Directions: Please read the following segments taken from various sources and take brief notes.

Where we left off

Jeffersons policies made him an extremely popular President during his first term. He succeeded in lowering
taxes, acquiring vast new territory in the West, and allowing the unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts to expire
without reinstating them. In addition to these domestic successes (victories at home), he kept the nation at
peace. His second term however, things went quite the opposite.


Jefferson Reelected
Source Digital History

In 1804, Jefferson was easily reelected. His second term began [optimistically]; he later wrote that his second
term began "without a cloud on the horizon.'' But storm clouds soon gathered as a result of war between Britain
and France.

In May 1803, just two weeks after Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States, France declared war on
Britain. The war lasted 12 years. During the war, Britain mastered the seas; but France remained supreme on
the land. [Neither European superpower respected the neutrality of the United States. French warships began
harassing Americans that were trading with Britain, and British warships interfered with American ships trading
with France].

As part of Napoleons [the French leader] overall strategy to bring Britain to its knees, he closed European ports
to British goods and ordered the seizure of any vessel that carried British goods or stopped in a British port.
Britain retaliated in 1807 by requiring all ships that land at a British port to obtain a license and pay a tariff.
United States shipping was caught in the crossfire. France seized 500 American ships and Britain
nearly 1,000.

The most outrageous violation of America's rights was the British practice of impressment. The British navy
desperately needed sailors. Unable to get enough volunteers, the British navy seized impressed men on streets
and in taverns. When these efforts failed to muster sufficient men, the British began to stop foreign ships and
remove seamen alleged to be British subjects. By 1811, nearly 10,000 American sailors had been forced
into the British navy. Some were actually deserters from British ships who made more money sailing on U.S.
ships.

Outrage over impressment reached a fever pitch in 1807 when the British man-of-war Leopard fired at the
American naval warship the Chesapeake, killing three American sailors. British authorities then boarded the
American ship and removed 4 sailors, only 1 of whom was really a British subject.

Embargo of 1807
In a desperate attempt to avert war, the United States imposed an embargo (a ban) on foreign trade. Jefferson
regarded the embargo as an idealistic experiment--a moral alternative to war. He believed that economic
coercion would convince Britain and France to respect Americas neutral rights. [A history channel historian
comments that it was like Jefferson saying You guys wanna act that way? Then fine, we wont trade with
either of you.]

[Unfortunately for Jefferson, however] the embargo was an unpopular and costly failure. It hurt the American
economy far more than it hurt the British or French and it resulted in widespread smuggling. American exports
fell from $108 million in 1807 to just $22 million in 1808. Farm prices fell sharply. Shippers also suffered.
Harbors filled with idle ships and nearly 30,000 sailors found themselves jobless.

Jefferson believed that Americans would cooperate with the embargo out of a sense of patriotism. Instead,
smuggling flourished, particularly through Canada. To enforce the embargo, Jefferson took steps that infringed
on his most cherished principles: individual liberties and opposition to a strong central government. He
mobilized the army and navy to enforce the blockade, and declared the Lake Champlain region of New York,
along the Canadian border, in a state of insurrection.

Pressure to abandon the embargo mounted, and early in 1809, just 3 days before Jefferson left office, Congress
repealed the embargo. In effect for 15 months, the embargo exacted no political concessions from either France
or Britain [in other words, USA got nothing out of it.] But it had produced economic hardship, evasion
of the law, and political dissension at home. Upset by the failure of his policies, the 65-year-old
Jefferson looked forward to his retirement: "Never did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I
shall on shaking off the shackles of power.'' The problem of defending American rights on the high seas now
fell to Jefferson's hand-picked successor, James Madison.




You do not have to write answers to these questions, but check your understanding by asking yourself the
following:
How did Jefferson feel at the start of his 2
nd
term as President and why?
What British and French actions were hurting the success of American trade?
How did Jefferson respond?
What was the impact of the embargo? Was it successful or unsuccessful and how do you know?
How did Jefferson feel leaving his 2
nd
term as President and why?

