9: An Agrarian Republic, 17901824

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9 An Agrarian Republic, 17901824
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"Other historians relate facts to inform us of
facts.  You relate them to excite in our hearts
an intense hatred of lying, ignorance, hypocrisy,
superstition, tyranny and the anger remains even
after the memory of the facts has disappeared." 
Diderot, writing of Voltaire
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•  Men, by their constitutions, are naturally
  divided into two parties (1) Those who fear and
  distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers
  from them into the hands of the higher classes
  (2) Those who identify themselves with the
  people, have confidence in them, cherish and
  consider them as the most honest and safe,
  although not the most wise, depository of the
  public interests. . . . The appellation of
  Aristocrats and Democrats is the true one,
  expressing the essence of all.
• Thomas Jefferson

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• What to the American slave is your Fourth of
  July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more
  than all other days of the year, the gross
  injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant
  victim. To him your celebration is a sham your
  boasted liberty an unholy license your national
  greatness, swelling vanity your sounds of
  rejoicing are empty and heartless your
  denunciation of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence
  your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow
  mockery your prayers and hymns, your sermons and
  thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and
  solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud,
  deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil
  to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation
  of savages. There is not a nation of the earth
  guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than
  are the people of these United States at this
  very hour. . . . Go where you may, search where
  you will, roam through all the monarchies and
  despotisms of the Old World, travel through South
  America, search out every abuse and when you have
  found the last, lay your facts by the side of the
  everyday practices of this nation, and you will
  say with me that, for revolting barbarity and
  shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a
  rival. Frederick Douglass, July 4, 1852

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How Democratic Is America?

• By Howard Zinn
• I propose a set of criteria for the description
  "democratic" which goes beyond formal political
  institutions, to the quality of life in the
  society (economic, social, psychological), beyond
  majority rule to a concern for minorities, and
  beyond national boundaries to a global view of
  what is meant by "the people," in that rough, but
  essential correct view of democracy as
  "government of, by, and for the people."
• Let me list these criteria quickly, because I
  will go on to discuss them in some detail later
• 1. To what extent can various people in the
  society participate in those decisions which
  affect their lives decisions in the political
  process and decisions in the economic structure?
• 2. As a corollary of the above do people have
  equal access to the information which they need
  to make important decisions?
• 3. Are the members of the society equally
  protected on matters of life and death - in the
  most literal sense of that phrase?

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• 4. Is there equality before the law police,
  courts, the judicial process - as well as
  equality with the law enforcing institutions, so
  as to safeguard equally everyone's person, and
  his freedom from interference by others, and by
  the government?
• 5. Is there equality in the distribution of
  available resources those economic goods
  necessary for health, life, recreation, leisure,
  growth?
• 6. Is there equal access to education, to
  knowledge and training, so as to enable persons
  in the society to live their lives as fully as
  possible, to enlarge their range of
  possibilities?
• 7. Is there freedom of expression on all matters,
  and equally for all to communicate with other
  members of the society?
• 8. Is there freedom for individuality in private
  life, in sexual relations, family relations, the
  right of privacy?
• 9. Do education and the culture in general foster
  a spirit of cooperation and amity to sustain the
  above conditions?
• 10. As a final safety feature is there
  opportunity to protest, to disobey the laws, when
  the foregoing objectives are being lost - as a
  way of restoring them?

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Chapter Review Questions

• The US faced economic and political problems as a
  new nation in a world dominated by war between
  Britain and France. How successful were the
  efforts by the Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe
  administrations to solve these problems?
• The anti-European cast of Jefferson's republican
  agrarianism made it appealing to many Americans
  who wished to believe in their nation's
  uniqueness, but how realistic was it in the real
  world of politics during Jefferson's
  administration?
• Some Federalists opposed the Louisiana Purchase,
  warning of the dangers of westward expansion.
  What are arguments for and against expansion?
• The confrontations between Tecumseh's alliance
  and soldiers and settlers in the Old Northwest
  reveal the contradictions in American Indian
  policy. What were these contradictions? Can you
  suggest solutions to them?
• What did the War of 1812 accomplish?

