Cabinet and Administration · Washington from his eulogy: “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Teaching Idea Ask students to write a pyramid

III. Early Presidents and Politics

212 Grade 4 Handbook

At a Glance continued◗ James Monroe articulated the Monroe Doctrine to warn European

nations not to interfere with American affairs in the WesternHemisphere.

◗ The election of Andrew Jackson, the first president from west of theAppalachians, signified the ascendancy of “the common man” in politics.

◗ Andrew Jackson, and many other Americans, supported the removal ofNative Americans from the southeast.

What Teachers Need to KnowCabinet and Administration

“[The president] may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officerin each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties oftheir respective offices . . . .”

This is the only reference in the U.S. Constitution to the group of advisors tothe president who are known as the cabinet. The first Congress established thefirst three executive departments, treasury, state, and war. The Judiciary Act of1789 set up the office of attorney general. The heads of these departments metregularly with George Washington, and thus established the precedent of holdingregular cabinet meetings to provide information and advice to the president.

The department names and responsibilities have changed over the years.Today, there are 15 executive departments whose heads meet with the president asthe cabinet. These are the departments of agriculture, commerce, defense, educa-tion, energy, health and human services, housing and urban development, interi-or, justice, labor, state, transportation, treasury, veterans affairs, and the newestdepartment, homeland security, which was established in 2002.

The term administration refers to the officials in the executive branch of gov-ernment and their policies and principles. It also refers to their time in office. Forexample, a headline might read “Current administration favors change in taxlaw,” meaning that the person currently occupying the presidency, and his advi-sors, advocate a change in the tax law. The second meaning is illustrated by theclause “the boom years of the 1990s coincided with the Clinton administration.”

President Washington and Vice President AdamsAfter the Constitution was ratified by the ninth state, it became the official

law of the land. The electors met in their state capitals in January and February1789 to choose the first president. There were 69 electors in this first presidentialelection, each of whom was allowed to cast two votes, one of which had to be fora candidate who was not from the elector’s home state. Remarkably, all 69 elec-tors voted for George Washington, who was therefore unanimously chosen to be

CK_4_TH_HG_P087_242.QXD 10/6/05 9:02 AM Page 212

the first president. John Adams was runner-up, with 34 votes, so he became thefirst vice president.

The voting procedure used in this first election was different from the proce-dures used today. The Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, allowed state legisla-tures to appoint electors in whatever manner they chose. The electors then votedfor the president. After the tied election of 1800 between Thomas Jefferson andAaron Burr, the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1804, pro-viding for the Electoral College as it now functions.

Under the Articles of Confederation, the government faced many problems.There was no executive branch to enforce the laws of Congress or to force statesto comply with its acts. One of the reasons that the delegates to the ConstitutionalConvention agreed to the creation of an executive department and the position ofpresident was because they believed that Washington would be the first president.Having won the war, Washington was very popular with both veterans and thegeneral populace. It was expected that his honesty, quiet determination, personaldignity, sense of responsibility, good judgment, and his basically cautiousapproach would serve the nation well as it created itself.

During his term in office, Washington set certain precedents that remain ineffect today as to how the presidency and the government should function.Among them are that the president

• be addressed as “Mr. President,” not “Your Highness” or some similar titlethat would make him seem like a monarch.

• serve a maximum of two terms in office, which held true until FranklinRoosevelt’s terms of office in the 1930s and 1940s.

• be advised by a group of experienced counselors (the cabinet).

• have a place in formulating and urging the passage of legislation, eventhough Congress is responsible for making the laws.

Born into a well-to-do family in Virginia, George Washington became a landsurveyor by profession. He served as an officer on the western frontier during theearly days of the French and Indian War and was commander-in-chief of theVirginia militia from 1755 to 1758. From 1759 to 1774, he was a member of theVirginia House of Burgesses. His fellow Virginians selected him as a delegate tothe First Continental Congress, and the second Congress chose him to commandthe Continental army. Washington had to turn an untrained, or poorly trained,corps of volunteers and militia into an army capable of fighting the professionalsoldiers of the British army. One of his major problems was getting funds from thecash-strapped new government for food, guns, and supplies such as blankets andshoes for his soldiers. Washington eventually guided the army to victory. (SeeSection I, “The American Revolution,” on pp. 169–190.)

National Capital at Washington, D.C.The new government took office in New York City in 1789, but moved to

Philadelphia in 1790, and remained there until 1800. During this time, work wasbegun on a new capital city for the new United States, which was named andlocated in its own jurisdiction, District of Columbia. After George Washington’sdeath in 1799, the city was renamed Washington, District of Columbia.

Teaching Idea

Help students memorize the famouscharacterization of GeorgeWashington from his eulogy: “First in war, first in peace, and first in thehearts of his countrymen.”

