Eight Presidents 1809-1849

1
Eight Presidents 1809-1849

• Madison 1809-1817
• Monroe 1817-1825
• Quincy Adams 1825-1829
• Jackson 1829-1837
• Van Buren 1837-1841
• Harrison 1841
• Tyler 1841-1845
• Polk 1845-1849

2
Madison (1809-1817) two terms

• Small, scholarly, perceived as weak
• Took office with America caught between Britain
  and France at War
• Impressment
• Chesapeake Incident
• Non-importation
• 1811 a new Congress
• Tecumseh

3
The War of 1812

• Causes
• 1. Impressment of American sailors rankled
  national pride
• 2. Southern states eager to expand into Florida
  and Canada
• 3. Southerners and Westerners hurt by embargoes
• 4. Warhawks feel need to assert American
  nationhood vigorously
• 5. Tecumseh defeated at Tippecanoe (1811) by Wm.
  Henry Harrison

4

• Nation divided (no Federalist voted for the
  declaration of war) 79-49,19-13
• New England loaned gold to England, sent food to
  Canada, kept militia at home
• Folly leading a divided nation and apathetic
  people into war

5
Nature of the War of 1812

• Small by European standards
• 1. Canadian Front
• Initial setbacks, then victories
• Lake Erie cleared by Commodore Oliver Hazard
  Perry
• Tecumseh defeated and killed at Battle of Thames
  (Toronto) 1814
• British invasion stopped in NY at Battle of Lake
  Champlain 1814

6
Nature of the War of 1812

• 2. British invasion of Chesapeake region
• Burn Washington D.C.
• Stopped at Fort McHenry (unable to reach
  Baltimore)
• Star-Spangled Banner written by Francis Scott Key

7
Nature of the War of 1812

• 3. British invasion of the Mississippi valley
• Stopped by General Andrew Jackson at New Orleans
• 4. Treaty of Ghent (Belgium)--timing is everything

8
Effects of the War of 1812

• Treaty does not address territory or impressments
• New spirit of national pride and a little more
  respect abroad
• Death of the Federalist Party
• The Hartford Convention
• Within a few years trade agreements and borders
  with British are worked out

9
Monroe (1817-1825) two terms

• Tall
• Fourth Virginian but least distinguished of the
  first eight presidents
• Rode into the presidency on the Federalist defeat
  (183 to 34 electoral)
• Name fixed to Monroe Doctrine and Monrovia
• Last of the Revolutionary War fighters

10
Monroe

• The Missouri Compromise (1820)
• Highlights slavery and foreshadows the ACW
• Missouri applies for admission as a slave state
• Desire to diminish and end national sin vs.
  Southern desire to expand their peculiar
  institution

11
Missouri Compromise (1820)

• Congressman Henry Clay of Kentucky proposes a
  compromise
• Admit MO as a slave state
• Admit ME as a free state
• Divide the LA Purchase at 36-30 with everything N
  being free and everything S being slave
• Puts off conflict over the issue until the next
  generation

12
Monroe

• Experiment in colonizing Africa with free
  African-Americans
• Liberia

13
Monroe Doctrine

• Spanish Latin American colonies declare
  independence
• Russia begins inserting influence from (Alaska)
  to (California)
• Monarchy vs. Democracy

14
Monroe Doctrine

• Monroes 1823 Address to Congress (State of the
  Nation) warns European monarchies not to
  interfere in the Western Hemisphere
• Non-colonization in Americas
• Non-intervention in Europe
• Probably would not have succeeded without British
  cooperation
• Influences US policy in Western Hemisphere to
  this day

15
John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)

• Not popular, disputed election, reputation of
  being cold, full of himself
• I am certainly not intentionally repulsive
• Saw enjoyment as a sign of weakness, but kept a
  pet alligator, went skinny dipping in the Potomac
  almost everyday

16
JQA and the Election of 1824

• Essentially one party--Republican
• Four candidates
• J Q Adams--natural as Secretary of State
• W H Crawford (GA)
• H Clay (KY) Speaker of the House of Reps
• A Jackson (SC/TN) hero of the Battle of New
  Orleans

17
JQA

• When Adams wins and appoints Clay as Secretary of
  State it looks like a shady deal
• Jacksons supporters undermine Adams
  administration (Tariff of Abominations)
• The election of 1828
• Both Republicans
• Adams--National Republicans
• Jackson--Democratic Republicans--Democrats

18
Election of 1828

• A respectfully close but viciously dirty campaign
• Jacksons mother called a prostitute, his wife a
  bigamist and adulterer (she dies--supposedly from
  heartbreak over the insult)
• Adams dubbed a pimp
• Jackson wins