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• Chronology
• 1790s   Second Great Awakening begins
• 1800   Thomas Jefferson elected president,
  Gabriels conspiracy
• American ships carry 95 of US-British trade
• 1801 Cane Ridge Kentucky revival
• 1802   Russian-American company headquarters at
  Sitka, Alaska
• 1803   Louisiana Purchase / Marbury v. Madison /
  Ohio admitted to the Union
• 1804   Lewis and Clark expedition begins / Thomas
  Jefferson reelected president / Russians
  reestablish Sitka following the Tlingit Revolt
• 1807   Chesapeake-Leopard incident / Embargo Act
• 1808   James Madison elected president / Int.
  slave trade illegal
• 1809   Tecumseh forms military alliance among
  northwest confederacy peoples
• 1811   Battle of Tippecanoe
• 1812   War of 1812 begins / James Madison
  reelected president / Louisiana admitted to the
  Union
• 1814   Hartford Convention / Treaty of Ghent

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• Chronology
• 1815   Battle of New Orleans
• 1816   James Monroe elected president / Congress
  charters Second Bank of the United States /
  Indiana admitted to the Union / American
  Colonization Society founded / African Methodist
  Episcopal Church founded
• 1817   Mississippi admitted to the Union
• 1818   Illinois admitted to the Union / Andrew
  Jackson invades FLA
• 1819   Panic of 1819 / Adams-Onis Treaty
• 1819-20 Missouri Crisis and Compromise
• 1820   James Monroe reelected president / Maine
  admitted to Union
• 1821   Missouri admitted to Union as slave state
• 1823 Monroe Doctrine

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Annotated Bibliography

• Gary B. Nash, Forging Freedom The Formation of
  Philadelphias Black Community, 1720-1840 (1988).
  This study of the struggles of Philadelphias
  African-American population (both enslaved and
  free) to build a community in the early republic
  includes discussions of work, religion, class,
  and the responses of the African-American
  community to growing white hostility.
• Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwifes Tale The
  Life of Martha Ballard, Based of her Diary,
  1785-1812 (1990). A 20-year-long diary provided
  the primary source for this careful examination
  of the work, family events, and daily social
  interactions of a midwife in rural Maine in the
  early Republic.

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Recommended

• Henry Adams, The United States in 1800
• Walter LaFeber, John Quincy Adams and the
  American Continental Empire (1965)
• Carey McWilliams, North From Mexico the
  Spanish-Speaking People of the US (1948)
• David Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North
  America (1993)
• Biography VHS Lewis and Clark Expedition

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A Mandan Communities

• Lewis and Clark visited the Mandan villages in
  what is now North Dakota.
• The Mandan lived by agriculture and hunting and
  lived in matrilineal clans.
• The male chiefs met with Lewis and Clark who
  offered them a military and economic alliance.
• Americans established Fort Clark as a trading
  base.
• Americans brought diseases like smallpox that
  wiped out the vast majority of Mandans.

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B North American Communities from Coast to Coast
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The Spanish in North America

• To protect their interests against Russian and
  British expansion, the Spanish had established a
  chain of missions throughout California.
• The Spanish also controlled New Orleans, though
  in 1800 it was
• a polyglot, French-dominated society that was
  half black and
• an international port.
• Americans were concerned that whomever controlled
  New Orleans could choke off commerce along the
  Mississippi River.
• East and West Florida dominated the Gulf of
  Mexico, and Spain opened the area to American
  immigration.

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The Caribbean

• The Caribbean posed strong challenges because of
  the sugar industry.
• The Caribbean slave societies were jolted by the
  successful slave revolt in Haiti.

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British North America

• The heart of British North America was the former
  French colony of Quebec. Loyalists comprised most
  of the other settlers.
• The American Revolution caused Great Britain to
  create a national legislature under strict
  executive control.

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Russian America Sitka

• Russian settlements in Alaska were an extension
  of its conquest of Siberia.
• The Russia established Sitka in 1804.
• Russia established new settlements in California,
  including Fort Ross.

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America in 1800

• In 1800, the United States was surrounded by
  European colonies.

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Trans-Appalachia

• The trans-Appalachia west was the most rapidly
  growing region of the United States.
• By 1800, 500,000 Americans lived in
  Trans-Appalachia.
• Cincinnati served as 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.