Teaching Idea

Ask students to write a pyramid poemabout George Washington’s life andcharacter. The basic idea is to write apoem in the shape of a pyramid, but ifstudents need more guidance, you canoffer the following as a suggestion: Line 1: a noun, the topic of the poemLine 2: 2 adjectives describing the

topicLine 3: 3 verbs ending in ingLine 4: 2 short statements or a

sentence or question

History and Geography: American 213

Cross-curricular

Teaching Idea

You may wish to teach WashingtonIrving’s story “Rip Van Winkle,” dis-cussed in the Language Arts section(see pp. 50–51), during your discus-sion of Washington’s presidency. Inthe story, Rip goes to sleep before theRevolutionary War and wakes up dur-ing Washington’s presidency. Thenew, independent nation is one ofseveral things that he finds very con-fusing after he wakes up.




The location of the new capital was part of the controversy that arosebetween conflicting visions of how the United States should develop. After theRevolutionary War, the Confederation government and the states found them-selves deeply in debt. But by 1789, some of the states, mostly in the south, hadrepaid their debts. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton believed that thefirst order of business for the new nation was to build up its credit rating with for-eign nations and with its own populace. A nation that did not honor its debtswould not be able to borrow in the future. He also hoped to encourage the wealth-iest Americans to have a stake in the survival of a strong government.

Hamilton therefore proposed that the federal government assume the debtsof the states, which would mean some form of taxation to pay the debts. Southernstates balked (since they had already paid most of their debts and saw the plan assubsidizing northern debt reduction), but Hamilton and James Madison, a mem-ber of Congress from Virginia, were able to work out a compromise. The south-ern members of Congress would agree to assume the unpaid debts in exchangefor moving the national government from New York to Philadelphia and then toa new national capital in the south. A site was chosen along the Potomac River inMaryland. Southern members of Congress believed that if the capital was movedaway from the northeast, where there was a growing emphasis on commerce,southern states would be better able to influence the government’s policies infavor of farmers.

Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, a French architect and a veteran of the RevolutionaryWar, laid out the city. One of the members of the commission who worked on thecity plan was Benjamin Banneker, a free African American from Baltimore whomThomas Jefferson had recommended. Banneker was a mathematician and scientistwho worked with L’Enfant and Major George Ellicott in laying out the city. L’Enfantdesigned the Capitol, the White House, the treasury building, and other govern-ment buildings, and Ellicott and Banneker surveyed the area and sited the buildings“under the orders of General Washington, then president of the United States.”

Growth of Political Parties The different visions of how the United States should evolve were apparent

before the Constitution was even ratified. The Federalists, led by AlexanderHamilton and James Madison, desired a strong central government. The Anti-Federalists, led by Patrick Henry, opposed ratification because they feared a cen-tralized power that resembled the government of Great Britain. These competingvisions turned the ratification process into a bitter battle in some states, as Anti-Federalists, who opposed ratification, and Federalists, who advocated ratification,vied for delegates to the state conventions.

Once the Constitution had been ratified and the new government took office,Washington found himself with two cabinet members who had strongly oppos-ing views—Hamilton, who was secretary of the treasury, and Jefferson, who wassecretary of state. Hamilton believed that the nation needed to be on sound eco-nomic footing. That meant repaying the national and state debts that remainedfrom the Revolutionary War. It also meant imposing an import duty on goodsbeing brought into the nation for sale, not only as a way to raise money for thegovernment, but also as a way to protect the nation’s emerging industry. Hamiltonsaw the future of the nation as being built on a strong, centralized governmentand focusing increasingly on industry and commerce. The Federalists also felt

Teaching Idea

Teaching about Washington, D.C., pres-ents an opportunity to help studentslearn the difference between capital, acity, and capitol, a building. Have stu-dents think up sentences or mnemonicdevices to help them remember the dif-ference in meaning and spelling.

Teaching Idea

Have students prepare a tour ofWashington, D.C., using online andprint sources. The tour might take theform of illustrated guidebooks or largemaps with illustrations and call-outsdescribing sites. Have students work in small groups. If any students in yourclass have visited Washington, D.C., on vacation, ask them to bring in photos or souvenirs they may have. If you have visited D.C., bring in yourown souvenirs.

Teaching Idea

Columbia is derived from ChristopherColumbus’s surname and is the name ofa female personification of the UnitedStates. Have students find out wherelocal names came from. For example,where did the school name, the townname, or the state name come from?

The original Capitol building


that the United States should remain neutral in foreign policy affairs in order totake time to develop and strengthen as a country. The opposing view held byThomas Jefferson and the Anti-Federalists was that the United States should con-tinue as a nation of small farmers, with a weaker central government that favoredstates’ rights. Jefferson and many Anti-Federalists also sympathized with the rev-olutionists in France.

The argument resonated in how the two men and their supporters viewed theConstitution. Hamiltonians believed that the Constitution provided only a sketchof how the government was to operate. Under Clause 18 (necessary and properclause) of Article I, Section 8, it was left to those who actually ran the governmentto determine how it might meet the needs of an expanding nation. Those whoheld this view were known as “loose constructionists.” Jefferson and his follow-ers believed that the Constitution should be interpreted strictly as written, andwere known as “strict constructionists.” They based their thinking on the TenthAmendment, which reserved any unenumerated rights to the states or to the peo-ple. Those who supported this view believed in strong states’ rights as a checkagainst the power of the federal government.

