Download Early Foreign Policy

The Nation Expands
Jefferson to Monroe
American expansion and defense
of the national identity
Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was much like
Benjamin Franklin in that he was highly
intelligent, an inventor, writer,
philosopher, and politician. But he was
also a very private man - few knew him
well, or could guess what he was
thinking and what he really believed.
He claimed to hate slavery, but owned
slaves his entire life. He also claimed to
be a “servant of the citizenry” but once
as president advocated starving entire
towns to make the inhabitants submit to
his policies.
Scandal
The evidence that Jefferson had a relationship with Sally Hemings, one
of his slaves, is very strong. Even during his presidency, rumors about
this circulated among his friends, and enemies, as seen from this late
1790s cartoon of Jefferson as a rooster, Sally as a hen.
Westward Expansion
Charles Wilson Peale’s painting of the exhumation of the mammoth is a
tribute to American ingenuity and the Enlightenment values esteemed
by Jefferson. The centerpiece of the portrait is not the fossils, but a
machine designed to remove water from the dig.
Buying Louisiana
Although Jefferson had spoken for limited Federal powers, he
greatly enlarged the president’s authority when he purchased
the Louisiana region from France and sent Lewis and Clark west
to explore the land and “show the flag.”
Doubling the Nation’s Size
Jefferson acquired approximately 827,000 square miles of
Western territory, doubling the size of the United States.
One of the primary goals of the Lewis and Clark expedition
was to map this region.
Defense in the midst of a world war
This cartoon depicts
President Jefferson being
threatened by King
George (left) while
Napoleon of France picks
Jefferson’s pocket. The
ongoing war between
France and Britain
divided the nation and
embarrassed Americans
who realized that the
U.S. lacked the power to
defend itself.
Reliance on militia units
The nation had a very small standing
army and relied on state militia units
for its main defenses against Indians.
As this cartoon suggests, the officers
of militia units were often dressed in
elaborate and even expensive
uniforms, but were not skilled in the
handling of military units. This officer
is puzzled while trying to understand a
basic map.
While presidents wanted more money
for defense, representatives of the
states refused to vote more funds for
fear that a large Federal army could
threaten the rights of the people.
Division in the capitol
This cartoon suggests that Federalists and Republican
disagreements over the Franco-British war came close to
open violence in the capitol building. There were in fact
some fistfights and duels – but outside the capitol.
Charges of Treason
In 1804, the Republican followers of Jefferson
suggested that the Federalists were disloyal to America
and simply followed the directions of the British
government.
The “Burr Conspiracy”
Fears of the abuse of power seemed
real in 1806 when former vicepresident Aaron Burr was accused of
plotting to lead a coup that would turn
the western territories into a separate
nation.
Burr was arrested and tried for treason
in 1807, but was acquitted when the
evidence proved to be too flimsy – the
main witness against Burr was in fact
an army officer who was secretly
spying for Spain.
Embargo
As British ships continued to blockade trade with
France, Jefferson countered by having Congress
embargo trade to England, hoping that this would lead
to a treaty proclaiming “freedom of the seas.” Towns
in New England ignored the embargo and smuggled
goods to Canada. An angry Jefferson then considered
“starving the towns” into submission to the law.
Clamors for war
As the fourth president, James
Madison continued Jefferson’s policy of
a trade embargo, which had no real
effect on Britain. Meanwhile “war
hawks” led by a younger generation of
westerners, like Henry Clay of
Kentucky (right) wanted the U.S. to go
to war and seize Canada.
In 1812, Madison finally agreed to
support a declaration of war against
Great Britain.
A second war for independence
The U.S. was almost completely unprepared for a war. An attempt
to invade Canada failed quickly. The British, aided by various Indian
allies, attacked Detroit and other western settlements. Along the
Raisin River, near Detroit, American prisoners were massacred by
followers of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh.
Deadlock
America’s effort to seize Canada failed, but some of the
fiercest fighting occurred along this northern frontier
Tecumseh’s “First Nation”
Tecumseh and his half-brother
Tenskwatawa ("The Prophet")
fashioned a “First Nation”
movement among several
tribes and allied with the
British to stop further
American settlements in the
west.