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Atlantic Ports

• Only 3 percent of Americans lived in cities
• Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, Boston, and
  New York dominated trade.
• Each city had its own distinct economy and
  culture.
• These cities led the nation socially,
  politically, and economically.
• Those with the greatest ties to the
  trans-Appalachian West thrived.

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C A National Economy
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The Economy of the Young Republic

• Most Americans lived in rural, agricultural
  communities.
• Northerners were generally self-sufficient.
• The plantation regions of the South were heavily
  involved in marketing crops overseas, but demand
  for tobacco and rice only rose to
  pre-Revolutionary levels.

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Shipping and The Economic Boom

• In 1790, American shipping had been hurt by the
  end of ties with Great Britain.
• The outbreak of war in Europe and American
  neutrality vast expanded trade, fueling the
  growth of American coastal cities.
• The economic boom included
• American entry into the Northwest fur and China
  markets
• an active shipbuilding industry and
• trade stimulated the rise of insurance companies,
  banks, and brokers catering to the international
  market.
• By 1820, the United States was building a strong,
  diversified national economy.

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D The Jefferson Presidency
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1800 Federalist hiding place

• . . . if all Bibles are to be destroyed, what is
  the use of bringing yours to me?
• It will be perfectly safe with you. Theyll
  never think of looking in the house of a Democrat
  for a Bible.

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Republican Agrarianism

• Thomas Jefferson emerged as a strong president
  with strong party backing.
• Jefferson's ideal was an agrarian republic of
  roughly equal yeoman farmers. Americas abundant
  land allowed Jefferson to envision a nation of
  small family farms.

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The Government the Judiciary

• Jefferson's promise to reduce the size of the
  federal government was fulfilled by
• cutting internal taxes and
• reducing the size of army, navy, and government
  staff.
• The unfinished state of the nations capital
  reflected the emphasis on local communities.
• While removing Federalist officeholders,
  Jefferson provoked a landmark Supreme Court
  decision.
• Marbury v. Madison did not restore William
  Marbury to his post, but it established the
  principle of judicial review and an independent
  judiciary.

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The Louisiana Purchase

• The conflict between France and Britain
  threatened American security.
• Napoleon's acquisition of the Louisiana Territory
  threatened American access to the Mississippi
  River.
• Jefferson attempted to buy New Orleans, but
  accepted the French offer to buy the entire
  territory.
• The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the
  United States, fulfilling Jefferson's desire for
  continued expansion.

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Incorporating Louisiana

• The French customs of Louisiana conflicted with
  the English-derived American traditions were
  derived from England.
• The solution was to maintain aspects of French
  institutions in Louisiana.

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Texas the Struggle for Mexican Independence

• Acquisition of Louisiana put the United States in
  conflict with Spain.
• Spain's involvement in the Napoleonic Wars caused
  its American empire to slip away.
• Several populist revolts fueled a strong
  independence movement in Mexico. Alamo of 1830s
  in future chapter.

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D Renewed Imperial Rivalry in North America
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Protecting Neutral Rights

• In his second term, Jefferson faced problems
  protecting American neutrality.
• British ships seized American vessels trading in
  the French West Indies and impressed sailors into
  the Royal Navy.
• Congress first imposed a boycott and then passed
  the Embargo Act on foreign commerce that
• did not change British policy
• caused a deep depression and
• led to widespread smuggling.
• During the presidency of James Madison, the
  Embargo Act was repealed,
• Other similar acts passed later also proved
  ineffective.

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A Contradictory Indian Policy

• Indian affairs remained among the most difficult
  foreign problems.
• Western tribes resisted American incursion into
  their territory.
• Jefferson hoped that Indians would either be
  converted to white civilization or moved across
  the Mississippi River. Neither policy won much
  Indian support.

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Tecumseh, Tenskatawa, Indian Resistance

• The Shawnee emerged as the leading force of
  Indian resistance in the Ohio Valley. Tecumseh
  led a band that attempted to escape contact with
  whites.
• His brother, Tenskwatawa, The Prophet, called for
  a rejection of white ways and built a pan-Indian
  religious movement.
• Tecumseh formed a pan-Indian confederacy was
  initially defensive but soon advocated military
  resistance.
• While Tecumseh was in the South, a American army
  defeated Tenskwatawas followers at Tippecanoe.
• In response, Tecumseh formally allied with the
  British.

