Lecture 8: The Triumphs and Trials of Jeffersonianism, 1800-1815 I. The "Revolution of 1800" A. The Lesser of Republican Evils 1. The Federalists were again split internally. a. Hamilton sought Adams’s defeat as president and the election of C.C. Pinckney instead. b. Southern Federalists supported Jefferson. 2. Jefferson’s election as president was decided by the House of Representatives. a. Jefferson and Burr (who was running for vice president) had tied in the Electoral College. b. Hamilton threw his support to Jefferson. c. Two states mobilized their militias to prevent Jefferson’s defeat. d. The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution was adopted toprevent a recurrence of this kind of crisis. B. Federalist Defenses and Party Acceptance 1. The outgoing Federalist-controlled Congress consolidated its hold on the judiciary. a. The Judiciary Act of 1801 created new judicial positions, which Adams rushed to fill before he left office. 2. Jefferson sought reconciliation with the Federalists. a. His inaugural address stressed the similarities between Republicans and Federalists and advocated free speech for the party out of power. b. In turn, the concept of the loyal opposition began to take root. C. Madison versus the Midnight Appointments 1. The Republicans moved to end Federalist control of the courts.a. They repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801. b. James Madison withheld undelivered letters of appointmentincluding William Marbury’s. 2. John Marshall developed the doctrine of judicial review. a. In Marbury v. Madison he ruled that the relevant law in Marbury’s attempt to obtain his letter of appointment was unconstitutional. b. It established the principle that federal courts, rather than states, could decide the constitutionality of acts of Congress. 3. The Republicans attempted to remove presiding Federalist judges from the bench. a. John Pickering was impeached. b. The effort to impeach Samuel Chase failed. c. This solidified Jefferson’s leadership of the Republican party. 1II. Republicanism in Action A. Jefferson’s Vision for America 1. Jefferson favored a nation of small farmers. a. The evils of overpopulation and large cities would thereby be avoided. b. Manufactured goods could be imported from Europe in return for American produce. c. Government would stay away from shaping the economy on behalf of business. d. Free trade would benefit both America and Europe. 2. Albert Gallatin implemented Jefferson’s economic policies. a. The government’s budget was slashed. b. All internal taxes were repealed; customs duties and sale of western lands alone remained to finance the government. B. War in the Mediterranean 1. Conflict erupted again with the Barbary pirates. a. Jefferson decided on war with them, rather than continue topay them not to attack American shipping. b. Hostilities lasted until 1805, when the United States ransomed captured Americans in return for a cessation of Barbary piracy. C. Crisis in America’s Interior 1. Jefferson feared conflict with France over American access to the Mississippi River. a. Spain had given its lands in North America to France and had suspended free trade at New Orleans. b. America feared the French army sent to recapture Santo Domingo might next head for New Orleans. c. Jefferson went so far as to contemplate an alliance with the British. D. The Louisiana Purchase 1. France offered to sell all of Louisiana for $15 million. a. Jefferson’s representatives in Europe agreed, though originally authorized to spend only $2 million. 2. Congress quickly ratified the purchase. a. Only Federalists from the Northeast opposed it. 3. Even before the purchase, Jefferson sent a secret expedition to explore the area. a. The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached all the way to the Pacific Ocean. III. Challenge and Uncertainty in Jefferson’s America 2A. The Heritage of Partisan Politics 1. Federalists found themselves in a weak position as the election of 1804 approached. a. Jefferson’s policies and achievements made the Republicans exceedingly popular and gave them the election by a wide margin. b. The Federalists tried to make an issue of the Louisiana Purchase. B. Westward Expansion and Social Stress 1. The West attracted huge numbers of settlers, giving rise, in turn, to new anxieties. a. Eastern businessmen feared a decline in their political influence and profits and a rise in labor costs. b. Western authorities struggled to absorb all the newcomers and to keep peace with the Indians. 2. The West’s economy was problematic. a. Exporting produce proved expensive because of the country’s limited transportation routes. The ebb and flow in new settlement led to economic unpredictability. 3. Social instability also appeared. a. Settled mostly by young men, western communities were not orderly. b. In the East, the young reached independence at an earlier age because they could leave home to migrate west. C. The Religious Response to Social Change 1. Religious developments mirrored the nation’s changing society. a. Rationalism, culminating in Unitarianism, appealed to easterners seeking to advance in commerce and manufacturing. b. Evangelical churches grew rapidly in the South and especially in the West. D. The Problem of Race in Jefferson’s Republic 1. Jefferson believed that whites were superior to blacks. 2. In the North, African-Americans undertook to develop their own institutions. a. Despite emancipation in the North, they were systematically excluded from white society. b. African Methodist Episcopal churches developed in many communities. c. The churches, in turn, developed educational and other institutions. 3. Jefferson regarded American Indians not as inferior to whites but as culturally backward a. Services for Indians developed by his administration aimed to transmit white culture to them. 3b. Until acculturation was complete, the Indians should be protected. 4. Some American Indian groups - Cherokees, Creeks - began to centralize and to build their own economies. a. Nearby whites regarded these developments as impediments to their own westward expansion. b. Fearing conflict, Jefferson encouraged such American Indians to move farther west. c. This idea of segregating Native Americans would form the basis for Indian policy for the rest of the century. IV. Troubling Currents in Jefferson’s America A. Emerging Factions in American Politics 1. Federalists in the Northeast began to plan to secede from the United States.