SPRING 2012 – BROOKLYN COLLEGE HISTORY 3401 - AMERICA TO 1877 BRENDAN O’MALLEY, INSTRUCTOR The White House in 1814 CHAPTER SEVEN The Jeffersonian Era

SPRING 2012 – BROOKLYN COLLEGE

HISTORY 3401 - AMERICA TO 1877

BRENDAN O’MALLEY, INSTRUCTOR

The White House in 1814

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian Era

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian EraThe Jeffersonian Vision

As Jefferson and his followers assumed control of the national government in 1801,they believed their vision of a nation of sturdy independent farmers, free from industrialization and big cities, had triumphed. They celebrated localism, republican simplicity, and restrained government. But they quickly found out that this vision could not be sustained. On some occasions, even Jefferson contradicted it by exercising strong national authority and encouraging commercial growth.

Looking East from Denny Hillby Ralph Earl (1800)Scene of a large family farm in Leicester, Massachusetts.From the collection of the Worcester Art Museum.

Thomas Jeffersonby Rembrandt Peale (1800)

CHAPTER SEVEN


The Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Educational and Literary Nationalism

Creating a Virtuous Citizenry: Republicans believed that for people to become citizens who engaged in the political process, they needed to be well educated and informed.

No National System of Public Schools: Ideally, leaders wanted to create a system of free public schools for all free male children, but this was not yet possible. Jefferson wanted government control of schools so that they would be secular (not religious).

Private Schools: Education mostly remained in the hands of private institutions, and only those who could pay tuition had access to it. In the South and Mid-Atlantic States, religious groups ran most schools. In New England, secular private academies arose that served the children of the elites (most were based on the Phillips’s family academy in Andover, Mass.). Some charitable education institutions were available to the poor, but these were often inferior in quality to those schools that catered to the wealthy. Some public schools existed, but these were highly localized.

Education of Native Americans: Jefferson and his followers believed Indians to be “noble savages” who could be brought into white society through education. Missionary schools proliferated in many Native American areas, although there was considerable resistance to them.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian EraThe Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Educational and Literary Nationalism

Women’s Education: The concept of “Republican motherhood” began to catch on in the 1780s, which put forth the idea that women had to be educated in order to raise well informed citizen sons. This idea led to the creation of several female academies, and also led Massachusetts to require that its growing public school system serve both males and females. Several states, but not all, followed this example. James Peale, The Artist and His Family

(1795)

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian EraThe Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Educational and

Literary Nationalism

Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820): This elite Massachusetts writer was an early advocate of women’s education, publishing an essay, “On the Equality of the Sexes,” in 1790, which argues that women are perceived as inferior to men because they haven’t been given the same access to education, but given that chance, would be men’s intellectual equals:

“Are we [women] deficient in reason? We can only reason from what we know, and if an opportunity of acquiring knowledge hath been denied us, the inferiority of our sex cannot fairly be deduced from thence.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian EraThe Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Educational and

Literary Nationalism

Portrait of Mrs. John Stevens (Judith Sargent Murray)by John Singleton Copley(1770-1772)

CHAPTER SEVEN


The Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Educational and Literary Nationalism

Higher Education: The number of institutions of higher learning expanded from nine at the time of the Revolution to twenty-two in 1800. Yet none was truly public, even those that were founded by charter of a state legislature. All relied on tuition fees and private contributions. Scarcely one in a thousand white men went to college, and they were almost exclusively from wealthy families.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian EraThe Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Medicine and

Science First American Medical School: The first medical school was

founded at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1765. But most doctors still trained by working with an established practitioner.

Lack of Medical Knowledge: Learning anatomy was made difficult because of a strong public antipathy to the dissection of cadavers. Public authorities had almost no knowledge of how to stop the spread of epidemic disease, like during the Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793, which killed thousands. Doctors used useless or dangerous methods that often harmed patients, like bleeding, as was done in the case of George Washington’s death in 1799 from a seemingly minor throat infection.

