Passages History 1301 Chapter 8 Outline

Chapter Outline

Religion in American Society:  As Americans faced a new century with mounting fears, religious revivalism swept the country.

A.     The Second Great Awakening:  Evangelicalism moved from New England onto the frontier, where numerous Protestant denominations established strong congregations.

B.     Growth of Sects:  Smaller sects also emerged, among them the Shakers, who established communal societies, and the Universalists, who preached a message of salvation for all of humanity.

C.     Revivalism among Native Americans:  Revivalism also occurred among Native Americans, with prophets such as Handsome Lake calling on their people to reject American ways and return to their own traditions.

African Americans:  African Americans in all regions of the country faced discrimination, whether slave or free.

A.     Free Blacks in the North:  Although slavery came to a relatively quick end in the North, free blacks continued to experience discrimination in all areas, and internal support groups became extremely important to the African American community.

B.     Slave Rebellion in the South:  The South, with its large black population, grew more concerned about possible slave rebellions, and after news spread about an attempted rebellion in Virginia, whites began to enact stronger slave codes.

Jefferson’s Republic:  The United States began to come of age under the Republican leadership of Thomas Jefferson, and Americans realized that much work was still to be done.

A.     The Election of 1800:  Late in his first term, President Adams made peace with France and, ironically, angered so many Federalists that he helped Jefferson defeat him.

1.       The election ended in a tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr, a situation that had to be settled by the House of Representatives.

2.       To gain the presidency, Jefferson compromised with the Federalists on a number of major issues, including neutrality, the navy, and the country’s fiscal program.

B.     Jefferson’s “Revolution”:  While Jefferson was determined to keep the federal government small and relatively informal, the growing prestige of the United States made it clear that true isolation would be almost impossible.

C.     The Judiciary:  The Judiciary Act of 1801 enlarged and improved the federal court system, and the Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison validated the constitutional provision of judicial review.

D.      Domestic Politics:  As the Republican party grew in strength, Congress enacted the Twelfth Amendment as a means of avoiding the electoral problem that had surfaced in 1800.

IV.  The Louisiana Purchase:   The greatest success of Jefferson’s presidency was the Louisiana Purchase, which enlarged the country and settled a number of important issues with France and Spain.

A.     The Bargain with Napoleon:  Attempting to purchase the port city of New Orleans from the French, Jefferson was offered the entire Louisiana Territory; despite his concerns about the constitutionality of such a purchase, the president accepted, thus doubling the size of the country.

B.     Disputes with Spain:  Jefferson then set his sights on West Florida, but the Spanish, angered over the situation with Louisiana, refused to submit.

C.     The Lewis and Clark Expedition:  The Lewis and Clark Expedition spent more than two years exploring the newly acquired territory and providing tremendous amounts of information about the lands there.

D.     Spies and Infiltrators:  The Spanish, concerned about losing their control of the Southwest, began to encourage Native Americans to settle in Texas but refused to allow Americans to settle there.

E.      The Burr Conspiracy:  In a strange twist, Aaron Burr became involved in a doomed conspiracy to build a separate nation in the West; he was tried for treason but was cleared on legal technicalities.

More Foreign Entanglements:  Late in Jefferson’s presidency, the United States again found itself having to deal with problems with both Britain and France, which were once again at war with each other.

A.     A Perilous Neutrality:  Tensions between Britain and the United States escalated over trade restrictions and impressments.

B.     The Embargo of 1807:  The Embargo Act of 1807, which prohibited exportation of goods to all other countries, harmed American commerce more than anything else, and just before Jefferson left office, Congress oversaw its repeal.

Madison and the War of 1812:  The stage was set for Jefferson’s successor to decide what to do about Britain’s actions.

A.     The Election of 1808:  Choosing not to run for a third term, Jefferson was replaced by another Republican, James Madison.

B.     Heading for War:  Madison inherited a situation that seemed destined to take the country into war: the British were inciting Indians in the Ohio valley and impressing American sailors, and Americans were growing more angry.

C.     The War of 1812 Begins:  The United States was less than prepared when “War Hawks” in Congress voted to support Madison’s call for war, and all were somewhat surprised when the nation experienced some naval successes in the first days of the War if 1812.

D.     Victories and Losses, 1813-1814:  On land, it was late in 1814 before the Americans began to win many battles, but then matters moved quickly.

E.      The Hartford Convention:  Delegates to the Hartford Convention, opposed to the war, converged on Congress just in time to learn that a peace treaty had already been signed.

F.      The Treaty of Ghent:  The Treaty of Ghent basically left things as they had been before the war began, but the basic problems between the two countries began to resolve themselves informally.

G.     Battle of New Orleans:  Due to poor communications, the largest battle of the war actually took place after the peace treaty was signed, when Andrew Jackson’s forces successfully defended the city of New Orleans.

Conclusion: In some respects, the War of 1812 might seem to have been needlessly fought, since it ended with a return to the status quo ante bellum. However, Americans realized that they had held their own against the most powerful nation on earth, and their sense of belonging to their new country increased. At the same time, they put down Indian resistance in the West. The political process was working, with control of the presidency moving peacefully from one political party to another. The country was twice as large as it had been. The future appeared bright indeed.