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P4: Political Parties & Jefferson-

Politics & Regional Interests
Index
4.2 | Political parties & the era of Jefferson
4.4 | America & the world
4.3 | Politics & regional interests

Era of Jefferson (1800-1809)

The Election of 1800s

1. This election was polarized & tense

2. This was also before the ratification of the 12th Amendment

a. So in 1804, people would vote for two diff candidates: the candidate with
the most amt of votes would become president, while the candidate with
the 2nd highest amount of votes would become vice president

3. There was a tie between Jefferson & Burr, and the House of Representatives
would break the tie

4. After Adams was defeated for re-election, this would be the first peaceful
transfer of power between federalists and democratic-republicans (since
Washington retired & was also federalist)

a. After that, the next 2 presidents would also be democratic-Republican

i. And Virginian

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 Era of Democratic-Republican Majority
1. From 1800-1824 D-Rs held the majority of seats in the house, from 60-85%
majority. This would thus make it easier to make decisions

2. Jeffersonian Vision: Jefferson liked the idea of working out in the air and not in
tight industrial towns

a. Said that “that government is best which governs least.”

b. He wanted everyone to be “yeoman” farmers

i. Yeoman: people who owned a smart part of land themselves

3. In line with his vision that all government was a necessary evil, Jeffersonian
republicanism reduced many powers of the federal government, including:

a. The size of the military & navy

b. The number of federal jobs

c. Repealed excise taxes, like whiskey taxes

d. Reduced national debt from $83 million to $57 million

Recap of Political Party Origins

1. I consider the first political parties to be the federalists and the anti-federalists,
but tbh they were more like groups with opposing ideals. Yk how Americans
always bickered during the revolutionary war and all that (and after that… and
until now.)

a. The federalists: disliked the idea of a bill of rights, liked a stronger

government, “led” under Alexander Hamilton, believed in the constitution.
They believed the constitution was enough

b. Anti-federalists: against the federalists, promoted the bill of rights, liked a

weaker gov, no prominent leader but was what would turn into
Republicans in 1792, Jefferson’s party.

2. The republicans liked individual freedom & was very anti-monarchy. They
were called the Democratic-Republicans by federalists as a bit of mockery
(relating it to the French Revolution radical democrats). It wasn’t until 1798

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 (after John Adam’s presidency) when Republicans would officially adapt that
as their official name, and the rise of Jeffersonian Democrats

a. Jeffersonian democrats: believed in a republic; very against corruption,

privilege & monarchism; like Jefferson, believed that people were best and
most free as individual farmers

3. After Jefferson’s victory he would be followed by D-Rs James Madison (1809-

1817) & James Monroe (1816-1825)

a. So after all these D-R Ws the federalists were pretty irrelevant & they kinda
faded from existence (1820), leaving the D-Rs as the country’s only major
party. I mean the entire nation was pretty United so that’s pretty cool 👍
b. Until like literal months later in 1820 when more states entered the union &
more people could vote, which split the D-Rs into factions again. This
made the presidential election of 1824 very messy and each faction had
their own nominee, but John Q. Adams would win in the end (still a D-R
cause that’s still the only major faction).

c. Despite this, tensions would still broil between Adams & Jackson
factions….. tbc 🤭
i. Info: Adams’ faction called themselves national republicans &
Jackson’s faction was simply called the democrats. The former
represented eastern state interests while Jackson’s faction
represented South & West interests (this will be important later!)

4. Now back to your regularly scheduled Jefferson era

The Louisiana Purchase (1803)

1. That is a lot of land

Context & Reason

1. The mouth of the Mississippi River was important for ease of transport +
access to the port of New Orleans

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 a. The New Orleans Port is important as whoever owned it would be in
control of the channel that US produce needs to pass through—thus
becoming the US’ enemy

2. Spain had given up the Louisiana to France, cuz Napoleon had forced them in
the treaty of San Ildefonso in exchange of territoires in Tuscany

a. This was a secret treaty

3. But once Jefferson found out Louisiana was France’s again, he got worried
cuz the French are troublesome & he feared he would lose rights through
navigation on the Mississippi River

4. So, Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to try and offer $10 million for
purchasing New Orleans & Florida

5. In the meantime, Napoleon was losing the Haitian Revolution & needed more
money

a. Napoleon bought Louisiana cause he wanted to claim all of Europe for

France & his American colonies in Louisiana for a re-establishment of a
French colonial empire in NA

6. But it wasn’t worth it anymore so Napoleon offered the entire thing to America
on April 10th, 1803 for $15 mil

7. Jefferson would usually be against this display of power, but who wants stinky
French ppl living next to you right? (Also remember he believes in free-reign
farming people, free from industrialized places and gov influence)

a. So he submitted the treaty to the (very Republican) senate who very

quickly ratified it

Controversy

1. There were two main reasons why this purchase sparked controversy

2. Reason 1: well bc it was a bold move from strict constitution-interpreter anti-

federalist Jefferson; people wondered if this could be done and it was a big
power move from the gov

