Jeffersonian Republicanism (1801-1825) Foreign Affairs, Mr. Madison's War, and Postwar Events

• Foreign Affairs
  • Background
    • The Tiger or the Shark? the tiger is France because they have massive land power and the shark is GBR because they have the greatest navy in the world.
    • Napoleonic Wars: We thought that we had the right to trade with everyone because we were neutral. The British were mad because we were trading with the French West Indies, we didn't renew the Jay's treaty, and we were starting to become their commercial competition.
    • Re-export trade was when we picked up French goods from the French West Indies and in order to circumvent the British blockade, brought the goods to the US first before re-exporting the goods to Europe.
  • The British created the Orders-in-Council to deal with American "merchant marines." Basically the US was producing lots of ships and becoming the merchant competition. The British also started to take american seamen, which was called impressment.
  • Napoleon was mad because we were trading with the British West Indies, so France hit us with the Berlin and Milan Decrees, which were almost like the Orders-in-Council. The French were trying to enforce the Continental System in order to starve out the British during the war, but it wasn't really working.
  • Jefferson makes the Nonimportation Act of 1806, which didn't really do much of anything, since the problem was not imports but exports.
  • The Chesapeake Affair in 1807: The British sailor captain man on the Leopard accused Americans having British deserters sailing with them, and tried to stop the Chesapeake to talk to them. Instead the American ship tried to make a run for it, and got near-destroyed in the process. Everyone including the Federalists was angry at this audacious act off the coast of their own country.
  • The Embargo Act of 1807: this act shut off trade with everybody. No American ships were allowed to leave the ports. At all. This act hurt American merchants, farmers, and foreign nations. France and GBR needed the subsistence crops to provide for their troops in war. Randolph jumped all over this and accused Jefferson of being against farmers because of the embargo act. The tertium quids, Randolph's new political faction, means "the other third." Randolph basically provides a third option to Dem-Reps and Federalists. The tertium quids were the "Old Republican Party." They believed in frugality, a smaller navy, states' rights, and pacifism.
  • The Election of 1808: C^2 Pinckney versus James Madison. Jefferson decided not to run for a third term, even though he really wanted to. Jefferson also hand picked James Madison to be his successor. The embargo act was the most prominent topic of this embargo. Madison defeated CC Pinckney because there was still very profitable smuggling.
  • The Congress passes the Nonintercourse Act in 1809 during the transition from Jefferson to Madison. It opened up trade with all countries except for GBR and France. Whichever country would start treating us fairly first would have open trade. Great Britain said they would honor it, but a month later they backed off again. Madison is embarrassed and the act expires.
  • Macon's Bill #2: written by Samuel Macon. It said that trade would be open to all nations. The first country to acknowledge the act and treat us fairly would keep open trade with us, and we would stop trading with the other country. Napoleon says that he would treat the US fairly, and so Madison withdrew the ambassador to GBR and stopped trade with them. GBR and US go to war, and Napoleon said JK!
  • Bad timing and circumstances
    • American ship attacked a small British ship, because they thought it was the bigger infamous Guerriere. This really infuriated the British.
  • War Vote: 79-49 in the House in favor of the war. 19-13 in the Senate in favor of the war. The 2nd most unpopular war in general, but the most unpopular undeclared war.
    • No- Federalists because they were afraid that they would loose all their illegal trade. They also didn't want the Democratic Party to become more powerful if they won the war.
    • Abstain- Randolph's group, the tertium quids, or the Old Republicans. They didn't want to appear unpatriotic, and vote no, but they didn't want to vote yes because they hated the new Republicans.
    • Yes- Democratic Republicans, or the War Hawks. John C. Calhoun, from upstate South Carolina, and Henry Clay, from were two very popular War Hawks.
  • Indians and War in the West
    • The western and southern part of the country (where the War Hawks are from) wanted war to gain land. The French didn't have any land to gain.
    • The Battle of TP Canoe was fought between William Henry Harrison and Tenskwatawa. Harrison won, but Tenskwatawa cursed him to die in office, and he did.
• Mr. Madison's War (The War of 1812)
  • Problems
    • The Election of 1812: DeWitt Clinton versus James Madison, Madison was barely reelected
    • Our army was not prepared to fight a major world power. We only had 35,000 men and 16 frigates
    • The Bank created in 1791 expired in 1811, so we didn't have a national bank.