Decline of Midwifery: In the early nineteenth century, physicians began to handle the delivery of infants, a job that had typically been handled by midwives in earlier years. Poorer women often could not afford the higher fees charged by physicians.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian EraThe Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Cultural Aspirations of the New Nation

Rivaling Europe: Americans dreamed about the United States equaling or surpassing the cultural achievements of Europe. A Poem, on the Rising Glory of America (1772) predicted that America would become the “seat of empire” and “final stage of civilization.” Noah Webster (1758-1843): This nationalist lawyer, politician, educator, and author of spelling books and dictionaries put forth that there should be a standard American English, and that every schoolboy should be inculcated with nationalist values, knowing the history of his country’s achievements.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian EraThe Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Cultural Aspirations of the New Nation

Toward an American Literature: Several writers began to advocate for a distinctively American literature, separate from European traditions. Charles Brockden Brown of Philadelphia was on such writer, but his obsession with horror and deviance kept him from finding a wide audience. Much more successful was Washington Irving of New York, who weaved popular tales of American rustics like Ichabod Crane and Rip Van Winkle.

Portrait of Washington Irvingby John Wesley Jarvis (1809)

CHAPTER SEVENThe Jeffersonian Era

The Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Religion and Revivalism

Enlightenment Values: With the rise of Enlighten ideas about human reason and individual liberty, traditional church attendance declined greatly in the 1790s, with only a small portion of Americans regularly attending services. Traditional ministers bemoaned this decline, and publicly warned about decaying public morals and the rise of “religious rationalism.”

Deism: This religious doctrine originated among Enlightenment thinkers in France, and attracted educated Americans like Jefferson and Franklin, and by 1800 was reaching a wider audience. Deists acknowledged God’s existence, but believed that He was a “watchmaker” who retreated from human affairs once he set the mechanism of the universe into motion.


The Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Religion and Revivalism

Unitarianism and Universalism: The first Unitarian congregation in America was founded in Boston in 1784. Unitarians believe that Jesus was a great prophet, but not a part of God Himself. They did not believe in the Holy Trinity. The first Universalist church in America was founded in Boston in 1793. Like the Unitarians, they do not necessarily believe that Jesus was divine, but that he was the spiritual leader of all humankind. Universalists also have a less critical position toward non-Christians compared to other Christian denominations. Both rejected the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, and Universalism in particular rejected the idea of eternal damnation. This was part of the move toward “religious rationalism.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Jeffersonian EraThe Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Religion and

Revivalism The Second Great Awakening: This movement of religious

revivalism broke out in 1801. Conservative theologians were looking for a way to fight declining religious piety. Presbyterians sent missionaries out to the western fringes of white settlement, while Methodists sent itinerant preachers throughout the nation, and became the fastest-growing denomination. Baptists did the same, and were particularly successful in the South. By 1800, the combined energies of these groups fueled the first great revival since the First Great Awakening sixty years before.

Cane Ridge: At this location in northeast Kentucky, roughly 25,000 people gathered in the summer of 1801 for the first “camp meeting,” an open-air revival that lasted several days, with people setting up tents. Such meetings became common practice over the coming decades.

CHAPTER SEVEN


Revivalism Message of the Second Great Awakening: It called for

readmitting God and Christ into people’s daily lives, greater religious piety, and the rejection of religious rationalism and skepticism. Yet it did not restore the Calvinist beliefs of the past; people no longer believed in predestination, but that their own individual faith and personal conduct could affect their future salvation.

New Role for Women: Female converts to these new enthusiastic forms of religion greatly outnumbered males. One theory is that as women entered the increasingly industrialized workplace, they felt isolated and were more ready to accept a new form of connection and community. It also gave them new roles in charitable and missionary work, ministering to the poor and orphans.

CHAPTER SEVEN


Revivalism Revivalism among Native Americans: Presbyterian and

Baptist missionaries succeeded in converting many tribe members in the South.

Handsome Lake (1735-1815): The most important revivalist among Indians was a Seneca who embraced Christianity after battling alcoholism. He advocated a return to traditional Indian ways, rejecting European individualism and calling for the old communal way of Indian life. He encouraged Indians to reject whiskey, gambling, and other harmful practices derived from white society. At the same time, he encouraged Indian men to take up sedentary agriculture and stop hunting, while encouraging women—who traditionally did agricultural tasks—to settle into more domestic roles.


Stirrings of Industrialism: Technology in America No Industrial Revolution Yet: In

the first two decades of the nineteenth century, industrialization comparable towhat was going on in Great Britain was still far off in the United States.