The two opposing views became the basis for political parties. Hamilton’sFederalist Party also included such leaders as John Adams and John Jay. Jeffersonand James Madison (who had been an ally of Hamilton’s in the battle for ratifica-tion of the Constitution) were leaders of the opposition, who were first known asthe Anti-Federalists, then as the Republican Party, and next as the Democratic-Republican Party. (This is the source of some confusion. The JeffersonianRepublican party eventually evolved into today’s Democratic Party, but issues andideas changed so much over the years that a modern Democrat and a Democratof 1800 would not have much in common. The Democratic-Republican Partydivided over the election of 1824, and the supporters of John Quincy Adamsbecame known as the National Republicans. Andrew Jackson won the 1832 and1836 presidential elections, but his opponents joined members of the formerNational Republican Party to form the Whig Party. Today’s Republican Party wasborn in the crisis over slavery in 1854.)

Modern Political PartiesThe two-party system was firmly in effect by the time Washington left office.

You can use the development of parties under Washington as a way to introducethe subject of political parties today. Students should be introduced to theRepublican and Democratic Parties, and to some of the ideas and current politi-cal figures associated with those parties. This should be done in an even-handed,nonpartisan way. Also be careful to explain that, although the names of today’sparties resemble the names of earlier parties, the Democrats of today cannot besimply identified with the Democrats of the early republic.

Although the Republican and Democratic Parties have been the most promi-nent parties since the Civil War, there have been other political parties in theUnited States—Whig, Know-Nothing, Free Soil, Progressive (Bull Moose),Dixiecrats, American Independent, Independent, Communist, and Libertarian,among others. While the Whig Party was a major political player for about 20years in the 1830s and 1840s, electing as president William Henry Harrison andZachary Taylor, most of the others were small parties with limited popular appeal.

Teaching Idea

Have the class use two-column note-taking skills to complete a mainidea/details chart on your lessonsabout the growth of political parties.The chart might look like this:

Topic: Growth of Political Parties

Main Idea Details

Alexander Leader of the Hamilton Federalist Party;

supported a strongcentralized govern-ment; felt thenation’s economyshould be based on industry





Teaching Idea

The word politics is defined as “theconducting of or participation in politi-cal affairs, often as a profession.” Asyou teach about the presidents, notethe number who devoted their lives tothe service of the nation.

Discuss with students how peoplecan participate in the political process(by running for office, by campaigningfor candidates, but also simply by beinginformed citizens who take their rightto vote seriously).

Invite a member of your community’sgovernment to speak to theclass/school about the importance ofpolitical participation. If you have stu-dent representatives on school commit-tees, or a form of student government,this can be a natural connection. If not,perhaps consider starting a studentadvisory group on school issues relatedto students.

However, the Bull Moose Party of Theodore Roosevelt, the American IndependentParty of George Wallace, and the Independent Party of H. Ross Perot affected theoutcome of presidential races in 1912, 1968, and 1992, respectively, by takingvotes from the major party candidates.

John Adams, Second PresidentJohn Adams was vice president for both Washington’s first and second terms

as president. When Washington declined to run in 1796, he supported Adams ashis successor. The election of 1796 was the first to have established political par-ties. Adams ran as a Federalist, and received the most votes, so he became presi-dent. Thomas Jefferson, the head of the Democratic-Republicans, received thenext highest number of votes after Adams, and so became vice president underAdams. Thus, it happened that the president and vice president were not from thesame party. Today this does not happen because voters vote for a “ticket,” whichincludes a presidential and a vice presidential candidate, and the Electoral Collegevoters are expected to cast their vote for the slate that won in their state. Thefounders had not anticipated the problem of a divided administration.

Adams had had a long and distinguished career in the service of the UnitedStates before becoming vice president. He was a leading opponent of the Britishpolicies in his native Massachusetts and was selected to serve in both the Firstand Second Continental Congresses. He was a member of the committee thatdrafted the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War, Adamswas part of a mission sent to France to gain its support. After the war, Adamshelped negotiate the peace treaty with Great Britain and became the U.S. minis-ter to Great Britain.

A notable accomplishment during Adams’s single term in office was his safely navigating the nation through a crisis and avoiding war with its former ally,France. It should also be noted that Adams was one of two presidents that Grade 4 students study who did not own slaves.

Abigail AdamsAbigail Adams was the wife of one president, John Adams, and the mother of

another, John Quincy Adams. Because of John Adams’s lengthy absences fromhome during the First and Second Continental Congresses and then his stay inEurope during the war, the two wrote many letters back and forth. AbigailAdams’s letters have been collected in several volumes and provide an excellentpicture not only of their life, but of the times in which they lived.

Among her most famous lines are those written to her husband when theContinental Congress was considering independence. She wrote,

Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them thanyour ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of theHusbands . . . . If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladieswe are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselvesbound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.

John Adams

Abigail Adams


Thomas Jefferson, Third PresidentAdams lost his reelection bid in 1800 to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson served

for two terms. He had begun his career as a lawyer and had served in the VirginiaHouse of Burgesses. Selected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress,he had been the major author of the Declaration of Independence.

