Download Chapter 7 The Jeffersonian Era

Luke Demas
Chapter 7: The Jeffersonian Era
1. Discuss the factors giving rise to cultural nationalism in the early 19 th century.
 American cultural life in the early 19th century reflected Republican visions for the nation’s future
Education
 Republican government stressed the importance of a virtuous and enlightened citizenry, leading to a desire for a
public education system
 government was unable to establish nationwide public school system, leaving most educational opportunities
reserved to the affluent and elite
 new educational opportunities developed for wealthy women, all aimed at making women better mothers
 Judith Sargent Murray, an activist for women’s rights, argued for same education for both men and women and
inspired later generations despite attracting little attention during her own lifetime
 Indians received minimal education, while slaves often received none for fear they would then desire freedom
 higher education was limited and not widely available
Medicine and Science
 Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphian physician, first correlated unsanitary conditions with disease
 despite an increase in medical knowledge, doctors still killed many through harmful treatments such as bleeding
and purging
 midwifery declined as physicians took over their roles, narrowing opportunities for women and restricting access
to childbirth care for poor mothers, who couldn’t afford physicians
National Culture
 American schoolbooks spread nationalism by educating students as patriots
 Noah Webster’s American Spelling Book (1783) and The American Dictionary of the English Language (1806)
established national standard of words and usages and an Americanized system of writing
 American writers often found it difficult to publish their works due to cost and lack of interest among editors
 Washington Irving became successful for portraying American themes though popular folk tales such as Ichabod
Crane and Rip Van Winkle
 Mercy Otis Warren and Mason Weems became famous for their glorified, and often inaccurate, accounts of
American history that served as vehicles for the spread of nationalism
2. Discuss the causes and effects of the Second Great Awakening.
Causes
 Enlightenment ideas fostered rationalism and weakened traditional churches
 American Revolution established separation between church and state
 some Americans, including Jefferson and Franklin, embraced Deism, the belief that God exists but doesn’t directly
interfere in human actions and sins
 Universalism (founded by James Murray in 1779) and Unitarianism emerged from dissenters of New England
Congregational Churches who rejected the ideas of predestination and the Trinity
 Presbyterians in eastern colleges, most notably Timothy Dwight of Yale, called for increased evangelicalism
Effects
 Methodist and Baptist churches quickly spread though the South with the efforts of circuit preachers such as Peter
Cartwright as soon became the largest Protestant denominations in America
 “camp meetings” such as the one at Cane Ridge in 1801 were held to recruit new church members
 idea of predestination became nearly obsolete as new denominations preached for hard work and faith
 spread of evangelicalism helped stabilize communities in remote areas where formal churches never existed
 women became active in religion as a means to escape from their changing economic and social roles
 black preachers emerged among slave communities and spread egalitarian religious messages that stirred racial
unrest in the South
 Indians such as Neolin and Handsome Lake called for revivals of traditional native practices but, instead,
strengthened Christian ideals among Native Americans by allying with missionaries
 influence of “freethinkers” declined as fervent evangelicalism spread
3. Characterize the First Industrial Revolution.
 despite England’s restrictions on the exportation of its textile machinery and emigration of its skilled workers,
Americans were able to introduce many British technologies to America
 Samuel Slater memorized British schematics and was able to build the first modern American factory for Quaker
merchant Moses Brown in Rhode Island in 1790
 Oliver Evans was a skilled inventor and wrote the first American textbook of mechanical engineering titled The
Young Mill-Wright’s and Miller’s Guide in 1795
 Massachusetts-born Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin in 1793
o Southern planters were able to clean cotton in shorter amounts of time, leading to increases in both
cotton growth and slavery use
o textile industry grew in the North as large supplies of domestically-grown cotton became available
o strengthening of agriculture in the South and industry in the North drove a wedge between the regions
and contributed to the Civil War
 Whitney also developed a more efficient process of weapons manufacturing, one that employed an assemblyline system, that was later implemented to manufacture many goods, from sewing machines to clocks
 rapid growth of American shipping allowed for the expansion of foreign trade and domestic shipping
 Oliver Evans’s high-pressure engine and Robert Fulton’s steamboat allowed for more efficient river transport
 beginning in 1792, turnpikes were constructed that made transportation easier between highly populated areas
 although only about 3 percent of Americans lived in large towns, cities grew in population and importance
 American cities developed distinctive urban cultures and fostered affluence
4. Explain why Jefferson’s victory in the Election of 1800 is referred to as the “Revolution of 1800”.
 power was transferred from the Federalist party to the Democratic-Republican party
 despite animosity between the political parties, Jefferson was able to keep peace by stressing the importance of
the basic principles of the Constitution (“We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists”)
 peaceful transfer of power was unique for the time period and set a precedent for future elections
 Federalists were essentially stripped of all power during Jefferson’s term as president
 focus shifted from strengthening of federal government to strengthening of state governments
 more attention was given to protecting agriculture than developing industry
5. Discuss the conflicts between the Federalists and the Republicans over the judiciary and explain the legal
precedents that resulted from these conflicts.