Spinning loom on display at the Slater Mill Museum

Importations: Great Britain passed laws preventing industrial technologies from being imported, and took measures to prevent those with the knowledge of how to build key machines from leaving. Nonetheless, some did trickle in. Samuel Slater (1768-1835) left England for New York in 1789, having memorized plans of cotton spinning machinery. He designed a cotton mill on the British design for Rhode Island merchant Moses Brown (1738-1836) in 1790 (Brown was a co-founder of Brown University).


Stirrings of Industrialism Technology in America: The Cotton Gin• Eli Whitney (1765-1825): received a patent for a machine called

the cotton gin in 1794. While not a new idea, Whitney’s design almost overnight made growing short-staple cotton profitable.

• Long-Staple Cotton: This could only be grown in a very specific maritime climate, such as on the Sea Islands along the shore of South Carolina and Georgia. It was profitable since the seeds could be cleaned from it easily.

• Short-Staple Cotton: This was heartier than long-staple cotton and could be grown inland, but had not been profitable since it took an extraordinary amount of labor to remove the seeds. With the cotton gin, could clean as much cotton in a few hours as a large group of workers could do by hand in a whole day (about 55 pounds).

• Broader Impact: Within a decade, the national production of cotton increased eightfold. Slavery, which seemed to be dying out with the decline of tobacco, was given new life. This increase also encouraged the development of textile mills in New England.


Stirrings of Industrialism Technology in America: Interchangeable Parts• Whitney’s Other Contribution: Whitney also helped to

introduce the idea of interchangeable parts in the United States. He designed machine tools that could produce identical parts for machines and firearms, making it much easier to replace parts. (Previously, such items had been produced one at a time, and had unique parts). The U.S. Army contracted Whitney to produce 1,000 muskets, the parts for which were required to be interchangeable.

• Significance of Interchangeability: Having interchangeable parts was important in a country in which people had to travel great distances over poor roads to get specialized services needed to repair certain items. Having interchangeable parts available made it possible for a farmer, for example, to fix a machine on his own. The millwork remained fairly crude, so not all parts were truly interchangeable.


Stirrings of Industrialism Technology in America: Transportation Innovations

• Transportation Limits and Market Development: Since transportation was so difficult in the early republic, there was no truly national market. Goods and services tended to be produced and offered locally. No domestic market was big enough to justify large-scale production.

• The Steamboat: England had been the leader in steam power, but the U.S. began to make advances in the early 1800s. Inventor Robert Fulton (1765-1815) and promoter Robert Livingston (1746-1813) created a viable steamboat service between New York City in Albany in 1807, using an English-built steam engine. Experiments had been going on since the 1780s and 1790s, but none were reliable for regular service.

• The “Turnpike Era”: In the 1790s, a slew of turnpikes were built with hard-packed, crushed-stone surfaces, including a 60-mile road between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. These toll roads were difficult to construct, and horse-drawn vehicles had difficulty traversing them when they had an incline of more than five degrees.


Country and City Overwhelmingly Rural: In 1800, only 3 percent

of Americans lived in towns of more than 8,000. Cities Still Small: Philadelphia at 70,000 and

New York at 60,000 were the nation’s biggest, but they could not compare to London (almost a million) and Paris (roughly 550,000). Nonetheless, they were becoming major hubs of commerce.

Urban Affluence: Cities produced substantial affluence, which drove people to display their refinement and taste in their homes and their dress. Affluent urban dwellers also sought distractions like theater-going, horse-racing, music, dance, and other public entertainments.


Jefferson the President“A Revolution?”: After Jefferson

was elected in 1800, he privately bragged that a revolution had occurred. But ultimately, there were more continuities between Jefferson’s administration and the Federalists ones before him than he would care to admit. The overheated words of the campaign trail cooled considerably when Jefferson took office. And Jefferson himself would on occasion wield federal power in a way that was more aggressive than the Federalists.

Thomas Jefferson in 1800 as painted by Rembrandt Peale


The Federal City and the People’s President

The Design of Pierre L’Enfant: With wide thoroughfares and stately buildings, Pierre L’Enfant (1754-1825) planned out a capital with echoes of Paris. Born in France, L’Enfant served as a military engineer during the American Revolution, serving directly under Washington for the latter part of the conflict. His imperial design seemed ill-suited for the Republican simplicity advocated by the new president.

The Reality of D.C.: For most of the nineteenth century, the city remained barely more than a straggling village located adjacent a humid swamp. Its population increased steadily from 3,200 in 1800, but it never came close to rivaling New York or Philadelphia. Congressmen did not view it as a home, but as a place to visit while Congress was in session.


