Jeffersonian Republicanism (1801-1825)

• Intro
  • Presidents: Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Also called the Virginia Dynasty
  • Inauguration was moved from March to January because of transportation purposes
  • His speech at inauguration he said, "We are all Federalists, we are all democratic republicans."
  • appointed lots of democratic republicans to office, creating the spoils system
  • first to do the State of the Union address in writing since he wasn't a very good speaker. This wouldn't change until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson became president.
• Reversed many Federalist Policies
  • The Naturalization Act was changed. The requirements for citizenship moved from 14 years back to 5. Today is is 7 years.
  • The Sedition Act was not reversed because it expired in 180. Jefferson wasn't happy with the act, so in order to make a point out of it, he pardoned everyone convicted under the act and paid back all fines plus interest.
  • The Judiciary Act
    • Background: the Federalists lost everything after 1800, so they barricaded the Federal Supreme Court. Passed the Judiciary Act of 1801. Also made 16+ new courts, all filled with Federalists. These judges were called the Midnight Judges.
    • Democratic Republicans passed the Judiciary Act of 1802 to demolish the Judiciary Act of 1801.
    • William Marbury was supposed to be the Justice of the Peace for Washington DC, and when Jefferson forbid Madison to deliver the appointments, Marbury went to talk to John Marshall (the supreme court chief justice). This led to Marbury vs. Madison 1803.
      • Marbury wants a Writ of Mandamus. Hand over the appointments.
      • According to Article 3, the court does have the power to issue writs, which is found in section 13 of the JA of 1789. But since it was an original case, they don't have power except on appeals. It was a moot point.
      • He gave up a little bit of power (he can't issue writs on original cases), in order to firmly establish judicial review.
    • Thomas Jefferson decides to get rid of some of the other older judges who were unfit for office: John Pickering- a Federalist District court for New Hampshire. They also tried to remove supreme court justice Samuel Chase, but it didn't work. The good thing about Samuel Chase not getting kicked out preserved the checks and balances.
  • Reversing Fiscal Policy: The Secretary of treasury Albert Gallatin was from Pennsylvania and advised George Washington not to do the Whiskey Tax, but Washington didn't listen.
    • First: they repealed all excise (internal taxes)
    • Second: Reduce army. Thomas Jefferson believed in a militia because it was cheap, and it meant that there was no standing army.
    • Third: Reduce navy. Jefferson instead made the mosquito fleet or "Jeffs." He was fine with not having ships since the ships protected the NE merchants, who were usually Federalists.
    • TJ inconsistencies
      • He created United States Military Academy (West Point)..... "Would a good pacifist build a military academy?"
      • Jefferson cuts the navy, makes his little pretend boats, and then sends the navy to N. Africa to deal with the pirates. He couldn't send the mosquitos because they couldn't make it across the Atlantic, so he instead sent Adam's ships that he never used. "Would a good pacifist send war ships to beat up on the Barbary Pirates?" This was called the Tripolitan War. The hero of this war and the youngest captain ever in US History is Stephan Decatur. He was 25 years old.
        • Side note Algerian War in 1815 was the end of the Barbary Pirates. This was also maybe because of the defeat of Napoleon.
• Thomas Jefferson and the West: the West in these days was between the Appalachians and the Mississippi.
  • National Embarrassment
    • Yazoo Claims: in 1795 (Washington's second term) a very corrupt Georgian legislature sold huge chunks of land out there at a very cheap price.
      • In 1797 the whole Georgian Legislature was elected anew. All the new land was taken away, the bribe, and the interest was taken from the prospectors. The prospectors were angry and gave Georgia such a headache, that they handed the land over to the National Government. The headache was now transferred to the National Government.
      • Thomas Jefferson asked for James Madison's advice on what to do. Madison suggested to give the surveyors just enough money to shut them up. However, its not the president or the Secretary of State who writes the checks. Its the Ways and Means committee in the House of Representatives. The head of this committee was called John Randolph. Randolph was a weird ass mf though and a hard core Republican. Since it was so corrupt, he would not write the check to the speculators.
