The Strengths and Limitations of Jeffersonian Democracy

• •

The USA in 1800

Jefferson and the Triumph of Democracy

• Jefferson does not retaliate against the Federalists

• Jeffersonian Democracy– Farmer's interests are put first– Cities and Industry are nasty, let them

rot.

Debt Reduction

• Slashing the Military down to 3000 people

• 1800: $83 million

• 1809: $57 million

• Land sales are key also

Marbury vs. Madison (1803)

• Are last minute appointments by Adams valid?

• Supreme Court says no but by doing so, it establishes Judicial Review, the power to interpret the Constitution

Louisiana Purchase

• Napoleon needs money to fight UK

• Jefferson buys Louisiana for $15 million– This violates his small government claims– But it will help farmers, so he doesn't care

about ideals.

• Doubles size of the US

The USA in 1803

International Impotence

• American ships are seized in European wars

• The Chesapeake Incident– 1807: USS Chesapeake is attacked and

captured by the British to seize some of its crew.

– Jefferson demands apology, British refuse

Embargo Act (1807)

• Closes Sea Trade Until British and French Apologize and Compensate Us

• They ignore it and New England goes broke

• Jefferson overestimates US financial influence

Tecumseh,

Head of the

Pan-Indian

Confederacy

Tecumseh

• Organizes alliance against settlers going west

• Governor Harrison moves against him– Battle of Tippecanoe (1811)

• Tecumseh's allies are defeated and flee

The War Hawks

• Congress of 1810 wants war– Dominated by Frontiersmen and Britain-

haters

• Ships still being seized

• US declares War in 1812

The USA in 1812

American Weaknesses

• Tiny Army

• Poor Logistics and Supply

• New England Militia Doesn't Want War

• Weak Navy

Canadian Weaknesses

• Tiny Army

• Huge Front

• British Problems– Distance– Napoleonic Wars keep most troops in Europe.

The War of 1812

Initial Bungling (1812)

• Western Front– General Hull is defeated, loses Detroit

• New York Disasters– Battle of Queenstown Heights (October

13, 1812)• US forces crushed horribly while Militia

watches, does nothing

– Henry Dearborn = failure in north NY

• New England won't support war

The War at Sea

– US relies on piracy by Navy

– Black sailors key to Navy (25%)

– Over 3000 merchant ships captured by US or UK

• The USS Constitution

The 1812 Election

Mixed Results (1813)

• Failure at Raisin River (January 1813)

• Commodore Perry's victory at Put-in-Bay (September 10, 1813)

– General William Henry Harrison—Thames River (October 5, 1813) frees Northwest; death of Tecumseh.

• The burning of York (April 27, 1813)

• Niagara dithering

• Failure in northern New York

British Counterattack (1814)

• Reinforcements from Europe

• NY: Battle of Plattsburgh (Naval) turns back the invasion

• MD: Washington, DC is sacked and burned by the British

– Ft. McHenry holds off British navy at Baltimore and they withdraw

The War of 1812 in the West

• The Creek War– Red Stick Creeks ally with Tecumseh– General Andrew Jackson in charge– US allies with the Cherokee– Battle of Horseshoe Bend (March 1814)

• 800 of 1000 Red Stick Creek die

Hartford Convention (December 15, 1814 to January 5, 1815)

• New England Federalists meet

• Goal: Amend Constitution to prevent future wars

– Remove 3/5ths clause– 2/3rds majority for wars and embargos

• End of War deflates convention

• Federalists now collapse

Treaty of Ghent (December 24, 1814)

• Return to Pre-war status

• No pre-war problems are settled or resolved

• War just ends

Battle of New Orleans

• Jackson commands Gulf Coast

• Battle of New Orleans (January 8, 1815)– 4,000 Americans defeat 8/9,000 British– British lose 2,322– US loses 314– Jackson becomes a national hero

Aftermath

• Native American power is shattered

• US has stronger sense of nationalism

• We convince ourselves we TOTALLY won the war.

Federalist Collapse

• After the war, the Federalists collapse– Hartford Con. Ends up looking treasonous– Younger Federalists defect to Jefferson's

party

Economic Nationalism

• War shows need for improvements

• Policies:– Harbor and Navigation improvements– Road Construction– Second National Bank (to provide credit)– Tariffs to protect New England manufactures

Foreign Affairs

• John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State (1817-1825)

• Anglo-American Accord (1818)

• Settles border with Canada

• FINALLY settles those old debts from the 1770s!

• Trans-Continental Treaty of 1819

• Settles border with Spain

Judicial Nationalism

• John Marshal (1801-35)

• Fletcher v. Peck (1810)– Sanctity of Contract (despite land fraud)

• Dartmouth v. Woodward (1819)– College charters are contracts, so can't

be broken!

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

• Can states tax the National Bank?

• Marshall Court says no, because – “the power to tax is the power to destroy”– Federal agencies not subject to state law

Crisis of 1820

• North is angry over War of 1812

• They try to block Missouri entering the Union as a slave state

• Missouri Compromise

– Missouri: Slave state

– Maine: Free state

– Line drawn to divide territories for future between slave and free

The Missouri Compromise

The Election of 1824

• Crawford– Traditional Small Government

• Clay and Adams• Time to Modernize--The American System

• Jackson– Vote for me because I am a badass

Election Results

Popular Vote

• Jackson: 151, 271

• John Quincy Adams: 113,122

• Crawford: 40,856

• Henry Clay: 47,351

Electoral Vote

• Jackson: 99

• John Quincy Adams: 84

• Crawford: 41

• Henry Clay: 37

The 1824 Election

The Corrupt Bargain?

• Election goes to the House of Representatives

• Clay backs Adams

• Adams appoints Clay as Secretary of State

• Jackson accuses Adams of bribery; 'the corrupt bargain'.