An Agrarian Republic

1790 – 1824

The Former American Colonies

• Only 3% of Americans lived in cities; most lived in small towns or on farms

• Population grew from 3.9 million to 5.3 million from 1790-1800

• Growth by migration was greatest in the Trans-Appalachian West; by 1800, 500,000 Americans lived there

• Cincinnati served as a major trading center for the Ohio River Valley

• River traffic to and from New Orleans increased annually, though Westerners were concerned over who controlled the city

British and Russian North America

• The heart of British North America was Quebec; French and Loyalists compromised most of the other settlers

• The American Revolution caused Britain to create a national legislature under strict executive control

• Britain dominated the fur trade and kept friendly with the Indians

• Meanwhile, Russia occupied Alaska, establishing Sitka in 1804 and using it as a jumping off point to settle along the Pacific Coast (Ft. Ross in California)

The Spanish Colonies

• Spain established missions throughout California to protect their interests against Russian and British expansion

• Though an international port, Spain controlled New Orleans

• Tensions between peninsulares (Spanish-born) and criollos (colonial-born Spanish) was growing as the American Revolution influenced Latin American independence

Haitian Revolution

• Haitian independence was led by Toussaint L’Ouverture, making Haiti the first independent Caribbean nation (an independent black nation)

Cotton and the Economy

• Unlike the Northern farming regions that relied on subsistence farming, the South’s plantation agriculture, based on enslaved workers, was entirely commercial and international

• The Industrial Revolution in Britain created a huge demand for cotton in their textile industries

• The Cotton Gin, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793, mechanized the process of cultivating cotton, made cotton “king,” expanded slavery, and was the dominant crop in foreign markets

• Yet, overall, international trade with Britain and France was less than before the Revolution

Shipping and Economic Boom

• The outbreak of war in Europe and American neutrality vastly expanded trade, fueling the growth of coastal cities

• American merchants re-exported European goods to other countries

• Rapid urbanization fueled farm production• U.S. entered into the fur trade and the Chinese markets• An active shipbuilding industry developed, and a new

swifter ship (the clipper) was twice as fast as previous vessels

Thomas Jefferson (1801 – 1809)• Jefferson’s inauguration represented a momentous occasion where

the peaceful transition of power from one party to another was demonstrated through his address: “We are all republicans; we are all federalists.”

• Republican agrarianism: Jefferson’s vision of a nation of roughly equal yeoman (everyman) farmers, independent and secure, would exhibit concern for the whole of the nation– Based his ideas on the pessimistic ideas of Thomas Malthus’ Principle of

Population, which population growth exceeded the ability to produce food—America had something Europe did not: LAND

– Negative side effects: expansion of slavery, increased hostility towards the Indians, and environmental damage

– Positives: helped create the American ideals of independence, self-sufficiency, uniqueness, and one’s special destiny

Jefferson’s Republic of Virtue

• Simplicity and frugality:– Cut all internal taxes– Reduce the size of the army and navy– Consolidated the government bureaucracy – Eliminated the national debt– Power and political loyalty were still local, not

national concerns (the unfinished and unimpressive state of the nation’s capital city reflected this sentiment)

An Independent Judiciary

• The “Midnight Judges:” Federalist Congress in the last days of the Adams admin created new judgeships and Adams appointed Federalists into these positions

• William Marbury and three other midnight judges sued Madison (Sec. of State) for their commissions for their offices as Congress repealed the above judiciary laws

• Provoked the case of Marbury v. Madison that created the precedent of judicial review and an independent judiciary

• Chief Justice John Marshall appeased the Republicans by not restoring Marbury to his post, BUT set the precedent that ONLY the federal judiciary can decide what was constitutional

The Louisiana Purchase• Napoleon took over Spain and acquired the Louisiana territory• Jefferson attempted to buy New Orleans, but Napoleon offered the

WHOLE TERRITORY FOR 15 MILLION (the cost of defending that territory, plus the unsuccessful attempt to reclaim Haiti influenced Napoleon’s decision)

• The purchase doubled the size of the US, fulfilling Jefferson’s desire for continued expansion (yet the decision troubled him due to its “broad use” of presidential powers)

• The US allowed the Spanish and French customs of the LA territory to remain, rather than “Americanize” them

• The acquisition of LA put the US in conflict with Spain, as the US shared a very vague boundary with Mexico’s Texas

• Several populist revolts fueled independence movements in Mexico

Problems with Neutral Rights

• Jefferson’s second term would prove to be problematic as he struggled to protect American neutrality

• British ships seized American ships trading in French waters and impressed sailors into the Royal Navy (kidnapping)

