Republic Ascendancy: America's Past and Present

Contributed by:
Steve
This booklet refers to the Republic's ascendency describing the Jeffersonian view, republic identities, Native American, commercial life, reforms, Louisiana purchase.
1. 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
2. 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
national unity
3. North America in 1800
4. Westward the Course of
Empire
 Intense migration to West after 1790
 New states
– Kentucky—1792
– Tennessee—1796
– Ohio—1803
 Western regional culture rootless,
optimistic
5. 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
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. The Louisiana Purchase
 Louisiana French and Spanish
inhabitants unfamiliar with
Republican principles
 Louisiana Government Act denied
Louisiana self-rule
 Another Jeffersonian departure from
Republicanism
11. 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
12. The Louisiana Purchase and
the Route of Lewis and
Clark
13. 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
14. The Barbary States
15. The Election of 1804
16. 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
17. 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
18. 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
19. 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
20. Politics of Desperation:
“Tertium Quids”
 “Tertium Quids” claimed pure
Republicanism
 Attacked Jefferson as sacrificing
virtue for pragmatism
21. 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
– Court may nullify unconstitutional state
22. 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
23. 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
24. 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
25. 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
military cuts had left nation ill prepared
for war
26. 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
27. The Election of 1808
28. 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
29. 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
30. 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
31. The Election of 1812
32. 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
33. 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
34. The War of 1812
35. 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
36. 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
37. 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