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 3. Reason 2: the south was already Republican enough, and so more western
states meant a potential imbalance in political power & more slave states. New
England feared their federalist voice would be diminished

a. They were so worried some federalists wanted to do the break-away-

from-union move a decade earlier and form a northern confederacy

b. But then they got caught which was a key factor in why the federalist party
dissolved

The Embargo Act (1807)

Context: Seizure of ships & impressment (1793-1800)

1. Remember how Britain & France r always fighting? Well in 1793 the French
Revolution had turned into a global conflict and Britain was against it.

a. Bc Britain was still a monarchy, this uproar was very unnerving for them
and they would very much like to keep being aristocrats

2. America was neutral and wanted to keep trading with France, but Britain had
none of it and started seizing American ships just trying to trade

3. Jay’s Treaty written by Hamilton in 1794 would resolve these hostilities but
then that angered the French who started seizing US ships themselves (lmao)

a. Jay’s Treaty: very unpopular treaty among Jeffersonian anti-federalists. it

was supported by Washington tho.

b. It was against revolutionary ideals & didn’t have protections for American
shipping + didn’t completely open up the British West Indies trade to
Americans; Americans felt like they were giving up too much

c. The biggest benefit was that the British did agree to pay for seizing ships
and removed some forts on the northwest territory

d. Jay did not manage to negotiate an end to the impressment of American

sailors into the Royal Navy which ended up being a key issue in the
beginning of the war of 1812 (so basically this treaty was like asking your
opponent to stop stabbing you and they said “how bout I pay for your
medical bills if u keep letting me stab you” and you said ok)

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 4. BACK TO THE FRENCH: they refused to let US foreign ministers in France to
negotiate and tried to get the US to pay a bribe for a settlement, but the U.S.
ministers said heck no and Adams started building up the navy instead

a. They fought the Quasi war (1798-1800) in the West Indies until France
realized Britain was helping America too and finally allowed in a foreign
minister for peace negotiations

Embargo Act

1. On June 22nd, 1807, British warship still fired on the USS Chesapeake and
impressed Americans into the British navy, which was the final straw for fed-
up Americans

2. Americans wanted war, but they didn’t rlly have much to fight with, so
Jefferson, who rlly wanted an end to impressment, passed the Embargo Act

a. That’s strike 2 of Jefferson doing things that doesn’t align with his views

3. The act prohibited ALL exports (which, you can see how this was a bad idea)

a. “You dare wreck my ships? Well I’ll just stop sending them!” “Jefferson you
do realize the entire issue was to be able to trade without issues right”

b. Imports were still allowed, but they slowed down once foreign ships
realized america wouldn’t export anything back

4. The economy was gutted: money from exports fell from $108 mil to $22 mil by
1808, and value in imports fell form $138 mil to $57 mil

5. Everyone hated this—esp federalists in New England

a. Jefferson seemed to still like it tho cause he only repealed it in 1809, the
final days of his presidency

b. But he wasn’t gonna go down that easy and replaced it with the Non-
Intercourse Act of 1809 instead—forbidding trade with Britain & France
instead of exports altogether

John Marshall & The Supreme Court

1. Recall how from 1800-1824 Democratic-Republicans had a majority of seats in
the house and were thus in control of the executive, legislative & judicial

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 branch

2. Therefore, the federalists were only in control of federal courts

a. Remember anti-federalists wanted stronger state govs and weaker central

govs

3. John Marshall was Jefferson’s cousin and had been appointed chief Justice of
the Supreme Court during the final months of Adam’s presidency

a. He strengthened the central gov in many ways

4. I’m going to be real the ppt says a lot more things that I don’t understand the
relevance of so basically the Supreme Court decided that the meaning of the
constitution (judicial review) was that federal laws took more importance over
state laws

a. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): Marshall rules that a state could not tax a
federal institution & federal laws > state laws

b. Fletcher v. Peck (1810): first time Marshall & Supreme Court declared a
state law to be unconstitutional and invalid

i. It involved land fraud in Georgia & how a state could not invalidate a
contract w/ à législation why is it French tf

American Expansion

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 From 1804-1806

America on the World Stage (War of 1812)

Context
There were two main reasons for this war

1. Impressment: the British kept impressing (not in that way) American citizens
from 1803-1812

2. Land: religious leader and one of the Shawnee brothers Tecumseh attempted
to unite all tribes against white Americans east of the Mississippi River, cause
you know they still wanted to defend their land

a. They were sadly defeated and Americans blamed the British for instigating
this rebellion cuz they provided some aid to Tecumseh

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 b. In addition, Americans wanted to expand their own settlement into British &
Spanish territories (&potentially conquer canada and end British influence
there too)

c. This hankering for more land was also what prompted Tecumseh & other
native tribes to revolt

3. Official declare of war: “By late 1811 the so-called “War Hawks” in Congress
were putting more and more pressure on Madison, and on June 18, 1812, the
president signed a declaration of war against Britain. Though Congress
ultimately voted for war, both House and Senate were bitterly divided on the
issue. Most Western and Southern congressmen supported war, while
Federalists (especially New Englanders who relied heavily on trade with
Britain) accused war advocates of using the excuse of maritime rights to
promote their expansionist agenda.“