During the war, he was governor of Virginia, and after the war, he was elect-ed to Congress from Virginia. He succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister toFrance and served as vice president under John Adams. Jefferson, who had aninterest in architecture, became involved in the design and laying out of the newcapital city and was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C.Jefferson had lifelong interests in science, philosophy, and the arts, as well as inarchitecture. He designed his own home, Monticello, one of the earliest examplesof neoclassical architecture in the United States. Jefferson’s reading in philosophyis evident in the arguments from John Locke and other Enlightenment philoso-phers that he drew on in writing the Declaration of Independence.

The Louisiana PurchaseDuring Jefferson’s term in office, the nation more than doubled its size

through the Louisiana Purchase. In 1800, France, under Napoleon Bonaparte,had acquired the Louisiana Territory from Spain. Napoleon was interested inrebuilding France’s holdings in North America. In 1802, Americans were bannedfrom using the port of New Orleans on the Mississippi River. Closing NewOrleans to Americans meant closing the major route by which settlers in the mid-west and south shipped their goods to market.

President Jefferson sent James Monroe and Robert Livingston to France withan offer to buy New Orleans. Although his political opponents argued for war,Jefferson preferred to avoid a fight.

By 1803, Napoleon had abandoned his dream of an empire in North America.He had lost the colony of Santo Domingo, and Spain had been unwilling to cedeFlorida to France. Napoleon worried that the United States might someday try totake Louisiana by force. In that event, he would not be able to deploy troops toAmerica to defend the territory. Most of all, Napoleon was about to go to war withmuch of Europe and needed money. Not only did Napoleon agree to sell NewOrleans, but he offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million.

Although President Jefferson had initiated the offer to buy New Orleans, hewas not sure that the U.S. Constitution allowed him to acquire new territory forthe nation or to grant citizenship to the 50,000 or more inhabitants of Louisiana.Jefferson was a strict constructionist and believed that an amendment to the U.S.Constitution would be needed to give him the power to purchase the land. Hisadvisors, however, warned him that Napoleon could change his mind if he had towait for three-fourths of the states to ratify a constitutional amendment. In theend, Jefferson decided to do what he believed the majority of Americans wanted.He sent the treaty approving the purchase of the Louisiana Territory to the Senateto ratify. Thus, the United States acquired land that more than doubled thenation’s size. The Louisiana Territory stretched from the Mississippi River to theRocky Mountains and from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. Controlof this area meant that control of the Mississippi River and most of its tributaries

Cross-curricular

Teaching Idea

You may wish to discuss Monticello,from the Visual Arts section “The Artof a New Nation,” on pp. 287–295,while discussing Thomas Jefferson’spresidency.


Teaching Idea

Make an overhead of InstructionalMaster 33, The Louisiana Purchase, toreview the size of the United Statesprior to 1803, and after the purchase.

Point out the site of New Orleans,and review the importance of thisport to people living upstream on theMississippi and its tributaries.

To help prepare students for theGrade 5 requirement that they knowall 50 states and their capitals, havestudents name the states that werecreated from the Louisiana Territory(Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, partof Michigan, Minnesota, part of NorthDakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,Kansas, Oklahoma, and parts ofTexas, Colorado, Wyoming, andMontana).

Use Instructional Master 33.

Study the map. Then use it to answer the questions below.

The Louisiana Purchase

Master 33 Grade 4: History & Geography

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Name Date

Purpose: To read and interpret a map featuring the Louisiana Purchase

G r e a t L a k e s

New OrleansNew Orleans

CANADA (British)CANADA (British)

UNITED STATESUNITED STATES

Louisiana PurchaseLouisiana PurchaseIndianaIndianaTerritoryTerritory

MississippiMississippiTerritoryTerritory

Ga.Ga.

FloridaFlorida(Spanish)(Spanish)

MexicoMexico(Spanish)(Spanish)

S.C.S.C.

N.C.N.C.Tenn.Tenn.

Ky.Ky.

OhioOhio

Mont.Mont.

Wyo.Wyo.

N. Dak.N. Dak.

S. Dak.S. Dak.

Colo.Colo.

IowaIowa

Minn.Minn.

Mo.Mo.

Ark.Ark.Okla.Okla.

KansasKansas

Nebr.Nebr.

N.M.N.M.

TexasTexas

Va.Va.

Pa.Pa.

N.Y.N.Y.

MaineMaine(part of(part ofMass.)Mass.)

Vt.Vt.N.H.N.H.

OregonOregonCountryCountry

MMiissssiissssiippppii RR..

St. L

awre

nce

R.

PACIFICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

Gulf of Mexico

Mississippi R.

G r e a t L a k e s

New Orleans

CANADA (British)

UNITED STATES

Louisiana PurchaseIndianaTerritory

MississippiTerritory

Ga.

Florida(Spanish)

Mexico(Spanish)

S.C.

N.C.Tenn.

Louisiana

Ky.

Ohio

Mont.

Wyo.

N. Dak.

S. Dak.

Colo.

Iowa

Minn.

Mo.

Ark.Okla.

Kansas

Nebr.

N.M.

Texas

Va.

Pa.

N.Y.

Md.

N.J.

Maine(part ofMass.)

Vt.N.H. Mass.

Conn.R.I.

Del.

OregonCountry

United States by 1803

Oregon Country

Louisiana Purchase

0

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1. Why was the Louisiana Purchase so important?