L’Enfant/Ellicott Map of Washington, 1792


“A View of the Capitol of Washington,” by William Birch, ca. 1800


Jefferson the President Humble Manner: Despite being a wealthy

planter, Jefferson walked back and forth to his inauguration and often did not both to dress up, much to the disapproval of the British ambassador.

Many Accomplishments: Aside from being a politician and diplomat, he was also an architect, educator, inventor, farmer, and philosopher-scientist, and author.

Political Style: Jefferson was exceedingly shrewd politician, using his appointment powers in his first term to fill the federal government with Republicans. He soundly beat his Federalist opponent , Charles C. Pinckney, in 1804.


Dollars and Ships “Needless Extravagance”: The Republicans

thought that the Federalists had spent needlessly in the 1790s, almost tripling the national debt. The public debt had grown, as Hamilton hoped, and and a set of internal taxes had been created, such as the “Whiskey Tax.” Jefferson wished to reverse these trends.

Limiting the Federal Government: By 1802, Jefferson was able to eliminate all internal taxes, leaving the sale of Western lands and customs duties as the only source of federal revenue. Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin (1761-1849) was able to slash federal spending, and cut he national debt in half (from $83 to $45 million).


Dollars and Ships Reducing the Military: Jefferson reduced the tiny standing

army of 4,000 to 2,500, and reduced the navy from 25 ships to 7. But he was not a pacifist; he helped to found the U.S. military academy at West Point in 1802 and started to build up the navy again when troubled started overseas.

Barbary Coast War: This conflict, from 1801 to 1805, led Jefferson to construct more ships. Jefferson refused to pay thetribute that had been paid to the BarbaryStates (Morocco, Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers) in the 1780s and 1790s to prevent piracy directed at American ships. Hebuilt up American naval forces and ultimately beat the Barbary states, endingtribute payments, but having to pay a significant ransom to get American prisoners released.

Burning of the U.S.S. Philadelphia in Tripoli Harbor, 1804. Americans burned their own ship after it was captured.

CHAPTER SEVENThe Jeffersonian EraConflict with the Courts Federalist Control of the Courts: Republicans controlled the executive and

legislative branches, but the judiciary remained largely under control of Federalistjudges who had been appointed by the outgoing Adams in 1801.

Marbury vs. Madison: William Marbury, one of Adam’s “midnight appointments,” had been made a justice of the peace in Washington, D.C. His commission had been signed and sealed, but when Jefferson took office, his Secretary of State, James Madison, refuse to deliver the commission. In this 1803 Supreme Court decision, it was decide that Marbury had a right to his commission, a relatively small matter.

Greater Importance: The decision determined that the Supreme Court had no authority to order the Secretary of State to deliver the paperwork because the Judiciary Act of 1789, in which Congress gave the Supreme Court original jurisdiction over such matters, was unconstitutional. A part of the Act awarded the Court powers not specifically prescribed in the Constitution, and according to the decision, the legislative branch did not have the right to expand the judiciary’s powers beyond what is laid out in the Constitution. This decision established the Supreme Court's right of judicial review over legislation. By seemingly undermining its powers, it greatly expanded them.

CHAPTER SEVENThe Jeffersonian EraConflict with the Courts John Marshall (1755-1835): Marshall was appointed

Chief Justice by Adams in 1801, and was on the bench forMarbury decision and all of the significant decision for thenext several decades (he remained Chief Justice until hisdeath in 1835). This Federalist lawyer from Virginia hadserved as Adams’s Secretary of State. Through a series of Republican presidents, Marshall battled to give the national government strength and coherence. He thusestablished the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government with the legislative and executive.

John Marshall


Doubling the National Domain Jefferson and Napoleon: In 1801, the year that

Jefferson became president, Napoleon became France’s leader with the title of consul. Thefollowing year, he gave himself the title of emperor. He and Jefferson had little in commonin style or personality, but they ended up helpingeach other out considerably in international politics. Jefferson was a dedicated Francophile.

Napoleon’s North American Dream: Napoleon wanted to regain the land west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rockies. In a secret agreement with Spain, the Treaty of Ildefonso of 1800, Napoleon regained the Louisiana Territory, which encompassed this area, and which Napoleon hoped to become the heart of the French Empire in North America.

