—which stopped shipping from coming in or going out—and really

hurt the small and fledgling American businesses.

Americans grew even angrier after learning that officials in British Canada were supplying weapons to Native Americans

to use in their ongoing battle against American settlers.

Members of the Federalist Party, based primarily in New England, were against the war

because they thought it would disrupt their business and shipping interests even more. They were so angry at the discussion of war that they held the Hartford Convention where

New England threatened to secede!

But a group of young congressmen from the South and the West, known as the warhawks,

demanded war.

What were some of the benefits of going to war with Britain?

To allow reopening of trade National Pride To stop the impressment of sailors CANADA!!!

What were some drawbacks to going to war?

Not everyone in the US wanted to go to war

Military was small Standing Army was small Militia comprised most of our forces, and they

did not like to fight outside of their state borders

Navy was quite small only 22 ships Britain was a great Superpower and could

crush us like a bug and we could lose territory that was gained in the Treaty of Paris or the Louisiana Purchase

Declaration of War

June of 1812 Madison asked Congress for declaration of war

Vote was split along regional lines

War started with Invasion of Canada

The British scored a stunning victory in August of 1814, when they brushed aside American troops and sacked Washington,

D.C.—burning the White House!!!

Madison and other federal officers fled the city as the British burned the Capitol, the Presidential

Mansion, and other public buildings.

Dolly Madison, however, became a hero when she saved the famous portrait of George Washington by the artist Gilbert Stuart.

Oh Say Can You See… Unlike Washington, D.C., Baltimore was ready for the British.

After bombarding Fort McHenry on September 13, 1814, the British abandoned the attack.

Francis Scott Key was being held prisoner on a British ship in the harbor and witnessed the bombardment all night long unable to tell who was winning and who was losing the battle. As the night wore on, only through the light of bursting bombshells could he see the American flag at times. As the sun rose, he could see the American flag still flying above the fort! He later wrote a poem about the moment which became our National Anthem.

The most impressive American victory occurred at the

Battle of New Orleans.

Battle of New Orleans

Fought after the treaty was signed (but not ratified)

Why was New Orleans important?

Pirates and Frontiersman fought alongside US troops

Made Andrew Jackson a national hero and household name

Ensured treaty ratification

Ironically, British and American diplomats had already signed a peace agreement before the Battle of New Orleans, but the news of the pact had not reached

Jackson in time. The Treaty of Ghent, signed on Christmas Eve, 1814,

declared an armistice, or end to the fighting.

The war had three important consequences.

First, it led to the end of the Federalist party, whose members generally opposed the war.

Second, it encouraged the growth of American industries to manufacture products no longer

available from Britain because of the war.

The British blockade and the War of 1812 led to the creation of a cotton-manufacturing industry and numerous manufacturing

establishments were founded (particularly in the North), leaving the United States industrially independent of Europe!

Third, it confirmed the status of the United States as a free and independent nation.

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