2. How many of our current states include territory that was part of the Louisiana Purchase?

3. The Louisiana Purchase cost the United States $15 million. Based on the states included inthe Louisiana Purchase territory today, what is the approximate “unit cost” per state?

Extension What happened to make Louisiana such a small state compared to theoriginal size of the purchase? Research and write a short report to explain.

$1 million

15

It more than doubled the size of the country.




Teaching Idea

Read Banneker’s letter to Jefferson andJefferson’s reply aloud to students.(Both letters are available online, forexample, through the University ofVirginia’s Electronic Text Center [seeMore Resources].) This exchange ofletters provides an interesting way ofintroducing students to an inconsisten-cy in the thinking of the founders.Although the founders expounded ideasof universal rights, in fact many of themcontinued to own slaves throughouttheir lives.

Cross-curricular

Teaching Idea

You may wish to teach the biography ofBenjamin Banneker, from “ScienceBiographies,” pp. 518–519, in conjunc-tion with this subsection of Americanhistory.

was in the hands of the United States. In 1803, Jefferson sent an expedition com-manded by Meriwether Lewis, his personal secretary, and Captain William Clarkto explore the Louisiana Territory.

Jefferson and BannekerWhile Jefferson was still Washington’s secretary of state, he had an interest-

ing exchange of letters with Benjamin Banneker. Banneker had published analmanac that not only included typical information, such as tables on crops, tides,the moon, and the sun, but it also contained antislavery essays. In August 1791,he sent Jefferson a copy of the almanac along with a letter arguing for the equal-ity of all men before God, and urging Jefferson to work for the abolition of slav-ery. Banneker began his letter by noting that, among whites, black people have“long been considered rather as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of men-tal endowments.” However, Banneker believed Jefferson to be more open-mindedthan many whites:

Sir, I hope I may safely admit, in consequence of that reportwhich hath reached me, that you are a man far less inflexible insentiments of this nature, than many others; that you are meas-urably friendly, and well disposed towards us; and that you arewilling and ready to lend your aid and assistance to our relief,from those many distresses, and numerous calamities, to whichwe are reduced. Now Sir, if this is founded in truth, I apprehendyou will embrace every opportunity, to eradicate that train ofabsurd and false ideas and opinions, which so generally prevailswith respect to us; and that your sentiments are concurrent withmine, which are, that one universal Father hath given being tous all; and that he hath not only made us all of one flesh, butthat he hath also, without partiality, afforded us all the same sen-sations and endowed us all with the same faculties; and thathowever variable we may be in society or religion, howeverdiversified in situation or color, we are all of the same family,and stand in the same relation to him.

Banneker commended Jefferson for his noble words in the Declaration ofIndependence, that “all men are created equal . . . and endowed by their Creatorwith certain inalienable Rights,” but Banneker noted that Jefferson himself wasnot entirely consistent in this regard, for he continued to own many slaves:

How pitiable is it to reflect, that although you were so fully con-vinced of the benevolence of the Father of Mankind, and of hisequal and impartial distribution of these rights and privileges,which he hath conferred upon them, that you should at thesame time counteract his mercies, in detaining by fraud and vio-lence so numerous a part of my brethren, under groaning cap-tivity and cruel oppression . . . .

Jefferson wrote back:

I thank you, sincerely, for your letter of the 19th instant, and forthe Almanac it contained. No body wishes more than I do, to seesuch proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black


brethren talents equal to those of the other colors of men; andthat the appearance of the want of them, is owing merely to thedegraded condition of their existence, both in Africa andAmerica. I can add with truth, that no body wishes more ardent-ly to see a good system commenced, for raising the condition,both of their body and mind, to what it ought to be, as far as theimbecility of their present existence, and other circumstances,which cannot be neglected, will admit. I have taken the libertyof sending your Almanac to Monsieur de Condozett, Secretaryof the Academy of Sciences at Paris . . . because I considered itas a document, to which your whole color had a right for theirjustification, against the doubts which have been entertained ofthem.

I am with great esteem, Sir, Your most obedient HumbleServant,

Thomas Jefferson

And yet, in spite of the generous letter, Jefferson remained a slaveowner untilhis death.

President James Madison, and the War of 1812Like Jefferson, James Madison was a Virginian. He had helped write the

Virginia state constitution and had served in the Continental Congress during theRevolutionary War and in the Virginia state legislature afterward. An advocate ofa strong central government, Madison pushed for the Constitutional Conventionand was instrumental in shaping the final document. His notes are the only recordwe have of the convention’s proceedings. From 1789 to 1797, Madison represent-ed Virginia in the new Congress. From 1801 to 1808, he served as secretary ofstate under President Jefferson. When Jefferson declined to run again in 1808, heselected Madison as his successor. Madison ran as a Democratic-Republican andwas reelected in 1812.

The War of 1812The War of 1812 was the culmination of a long period of tension between the

United States and Great Britain. Britain and France were at war, and the Britishnavy began seizing U.S. ships in the Caribbean to stop the Americans from trad-ing with French colonies there. In seizing the ships, the British also seized sailorssuspected of being deserters from the British navy. Sometimes they took sailorssimply because a ship’s captain needed men. The process of taking a person andforcing them to work for your country is called impressment. It is estimated thatthe British impressed as many as 5,000 American sailors between 1803 and 1812.Some 3,800 were found to be either naturalized American citizens or American-born. The French also seized U.S. cargo and ships.