CHAPTER SEVENThe Jeffersonian EraDoubling the National Domain Jefferson’s Response: Jefferson was at first unaware of these designs,

and pursued pro-French policies. But as he discovered Napoleon’s plans, he changed his direction. Particularly disturbing to him was France’s control of New Orleans. Worse still, was in 1802 when the Spanish intendant of the city (the French had yet to take formal control) disallowed the practice of American boats unloading cargo to be loaded on to sea-going vessels, even though this right had been guaranteed by the Pinckney Treaty of 1795.

Napoleon’s Offer: Jefferson instructed the American diplomat in Paris, Robert Livingston, to purchase New Orleans, but Livingston went ahead and proposed the purchase of all of the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson intimated military force might be used if it didn’t go through. Napoleon quickly made an offer because his plans for a North American empire had gone awry: his force in the Caribbean had been wiped out by yellow fever, and reinforcements had been stuck in a frozen Dutch harbor in the winter of 1802-1803. Furthermore, he was gearing up for more war in Europe. He did not have the resources for a North American empire.

CHAPTER SEVENThe Jeffersonian EraDoubling the National Domain The Louisiana Purchase: After haggling over the

price, Livingston and James Monroe, who Jefferson had sent to Paris to help with the negotiations, agreed to pay 80 millions francs ($15 million), signing the contract on April 30, 1803. The French retained some commercial rights in the territory.

Jefferson’s Dilemma: Jefferson was both pleased and embarrassed by the treaty. Jefferson’s problem was that the Constitution said nothing about purchasing new territory, but his advisers believed that the treaty-signing powers covered the purchase.

CHAPTER SEVENThe Jeffersonian Era Doubling the National Domain


Doubling the National Domain Lewis and Clark: In 1803, Jefferson

helped to plan an expedition that would crossthe continent, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. He named Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809), a veteran Indian fighter with extensive wildernessexperience as the leader, and William Clark (1770-1838), who had similar experience, as his colleague. They started their journey by traveling up the Missouri River from St. Louis in the spring of 1804. They crossed the Rockies and traveled the Snake and Columbia Rivers to reach the Pacific coast, all with the help of Sacajawea, a Shoshone woman who served as an interpreter. They returned to St. Louis in 1806 to great fanfare.

Lt. Zebulon Pike (1779-1813): Pike led an 1805 expedition that set out to explore the upper Mississippi, which then went southward into the mountainous region that is now Colorado. Pike’s impressions falsely led people to believe that much of the interior was not arable, calling it the “Great American Desert.”

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark


The Burr Conspiracy Jefferson’s 1804 Reelection: The president’s sound beating

of the Federalist candidate seemed to affirm that most of the nation approved of the new purchase of territory.

The Essex Junto: The New England Federalists raged against the purchase, realizing that it would decrease their region’s power. The New Englanders wanted to secede from the Union to create a “Northern Confederacy,” but realized that it would need New York and New Jersey to succeed. New York Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, refused to join the secession movement.

Hamilton and Burr: The New Englanders than turned to Hamilton’s greatest New York rival, Aaron Burr, who accepted the secession scheme. Burr also became the Federalist candidate for New York governor in 1804. When Burr lost the election, he blamed Hamilton’s campaigning against him, and challenged him to a duel. In July 1804, they met in a field in Weehawken and Burr mortally wounded Hamilton.


The Burr Conspiracy The Conspiracy: Burr fled to the West to escape a murder

indictment when Hamilton died of his wounds back in Manhattan the next day. Out west, Louisiana Territory Governor James Wilkinson and Burr began to scheme about an expedition to capture Mexico from the Spanish. But rumors also circulate that Burr and Wilkinson wanted to break the Southwest away from the union and create an empire ruled by Burr.

Jefferson’s Response: Jefferson chose to believe the rumors, and his suspicions were strengthened when Burr and his men led an armed party in boats headed down the Ohio River, and people believed he would soon attack New Orleans. Jefferson ordered him arrested, and he was brought to trial in Richmond, Virginia. Unfortunately for Jefferson, Chief Justice Marshall limited the evidence the government could use, thus forcing Burr’s acquittal.


Expansion and War Conflict on the Seas: The French fleet was virtually destroyed by

the British at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, so Napoleon tried another approach to hurt his enemy: block all European ports to British trade under what he dubbed the “Continental System.” Britain responded with a blockade of all French shipping.

