Chapter 8
REPUBLICAN
ASCENDANCY: The
Jeffersonian Vision
America Past and Present
Eighth Edition
Divine Breen Fredrickson Williams Gross Brand
Copyright 2007, Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman
Republican Identities in
a New Republic
An age of rapid population growth
– 7.2 million in 1810; 2 million more than in
1800
– 20% black slaves
– Children under sixteen the largest single
group
Strong regional identities facilitated by
transportation improvements and
motivated by defensiveness
Early secession movements threatened
North America in 1800
Westward the Course of
Empire
Intense migration to West after 1790
New states
– Kentucky—1792
– Tennessee—1796
– Ohio—1803
Western regional culture rootless,
optimistic
Native American
Resistance
Settlers bought land fraudulently
Native Americans resisted
– Tecumseh led Shawnee; defeated in War of
1812
– Creek defeated by Andrew Jackson at Battle of
Horseshoe Bend
Jefferson wanted Native Americans moved
west of Mississippi and to become yeoman
farmers with help of federal Indian agents
Commercial Life in the
Cities
U.S. economy based on agriculture and
trade (84% of population in agriculture)
American shipping prospered, 1793-1807
Cities’ main function was international
trade, otherwise marginal role in national
life: only 7% of population was urban
Commerce preferred, manufacturing
seen as too risky
– Samuel Slater an exception
Industrialization and mechanization just
beginning to frighten skilled craftsmen
Jefferson as President
Jefferson’s personal style
– Despised ceremonies and formality
– Dedicated to intellectual pursuits
Jefferson’s goals as president
– Reduce size and cost of government
– Repeal Federalist legislation like the Sedition
Act
– Keep U.S. out of war
Jefferson was skillful politician
– Good relations with Congressional leaders,
never had to veto a bill
– Picked talented, loyal men for his cabinet
Jeffersonian Reforms
Cutting federal debt a priority
Tax system re-structured, direct taxes eliminated,
federal revenue from customs
Military cut substantially
– Cut government expenses
– Republican ideology favored militia over standing army
– Military professionalism kept by creating Army Corps of
Engineers and West Point
Federalists fell apart
– Moderate Federalists allowed to remain bureaucracy and
were co-opted by Republicans
– Many leaders like Jay retired from public life
– Campaigning to commoners seen as demeaning
– Westward expansion favored Republicans
The Louisiana Purchase
Spain gave Louisiana to France, New
Orleans closed to American ships
Jefferson saw New Orleans as vital to U.S.
– Sent James Monroe to negotiate its purchase
Napoleon offered to sell all of Louisiana for
$15 million
Importance: it would help make America a
first-rank power
Constitution vague on power to acquire
land inhabited by foreigners
The Louisiana Purchase
Louisiana French and Spanish
inhabitants unfamiliar with
Republican principles
Louisiana Government Act denied
Louisiana self-rule
Another Jeffersonian departure from
Republicanism
The Lewis and Clark
Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
commissioned prior to purchase of
Louisiana
Goal to find if Missouri River goes to
Pacific and to explore flora and fauna
Sacagawea critical in helping expedition
deal with nature and Native Americans
whom they encountered
Report on Louisiana’s economic promise
confirmed Jefferson’s desire to purchase
The Louisiana Purchase and
the Route of Lewis and
Clark
Conflict with the Barbary
States
North African states demanded tribute
from ships sailing in Mediterranean
Jefferson refused and dispatched U.S.
fleet to intimidate Barbary states
Attacks failed and U.S. ended up paying
ransom for crew of U.S.S. Philadelphia
U.S. finally forced negotiation with a
blockade
Jefferson won re-election
overwhelmingly
The Barbary States
The Election of 1804
Jefferson’s Critics
Dispute over Jefferson’s reforms of
federal judiciary
Conflicts between Republicans
Burr’s plot to separate the West
Sectional dispute over the slave
trade
Attack on the Judges:
Judiciary Act
Judiciary Act of 1801 created new
circuit courts filled with loyal
Federalists
– “Midnight judges”
1802—Jeffersonians repealed
Judiciary Act of 1801 to abolish
courts and save money
Federalists charged violation of
judges’ constitutional right of tenure
Attack on the Judges:
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison (1803) ruled
Judiciary Act of 1789 unconstitutional
Federalist Marbury denied his
judgeship
Republicans claimed victory
Chief Justice John Marshall ensured
Federalist influence through judicial
review
Attack on the Judges:
Impeachments
1803—Federalist John Pickering
impeached, removed for alcoholism,
insanity, but no “high crimes”
Republicans began fearing the
destruction of an independent
judiciary
Jefferson exacerbated fears by
seeking to impeach Federalist
Samuel Chase
Politics of Desperation:
“Tertium Quids”
“Tertium Quids” claimed pure
Republicanism
Attacked Jefferson as sacrificing
virtue for pragmatism
Politics of Desperation:
The Yazoo Controversy
Yazoo controversy
– Fraudulent land case in Georgia
– Jefferson attempted to settle by providing
land to innocent parties
– Quids complained settlement condoned
fraud
Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
– Marshall Court upheld Jefferson’s
settlement
Murder and Conspiracy: The
Curious Career of Aaron
Burr
Vice-President Aaron Burr broke with
Jefferson
Burr sought Federalist support in
1804 New York governor’s race
Alexander Hamilton blocked Burr’s
efforts
Burr killed Hamilton in a duel
The Burr Conspiracy
Burr fled West after Hamilton duel
Schemed to invade Spanish territory,
separate Louisiana from U.S.
