Chapter 8

Give Me Liberty!An American History

Second EditionVolume 1

Norton Media Library

byEric Foner

Politics during Washington’s presidency

A. Outset of the Washington administration

1. Washington as symbol of national unity, virtue

2. Key figures

B. The Hamiltonians

1. Vision for the republic

a. Robust economic development

b. Close commercial ties to Europe

c. Military power

d. Strong national government

Politics during Washington’s presidency

B. The Hamiltonians

2. Program

a. Federal assumption of national and state debts

b. Creation of new national debt

c. Establishment of Bank of the U.S.

d. Whiskey tax

e. Government promotion of industrial manufacture

1. Tariffs

2. Subsidies

f. National army

3. Bases of support: financiers, manufacturers, and merchants

Politics during Washington’s presidency

C. The Jeffersonians

1. Vision for the republic

a. Westward expansion

b. Land for independent farmers

c. Free trade

2. Critique of Hamilton program

a. Threat to liberty from a standing army

b. Favoritism toward speculators at expense of small farmers

c. Favoritism toward diversified North at expense of agrarian South

3. Bases of support: South, farmers

Politics during Washington’s presidency

D. 1790 compromise between Hamilton and Jefferson: ‘southern’ capital

E. Divisions over foreign affairs

1. Mixed response to French Revolution

a. Enthusiasm (Jeffersonians)

b. Alarm (Washington, Hamilton)

2. Aggravating developments

a. War between France and Britain shaped early American politics

b. Edward Genet: attack of British ships; recall

c. British encroachments on American ships

1) Impressment

d. Jay Treaty

1) British made no concessions

2) America granted Britain ‘favored nation’ status

Politics during Washington’s presidency

F. Emergence of political parties

1. The Federalist party

a. Agenda and philosophy

1) Favored Washington’s administration

2) Hamilton’s economic program

3) Close ties with Britain

4) Suppression of popular unrest (Whiskey Rebellion, 1794)

5) Fixed social hierarchy: ‘the rich, able, and well-born’

b. Bases of support: prosperous farmers, merchants, lawyers, and established politicians

Politics during Washington’s presidency

F. Emergency of political parties

2. The Republican party

a. Agenda and philosophy

1) Democratic self-government

2) Aversion to social and economic inequality

b. Bases of support: wealthy southern planters, farmers, artisans

3. Intensity of partisan debate

Politics during Washington’s presidencyG. Expansion of popular involvement in public debate

1. Contributing factorsa. Partisan divisionsb. British radicalism

1) Emigrants to America2) Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man

2. Manifestationsa. Political meetings, pamphlets, newspapersb. Democratic-Republican societiesc. Emerging principle of democratic rights: ‘free inquiry’ and

‘free communication’3. Implications for partisan politics

1. Federalist alarm2. Republican receptiveness

Politics during Washington’s presidency

H. Renewed discussion of women’s rights

1. Expanding participation in public discussion

2. Influential voices

a. Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)

b. Judith Sargent Murray: “On the Equality of Sexes”

The Adams years

A. Election of 1796

1. Washington’s retirement and farewell

2. Federalist Adams’s (71) victory over Republican Jefferson (68)

3. Sectional division of the vote

B. Adams’s troubled presidency

1. Embroilment in British-French conflict

a. Seizure of American ships by each side

b. “XYZ Affair”: French demanded bribes!

c. “Quasi-War” with France

d. Negotiated peace of 1800

1) Adams rejected his party’s call for war

The Adams yearsB. Adams’s troubled presidency

2. Crackdown on political dissent

a. Background

1) Rural unrest: Fries’ Rebellion

2) Dissent against Federalists

b. Provisions of Alien and Sedition Acts

c. Arrest and conviction of Republican opponents

d. Forms of protest

1) Republican press

2) Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

a) Kentucky: state nullification of federal laws

e. Themes of protest

1) Free expression as essential to liberty

2) Limits of federal power over the states

The Adams years

C. Election of 1800

1. Republican mobilization; “Jefferson and Liberty”

2. Constitutional crisis over election

1. Particulars

2. Outcome

1) Jefferson over Adams

2) 12th Amendment: separate ballots for P. and V.P.