America’s Predicament: The United States had developed a large merchant marine that did a substantial volume of trade between the West Indies and Great Britain, and was essential to the American economy. But American ships were caught between the British blockade and Napoleon’s decree: if they directly to the Continent, they faced the British blockade, and if they stopped in Britain, they faced Napoleon’s decree.

Impressment: The British were seen as the worse offenders since they had the powerful navy and stopped American ships frequently on the high seas. What was worse is they would often “impress” American sailors, with the British claiming that many were deserters from the British Navy (which was accurate). The working conditions in the British Navy were terrible.


Expansion and War Chesapeake-Leopard Incident: The British were even more

aggressive in the summer of 1807, when off of Norfolk, Virginia, the British warship Leopard hailed the American naval frigate Chesapeake. The American ship’s captain refused the British request to search the ship for deserters, so the Leopard opened fire, forcing the Chesapeake to surrender, and a search party dragged four Americans sailors off. News of the incident caused a furor in the U.S., and Jefferson called all American warships back to port to prevent further incidents. He asked his minister to Britain, James Monroe, to demand that the British stop impressment, but it fell on deaf ears.

Jefferson’s Embargo: In late 1807, Jefferson convinced Congress to pass an embargo act, which forbid any U.S. ship from leaving for any port in the world. The law was evaded widely, but it suppressed enough trade to cause a deep economic depression in the U.S. Merchants and shipowners in the Northeast—mostly die-hard Federalists—were the hardest hit. Jefferson called this hard-line policy that attempted to avoid war “peaceful coercion.”


Expansion and War Election of 1808: James Madison won the race that occurred

in the middle of the depression, but the Federalist candidate,Charles Pinckney, did much better than he had done in 1804.

Jefferson’s Embargo: In late 1807, Jefferson convinced Congress to pass an embargo act, which forbade any U.S. ship from leaving for any port in the world. The law was evaded widely, but it suppressed enough trade to cause a deep economic depression in the U.S. Merchants and ship-owners in the Northeast—mostly die-hard Federalists—were the hardest hit.

Non-Intercourse Acts: Just as Jefferson was getting ready to leave office in 1809, Congress passed this act that reopened trade with all nations except Britain and France for one year. Macon’s Bill No. 2, which was passed a year later, reopened trade with France and England, but gave the president the authority to halt commerce with either if neutral shipping rights were violated. Napoleon announced that France would no longer interfere with American shipping, and Madison announced that a new embargo would go in effect against Britain alone in 1811 if Britain continued its blockade. But this measure would not prevent war.


The “Indian Problem” and the British Conflict with Settlers: White settlers continued to dislodge

Indians ruthlessly, so the Indians once again looked to Britain for help, while the British wanted to maintain good relations with the Indians to preserve the lucrative fur trade that flowed through their Canadian possessions.

William Henry Harrison (1873-1841): This Virginia-born Indian fighter had settled in the Northwest Territory, and represented it as a Congressional delegate in 1799. He pushed for a land law that made it easier for whites to obtain land fromthe public domain, and then was appointed governor of the Indiana Territory by Jefferson in 1801. Harrison was instructedto implement Jefferson’s policy: Indians either could stay if they chose to assimilate into white society, or they needed tomigrate West of the Mississippi. In either case, they had to give up claims to tribal lands in the Northwest.


The “Indian Problem” and the British

Jefferson’s Assimilation Problem: Jefferson considered his assimilation offer a benign alternative to ongoing conflict between Indians and settlers. But to the tribes, it did not seem benign, particularly the way that the Harrison carried it out, using threats, bribes, trickery, etc. In the Southwest, white Americans were seizing lands in Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. At the same time, after the Chesapeake incident, the British started to renew ties with the Indians to prepare for a coming war.


The “Indian Problem” and theBritish

The Prophet: Two remarkable Indian leaders emerged at this time who further complicated Madison’s “Indian Problem”: Tenskwatawa, known as “The Prophet,” and his brother, Tecumseh, meaning “Shooting Star.” Like Handsome Lake, Tenskwatawa underwent a spiritual reawakening, and began preaching about the evils of white society. His headquarters, called Prophetstown, was at the Tenskwatawa

meeting of Tippecanoe Creek and the Wabash Riverin what is now Indiana.