Burr arrested, tried for treason
Acquitted on constitutional grounds of
insufficient evidence
Precedent made it difficult for presidents
to use charge of treason as a political tool,
especially hearsay and circumstantial
evidence
The Slave Trade
Constitution had said Congress could
consider banning importation of
slaves after 1808
Jefferson asked for and Congress
approved such a ban
Sectional conflict over what to do
with captured slaves
– Northerners could not agree
– Southerners demanded states regulate
slavery
– Law said states deal with captured
Embarrassments
Overseas
1803—England and France resumed
war
American ships subject to seizure
– By England through “Orders in Council”
– By Napoleon through Berlin, Milan Decrees
Chesapeake vs. Leopard: public
demanded war
Jefferson refused war to preserve
financial reform and recognized that his
Embargo Divides the
Nation
1807—Congress prohibited U.S. ships
from leaving port
Purpose: to win English, French
respect for American rights
Embargo unpopular at home
– Detailed government oversight of
commerce
– Army suppressed smuggling
– New England economy damaged
The Election of 1808
A New Administration
Goes to War
1808—James Madison elected president
1809—Embargo repealed in favor of Non-
Intercourse Act
– U.S. would resume trade with England and
France on promise to cease seizure of U.S.
vessels
British official promised to comply
Prime Minister Canning changed his mind;
English seized U.S. ships that had opened
trade with England
A New Administration
Goes to War
Macon’s Bill Number Two replaced the Non-
Intercourse Act
– Trade with both England and France re-established
– First nation to respect American rights won halt of U.S.
trade with the other
Napoleon promised to observe U.S. rights but
reneges when trade re-opened
Frontier people believed British were encouraging
Tecumseh, but he was defeated at Battle of
Tippecanoe, forcing him to turn to Britain
Fumbling Toward
Conflict
Congressional War Hawks demanded war
with England to preserve American honor
British repealed Orders-in-Council as
Madison was asking for declaration of war
War aims somewhat vague
Difference between War Hawks and
Madison administration over purpose of
invading Canada
Election of 1812 showed division over war
The Election of 1812
The Strange War of
1812:
Early Course
Americans unprepared for war
– Congress refused to raise wartime taxes
– New England refused to support war effort
– United States Army small
– State militias inadequate
Most attacks against Canada failed
Two key exceptions in 1813
– Oliver Hazard Perry won control of Great Lakes for U.S.
in Battle of Put-In Bay
– William Henry Harrison defeated British and Indians at
Battle of Thames
The Strange War of 1812:
Three-Pronged English
Attack, 1814
British invasion of New York from Canada
stopped at Lake Champlain
Campaign in the Chesapeake
– Washington D.C. burned in retaliation for
American burning of York earlier
– Baltimore saved by defense of Fort McHenry
Attempt to capture New Orleans thwarted
by Andrew Jackson, January, 1815
– War already over, communication lag
– Gave Americans source of pride
– Made Jackson a national hero
The War of 1812
Hartford Convention: The
Demise of the
Federalists
Federalists convened in December,
1814
Proposed constitutional changes to
lessen power of South and West
Treaty of Ghent, victory of New
Orleans made Convention appear
disloyal
Federalist party never recovered
Treaty of Ghent
Ends the War
Most problems left unaddressed
Senate unanimously ratified Treaty
of Ghent
Americans portrayed it as victory and
it stimulated American nationalism
Republican Legacy
Founders began to pass away in
1820s
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
both died July 4, 1826
James Madison died in 1836
despairing that slavery’s
continuation undermined legacy of
republican egalitarianism of
Founders