SIGNIFICANT EVENTS OF JEFFERSON'S PRESIDENCY
I. The Way He Was Elected in 1800
II. Midnight Judges Issue
III. Tripolitan War
IV. Louisiana Purchase, 1803
V. Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1805
VI. Hamilton and Burr Duel, July 1, 1804
VII. War Between Britain and France
A. Went to war in 1803
B. Both warned U.S. not to ship arms to the other and both will attempt to stop the U.S. and
other countries from trading with the other. THE U.S. SEES THIS AS A VIOLATION OF
OUR NEUTRAL RIGHTS. The U.S. should be free to trade with whomever they want.
C. In 1806, Britain started stopping U.S. ships to inspect for arms and deserters
D. Found some deserters but also took some American sailors
E. Impressed these sailors into the British navy (Impressment)
F. Jefferson convinced Congress to pass laws to stop the U.S. from importing certain British-
made goods.
G. Tensions increased after the Chesapeake-Leopard incident, June, 1807.
a. HMS Leopard stopped the USS Chesapeake at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay which is
in U.S. waters.
b. Demanded to search the Chesapeake for deserters and the captain refused.
c. Leopard opened fire, killing 3 and wounded 18
d. Captain of Chesapeake surrendered and British boarded the ship
e. Americans demand war against Britain
f. President Jefferson, to avoid war because the Navy and Army were weak, proposed a
policy of "peaceful coercion" and demanded that the British stop impressment. Britain
would not.
g. Jefferson's response was the EMBARGO ACT of 1807.
VIII. EMBARGO ACT
A.Is "OGRABME" spelled backwards. A newspaper cartoon called the embargo the
OGRABME and portrayed it as a snapping turtle.
B. The Embargo Act prohibited ALL international trade America.
C. Was a disaster for the U.S. economy
D. Splits Republican Party; revived the Federalist Party
E. Congress repealed it on March 1, 1809 and passed the Non-intercourse Act allowing
American merchants to trade with anyone except Britain and France. The U.S. announced
that if either Britain or France would stop violating America's neutral rights, the U.S.
would begin trade with that country.
F. WAS JEFFERSON'S WORST MISTAKE AS PRESIDENT
IX. ELECTION OF 1808
A. James Madison, Republican, elected over the Federalist, Charles Pinckney by a narrow
margin of 47 electoral votes.
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS OF JAMES MADISON'S PRESIDENCY
I. INDIAN TROUBLES IN THE WEST
As Americans moved westward, Indian lands continued to be taken. In the Northwest, TECUMSEH, a Shawnee Indian chief attempted to organize the southern and northern tribes to stop further takeover of their lands. In 1811, WILIAM HENRY HARRISON, governor of the Indiana Territory, attacked the Indians at TIPPECANOE RIVER and defeated Tecumseh and stopped Tecumseh's efforts. This made Harrison a hero.
II. WAR HAWKS
In the Congressional elections of 1810, some young Republicans were elected from the South, primarily because they supported war with Britain and Spain. They will become known as WAR HAWKS because of this, and two that are most notable are HENRY CLAY of Kentucky and JOHN C. CALHOUN of South Carolina. They want the U.S. to take Canada and Spanish Florida. Farmers supported this.
III. ELECTION OF 1812
Madison re-elected over the Federalist candidate, DeWitt Clinton. Some Republicans helped the Federalists in the North and almost defeated Madison. Madison carried the South and West. This shows that the Republican Party was divided, most of this over whether to go to war with Britain or not.
IV. WAR OF 1812
Madison did not want war. The War Hawks were calling for war because of impressment and Britain's violation of freedom of the seas. Also, the farmers in the South and West were calling for war, blaming Britain's policies at sea for hurting them and contributing to a recession in 1806. Some Republicans opposed the war, and the Federalists did not want war with Britain because it would hurt the New England shippers. The Federalists were the strongest in New England. The British did renounce some of their policies (the Orders in Council) but did so too late and notification of this did not reach the U.S. before Congress declared war. On June 19, 1812, the U.S. declared war against Britain. The country was divided, even among the Republicans. Neither was the country prepared militarily. The army and navy were weak, and the country was not prepared financially since it had not central banking system as the Bank of the United States charter had expired in 1811.
KEY CAMPAIGNS:
Oliver Hazard Perry captured a British fleet on Lake Erie in 1813 and won control of Lake Erie. "We have met the enemy and they are ours," he reported.
1813: William Henry Harrison defeated the British and their Indian allies at the Battle of the Thames; Tecumseh was killed.
Also, the U.S. took Mobile.
1814: Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek and Cherokee Indians at HORSESHOE BEND.
1814: British invaded WASHINGTON D.C. and BURNED IT.
British attack BALTIMORE to try and take FORT MCHENRY, but it would not surrender.
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY, being held on a British ship during the above attack, wrote the
words that become "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER," as he saw the flag still flying after
the British had bombarded the fort.
1815: January 18th, British attack NEW ORLEANS where ANDREW JACKSON was in command.
Jackson had 7,000 men, a mixture of many different types.
British suffer their most devastating defeat of the war in just half an hour of fighting.
Jackson was hailed as a hero. This slaughter was unnecessary as two weeks earlier, the British had signed a peace treaty, the TREATY OF GHENT. All territory lost or gained was returned to both sides and neither impressment nor neutral rights was dealt with.
RESULTS OF THE WAR: U.S. gained respect among other nations; a new sense of NATIONALISM and PATRIOTISM was born; American manufacturing was stimulated; Indian resistance in the Northwest and Southwest was broken; Further weakening of the Federalist Party, strengthening of the Republican Party; the Hartford Convention (google this).
