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JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACYChapter 6

The American Nation, 12e, Mark C. Carnes John A. Garraty

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ELECTION OF 1800• Election 1800: Republicans won in February

1801 electoral vote 73 to 65– Both Jefferson and Aaron Burr had 73 votes– House of Representatives was deadlocked for over 35

votes– Hamilton exerted influence in favor of Jefferson (who

may have promised to preserve Hamilton’s financial system and continue Washington-Adams foreign policy)

– February 17, 1801, Jefferson became president and Burr vice president

• 12th Amendment drafted (ratified 1804) providing for separate balloting for President and Vice President

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THE FEDERALIST CONTRIBUTION

• March 4, 1801 Jefferson took oath of office at new national capital, Washington, DC

• Federalists had been moderate until fear of Republican strength led them to attempt revolution in 1798

• Failed and led to landslide for Republicans at Congressional level in 1800

• U.S. passed test and transferred power and changed policy peacefully

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THOMAS JEFFERSON: POLITICAL THEORIST

• Jefferson thought human beings basically selfish

• Suspected blacks were inferior to whites• Felt human race had unlimited potential• Believed in democracy• Wanted society to remain one of small

independent farmers because believed ALL government was a necessary evil at best

• Disliked Hamilton’s desire to commercialize and centralize government and his pro-British orientation

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JEFFERSON AS PRESIDENT• New administration

marked by style and moderation

• Positions included:– Against “entangling

alliances”– For economy in

government• Promised to

– Pay off national debt– Preserve government’s

credit– Stimulate both agriculture

and commerce– Cool partisan passions Jefferson, Thomas. Charcoal drawing (bust). 59-PP-3 National

Archives

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JEFFERSON AS PRESIDENT

• Repealed whiskey and other excise taxes

• Cut military and naval expenditures to balance budget

• Naturalization returned to five years

• Sedition and Alien Acts expired in 1801 and 1802 respectively

• Played down ceremony and formality

• Held stag dinners to get to know congressmen personally

• Easily won re-election in 1804

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JEFFERSON’S ATTACK ON THE JUDICIARY

• Jefferson had prejudices against– Kings– British system of government– Entrenched judicial power

• Judiciary Act of 1801– Created 6 new circuit courts, presided over by

16 new federal judges– Federalists, in their last days, shamelessly

appointed partisan politicians– Jefferson had act repealed– So angry he held up a number of appointments

for Justices of the Peace for DC

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JEFFERSON’S ATTACK ON THE JUDICIARY

• Marbury v. Madison (1803)– Resulted from William Marbury’s petition for a

writ of mandamus to obtain his commission– Chief Justice John Marshall ruled:

• Marbury by right should have his commission• But court could not require secretary of state James

Madison to give it to him since request was based on unconstitutional clause of Judiciary Act of 1789

• As a result Court did not have the right to issue writ of mandamus

– Gave court power to invalidate federal laws that conflicted with the Constitution

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JEFFERSON’S ATTACK ON THE JUDICIARY

• Jefferson decided to press for impeachment of some of more partisan federal judges– Senate easily removed

District Judge John Pickering– Went after associate

supreme court justice Samuel Chase who had been high handed in handling Sedition Act cases—acquitted

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THE BARBARY PIRATES• Lull in European War between France and England—

Treaty of Amiens, 1802• Barbary Pirates: North African Arab states of Morocco,

Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli who seized ships and crews whom they held for ransom

• Europeans, and Americans, paid them annual protection (cheaper than increased shipper insurance)

• Pasha of Tripoli raised rates, Jefferson balked, pasha declared war May 1801 and Jefferson dispatched squadron

• Pirates underwhelmed and USS Philadelphia burned after ran aground

• Payment of tribute continued to 1815• Pasha did agree to new treaty more favorable to U.S.

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THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

• Treaty of San Ildefonso:– Spain gave Louisiana, including all important

New Orleans, to France– Napoleon hoped to use Louisiana as

breadbasket for West Indian sugar plantations

• Jefferson, worried what Napoleon would do, asked Robert Livingston – to seek assurances of U.S. rights in New

Orleans– potentially buy West Florida if France also had

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THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE• Napoleon’s plans undermined by rebellion

in Saint Domingue (Haiti)– Had been granted personal freedom n 1793– Rebellion continued and had defeated French

by 1801– Napoleon sent 20,000 more men

• Jefferson now sought to buy New Orleans• October 1802 Spanish (had not yet turned

over New Orleans) revoked American right of deposit

• James Monroe sent to France with offer of $10 million for New Orleans

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THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

• When the French force sent to Haiti was wiped out by yellow fever, Napoleon reconsidered his plans especially as he was now intending to invade England

• April 10 told Foreign Minister Tallyrand to sell all of Louisiana

• In early May the Americans agreed to buy entire area for $15 million

• In U.S. there was concern over constitutionality but treaty passed

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THE FEDERALISTS DISCREDITED

• West and South solidly for Jefferson and North leaning toward him

• Some in New England, feeling threatened, formed Essex Junto in 1804 with intentions of creating separate northern confederacy

• Supported Aaron Burr for Governor of New York• Burr defeated but took offense at comments

made by Alexander Hamilton during the campaign

• Result was duel on July 11, 1804, in which Hamilton was killed

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LEWIS AND CLARK• Jefferson used $2,500 from Congress to

send Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the Louisiana Purchase– Scientific and practical interests– Establish relations with Indians

• The Journey– Start St. Louis spring 1804– Stay North Dakota (build Fort Mandan) for

winter– April 1805 headed for Pacific– Spring 1806 made return trip reaching St.