• The Embargo Act attempted to protest this practice, but it failed miserably:– Forbade American ships from sailing to foreign ports– Though intending to force Britain and France to recognize US

neutrality, it did not change their policies– It was an economic disaster for the US, causing a deep

depression and smuggling flourished

James Madison (1809 – 1817)

• Madison repealed the Embargo Act, but enacted similar legislation to no avail as “peaceable coercion” failed miserably, having NO EFFECT on Britain whatsoever

Indian Resistance• Contradictory Indian Policy:

– The most difficult of foreign problems as Western tribes resisted American expansion

– Though Jefferson offered the Indians Western lands to resettle, he did not foresee the rapid rate of expansion

– Indians resisted Jefferson’s ideas to “civilize and Christianize” them• Indian leaders Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (the Prophet)

called for a rejection of white ways and formed a pan-Indian confederacy that advocated military resistance

• William Henry Harrison (gov. of Indiana territory) battled the confederacy at Tippecanoe, causing more Indian violence on American settlers

• Tecumseh, in the aftermath of the battle, allied with the British

The War of 1812

• The War Hawks led by a new generation of Western and Southern politicians Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun supported war as a means of expansion

• A combination of resentment towards British impressment, border disputes, and the threats of British-backed Indian resistance prompted Madison to send a declaration of war to Congress, where it was passed (with NO Federalist support)

War of 1812, cont’d.

• The British humiliated the downsized American army and navy, blockading the Atlantic, invading and burning down Washington in 1814

• Yet, at Ft. McHenry in Baltimore, Americans resisted British invasion (Star Spangled Banner)

• Cpt. Oliver Perry won control of Lake Erie• Gen. William Henry Harrison defeated British and Indians at

the Thames River (Tecumseh is killed)• Gen. Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians at

Horseshoe Bend, then defeated the British in an amazing victory at New Orleans

The Hartford Convention

• Federalist opposition to the war culminated in the Hartford Convention

• Dropping talks of secession, it reintroduced the idea of nullification to protect its citizens from unconstitutional laws

• Due to the Treaty of Ghent, their grievances were treated as an anti-climatic joke, and the Federalists were politically over

Treaty of Ghent

• Ended the war without addressing any of the major grievances, but the British did agree to evacuate the forts in the West

• Jackson’s victory at New Orleans (happening AFTER THE TREATY) saved American pride and introduced a new American hero

• The war, an obvious flop, ended America’s feelings of colonial dependency

• Indians were the only clear losers, as American expansion into the West surged (by 1820, 25% of America’s population now lived west of the Appalachians)

James Monroe (1817 – 1825)

• Last president of the “Virginia Dynasty”• Presided over the “Era of Good Feelings”– One political party: The Republicans– No opposition in the 1820 election– Focused on nationalist policies set to expand and

strengthen the US

The American System

• Federalists and Jeffersonians combined into one Republican party including Westerners, Southerners, and Northerners (Clay, Calhoun, and JQ Adams, respectively)

• Madison and Monroe broke with Jefferson’s ideas and embraced Federalist economic plans

• The American System introduced by Clay and Calhoun:– Second Bank of the US– Protective tariff– National system of roads and canals (Erie Canal, early

railroads, and the Cumberland Road)

John Quincy Adams• Son of John Adams was literally “bred” for international diplomacy;

was Monroe’s Sec. of State• Adams-Onis Treaty: turned over Florida to US and agreed to a

boundary between LA territory and the Spanish southwest (Texas)• Rush-Bagot Treaty: demilitarized the Great Lakes and fixed the

border of the US and Canada at the 49th parallel• The Monroe Doctrine: declared the Western Hemisphere closed to

further European colonization and the US would not interfere with European affairs

• By 1820, the US was had almost spread throughout the entire continent: Canadian border established, Spain’s presence in Americas was significantly diminished, Russia cedes Oregon Territory and is contained

The Panic of 1819• The land boom out west was financed by speculative buying and

easy credit• The American shipping boom ended, international demand for

American food declined• The Panic of 1819 was triggered by the Second Bank of the US

foreclosing on loans that led to six years of depression (causing small farmers to mistrust a national bank)

• Urban workers suffered from the decline in trade and manufacturing failures (causing them to resent the merchants and owners who fired them)

• Manufacturers pressed for higher protective tariffs, angering the South (due to the falling price of cotton, and the South began to feel that it was underrepresented)

The Missouri Compromise

• Efforts to admit Missouri into the Union as a slave state created a crisis as Northerners opposed the creation of another slave state (imbalance)

• Southerners were upset that Congress was concerned over the expansion of slavery

• Henry Clay created a TEMPORARY solution that balanced the slave and free states by admitting Missouri as a slave state, Maine as a free state, and barring slavery north of Missouri’s southern border (36.30)