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E The War of 1812
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The War Hawks

• Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun were leaders of a
  new generation of War Hawks from the South and
  West that supported war as a means of expansion.
• Madisons declaration of war received no
  Federalist support.

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The Campaign Against Canada

• American efforts to capture Canada failed due to
• New England opposition
• the strength of the British-Indian forces and
• the resistance of Canadians.
• The Americans won the Battle of the Thames, at
  which Tecumseh was killed.

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War the Hartford Convention

• Continued opposition from New England led to the
  Hartford Convention.
• Federalists demanded redress of grievances though
  they dropped talk of secession.
• Andrew Jackson and Indian allies defeated the
  Creek Indians and invaded Florida.
• The British navy established a strong blockade
  and burned Washington.

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Peace and Pride

• The Treaty of Ghent ended the war without
  addressing the major grievances, but the British
  did agree to evacuate the western forts.
• Andrew Jacksons victory at New Orleans saved
  American pride.
• The war also ended lingering feelings of American
  colonial dependency.
• The Indians were the only clear losers.

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F Defining the Boundaries
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Another Westward Surge

• Peace brought widespread Indian removal that
  opened lands and enabled Americans to resume
  their westward migration.

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Migration Routes

• Northern migrants traveled the Genesee Turnpike.
• Middle States settlers went west on the
  Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Turnpike and the National
  Road.
• The Wilderness and Federal Roads were southern
  migration routes.

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Western Settlement

• Overpopulated farmland in the east pushed
  Americans to cheap land in the west. Easterners
  brought the culture and values of their home
  regions with them.
• The Old Northwest shared New England values.
• The Old Southwest was based on plantation
  slavery.

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The Second Great Awakening

• Revolving around the camp meeting, the Second
  Great Awakening
• further strengthened east-west relations and
• helped Westerners create new institutions.

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The Era of Good Feelings

• James Monroe presided over the post-war era of
  good feelings.
• Monroe brought former Federalists into his
  cabinet.
• Embracing most of Henry Clays American System
  that updated many of Hamiltons ideas, the Monroe
  administration
• established the Second Bank of the United States
  
• passed a protective tariff but
• would not subsidized roads and canals--the third
  part of the American System.

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The Diplomacy of John Quincy Adams

• Secretary of State John Quincy Adams laid the
  foundation for continued expansion. Two treaties
  with Britain established a demilitarized Canadian
  border and provided for the joint occupation of
  Oregon.
• The Adams-Onis Treaty turned over Florida to the
  United States and relinquished claims to
  Louisiana.
• Adams defined the response of the United States
  to emerging nations in the western hemisphere by
  designing the Monroe Doctrine.

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The Panic of 1819

• New problems emerged as Americans moved westward.
  
• A land boom was financed by speculative buying
  and easy credit.
• The Panic of 1819 was triggered by the Second
  Bank of the United States foreclosing on loans
  that led to six years of depression.
• The Panic of 1819 hurt urban workers suffering
  from the decline in trade and manufacturing
  failures.
• Manufacturers pressed for higher protective
  tariffs, angering Southerners.

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The Missouri Compromise

• Effort to admit Missouri into the Union as a
  slave state created a crisis.
• Northerners opposed the creation of new slave
  states because it would tip the balance between
  slave and free states.
• Southerners sought to expand slavery and were
  concerned that Congress would even consider the
  matter.
• Henry Clay forged a compromise that maintained
  the balance between free and slave states.
• Maine was admitted as a free slave state and
  slavery was barred north of Missouris southern
  boundary.

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• Thomas Jefferson on Politics and Government
• http//etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/
• Containing over 2,700 quotes from Thomas
  Jefferson, this site contains, in his own words,
  Jeffersons thoughts on the theory and structure
  of Republican government, citizens rights, and
  judicial review. Also, this site offers numerous
  links to other resources that contain additional
  writing of Jefferson.