War
1. We start the way we start all good things and that’s by immediately invading
Canada

2. However on August 16, 1812 the US defeated after Tecumseh and Brock forces
chased their troops across the canada border and scaring William Hull into
surrendering Detroit

3. Then the war looked good for Britain after Britain defeated Napoleon’s armies
in April 1814 and could direct all attention to this war

4. And then they burned the capitol

5. Oh yeah also in September of 1814 the battle of Plattsburgh inspired the spar-
spangled banner poem set to an old English drinking song

6. Many more American generals would emerge from this war, including Andrew
Jackson’s surge in popularity after the Battle of New Orleans , John Quincy
Adams, James Monroe and William Henry Harrison

Impact

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 1. The war ended with the Treaty of Ghent in 1814 in a stalemate

2. Literally nothing was gained

3. The biggest impact was how this created the fall of the federalist party

a. Since federalists were very against the war since the beginning, some
radical federalists met at the Hartford Convention in December of 1814 and
talked of secession (tho it was never serious)

b. After news broke out, they were deemed as unpatriotic and thus slowly
declined and faded with time

4. People also felt more nationalistic when the war began

5. The war also depended some inequalities between white men

America no longer a puny baby country??

1. America would obtain Florida & the Oregon territory from Spain for $5 from the
Adams-Onís Treaty

a. This happened after Jackson was ordered by President Monroe to clear

Seminole Indians from American soil; Jackson would March into Florida
and then capture two Spanish forts easily

2. Monroe Doctrine: Between 1817 & 1822, when many South American nations
were declaring independence from Spain, other European countries started to
try and regain those areas for Spain

a. This concerned the US cause ew Europeans 🤢 they literally spent the

past few years of existence trying to get them as far away as possible

b. Additionally, they did not want more Europeans interfering in their sphere
of influence

3. So, in President Monroe’s message to congress in 1823, he said that American

continents who already won independence are not subject for future European
colonization & any attempts to do so would be considered an “unfriendly
disposition” to the U.S.

4. This statement made by the still-young U.S. was considered… insignificant in

Europe or Latin America (woooo u rlly got ‘em america!!)

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 a. They only took it seriously cause Britain also sided with America in this
policy

5. Oh well, it went on to symbolize the completion of US independence and how

the U.S. stood in the world

6. Later on, this statement would be considered a “cornerstone of U.S. foreign

policy toward Latin America”

Politics & Policies (Beginning of the Civil

War) (1809-1820)

Example Policies
1. Tariff of 1816: tariff implemented in the beginning of the 1812 war, adding a
tariff to imported goods from Europe

a. was implemented to protect U.S. goods from international competition

b. very unpopular in the south, since they exported most of their cotton and
tobacco which was now much more expensive (which is like all of their
economy) & that these tariffs discouraged international exchange

c. the north liked it tho

2. Land policy in the west

Slavery
1. Slavery was the most controversial issue that divided the north and south

a. Everything discussed earlier had already been dividing the two, but this
was the issue

2. For a long time the constitutional convention would make compromises, such
as the great compromise & the 3/5th compromise

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 3. Couple with the famous balancing of slave v. free states, these policies all
worked to maintain a relatively tranquil peaceful surface above the boiling
waters below

4. Importation of enslaved Africans would rise in 1790s and was abolished in

1808

5. The cotton boom would also intensify the issue, but at this point (add date
here later), slavery was considered a local issue only

The Missouri Compromise

1. There were 9 slave states and 8 free states in 1818. All was well. Until Missouri
decided to be born in that year and everything completely plunged into boiling
waters

2. James Tallmadge had proposed an amendment to the bill prohibiting “further

introduction of slavery” and said any enslaved people born in Missouri would
be freed at the age of 25. This would ultimately mean that Missouri would be
implemented as a free state.

a. This idea was submitted to the house in Feb 1819, passed, but then
blocked in the senate by southerners

3. Three months later, representative Henry Clay would win support for 3 bulls
that represented the Missouri Compromise instead

2. Missouri would be a slave state, Maine would be a free state, and slavery
would be prohibited in the upper half of the U.S.

3. Preserved peace for 30 years until slave v. free state debate happened again

4. After the war of 1812 (year 1815), Henry Clay would proclaim support for the
American System

a. American System: a legislative economic program designed to unify the

nation by setting the 1) first protective tariff on imported goods (tariff of
1816) to encourage ppl buying American-made goods, 2) creating a
second national bank to provide more financial support for farmers so they
could take loans, and 3) establishing a national transportation system to
aid trade thru roads and canals which was good for New England states

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 b. This would cause debate as well over which regions would benefit more
from this system, and so only portions of the full proposal were enacted by
congress: the tariff of 1816 & the second national bank (“if you guys won’t
stop fighting I’m gonna be turning this car ((halfway)) around!”)

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