 after the Election of 1800, the only power remaining to the Federalists was their control of the federal courts
 John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the end of Adams’s presidency and served as
a strong influence, often empowering the central government at the expense of the state governments
Marbury v. Madison
 Jefferson ordered Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver the commissions to Federalist judges
appointed at the end of Adams’s presidency
 William Marbury, one of Adams’s “midnight appointments”, sued for his commission in the Supreme Court
 Marshall ruled that Marbury had the right to his commission according to the Judiciary Act of 1789, but claimed
that the law itself was unconstitutional because it expanded power beyond what the Constitution allowed
 although Marbury was not given his commission, the case established the doctrine of judicial review, which
allowed the judicial branch to overrule actions of the other two branches of the federal government
Judicial Impeachment
 Jefferson supported a campaign of impeachment to remove partisan judges
 John Pickering, a district judge, was impeached on claims of mental insanity, leading to the impeachment of
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase, a highly partisan Federalist
 Senate acquitted Chase after finding no evidence of criminal activity
 campaign was a failure at removing Federalist judges, but did cause judges to be more cautious and less partisan
6. Analyze the causes and effects of the Louisiana Purchase and discuss Jefferson’s constitutional dilemma.
 Napoleon desired a French empire in America and forced Spain to give New Orleans to France
 Spain revoked the U.S. right to deposit at New Orleans in 1802
 American were angered and desired government action, but Jefferson feared European entanglement
 Napoleon lost interest in an American Empire by 1803 because…
o he needed to concentrate French supplies on fighting England
o a rebellion led by Toussaint l’Ouverture in Santo Domingo resulted in heavy French losses
 Jefferson sent ministers Robert Livingston and James Monroe to Europe in 1803 with instructions to buy New
Orleans from the French or, if that failed, form a U.S.-British alliance
 seeking funds for their war against Britain, France offered the U.S. New Orleans and the entire Louisiana
Territory for $15 million and, without instruction, the U.S. ministers accepted
 Jefferson and most of the American public supported the purchase, but the president faced a dilemma because
no clause in the Constitution stated that a president could purchase foreign land
 Jefferson argued that the Louisiana Purchase was allowed by the president’s power to make treaties
 The Louisiana Purchase…
o more than doubled the size of the U.S.
o removed a foreign presence from America
o guaranteed the extension of the western frontier beyond the Mississippi River
o increased Jefferson’s popularity and further discredited Federalists
 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, aided by native woman Sacagawea, led an expedition across America from
1804 to 1806 that…
o increased knowledge of the previously unexplored country
o strengthened U.S. claims to the Oregon Territory
o improved relations with Native American tribes
o developed maps and land routes for fur trappers and future settlers
 Zebulon Pike led an expedition in 1805, and his accounts of the trip fostered an inaccurate impression that the
land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains was uninhabitable
7. Discuss the ways in which Jefferson and Madison attempted to maintain U.S. neutrality in relation to both North
Africa and the Napoleonic Wars.
Jefferson rejected the idea of permanent alliances and sought to maintain U.S. neutrality
Barbary Pirates
 pirates in North Africa demanded tributes in exchange for protection for U.S. merchant ships
 Pasha of Tripoli, a North African ruler, demanded a higher tribute when Jefferson came to office
 rather than pay the money, Jefferson sent U.S. naval vessels to the Mediterranean to combat the pirates
 sporadic fighting between 1801 and 1805 did not result in a decisive victory, but America gained
international respect and U.S. merchant ships did gain some protection
Napoleonic Wars
 France and Britain blockaded each other’s ports and regularly seized neutral American ships
 British navy was known for harsh conditions and high rate of deserting among sailors, leading to the British
practice of impressment, which greatly angered America as Britain often impressed U.S. sailors
 British warship Leopard fired on U.S. warship Chesapeake, killing three Americans and leading to the
impressment of four U.S sailors
 Chesapeake-Leopard Incident raised anti-British feelings and led many Americans to demand war
 Jefferson persuaded Congress to pass Embargo Act in 1807, which prohibited American merchant ships from
sailing to foreign ports, with the hope that Britain would stop its policies to maintain American trade
 Embargo Act backfired and contributed to economic hardships in U.S. that led many merchants to want New
England to secede from the U.S.
