The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism

Causes of the War of 1812

• Seizing American merchant ships headed for France

• Embargo Act of 1807• Impressment of American sailors• Western and southern “War Hawks”

• Henry Clay • John Calhoun

• Division of Americans

Highlights of the War of 1812

•British invade New York

•Burning of the White House - August 1813

•Battle of New Orleans - 1814

Results of the War of 1812• Justified neutrality policy• Native American tribes in the

West lost their ally in Britain• American manufacturing

began to grow• Opposing the war weakened

the Federalist Party• Andrew Jackson and William

Henry Harrison became war heroes

• “The Star Spangled Banner”

The Treaty of Ghent

• Signed on December 24, 1814• Armistice: acknowledged a draw and

ignored the demands of both sides• Americans refused the demands of the

British.• Relationship returned to same state it

had been prior to the war.

The Hartford Convention• MA, CT, NH, VT, and RI met

secretly from December 15, 1814 to January 5, 1815.

• Secession discussed, but most wanted money from government for lost trade.

• Asked for a 2/3 majority for all embargoes, except during invasion.

• Convention ended up being the death of the Federalist Party.

• Almost seemed treasonous after the win in New Orleans.

Nationalism

• Spirit of national consciousness

• Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper became popular

• American landscape artists and American history books became popular

• Revived Bank of the United States

• Beautiful national capital

The American System

• British competition flooded the American market with cheap goods,

• Work of Henry Clay• Develop a home market• Protective Tariff of 1816• Strong banking system

in order to provide easy credit

• Network of roads and canals to be built in the Ohio River Valley

Era of Good Feelings?

• Monroe elected in 1816 (one party rule)

• Connected the old generation with the new

• Did not involve fighting between the major political parties

• But sectionalism was increasing and the slavery issue was becoming more important

Panic of 1819

• What is a “panic?”• Caused by overspeculation in land

prices, especially in the west• Bank of the United States was heavily in

debt• Deflation, depression, bankruptcies,

bank failures, unemployment, and overcrowded debtors’ prisons

• Provided the foundation for Jacksonian Democracy

Growth in the West• Nine states joined the original 13 between 1791 and 1819• “Ohio Fever”• Cumberland Road and the steam ship• Land Act of 1820: 80 acres could be purchased for $1.25 per

acre• Southern view: Northerners were unfriendly, greedy, and too

ambitious• Northern view; Southerners were uneducated, uncivilized, and

had no desire for self-improvement

Missouri Compromise and Issue of Slavery• Missouri would be admitted as a slave

state and Maine would enter as a free state.

• All states north of the 36th parallel would be free.

• Monroe looked like he was doomed during his first administration, but easily won re-election due to his popularity and the weakness of the Federalist party

• Only put off the inevitable

The Missouri Compromise

John Marshall extends Nationalism to the Judiciary

• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)• Dartmouth College v.

Woodward (1818)• Fletcher v. Peck (1810)

• Legislative grant was a contract and the state could not interfere

• Protecting private property against public pressure

• Cohens v. Virginia (1821)• Right of the Supreme Court to

review state Supreme Court decisions in matters relating to the federal government

Sharing Oregon and Acquiring Florida• Jackson swept into Florida

• Hanged two Indians and Two Brits• 1819: Florida to the U.S.

• Treaty of 1818• Britain and U.S. would jointly share

the Oregon Territory• England was just too far away, giving

Americans a chance to colonize

The Monroe Doctrine

• Written by the Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams

• Two basic features• Non-colonization• Non-intervention

Evaluation of the Monroe Doctrine

• European monarchs angered• Latin American countries believed

it was more to protect the U.S., not them

• Little impact at first• Used later as the U.S. became

more powerful