President Jefferson had tried to address the seizing of U.S. ships and theimpressment problem by supporting the Embargo Act of 1807. Under this act,U.S. ports were closed to foreign ships, and U.S. ships were confined to coastalwaters. The thinking was that Great Britain and France would capitulate andagree to end the seizure of U.S. ships and the impressment of sailors in return forthe resumption of trade. However, the embargo did not have the desired effect.


James Madison




Teaching Idea

If students have been taught CoreKnowledge in prior grades, review withthem what they learned about the Warof 1812 in Grade 2: the burning ofWashington, D.C., by the British; howDolley Madison saved valuable itemsfrom the White House, including theGilbert Stuart painting of GeorgeWashington; and Francis Scott Key’swriting of the “Star-Spangled Banner”while watching and waiting to see ifFort McHenry would fall to the British.

Teaching Idea

If students have already studied thedynasties of China, introduce theexpression “Virginia dynasty.” Theexpression alludes to the fact that fourof the first five presidents of the UnitedStates were from Virginia.

American markets suffered greatly under the embargo, while the lack of Americantrade goods barely affected European nations. In the end, the U.S. governmentrepealed the law and opened its ports to ships from all nations except France andGreat Britain. The next year, trade with France was resumed, but anti-British sen-timent was increasing.

In the meantime, the states along the U.S. frontier were agitating for waragainst the British. They believed that the British were aiding, arming, and stir-ring up the Native Americans, who were attacking frontier settlements. InCongress, these advocates for war were known as War Hawks. In addition to thesatisfaction of beating the British, they saw Canada as a vast territory that shouldbe added to the United States. They also wanted to be able to move into NativeAmerican territory in the west without being thwarted by British-supportedNative Americans, and they hoped to acquire Florida.

The Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana Territory in 1811 was one of the factorsthat tipped the scale to war. The commanding general of the U.S. forces, GeneralWilliam Henry Harrison, allegedly found British weapons in the Native Americancamp. On hearing this, Congress passed a war resolution, and the War of 1812began.

The Native American resistance to U.S. expansion into their territory was ledby Tecumseh, a member of the Shawnee tribe. Tecumseh tried to organize all ofthe Native American tribes to agree not to cede any land to the United Statesunless all tribes consented. With the help of the British, he also tried to create analliance of tribes to fight against the United States in the war. The resistance suf-fered when Tecumseh’s brother was defeated in the Battle of Tippecanoe, and thenTecumseh himself died in the Battle of Thames in 1813.

The war ended in 1815 with neither side able to claim victory. NativeAmerican resistance to expansion in the Old Northwest (Ohio, Indiana, andMichigan) had been stopped, but the war did not change the boundaries betweenU.S. and British territories in North America. Impressment was no longer a prob-lem. The major outcome of the war, however, was a newfound confidence ofAmericans, along with a sense of unity and nationalism. They had fought themost powerful nation in the world to a standstill.

James Monroe, Fifth PresidentLike three of the previous four presidents, James Monroe was a Virginian.

Monroe had fought in the Revolutionary War and had studied law with ThomasJefferson. Elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, Monroe had later served inthe Confederation Congress in the period after the Revolutionary War and beforethe U.S. Constitution was written and adopted. He was then elected to the U.S. Senate. Monroe served as governor of Virginia twice and was secretary ofstate, as well as secretary of war, under President Madison during the latter’s sec-ond term. Earlier in his career, Monroe had been one of the two representativeswho had negotiated the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France.

Monroe’s two terms in office (1817–1825) are known as the Era of GoodFeelings. The nation was at peace, times were prosperous, and the nation wasexpanding westward with the admission of several new states and the addition ofnew territory.


The Monroe DoctrineHowever, European politics again threatened to intervene in the Americas.

During the early 1800s, European nations had been engaged in two costly warsagainst France and its emperor, Napoleon. While Spain was distracted by theseconflicts, some of its colonies in Central and South America had declared theirindependence. Weakened by the wars, Spain was unable to retake them. However,seeing an advantage for themselves, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and France offeredassistance. Great Britain objected because a strong Spain was not in its best interest.

The British approached the United States about issuing a joint declarationagainst European interference in the affairs of the Americas. Monroe decidedagainst the joint statement. He was concerned that Great Britain would be seen aswielding power and influence in the Americas, which would diminish the statureof the United States. As a result, in 1823, Monroe issued what is known as theMonroe Doctrine. Under its terms, the United States would not interfere inEuropean affairs, and European nations were warned against interfering in theAmericas. The main section reads:

We [the United States] owe it to fairness and to the friendly relationsexisting between the United States and the European powers to declarethat we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their systemto any part of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. . . .[W]ith governments who have declared their independence and kept it,and whose independence we have acknowledged, we view any interfer-ence by a European power as an unfriendly act toward the United States.

The United States did not have the force to back up its threat, but othernations knew that Great Britain stood behind the document, even though it wasnot a signatory to it. Even without the force of arms, the Monroe Doctrine wasimportant because it established a role for the United States in world affairs.