 Jefferson repealed act in final days as president through a process he called “peaceable coercion”
Madison was elected president in 1808 and desired to end economic hardships while maintaining U.S. neutrality
 Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 allowed U.S. merchants to trade with all countries except Britain and France
 Macon’s Bill No. 2 , passed in 1810, was passed to restore trade with Britain and France by holding that if either
Britain or France formally agreed to respect U.S. neutral rights, then the U.S would prohibit trade with that
nation’s foe
 Napoleon agreed to respect U.S neutrality and the U.S placed an embargo on Britain
 France continued to seize American merchant ships despite the agreement
 embargo on Britain hurt British economy enough that the government repealed its blockade on Europe
8. Analyze the causes of the War of 1812.
 Britain constantly violated U.S. neutrality rights at sea and often impressed American sailors
 Americans desired lands in British Canada and Spanish Florida
 American conflicts with natives were often instigated by the British
o Battle of Tippecanoe (1811) between natives, led by Tecumseh and Prophet, and settlers, led by
governor of the Indiana Territory General William Henry Harrison, ended Tecumseh’s efforts to form a
united Indian confederacy and made westerners more upset at the British, who aided the Indians
 “war hawks” in Congress, young Republicans from frontier states, were eager for war with Britain
9. Explain the arguments for and against war with Britain.
Support
 “war hawks” Henry Clay of Kentucky and John Calhoun of South Carolina argued that war with Britain would be
the only way to defend American honor, gain Canada, and destroy native resistance on the frontier
 frontiersmen wished to end conflicts with natives and gain land
 Madison wished to maintain peace but eventually gave in to pressures from Congress and declared war
Opposition
 New England merchants profited from the wars in Europe and viewed impressment as a minor problem
 commercial interests and religious similarities made merchants more sympathetic to the British
 Federalists viewed the war as a Republican scheme to conquer Canada and Florida and gain voting strength
 “Quids” or “Old” Republicans felt the war went against the traditional Republican ideals of limited government
and U.S. neutrality
10. Evaluate America’s military and naval efforts in the War of 1812 and account for American victory.
 Madison based his military strategy on Napoleon’s continued success in Europe and a campaign against Canada
 attempts to invade Canada through Detroit, Niagara, and Lake Champlain all failed
 American raid and burning of York (Toronto) in 1813 only encouraged British retaliation
 U.S. navy had notable successes due to superior shipbuilding and valorous seamen
o U.S. warship Constitution defeated a British ship near Nova Scotia
o American privateers captured numerous British merchant ships
 Britain succeeded in blockading the U.S coast, limited trade and fishing
 most important naval battle occurred on Lake Erie, where Captain Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British,
allowing General William Henry Harrison to win at the Battle of Thames River, in which Tecumseh was killed
 American victory on Lake Champlain under Thomas Macdonough in 1814 forced the British to abandon their
plan to invade New York and New England
 defeat of Napoleon in 1814 allowed Britain to increase forces in America
 British troops burned Washington, D.C., including the White House and Capitol, in 1814
 British forces attempted to seize Baltimore, but Fort McHenry held out (an event immortalized by Francis Scott
Key’s “The Star-Spangled Banner”)
 U.S. troops in the South, led by Andrew Jackson, defeated the Creek nation at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend,
thus eliminating one of Britain’s Indian allies
 Jackson’s victory at Battle of New Orleans in 1815 halted British control of the Mississippi River, but was
meaningless as it occurred two weeks after a treaty was signed
11. Discuss the immediate and long-term effects of the War of 1812.
Treaty of Ghent (1815)
 halted fighting between U.S. and Britain
 forced U.S to return all conquered territory to the prewar owners
 recognized the prewar border between Canada and the U.S.
 ended war in stalemate, with neither the U.S. nor Britain gaining anything
Hartford Convention (1814)
 radical New England Federalists demanded the Constitution be amended and, if necessary, New England secede
from the U.S.
 delegates at the convention rejected radical calls for secession but adopted nullifying proposals to limit the
growing power of Republicans in the South and West
 news of Jackson’s victory at New Orleans and the Treaty of Ghent ended criticism of the war and stamped out all
remaining Federalist power by making them seem unpatriotic and even treasonous
Effects
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U.S. gained respect from other nations for having survived two wars with Britain
Rush-Bagot Agreement (1817) helped lead to U.S. acceptance of Canada as a neighbor
Federalist party became virtually powerless, even in New England
talk of nullification and secession among New Englanders set a precedent later used by the South
Native Americans were forced to cede large tracks of land
Americans moved closer towards industrial self-sufficiency
war heroes like Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison became influential political leaders
American nationalism increased and the idea of manifest destiny developed