If you couldnt answer any of these questions, go back and read this portion again and use the videos on the
Jefferson presentation to review some concepts. If you are still confused, email Ms. Evers! If you are ready
to move on, keep reading below!
The Coming of the War of 1812
Source: www.ushistory.org
READ THIS HEADING: James Madison replaces Jefferson as President in 1808
James Madison faced difficult circumstances in office with increasing Indian violence in the west and war-
like conditions on the Atlantic Sea. These combined to push him away from a policy of economic coercion
(like the embargo Jefferson had used) toward an outright declaration of war. This intensification was
favored by a group of westerners and southerners in Congress called "WAR HAWKS."
Many historians now agree that the WAR OF 1812 (coming up next in this reading) was "a western war
with eastern labels." By this they mean that the real causes of the war stemmed from desire for control of
western Indian lands and clear access to trade through New Orleans. Many historians also think that the
claim that the war was an issue of national sovereignty (national power) - because the British had clearly
denied the Americans there national powers by interrupting their free trade on the Atlantic Ocean - was a
more honorable rationale for war (and therefore, the reason for the war that pro-war Americans
commonly discussed at the time). Even with the intense pressure of the War Hawks though, the United
States entered the war hesitantly and with especially strong opposition from Federalist New England.
When Congress declared war in June 1812, its heavily divided votes (19 to 13 in the Senate and 79 to 49
in the House) suggest that the republic entered the war as a divided nation.
READ THE HEADINGS AND PUT THE HEADING IN YOUR NOTES: STUDENT LOVE
TO SKIP HEADINGS FOR NO REASON. This sections heading is:
What was going on in the West?
Native American Resistance in the Trans-Appalachian West

In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the first white settlers in America inhabited the eastern seaboard.
There the whites either made treaties with the Native American groups to buy land or they forcibly took
Indian land. By the Revolution's end and on into the early 19th century, Native Americans were being
displaced across the Appalachians and toward what is today the Midwest. For these exiled groups, there
were few places left to go.
Outright military conflict with native groups in the northwest preceded (came before) the formal
declaration of war in 1812. In fact, the "WESTERN WAR" in many ways represented a continuation of the
American Revolution with many autonomous (independent, self-governing) INDIAN NATIONS again
choosing to ally with the British against Americans who fundamentally threatened their survival.
The American invasion of Native American territory from the east deeply disrupted native groups and
generally caused a sharp division within Indian nations. There were arguments between
"ACCOMMODATIONISTS," who chose to adopt some Euro-American ways versus "TRADITIONALISTS," who
called for native purity by rejecting contact with whites. Both sides were authentically Native American,
but they each chose different routes to deal with a terrible situation.
Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, SHAWNEE brothers, were leading Indian traditionalists, and together they
crafted a novel resurgence among native peoples in the west. TECUMSEH, a political and military leader, is
the better known of the two (side note: he could likely be on your Cambridge exam), but it was their
combined skills that made them especially powerful. Tecumseh led a band of militant young warriors.
His younger brother TENSKWATAWA provided the essential vision to launch a much broader Indian social
movement. Also known as the PROPHET, Tenskwatawa combined traditional native beliefs with some
aspects of Christianity to call for a pan-Indian resistance against American intruders from the east. He
explained that when native peoples joined together and rejected all contact with Americans and their ways
(from alcohol to private property), God would restore Indian power by "overturning the land so that all the
white people will be covered and you alone shall inhabit the land."
Tecumseh gradually converted to the Prophet's vision and together they built a broad movement that
revived the WESTERN CONFEDERACY of the 1790s and even reached out to southern tribes with stronger
accommodationist factions. In 1808 they founded PROPHETSTOWN from which they built a strong Indian
alliance that directly challenged the U.S. government.
This growing Indian force threatened American plans to move west and seemed especially dangerous
since it received economic and military support from the British in Canada. In November 1811 the U.S.
destroyed Prophetstown during the BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE, under the leadership of future president
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. Tecumseh was away at the time recruiting southern Creeks to the confederacy.
Tecumseh's successful military resistance continued and threatened white settlements throughout the
northwest. Tecumseh had so profoundly challenged U.S. plans in the northwest that when he was finally
killed at the BATTLE OF THE THAMES in October 1813 it was seen as a major American victory even though it
meant quite little strategically.