John Quincy Adams, Sixth PresidentJohn Quincy Adams was President Monroe’s secretary of state and had a role

in developing the Monroe Doctrine. The son of John and Abigail Adams, he wasa lawyer by profession. However, he spent much of his adult life in public serv-ice, including assignments abroad during the administrations of PresidentsWashington, Adams, and Monroe. He is one of only two presidents that Grade 4students study who did not own slaves.

The younger Adams’s single term in office was marred by the controversy sur-rounding the election of 1824. The Federalist Party had all but disappeared by1824 because of its opposition to the War of 1812. However, the survivingDemocratic-Republican Party was split into several factions. The divisions werecaused by different views on the nature of government—whether there should bea strong central government or strong state governments. In all, four candidatesrepresenting different factions of the Democratic-Republican Party ran for presi-dent. Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, won the popularvote. However, he did not have a majority of electoral votes. As a result, the Houseof Representatives, following the guidelines in the Twelfth Amendment, decidedthe presidency.

Teaching Idea

Students will be used to the idea thatthe United States is one of the mostpowerful nations in the world, as ithas been for many years. Part of yourchallenge in teaching this unit onearly America is to help studentsunderstand that, in these early years,the United States was a new nation,only recently independent, with anunusual form of government andmuch less military might than themajor powers of Europe. Its continuedexistence was far from certain.

Discuss with students the impor-tance of the Monroe Doctrine in termsof how the world viewed the UnitedStates at the time and how the nationviewed itself.


James Monroe




Teaching Idea

For a fun review, teach students “TheBattle of New Orleans,” written byJimmy Driftwood and popularly per-formed by Johnny Horton, to help themrecall the vocabulary and events of theWar of 1812.

Adams, the favorite in New England and New York, had the next highest num-ber of electoral votes. A third candidate, Henry Clay of Kentucky, gave his backingto Adams, and so secured his election. Adams appointed Clay as his secretary ofstate, which was then viewed as the stepping-stone to the presidency. The twoshared the same philosophy about government, and Adams maintained that Claywas the best person for the job, but Jackson cried foul. He used the term “corruptbargain” to describe and criticize the outcome of the election and the “deal”allegedly struck between Adams and Clay. It became a rallying cry for the electionof 1828, which again pitted Adams against Jackson. This time Jackson won.

A by-product of the election of 1828 was a change in political parties. TheFederalist Party had already ceased to exist and the Democratic-Republicans hadsplintered. In 1828, the supporters of Jackson took the name Democrats, and thesupporters of Adams became the National Republicans. (The latter should not beconfused with the current Republican Party, which was established in 1854.) TheNational Republicans lasted only until the 1836 election, when they merged withother opponents of Andrew Jackson to form a new party known as the Whigs.

Andrew Jackson, Seventh PresidentUnlike the first six presidents of the United States, Andrew Jackson lived west

of the Appalachians. He was the first “western” president. Although born into apoor family in South Carolina, Jackson became a lawyer, a military hero, a politi-cian, and a wealthy landowner and slaveholder in Tennessee. In 1797, Jacksonserved in the Tennessee constitutional convention. He was then elected to theU.S. House of Representatives and to the Senate from Tennessee. From 1798 to1804, he was a member of the Tennessee judiciary.

Battle of New OrleansIn the War of 1812, Jackson commanded the Tennessee state militia and

became a hero in the west with his decisive victory against the Creek at HorseshoeBend in March 1814. He also won a major victory at the Battle of New Orleans.The fighting actually took place two weeks after Great Britain and the UnitedStates had agreed to end the war. The commissioners signed the draft peace treatyon Christmas Eve, 1814, but communications across the ocean were slow. Worddid not reach either Andrew Jackson, who commanded the American forces, orthe British forces under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham, until after the bat-tle on January 8, 1815.

Even though the war had officially ended, if the British had won the battle,they might not have willingly surrendered New Orleans. Great Britain maintainedthat Napoleon had no claim to the Louisiana Territory and, therefore, could notsell it to the United States. The British intended to use the War of 1812 to estab-lish a toehold in the Louisiana Territory, but Jackson and his soldiers, includingAfrican Americans, pirates, frontiersmen from Tennessee and Kentucky, Creoles,and Frenchmen, defeated the British.

Presidency of “the Common Man”The 1820s and 1830s are sometimes known as the Age of Democracy because

the right to vote was extended to more American men. During the early days ofthe nation, the vote was limited generally to male property owners and, depend-ing on the state, to male members of certain religions. Catholics, Jews, and

Andrew Jackson


Quakers might be excluded. As the nation expanded westward, there was pres-sure on the territorial legislatures to eliminate property and religious require-ments for voting. Observing what was happening in the new states admitted tothe Union, men in the original states along the eastern seaboard agitated forbroader voting rights. By the 1820s, free white men in most states and free blackmen in some northern states could vote. In no state could women or enslavedAfrican Americans vote.

Even the process of selecting the electors for president changed. Originally,the electors who made up the Electoral College were chosen by the state legisla-tures, shielding the presidential election process from the people, but by 1836,most states’ voters chose the electors directly when they voted for president. OnlyDelaware and South Carolina still had selection by their state legislatures.