  • Military Highlights
    • Lake Eire: the American hero at this war was Oliver H Perry. "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." Perry was said to have used green boats and green men. American victory.
    • The Battle of Lake Champlain: fought near Plattsburgh. The lake was at a strategic location between the NE Colonies and the rest of the country. Macdonough was the Scottish American commander that used ropes and pulleys to maneuver the lake since it was so narrow and defeated the British.
    • Thames River: William Henry Harrison was the victor, defeating Tecumseh. Tecumseh also died at this battle, which meant the Indians could not unite and fight together to defeat the white people.
    • Battle of Washington: the British burned Washington DC as so called payback for the Americans burning the significant city York, Canada. York Canada was named Toronto.
    • Battle of Baltimore: was where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. Key was a prisoner on a British ship while the Americans were struggling to hold the fort.
    • Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson was the hero of this Battle. He recruited anyone who walked including slaves, free blacks, indinas, and pirates (the leader of the pirates was Lafitte). Pakenham was the British commander who commanded troops who came straight from fighting Napoleon.
    • American Constitution vs the British Guerrierre most important naval battle, American victory.
  • Hartford Convention: a meeting of Blue Light Federalists who were unhappy with the war. They wanted to make an amendment that would require a 2/3 majority in the Senate to declare war. They wanted to make it harder for new states to be admitted, since they would be of opposite political party, to limit the number of presidents that could come from the same state. The Federalist Party pretty much died out after complaining in DC while the news of Ghent and New Orleans was being celebrated because people thought they were traitors.
  • Uncle Sam: His real name was Sam Wilson, and he sold food to the troops during the war. Uncle Sam became a national symbol that is still used today.
  • Oral REport on Transcendentalism: Henry David Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience, when he refused to pay taxes since he didn't support the Mexican War. Other important people involved with transcendentalism were Immanuel Kant and Margaret Fuller.
• Postwar Events
  • Treaty of Ghent: the treaty was in late 1814 in Belgium between the US and GBR. It was known as a status quo antebellum (meaning the normal before the war) treaty. Great Britain had conquered parts of upstate New York, half of Maine, and some other things. We had conquered what was called upper Canada (named after the upward flowing river St. Lawrence). A lot of the issues that the war had been fought over were not important by the end of the war.
  • Rush-Bagot Agreement 1817: Agreement between US and GBR that limited the armaments on the Great Lakes.
  • Convention of 1818: between the United States and British Canada for the joint occupation of Oregon Country, renewable every 10 years. Spain and Russia both had claims on Oregon, but were both ignored completely. This treaty also established the Northern Border of the Louisiana purchase along the 49 degree latitude. The border stretched from present-day Minnesota and ended in the Rockies.
  • The Florida Story and the Adams Oníst Treaty:
    • When the Spanish wouldn't sell Jefferson the Eastern bank of the Mississippi, Jefferson and Madison planned a covert operation and seized the Spanish Fort in Baton Rouge with only 100 Americans. The Red Stick Indians were the Indians in the Baton Rouge area, and they were a part of a larger group of Indians called the Creek Indians.
    • General James Wilkinson (the man who ratted out Aaron Burr and was tried for treason) took another chunk of Florida, which was in present day Mobile, Alabama during the War of 1812.
    • Jackson continues the campaign in W. Florida and raids the Seminole tribes in 1818. Jackson finds two Brits in Florida and executes the them, which causes a huge hoohah. John C. Calhoun was the secretary of war called this campaign idiotic, which comes back and haunts him when they are president and vice president.
    • The Adams Onís Treaty of 1819: the Spanish sold Florida to us for 5 million dollars (this money never even crossed the Atlantic because it was used to pay off Spanish debts to American citizens), because the Spanish knew that we would eventually steal or conquer the land anyway. The second part of this treaty established the Western boundary of the Louisiana purchase (along the 42 degree line, giving up all claims to Texas). Spain also gave up any claims to Oregon Country.
  • Summary of The War of 1812
    • Most people don't even know about this war, it would be unimportant in British History.
    • Impressment, neutral rights, freedom of the seas were all major issues at the beginning of the war, but they were definitely not by the end of the war since Napoleon was imprisoned at Helena at the end of Napoleon's War.
    • We didn't gain or loose an inch of land during the entire war.
    • Tecumseh was killed during the war, so the Indians didn't have any chance of uniting against the Americans anymore.
    • The US underwent the first manufacturing revolution during Jefferson's economic embargo.
    • Death of the Federalist Party