The Second War for Independence Begins
Why did the United States declare war on Britain in 1812?
Source Digital History

In 1809, Congress replaced the failed Embargo of 1807 with the Non-Intercourse Act, which reopened trade
with all nations except Britain and France. Then in 1810, Congress replaced the Non-Intercourse Act with a
new measure that reopened trade with France and Britain. This new decision stated, however, that if either
Britain or France agreed to respect America's neutral rights, the United States would immediately stop trade
with the other nation (they were hoping to encourage either France or Britain to start respecting Americas
neutral rights!). Napoleon seized on this new policy in an effort to entangle the United States in his war with
Britain. He announced a repeal of all French restrictions on American trade. Even though France continued to
seize American ships and cargoes, President Madison snapped at the bait. In early 1811, he cut off trade with
Britain and recalled (brought him back home) the American minister from Britain.

For 19 months, the British went without American trade. Food shortages, mounting unemployment, and
increasing inventories of unsold manufactured goods finally convinced Britain to end their restrictions on
American trade. But the decision came too late. On June 1, 1812, President Madison asked Congress for a
declaration of war. A divided House and Senate agreed. The House voted to declare war on Britain by a vote of
79 to 49; the Senate by a vote of 19 to 13.

The most loudly voiced grievance was British interference with American rights on the high seas. "Free Trade
and Sailors' Rights" was a popular battle cry. But if British harassment of American shipping was the primary
motivation for war, why then did the pro-war majority in Congress come largely from the South, the West, and
the frontier, and not from northeastern ship owners and sailors?

This was because Northeastern Federalists regarded war with Britain as a grave mistake. The United States,
they feared, could not hope to successfully challenge British supremacy on the seas and the government could
not finance a war without bankrupting the country.

Southerners and westerners, in contrast, were eager to avenge British insults against American honor. Many
westerners and southerners had their eye on expansion, viewing war as an opportunity to add Canada and
Spanish-held Florida to the United States (if they beat the British or other countries, they could potentially take
North American territory owned by those European countries).

War with Britain also offered another incentive: the possibility of clearing western lands of Indians by removing
the Indians' strongest ally--the British. In late 1811, General William Henry Harrison provoked a fight with an
Indian alliance at Tippecanoe Creek in Indiana (mentioned above). Since British guns were found on the
battlefield, many Americans concluded that Britain was responsible for the incident.

Weary of Jefferson and Madison's policy of economic coercion, voters swept 63 out of 142 representatives out
of Congress in 1810 and replaced them with young Jeffersonian Republicans that Federalists dubbed "War
Hawks." Having grown up on tales of heroism during the American Revolution, second-generation Jeffersonian
Republicans were eager to prove their manhood in a "second war of independence."


The Second War for American Independence
In the War of 1812 the United States once again fought against the British and their Indian allies. Some
historians see the conflict as a Second War for American Independence.
The three-year war marks a traditional boundary between the early republic and early national periods.
The former period had strong ties to the more hierarchical colonial world of the 18th century, while post-
war developments would move in dynamic new directions that contributed to a more
autonomous (self-governing, independent) American society and culture. Although the War of
1812 serves as an important turning point in the development of an independent United States, the war
itself was mostly a political and military disaster for the country.

The Americans were angry with the British for many reasons such as:
The British didn't withdraw from American territory as they had agreed to in the 1783 Treaty of
Paris.
Britain kept aiding Native Americans.
Britain would not sign favorable commercial agreements with the U.S.
Impressment: Britain claimed the right to take any British sailors serving on American merchant
ships. In practice, the British took many American sailors and forced them to serve on British ships.
This was nothing short of kidnapping.
In 1807, The British ship Leopard fired on the American ship Chesapeake killing American sailors.
Other American merchant ships came under harassment from the British navy.
War Hawks in Congress pushed for the conflict.