      • Fletcher vs. Peck in 1810. John Marshall ruled in favor of the speculates because of Article 1 Section 10 about contracts. Randolph said he still wouldn't pass the bill, but when he wasn't elected in 1812 because he was against the war, they passed the bill to give the money to the speculators.
  • National and Personal Success
    • Louisiana Purchase
      • France has the Louisiana until the end of the French and Indian War. They then give it to the Spanish because they lost, but Napoleon will take it again because he wants to take over the world in 1801
      • Robert Livingston: the ambassador to France (also part of the Committee of five who wrote the Declaration). Livingston was worried about France taking Louisiana because France was a much bigger threat to the US than Spain. In 1802 New Orleans got shut down and the US lost the right of deposit on the Mississippi, and this was the last straw.
      • Washington sent Monroe and 10 million dollars to buy either side of the Mississippi river bank. However, when they got there and spoke with Talleyrand, he offered them the entire Louisiana purchase. The irony: the British lent the money to the US, who paid the money to France, who used it to beat up on the British.
      • Why did Napoleon change? apparently he had an epiphany while in the bathtub, but I guess no one knows for sure.
        • The slave uprising in Haiti led by Toussaint L'Ouverture in 1791. They chose this time to revolt because of the French Revolution.
        • Napoleon really needed dat cash money to fund the Napoleonic Wars, which started in 1801.
        • Napoleon also wanted to ensure that the US didn't ally with the British.
      • Success and Results: The Federalists started using Jefferson's arguments against him, and Jefferson started using the Federalist arguments. The only difference is who is in power.
      • Boundaries: Jefferson sent Merriweather Lewis, William Clark, and Zebulon Pike
        • Pike got arrested and promised to go straight home after being caught on Spanish Territory, but moseyed around a bit more before finally turning around.
        • The Corps of Discovery: There were 45 members in the Lewis was the military guy and leader, while Clark was the map maker and artist. Clark's slave named York and Lewis's Newfoundland hound called Seaman came along. York was a great icebreaker with the Indians because of his curly hair, handsome looks, and dark skin. No one really know was he looks like or what happened to him afterwards. Lloyd was the only person to die on the expedition.
  • Personal Embarrassment
    • Aaron Burr
      • Background: Jonathan Edwards, the famous Awakening preacher was his grandfather. Aaron Burr decides to run for senate in New York and defeats Philip Schuyler, Hamilton's father in law. This is important because Hamilton and Burr end up in a duel. Burr was also very active in the Tammany Society, which was originally a drinking club, but evolved into Tammany Hall which was a powerful political machine. The political machine Tammany Hall made him so popular that he started to get vain and lust for the presidency.
      • Essex Junto (junto means together in Spanish): a political club in Essex, Massachusetts. They were almost a Succession movement who wanted to create a new country out of the NE colonies and New York, but they fizzled out a bit when they couldn't find a good leader.
      • Burr decided to run for governor of New York and got the position. When Hamilton starting interfering with Burr's political party of weird Federalists and unhappy democrats, Burr challenged to Hamilton to a duel. The two met at 6 in the morning in Weehawken, New Jersey. Burr kills Hamilton, but is never found guilty of treason.
      • Burr goes back to Washington and helps Samuel Chase stay in office in 1804. After that he joins forces with Wilkinson and tries to make a separate country out of western states and Louisiana. Emperor Burr? Jefferson has Burr arrested using the US Marshalls and tries Burr in Richmond for treason. John Marshall comes down to Richmond to rule the Burr Conspiracy Case. John Marshall orders Jefferson to come to court, but Jefferson says I'm not coming and you can't make me. Burr is eventually found not-guilty so Marshall wins. Article 3 Sectoin 3: about treason. Need 2 witnesses to convict someone of treason, and it must be an overt act of treason.
  • 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. This was called re-export trade. 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.
      • 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.
      • Napoleon was angry because we traded with the British West Indies, so he decided to hit us with the Berlin and Milan Decrees.