3) Hamilton-Burr duel

3. Peaceful transfer of power

The slavery questionA. Debate in first Congress over emancipation

1. Franklin’s call for emancipation

B. Passage of fugitive slave law

C. Impact of Saint Dominque (Haiti, 1791) slave revolt

1. Toussaint L’Ouverture

2. Inspiration among slaves

3. Alarm among whites

The slavery question

D. Gabriel’s Rebellion (1800)

1. Features of the conspiracy

a. Artisanal makeup

b. Roots in Richmond’s black community: 1/5 free black

c. Language of liberty

2. Discovery and defeat

3. Aftereffects

a. Awareness of slaves’ aspiration for freedom

b. Increased control over black population (slave and free)

The Jefferson years

A. Goals of new administration

1. Conciliatory tone toward opponents

2. Reduction in expense, size, and power of national government

3. Unrestricted trade

4. Freedom of press and religion

5. Avoidance of “entangling alliances” with foreign powers

B. Establishment of judicial review of federal and state laws

1. Chief Justice John Marshall

2. Marbury v. Madison (1803)

a. Judicial review of Congressional / State laws

The Jefferson years

C. Louisiana Purchase (1803)

4. Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806)

a. Objects

1) Scientific exploration

2) Trade relations with western Indians

3) Commercial route to Asia

b. Outcome

1) Abundant information on newly acquired territory

2) Achievement of overland travel to Pacific

5. Incorporation of Louisiana

a. Significance of New Orleans area

b. Rights of blacks and women under Spanish and French rule

c. Declining status of blacks under American rule

Foreign entanglements

A. Barbary coast conflict

B. Renewed embroilment in British-French conflict

1. Impact of war between Britain and France on America

a. Resumption of conflict in 1803

b. Blockade on American shipping by each side

c. Impressment of Americans by British navy

1) The Chesapeake

Foreign entanglementsB. Renewed embroilment in British-French conflict

2. Jefferson’s embargo on American exports

a. Terms

b. Purposes

c. Results

1) Memories of Intolerable Acts

2) Minimal impact on British and French

3) Devastation of American port economies

d. Scaling back of embargo

a) Non-intercourse Act

b) Macon’s Bill No. 2

1) France acquiesced; Britain did not

2) War Hawks: Clay, Calhoun

Recent trends in U.S.-Indian relations

A. Varied U.S. policies toward Indians

1. Removal

2. Assimilation

B. Varied responses by Indians

1. Endorsement of assimilation: Major Ridge & John Ross

2. Call for preservation of autonomy

a. Non-confrontational approach: Handsome Lake

b. Militant, pan-Indian approach

1) Tenskwatawa at Prophetstown

2) Tecumseh in Mississippi Valley: resistance or extermination

C. Battle of Tippecanoe (1811)

1. William Henry Harrison

The War of 1812

A. Prelude

1. Persisting British attacks on American vessels

2. Reinstatement of embargo by President Madison

3. Emergence of War Hawks

a. Leading figures

1) Henry Clay

2) John C. Calhoun

b. Themes

1) National honor

2) Unimpeded foreign trade

3) Expansion of republic

4) Reports of British encouragement of Tecumseh

The War of 1812

B. Outbreak of war

1. Madison’s call for war

2. National division over

a. Strong opposition in North

b. Strong support in South and West

The War of 1812C. Course of War

1. Britain’s material advantages

2. British successes

a. Repulsion of U.S. invasions of Canada

b. Destruction by blockade of American commerce

c. Invasion of Washington, D.C.

3. American successes

a. Battle of Lake Erie (Commodore Perry)

b. Repulsion of British assault on Baltimore (Fort McHenry)

c. Battle of the Thames (defeat of Tecumseh by W. H. Harrison)

d. Battle of Horseshoe Bend (defeat of hostile Creeks, Andrew Jackson)

e. Battle of New Orleans (Andrew Jackson)

The War of 1812

D. Conclusion and aftermath1. Treaty of Ghent2. Celebration of republic’s virtue and resilience3. Completion of U.S. conquest of eastern land4. Setbacks to Indian power

a. In old NWb. In South

5. Acceleration of white westward settlement6. Demise of Federalist party

a. Costs of antiwar stanceb. Hartford Convention (1814)c. Modest size of commercial and financial based. Elitism