But the United States was not really ready for war. The U.S. Congress was far from unanimous in its
declaration of war.
The Americans hoped to get a jump on the British by conquering CANADA in the campaigns of 1812 and
1813. The first American attacks were disjointed and failed. America's initial invasion of Canada (then
ruled by England) in the summer of 1812 was repulsed by Tecumseh and the British. The U.S. was unable
to mount a major invasion of Canada because of significant domestic discord (internal disagreement) over
war policy. Most importantly, the governors of most New England states refused to allow their state
militias to join a campaign beyond state boundaries. Similarly, a promising young Congressman from New
Hampshire, DANIEL WEBSTER, actually discouraged ENLISTMENT in the U.S. army! [Clearly, not all
Americans were willing to support this war!]
In 1813, the Americans tried an intricate attack on Montreal by a combined land and sea operation. That
failed too. One bright spot for the Americans was when the British were overtaken in October, defeated at
the Battle of the Thames by Americans led by William Henry Harrison, the future President. It was here
that the Shawnee chief, and British ally, Tecumseh was killed.
Minor victories aside, things looked bleak for the Americans in 1814. British military dominance was even
clearer in the Atlantic and this naval superiority allowed it to deliver a shaming blow to the fragile United
States in the summer of 1814. With Napoleon's French forces failing in Europe, Britain committed more of
its resources to the American war. The British were able to devote more men and ships. England
conceived of an attack focusing on controlling major waterways. Control would seriously disrupt the
farmers and traders of the Midwest; and by attacking the Chesapeake Bay, the British hoped to threaten
Washington, D.C. and put an end to the war and pressure the U.S. into ceding territory in a peace treaty.
All the while, the war was losing support in America.
So weak was American military opposition that the British easily marched into Washington D.C. after
winning the BATTLE OF BLADENSBURG and burned most of the public buildings including the White House.
PRESIDENT MADISON had to flee the city! His wife Dolley gathered invaluable national objects and escaped
with them at the last minute. It was the low-point of the war. On the edge of national bankruptcy and
with the capital largely in ashes, total American disaster was averted when the British failed to capture FT.
MCHENRY that protected nearby Baltimore.
Watching the failed attack on Ft. McHenry as a prisoner of the British, FRANCIS SCOTT KEY wrote a poem
later called "THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER" which was set to the tune of an English drinking song. It became
the official NATIONAL ANTHEM of the United States of America in 1931.
The most critical moment of the War of 1812, however, may not have been a battle, but rather
a political meeting called by the Massachusetts legislature. The war was losing support in America.
Federalist New England's opposition to national policies had been demonstrated in numerous ways from
circumventing trade restrictions as early as 1807, to voting against the initial declaration of war in 1812,
refusing to contribute state militia to the national army, and now its representatives were moving on a
dangerous course of semi-autonomy during war time. Beginning in December 1814, 26 Federalists
representing New England states met at the HARTFORD CONVENTION to discuss how to reverse the
decline of their party and the region. Although manufacturing was booming and contraband trade brought
riches to the region, "MR. MADISON'S WAR" and its expenses proved unpopular with New Englanders. Costs
associated with the war were skyrocketing. New England talked of seceding from the Union [that
means, leaving the United State altogether!]. At the Hartford Convention, delegates proposed
constitutional amendments that would limit the power of the executive branch of government (how the
tables have turned! Now Federalists are trying to limit the national government!).
Holding this meeting during the war was deeply controversial. Although more moderate leaders voted
down extremists who called for New England to secede (leave) from the United States, most Jeffersonian
Republicans believed that the Hartford Convention was an act of treason.
If a peace treaty ending the War of 1812 had not been signed while the Hartford Convention was still
meeting, New England may have seriously debated seceding from the Union.
But the Americans put up a strong opposition in Baltimore and the British were forced to pull back from
that city. In the north, about 10,000 British army veterans advanced into the United States through
Montreal: their goal was New York City. With American fortunes looking their bleakest, the Americans
won an important naval battle at Lake Champlain destroying the British fleet. The British army, fearful of
not being supplied by the British navy, retreated into Canada.
The War of 1812 came to an end largely because the British public had grown tired of the
sacrifice and expense of their twenty-year war against France. Now that Napoleon was all but
finally defeated, the minor war against the United States in North America lost popular support.
Negotiations began in August 1814 and on Christmas Eve the TREATY OF GHENT was signed. The treaty
called for the mutual restoration of territory based on pre-war boundaries and with the European war now
over, the issue of American neutrality had no significance.