One of the outcomes of this shift in voting was the election of a man likeAndrew Jackson. In the election of 1828, Jackson painted John Quincy Adams as aman of privilege and the moneyed class. Jackson’s nickname was “Old Hickory,”and he projected himself as a plainspoken man of the people, an image that wasconsistent with his roots, but not with his standing as one of the largest landhold-ers in Tennessee. After his inauguration, he invited everybody—thousands of sup-porters—to the White House for a party. The result was a near riot in which peoplewere shoved and pushed, and parts of the executive mansion were left in shambles.The election of 1828 marked a change in electoral politics. In previous elections—indeed throughout much of recorded history—leaders, often symbols of wealth andprivilege, “stood for office,” meaning that they would agree to be elected by elec-tors. Some of the early presidents were perceived as being aristocratic and removedfrom the rest of American society. In democratic America henceforth, candidateslearned to minimize their wealth and privilege and emphasize their common rootswith the people. 44

Indian Removal PoliciesThe Native American nations of the southeastern United States—the

Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole—had adopted European-American ways, becoming farmers and converting to Christianity. In particular,the Cherokee became farmers, ranchers, grew cotton, and even owned slaves.However, as the frontier moved south and west, their lands in the Carolinas,Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida were coveted by settlers.

Before his election to the presidency, Jackson had a long record of fighting theNative Americans of the southeast. For example, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend,Jackson’s forces defeated the Creek, who were forced to cede 22 million acres tothe United States. In the First Seminole War, Jackson invaded Spanish Florida inan effort to end Seminole raids into the United States. Weakened by war and inneed of money, Spain sold Florida to the United States, and the Seminole peoplewere forced south to live in the Everglades, an area of swamps. According to esti-mates, Jackson acquired for the United States and white settlement “nearly three-fourths of Alabama and Florida, a third of Tennessee, and a fifth of Georgia andMississippi.”

In 1830, as president, Jackson supported passage of the Indian Removal Act.This act gave him the power to force the Native Americans of the southeast to

Teaching Idea

Create a Hall of Presidents in yourclassroom or hallway. Students maychoose one of the presidents andmake a mobile with the followinginformation: picture, date of birth,place of birth, date of death, politicalparty, and at least three other noteworthy facts.





move to what was then known as the Indian Territory (located in roughly what isnow Oklahoma). The first to leave were the Choctaw in 1831, then the Creek in1836, and the Chickasaw in 1837. The last to leave were the Seminole after theSecond Seminole War, which lasted from 1835 to 1842.

The Cherokee chose legal means rather than warfare to resist removal. In twolawsuits, one in 1831 and one in 1832, which went all the way to the SupremeCourt, Cherokee rights to their lands were upheld, but President Jackson and thestate of Georgia ignored both decisions. By 1835, some 2,000 Cherokee, seeingthe inevitable, agreed to move. But by 1838, some 14,000 still remained in thesoutheast. Jackson was no longer president, but his successor, Martin Van Buren,decided to enforce the law. The Cherokee’s march to the Indian Territory becameknown as the Trail of Tears. The four-month trek took place in winter, and some4,000 men, women, and children died on the way.

The Cherokee and the other nations removed to Indian Territory were prom-ised that this land would remain theirs forever. “Forever” lasted a generation.First, they lost part of their land to other Native American peoples whom the fed-eral government resettled in the Territory in 1866. As the west became more pop-ulated, there was pressure on the government to open Native American lands. In1889, the Creek and the Seminole sold 50,000 acres to the United States for whitesettlement. By 1907, there were more whites than Native Americans in theTerritory, and in that year, it was made part of the new state of Oklahoma.

Review Below are some ideas for ongoing assessment and review activities. These are

not meant to constitute a comprehensive list. Teachers may also refer to thePearson Learning/Core Knowledge History & Geography series for additional infor-mation and teaching ideas.

• Divide the class into seven cooperative groups, and assign one president toeach group for research. Students should find four important facts apiece abouteach president and write each fact on the front of a white index card. Have themwrite the initials of the president in small print on the back of the card. When stu-dents have completed their research and their cards, collect the cards. Shufflethem and have students take turns drawing a card. If the student correctly iden-tifies the president, they get to keep the card. The student (or team) with the mostcards at the end of the game wins.

• This section provides an opportunity for students to complete short researchreports on the early presidents, the first ladies, or other important figures fromthis era. Provide the class with topics for short reports to write in formal style.Each day of the week, use the Language Arts section to provide a mini-lesson ondifferent aspects of the report, such as correct paragraph form or bibliographies.Share these reports when completed.

• Bring a variety of newspapers and magazines to the classroom or ask students tobring them in from home. Then divide students into small groups and pass out thenewspapers and magazines. Ask the groups to cut out articles about the presidentfrom the newspapers or magazines. Ask each student to read one of the articles and

The Big Idea in ReviewEarly developments inU.S. history were thetwo-party system, thepresident’s cabinet, andthe Louisiana Purchase.


Documents

Cabinet and Administration · Washington from his eulogy: “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Teaching Idea Ask students to write a pyramid