The “Indian Problem” and theBritish

Tecumseh: This Shawnee chief understood resistance against the Americans would be futile unless all Indian tribes worked togetheragainst them, and began organizing a militaryconfederacy to bring together all tribes of theMississippi Valley. He aimed to reclaim thewhole Northwest and push back the frontierof white settlement to the Ohio River. He argued Tecumseh

that the treaties that Harrison made with individual tribes were not valid because the lands belonged to all of the tribes. He left Prophetstown in 1811 on his mission to unify the tribes.


The “Indian Problem” and the British

Harrison Strikes: When Tecumseh left Prophetstown in 1811, Harrison moved in with 1,000 men and provoked a battle on November 7th. Harrison’s forces suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Tippecanoe, but they managed to burn Prophetstown to the ground. Tecumseh returned to find the Confederacy in disarray and the followers of the two brothers greatly disillusioned. But British agents continued to foment agitation, and Tecumseh’s warriors raided white settlements during the War of 1812. Harrison began to see the influence of the British in Canada as increasingly dangerous.


Florida and War Fever Florida: White frontiersman in the south increasingly looked

toward the acquisition of Florida. In 1810, American settlers seized West Florida (part of Mississippi and Louisiana today) from the Spanish. Madison also wanted Florida since Spain was Britain’s ally, and war looked imminent.

“War Hawks”: War fever raged on both northern and southern borders in 1812. Congressmen who represented these interests were known as “War Hawks.”

Clay and Calhoun: The most articulate “War Hawks” were Henry Clay of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. Both were men of great intellect and ambition. Clay was elected Speaker of the House in 1811, and he appointed Calhoun to the Foreign Affairs Committee. Both men pushed for the conquest of Canada. Madison preferred peace, but he was losing control of Congress, so he agreed to a declaration of war, which passed on June 18, 1812.


The War of 1812 Britain Ignores War: Britain was not eager to fight the

United States as it had its hands full with Napoleon. But in 1812, Napoleon launched a disastrous campaign into Russia. By 1813, the French Empire was on its way to defeat, so the British could at last turn their attention to the Americans.

Battles with Tribes: In the summer of 1812, the Americans launched an invasion of Canada through Detroit, which ended in failure and retreat. The American Fort Dearborn (later Chicago) also fell to Indian attack. American naval forces did enjoy several naval victories against the British on the Great Lakes in 1813, largely due to young naval officer Oliver Hazard Perry, which made a more successful invasion of Canada possible. In the south, General Andrew Jackson won the Battle of Horseshoe Bend near the Florida border, massacring Creek women and children in revenge for many Creek raids on white settlements.


The War of 1812 Battles with the British: After the defeat of Napoleon in

1814, the British decided to invade the United States. The British sailed up the Patuxent River from the Chesapeake Bay and landed on the outskirts of Washington. They entered the capital on August 24, and set the government into flight. They set fire to the Capitol Building, the White House, and several other important buildings. They did this in retaliation for the burning of public buildings in York, the Canadian capital.

Fort McHenry and Baltimore: The British left Washington and moved on Baltimore by ship, but Baltimore was defended by Fort McHenry, which held its ground despite intense bombardment. During the bombardment, Francis Scott Key composed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which would later become the national anthem.


The War of 1812

Battle of New Orleans: The last fight of the war, which happened several weeks after a peace treaty was signed, was a victory led by General Andrew Jackson. He defeated the British as they approached New Orleans with a much smaller force. The British suffered 700 dead, will the Americans, in their carefully prepared fortifications, only had 8 killed.


Revolt of New England The Hartford Convention: The Federalist

opposition to the war was so intense in New England that delegates gathered in Hartford in December 1814 to discuss the possibility of succession, just as they had done after the Louisiana Purchase over a decade before. Moderates against secession prevailed in the vote, but the convention demonstrated the passion with which many opposed the war.


The Peace Settlement The Treaty of Ghent: Serious peace discussion

began when diplomats met at Ghent, Belgium, in August 1814. The Americans gave up their demand for the cessation of Canada and a stop to the practice of impressment. In return, they received some skimpy territorial acquisitions. More importantly, the treaty led the way for the normalization of commercial relations.

Disastrous Results for Indians: Without the British as an ally, the Indians were in a greatly weakened position to oppose American expansion.

Documents

SPRING 2012 – BROOKLYN COLLEGE HISTORY 3401 - AMERICA TO 1877 BRENDAN O’MALLEY, INSTRUCTOR The White House in 1814 CHAPTER SEVEN The Jeffersonian Era