In effect, the treaty didn't change anything and hardly justified three years of war and the deep
divide in American politics that it exacerbated.

Popular memory of the War of 1812 might have been quite so dour if had it not been for a major victory
won by American forces at New Orleans on January 8, 1815. Although the peace treaty had already been
signed, news of it had not yet arrived on the battlefront where GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON led a decisive
victory resulting in 700 British casualties versus only 13 American deaths. Of course, the BATTLE OF NEW
ORLEANS had no military or diplomatic significance, but it did allow Americans to swagger with the claim of
a great win.
Furthermore, the victory launched the public career of Andrew Jackson as a new kind of American leader
totally different from those who had guided the nation through the Revolution and early republic. The
Battle of New Orleans gave Jackson heroic status and he became a symbol of the new American nation
emerging in the early 19th century.

The Wars Significance THIS SECTION IS REALLY IMPORTANT
Source Digital History

Although often treated as a minor footnote to the bloody European war between France and Britain, the
War of 1812 was crucial for the United States. First, it effectively destroyed the Indians' ability to resist
American expansion east of the Mississippi River. General Andrew Jackson crushed the Creek Indians at
the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama, while General William Henry Harrison defeated Indians in the
Old Northwest at the Battle of the Thames. Abandoned by their British allies, the Indians reluctantly ceded
(gave up) most of their lands north of the Ohio River and in southern and western Alabama to the U.S.
government.

Second, the war allowed the United States to rewrite its boundaries with Spain and solidify control over
the lower Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Although the United States did not defeat the British
Empire, it had fought the world's strongest power to a draw! Spain recognized the significance of this fact,
and in 1819 Spanish leaders abandoned Florida and agreed to an American boundary running clear to the
Pacific Ocean.

Third, the Federalist Party never recovered from its opposition to the war. Many Federalists believed that
the War of 1812 was fought to help Napoleon in his struggle against Britain, and they opposed the war by
refusing to pay taxes, boycotting war loans, and refusing to furnish troops. [As mentioned earlier in this
reading,] in December 1814, delegates from New England gathered in Hartford, Connecticut, where they
recommended a series of constitutional amendments to restrict the power of Congress to wage war,
regulate commerce, and admit new states. The delegates also supported a one-term president (in order to
break the grip of Virginians on the presidency) and abolition of the Three-fifths clause in the Constitution
(which they felt increased the political power of the South), and talked of seceding if they did not get their
way. These proposals of the Hartford Convention became public knowledge at the same time as the terms
of the Treaty of Ghent and the American victory in the Battle of New Orleans. This was bad timing for the
Federalists because euphoria and excitement over the war's end led many people to view/brand the
Federalists as traitors. The party never recovered from this stigma and disappeared from national politics.

You do not have to write answers to these questions, but check your understanding by asking yourself the
following:
Who took over after Jefferson?
Who was Tecumseh?
What did his brother, the Prophet, think the native people should do?
What is the difference between accommodationists and traditionalists?
Why did Americans go to war in 1812?
Did all Americans want to go to war in 1812? How do you know?
Were the Americans consistently successful during the war?
What happened to the White House?
What treaty ended the war? When?
Who was the hero of the Battle of New Orleans?
The people at the Hartford Convention were Federalists that didnt like the war. What did they talk
about doing at this convention?
What were the impacts/consequences of the war? What changed after this war?

If you couldnt answer any of these questions, go back and read this portion again. Then watch the Hip
Hughes video on the website. If you are still confused, email Ms. Evers! You are about 10 minutes away
from being done!