US HISTORY REVIEW II: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACKUS History

Mr. Marinello

Last time in US History...• Colonized a continent• Fought a war• Founded a country• Rights for all...(if you’re a landowning, white male)• Everyone loves George Washington• No one loves John Adams

The Campaign for the Election of 1800

• The election of 1800 was a rematch between President John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

• Things get ugly• Democratic-Republicans (Republicans) call Adams a tool of the

rich who wanted to turn America into a British style monarchy• Which was kind of true Adams wanted to address the President as:

• His Majesty the President• His High Mightiness, The President of the United States and Protector of their

Liberties.

• Federalists called Jefferson a dangerous supporter of revolutions, a lover of all things French and an atheist.• Which was kind of true as well.

The Electoral College Tries Again• Each party was careful to make sure there wouldn’t be a

repeat of the election of 1796.• Thomas Jefferson’s Vice-Presidential Candidate, Aaron

Burr mistakenly got the same number of votes as he did. • In the case of a tie the House of Representatives is

supposed to break the tie.• Each state getting one vote• The House took 35 ballots and still no winner

• Enter our old pal Alexander Hamilton...• Hamilton convinces members of the House to vote for Jefferson

• Jefferson Wins!

The Last Gasp the the Federalists...• Before he left office, John Adams granted a number of

judicial appointments to Federalist.• These were often life posts and would impact the country for years

to come.

• The letters were not delivered by the time Jefferson took office.• He instructed his Secretary of State, James Madison, not to deliver

the letters

• One of the appointees, William Marbury, wanted his promised job

Enter the Supreme Court...• Chief Justice John Marshall and the Court decide to split

the baby:• Marshall decides that Madison should have delivered the

appointment• But they also decided that the law that allowed Adams to make the

appointment violated the Constitution.

• Marshall says “If...the courts are to regard the constitution, and the constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the legislature, the constitution, and not such ordinary act, must govern the case to which they both apply.”• This case creates Judicial Review• The Supreme Court creates this power for itself.

America: It’s all about the gains• In 1791 a slave revolt begins on the island of Haiti• Haiti is a French colony primarily used to produce sugar

cane for the French to make rum.• The revolt changes the geo-political calculations for

French leader Napoleon Bonaparte.• At this time France owns almost all of the land from the

Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.• Napoleon sells this land to The United States for $15

million ($250 million today)• Jefferson sends out the Lewis and Clark expedition to

scope out the new purchase.

The Democratic-Republican Run the Show

• Jefferson is re-elected in 1804 and leaves office in 1808.• James Madison is elected to succeed Jefferson.• Madison was a framer of the Constitution• He runs as a Democratic-Republican.

The War of 1812• Both the British and the French were a cause of concern

for Americans between 1805 and 1814 but Americans focused their anger mostly on the British

• The Americans had a lot of beef with the British• Colonial overlord• British ships impressing (drafting Americans to fight for the British

navy, against their will)• Supplying arms to Native Americans to fight on the American

frontier

America Goes to War

• President Madison decides we must go to war.

• The British were fighting against Napoleon on Europe so

they had little time for the Americans.

• That didn’t stop them from sacking Washington DC in

August of 1814, and burning the President’s Mansion

• Dolley Madison was able to save an iconic portrait of George

Washington

America Sticks it to the Brits

• The most decisive American victory in the war came in

January of 1815 when General Andrew Jackson of

Tennessee routed British forces and defended the city.

• Too bad the war had ended on Christmas Eve 1814.

Results of the War of 1812

1. Ended the Federalist Party1. They opposed the war and Americans didn’t like that.

2. Encouraged the growth of American industry since we couldn’t get stuff from Britain for 2+ years.

3. Confirmed the status of the US as a free, independent nation.

The Monroe Doctrine• James Monroe is elected in 1816• Foreign affairs dominates his first term• His Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, wants to

focus on nationalism rather than regional issues.• Territory and Boundaries

• Convention of 1818 fixes northern U.S. border at 49th parallel

• Oregon Territory to be jointly held by U.S., Britain for ten years

• Adams-Onís Treaty transfers Florida to U.S., sets western border

The Monroe Doctrine• Europe eyes more land in America.• Monroe says that European powers should not concern

themselves with making additional lands in the Western Hemisphere.

• With this policy America claims power in the hemisphere and warns Europe to stay out.

• This becomes a keystone of American foreign policy until this very day.

The Divided States of America• The resurgence of sectionalism

• America was still a very divided country. • The North was manufacturing based• The South was agriculture based

• The question of slavery is ever present• In 1818 settlers in Missouri petitioned to be admitted to the Union

as a state. • Should it be admitted as a free state (North) or a slave state

(South)

The Missouri Compromise• Henry Clay proposed that Missouri be admitted as a slave

state and Maine be admitted as a free state• Preserving balance in the government

• This plan set the 3630 line• Set out that the line of divide in the country between slave and free

states would be the 36th line of latitude. • With the exception of Missouri

• What was the ramification of setting this dividing line?

The Age of Jackson• Andrew Jackson is elected President in 1828.• Jackson expands the electorate

• In the election of 1824 350,000 people voted• In the election of 1828 over 1 million people voted• Many saw Jackson as a person just like them, a common man

• Jacksonian Democracy• Jackson saw it as part of a good democracy for the common man

to have a say in government• Jackson is still revered as a lion of the Democratic party

Jackson was actually a jerk• As Americans further expanded their territory on the

continent they increasingly came into contact with Native Americans.

• In 1830, Congress, with the support of Jackson passed The Indian Removal Acts• These laws gave fund to the government to negotiate treaties with

native tribes that would force them to move west.

• The Cherokee nation fought the act and took the President to court.

Jackson was actually a big jerk• The Supreme Court decided in Worchester v. Georgia that

the states did not have the power to regulate the Cherokee nation.

• Jackson refused to abide by the courts decision• Jackson said “John Marshall made his decision; now let him

enforce it.”

• What problems with our governmental system does this expose?

The Trail of Tears• Beginning after the court’s decision the government

began to forcibly round up Cherokee people and remove them from their land.• They were forced to walk 800 miles to present day Oklahoma. • More than a quarter dies along the way.

King Andrew• Many complained that Jackson took too much power.• The Whig party (Jackson’s opponents) said “Your

President has become your MONARCH!”