19
Jackson (1829-1837) two terms

• Had fought in wars and numerous duels--still had
  bullets in his body, may have murdered captured
  Indian chiefs
• Know as old hickory for his toughness
• First president from west of the Appalachians
  (TN) and first from a poor family
• Election was a political revolution
• Inaugural party looked more like mob rule

20
Jackson and the IRA (1830)

• IRA passed in 1830--not only liberal but
  generous
• Creeks of AL taken in chains
• Choctaws of MS taken in winter w/o proper
  provisions
• Sac and Fox of IL slaughtered by local militia
• Seminoles of FL fight for 7 years until
  eliminated
• Cherokee of GA declare independence--upheld by
  the US Supreme Court--GA militia w/presidential
  support remove Cherokee harassed along the way,
  forced exodus known as the Trail of Tears (25
  die on the way to inferior land in OK)

21
Jackson and the Nullification Crisis of 1832

• High Tariff of 1828 keeps foreign goods at a high
  price
• Hurts S. export of cotton
• Theory of nullification comes from VP Calhoun
  of SC
• If US is compact of sovereign states then each
  state has the right to determine what is
  constitutional w/in its borders and to nullify
  any laws that are not.

22
Jackson and the Nullification Crisis of 1832

• In 1832 Jackson overwhelmingly re-elected
• He approves a new, lower tariff
• SC declares the new and the old tariffs to be
  null and void and says if federal troops try to
  enforce the tariff they will secede
• Jackson declares this is treason and requires the
  use of force
• Congress passes the Force Bill

23
Henry Clay Proposes a Compromise

• A new tariff that gradually lowers duties over a
  ten year period
• SC repeals nullification of tariff (but nullifies
  the Force Bill)
• Both sides claim victory
• Appeasement of SC linked to SCs 1860 secession
  leading to ACW?
• Best move for the time
• Force is an admission of failed statesmanship
• Nation less ready for civil war in 1832 than in
  1861

24
Jackson and the Destruction of the National Bank

• First National Bank chartered 1791-1811
• To issue standard currency--increase confidence
• Handle federal tax receipts and other govt. money
• Facilitate business between the states
• Second National Bank chartered in 1816 when state
  banks prove insufficient
• SNB due to expire in 1836--push for an early
  recharter
• Jackson vetoes the recharter and kills the bank

25
Jackson and the Destruction of the National Bank

• Effects
• Financial center of US shifts to NY (Wall Street)
• Diverse elements (bank supporters, states
  righters (nullifiers), northern industrialists,
  anti-Masons) form a new political party--the
  Whigs with a strategy to run several candidates
  in 1836
• Strengthens power of the executive

26
Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

• Rides into the presidency on Jacksons coattails
• The original office toadie--yes man
• 1st president born an American citizen
• Known chiefly for the economic depression that
  occurred during his presidency
• Referred to as Martin Van Ruin

27
Wm. Henry Harrison (1841)

• Election of 1840--Democrat Van Buren vs. Whig Wm.
  Henry Harrison
• Harrison hero of War of 1812 (and Battle of
  Tippecanoe--1811)
• Largely issueless and energyless--John Tyler
  selected as an afterthought to gain southern vote
• Campaign slogan Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
• Harrison portrayed as a log cabin and hard cider
  man
• He was the oldest president before Reagan
• Gave the longest speech and died

28
Tyler (1841-1845)

• Tyler was in the right place at the right time
• Generally alienated his party and accomplished
  nothing
• Entire cabinet resigned except for Secretary of
  State Daniel Webster who tried, but failed, to
  set boundaries of OR Territory w/ British
• Admitted TX to the Union just before leaving
  office

29
Polk (1845-1849)

• Aggressively expansionist president
• Instituted Hail to the Chief
• Campaign slogan 54-40 or fight
• Polk offered to buy CA from Mexico

30
Polk and the Mexican War

• Essential cause of the war was dispute over
  southern border of TX
• US claimed it was the Rio Grande--stationed
  troops there
• Mexico saw this as an invasion and attacked the
  American troops
• Polk urged a declaration of war and Congress
  obliged
• Future president U.S. Grant (a young lieutenant
  during the Mexican War)
• most unjust war ever waged by a stronger
  against a weaker nation

31
Polk and the Mexican War1846-1847

• In less than one year Mexico City is captured and
  Mexico surrenders
• US gained recognition of TX border
• US gained NM and CA
• Mexico lost 1/3 of its territory--change of govt.
• Lasting distrust of Latin America toward US
• Issue of slavery in the new territories becomes a
  major issue of the 1850s
• General Zachary Taylor becomes a war hero