Louis by September

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OTHER EXPLORERS

• Thomas Freeman went up Red River but had to retreat in face of Spanish

• Lieutenant Zebulon pike explored upper Mississippi Valley and Colorado region between 1805 and 1807

• By 1808 St. Louis fur traders were invading Rockies

• By 1812 75,000 people were in southern section of purchase—admitted as Louisiana

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JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY

• Jefferson’s moderation calmed fears that rule by Republicans would result in a French style revolution

• Managed to achieve prosperity without expense or infringement on personal liberties– Order without discipline– Security without a large military establishment– Prosperity without regulatory legislation– Freedom without license

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THE BURR CONSPIRACY• Jefferson treated Aaron Burr vindictively and Burr

began to contemplate treason• Offered British separation of Western part of U.S.

for £110,000 and support of British fleet off mouth of Mississippi– British ignored but Burr proceeded– Joined forces with Jefferson’s appointed governor of

Louisiana Territory, James Wilkinson (secretly in pay of Spanish)

– 1806 Burr and Wilkinson headed to New Orleans with small force

– Wilkinson betrayed Burr to Jefferson– In partisan trial pitting Jefferson vs. Marshall, Marshall

favored Burr who was acquitted

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NAPOLEON AND THE BRITISH• When Napoleon resumed warfare in Europe, it

stimulated American economy– Shipbuilding boomed– Foreign trade doubled between 1803 and 1805

• Balance in Europe by 1807– British controlled the seas– Napoleon controlled the continent

• Commercial Warfare– Berlin Decree—November 1806, Napoleon: prohibited

trade with Great Britain– Orders In Council—Britain: blockaded continental ports and

barred them from foreign vessels unless they stopped first in England and paid customs duties

– Milan Decree—December 1807, Napoleon: an vessel that submitted to British search was thereby British property and subject to seizure

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NAPOLEON AND THE BRITISH• Broken voyages—attempts

to circumvent British maritime regulations by taking goods to U.S. before they went to final destination– 1803-1806 re-export went

from $13 million to $60 million– Britain in Essex & William

cases cracked down on re-export trade at same time both Britain and France were putting limits on direct trade by neutrals

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THE IMPRESSMENT CONTROVERSY

• British Law: any able bodied subject could be drafted by the Royal Navy in an emergency– In addition to press gangs in British ports and

the stopping of British merchant vessels, might stop NEUTRAL ship and impress British subjects

– British were high-handed and denied naturalization rights for Americans claiming once British, always British

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THE IMPRESSMENT CONTROVERSY

• At least 10,000 British sailors were working in U.S. merchant marine due to better conditions– Some naturalized U.S. citizens– Some worked under false papers– Some admitted were British citizens– Some were deserters from British Navy

• U.S. government conceded British right to impress own citizens but not Americans– As many as 3 out of every 4 of the at least 5,000

sailors removed from U.S. ships between 1803 and 1812 were Americans

– British did return those who could prove citizenship (some 3,800)

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THE EMBARGO ACT• Between 1803 and 1807

– British seized more than 500 U.S. ships– Napoleon seized more than 200

• June 22, 1807: USS Chesapeake (46-gun frigate) stopped by HMS Leopard– When refused to hand over 4 “deserters,”

Chesapeake was fired on and three sailors killed

– Deserters returned and ship limped home– Attack was violation of international law

• Jefferson ordered British ships out of U.S. waters and passed Embargo Act

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THE EMBARGO ACT• Prohibited all exports• Jefferson hoped bad effects on U.S. economy

would be offset by– Keeping U.S. merchant marine off seas thus ending

potential injury to themselves and to U.S. honor– Pressuring Britain & France, through the withholding of

U.S. goods, to moderate policies

• Loses for maritime industry huge:– Massachusetts owned ships were earning over $15

million– Foreign commerce was most expansive force in U.S.

economy

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THE EMBARGO ACT• Exports fell

– 1807: $108 million– 1808: $22 million

• Imports fell– 1807: $138 million– 1808: less than $57 million

• Other effects– Prices of farm and manufactured goods

reacted violently– Seamen thrown out of work– Merchants had businesses disrupted

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THE EMBARGO ACT• Attempts to circumvent

– Smuggle goods into Canada– Ship out to sea before embargo in place and not return

until over– Claim “distress” in between U.S. ports and “have to

land” in foreign ports– Law allowed merchants with property abroad to fetch it

—some 800 did– Juries failed to convict those charged with violating act

• Congress finally replaced with Non-Intercourse Act which forbade trade only with Britain and France though President could restart trade with either if country stopped violating American rights

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WEBSITES

• Thomas Jefferson

http://www.pbs.org/jefferson

• Thomas Jefferson Resources Online

http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson

• The Jefferson Home

http://www.monticello.org