At its height, the First Nation
movement fielded thousands
of warriors against American
militia. But the unity of the
tribes was only temporary.
Defeat of Tecumseh’s alliance
American militia under the command of William Henry
Harrison and Richard Johnson defeated Tecumseh’s
warriors (depicted in this 1813 drawing as little black
men) in several battles. Johnson, later credited with
killing Tecumseh, was later Vice-President and
Harrison was briefly President in 1841.
Victory on Lake Erie
In September 1813, small flotilla of American warships
destroyed a British-Canadian fleet on Lake Erie, which
prevented a full-scale invasion of the Ohio River Valley.
Destruction of the capital
The lowest point of the war came in 1814, when British forces
landed in Virginia, seized Washington City and burned the capitol
building and president’s mansion. Madison and the government
fled, but the British attempt to capture Baltimore failed.
Shock of defeat
After Washington was rebuilt following the war, stronger
fortifications were added around the capital. The president’s
mansion, rebuilt and painted with several coats of white paint,
came to be known as the “white house.”
Treason at Hartford?
Defeat in Washington and elsewhere led to calls for ending the
war. A large group of Federalists called for a meeting at Hartford
Connecticut to “discuss peace terms.” But the Jeffersonian
Republicans charged that the convention really planned to discuss
the secession of the New England states from the U.S.
Western hero
In the southwest (eventually parts of
Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi),
Andrew Jackson a western lawyer and
planter in the emerging cotton
industry, led militia troops in several
victories against Creek and Cherokee
warriors, who had been fighting
American expansion for over twenty
years.
Jackson’s victories made him a
national celebrity. He was sent to New
Orleans to stop a British attack on that
vital port.
Securing the west
On January 8, 1815, Jackson’s forces repulsed the British
attack, killing over 2000 British troops and the British
commander. Ironically, the British and Americans had
agreed to a peace treaty in Europe two weeks earlier. The
Battle of New Orleans made Jackson an instant contender
for the presidency.
Legacy of the war
The War of 1812 was hardly a great American victory, but it
secured the western lands. In order to keep the British out of
the fur trading areas of the Great Lakes, the U.S. moved to build
forts along the upper Mississippi River and at such places as
Grand Portage (above) in the “minnesota” country.
New states
Defeat of the confederation
of Tecumseh opened the way
for greater settlement and
the creation of several new
states. The representatives
and senators from these
states would change the
political balance in
Washington. From 1789 to
1824, 4 of the 5 presidents
were from Virginia. From
1824 to 1868, over half of
the presidents were from
western states.
Missouri Compromise
When Missouri and Maine became states in 1820, the Congress
engineered an arrangement that limited slavery only to states
established south of the southern border of Missouri. This
“Missouri Compromise” would collapse within 25 years.
Monroe Doctrine
As Madison’s successor, President James Monroe sought to
limit European influence in Latin America, by announcing a
policy to “intervene” in any attempts to secure colonies in
central and South America. Monroe was able to enforce his
doctrine because the British navy backed up his words.
Factories
The earliest factories were not imposing structures belching forth smoke, but
small water-powered mill factories. Slater’s first water-powered mill (in RI)
resembled the clapboard rural structures that had been used to grind grain
or saw logs and that easily blended into their rural settings.
An “Era of Good Feelings”
• The end of the war opened a new era in American
•
•
•
•
development.
The Federalist Party, tainted by the Hartford Convention,
collapsed.
Now secure in power, the Republican Party, led by
Monroe, adopted some of the ideas of the Federalists –
including a a new Bank of the United States in 1816, and
a higher tariff to protect manufactures.
Others proposals were made to spend public tax monies
on roads and canals to expand western settlement and
the economy.
A financial “panic” beginning in 1817, led to divisions.
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise established a new policy for dealing with
slavery in Western territories. The compromise drew an imaginary line
across the map of the United States. Land south of this line would be
open to slavery, while territory north of the line would be free.