American Presidents:

Madison - Tyler

James Madison (1809-1817)

Republican-Democrat

September 1810 - Americans in West Florida seized it and offered it to US

October 1810 - Proclamation to occupy West Florida as Madison believed it to have been part of the original Louisiana Purchase

April 1812 - Louisiana admitted to the Union as 18th State

June 1812 - Madison’s Declaration of War approved by Congress (War of 1812 begins)

November 1812 - Madison wins reelection

Madison (Continued)

1813 - first mechanized weaving factory in Lowell Mass.

March 1814 - Napoleon’s empire collapses

August 1814 - Madison flees Washington; British burn the White House

December 1814 - Treaty of Ghent signed

January 1815 - Jackson wins at Battle of New Orleans; national hero

April 1816 - Indiana becomes a state

American System - Protective Tariff, National Bank, Transportation (National Road and Erie Canal) under Henry Clay ** Era of Good Feeling

James Monroe (1817-1825)

Democratic-Republican

April 1817 - Rush-Bagot Treaty with Britain limits naval capacity on Great Lakes post War of 1812

December 1817 - Mississippi becomes a state

December 1817 - Calhoun (Sec of War) orders Jackson to quell Seminole Indian revolts in Florida

June 1818 - Monroe gives Pensacola back to Spain despite Jackson’s victory

Monroe (Continued)

October 1818 - Anglo-American Convention agrees on 49th Parallel boundary

December 1818 - Illinois and Alabama admitted as states

January 1819 - Panic of 1819 - cotton collapse, decline in real estate value

February 1819 - Adams-Onus Treaty with Spain - FA acquired for $5 million

March 1819 - Maryland v McCulloch - states can’t tax federal agencies

March 1820 - Missouri Compromise (Maine as free state, Missouri as slave state, slavery only south of 36º30' )

Monroe Continued

March 1820 - Maine admitted as a free state

August 1821 - Missouri admitted as slave state

December 1823 - Monroe Doctrine adopted (no further European colonization in N or S America, US won’t interfere with existing colonies, US isolationism and neutrality from European conflicts) ** Cornerstone for US foreign policy **

Doctrine invoked later by James Polk and Theodore Roosevelt

May 1824 - Tariff of 1824 - South fears British retaliation increased cotton prices

John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)

Federalist, Democratic-Republican, Whig

February 1825 - controversial election - Jackson 99 votes, Adams 84 votes, Crawford 41, Clay 37 - Clay puts his votes to Adams at end to become Secretary of State * Jackson is furious!

October 1825 - first part of Erie Canal completed

May 1828 - Tariff of Abomination - high tariffs on raw materials & Br. woolens - angers VA in particular - Calhoun encourages states’ rights to nullify federal laws

Tariff leads to Adams’ loss in the subsequent election

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

Democrat

War of 1812 - Battle of New Orleans

Military Victories in Florida (Old Hickory)

March 1829 - inaugural address institutes ‘spoils system’ of fed. office rotation

April 1830 - Calhoun threatens southern nullification of tariffs - Jackson threatens military intervention

May 1830 - Indian Removal Act - forced removal of Cherokee, Creeks and other tribal groups to west of the Mississippi ** Trail of Tears **

Jackson Continued

July 1832 - Jackson vetoes a bill to extend charter of 2nd Bank of the US - felt the bank favoured northerners and was elitist and unconstitutional - Jacksonian Democracy favoring the small farmer and working man

November 1832 - SC adopts Ordinance of Nullification for duties and tariffs

December 1832 - Jackson issued Nullification Proclamation saying states cannot nullify federal laws and threatens to collect tariffs by force if necessary;

March 1833 - Force Act signed; Clay proposed a Compromise Tariff to appease SC by gradually reducing tariffs and the conflict was resolved

Jackson & Martin Van Buren

1836 election - president can only run 2 terms to Jackson’s VP Van Buren is the Democratic nominee and wins successfully

March 1837 - Jackson recognizes Texan independence just before Martin Van Buren is sworn in as president on March 4, 1837-1841

Panic of 1837 - western land speculation, no national bank, easy credit, drop in cotton prices due to oversupply - severe depression for 6 years with banks failing, unemployment - Democrats were blamed

Harrison & Tyler

March 1841 - William Henry Harrison beats Van Buren in a landslide election on the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” but he died of pneumonia 1 month after the election and John Tyler (VP) becomes president

1841-1845 Tyler president - advocated states’ rights with no federal funding for internal improvements and he vetoed the bank twice

Mar 1845 - Texas Annexation Bill