History Lecture 10 15 2013 Jefferson s Empire of Liberty 1791 1812 Key Terms Lewis and Clark Tecumseh War of 1812 Today s lecture will span four presidencies Washington 1789 1797 through Madison 1809 1817 Jefferson s Empire of Liberty Phrase first used in 1780 to describe Jefferson s vision for the new nation Indian Trade and Intercourse Acts 1790s A series of Acts aimed at facilitating U S territorial expansion while limiting violence on the frontier o They represent what the federal governments opinion on the Native Americans First Act required that all purchases of Indian land be negotiated by tribal leaders and federal commissioners o Logic that Native Americans have a claim to their land Land must be garnered through a treaty Subsequent acts established factories or trading posts o A place where natives could access American goods This was to assimilate them to the American lifestyle so that way they would give up their old traditions Emergence of the civilization program o Promised that if Native s converted to Christianity and joined the American way of life would be granted protection Like the praying towns Native Americans and Jefferson s empire of liberty In the 1790s Jefferson thought Native Americans could eventually be equal to whites but that they simply lived backwards lives Lewis and Clark Voyage began in summer of 1803 to explore the lands of the Louisiana Purchase The Corps of Discovery initially included 33 men including Clark s slave York Due to the size of their load travel was very slow First contact with Native Americans occurred north of present day Omaha The company would give presentations at each encounter o Showed off technology o Gave them medals of peace etc o Designed to introduce American lifestyle to the tribes now included in American territory In late 1804 Sacagawea and her French Canadian fur trader husband join the Corps Also joining them was another young Indian girl that that fur trader claimed as a wife o Sacagawea was sold to her husband which is why their marriage was not official o She was 5 months pregnant at the start of her journey She served as an intermediary between the expedition and native groups o She was even able to get them horses Historians assume that without Sacagawea their mission would not have been successful Arrive at the Pacific Ocean in November 1805 In January 1806 President Jefferson welcomes a delegation of Native Americans in Washington Significance of the journey o The expedition found that the land of the Louisiana Purchase was fertile The impact on Jefferson s views on Native Americans Second inauguration speech 1805 indicates a change o He no longer imagines native people as potential citizens o Limited respect for native sovereignty Tecumseh 1807 people assumed Native Americans would just slip into the American way of life He rallied warriors in hopes of creating a permanent Indian homeland in the centre of the United States He wants to create a permanent place where the Natives can have land in common not just to tribes United Indian States of America Even if the chiefs did not agree to his plan he would persuade the warriors out from underneath them He gathered about 20 different tribes August 1810 Tecumseh and Harrison have a confrontation over the lands o The talks continued for about a week o Tecumseh claims that the Americans are pushing the Natives into conflict Significant because Tecumseh took claim that he represented every single Indian Reminder that Native people are resisting westward movement throughout the entire times The impact on Jefferson s views on Native Americans cont In 1811 tensions between the US and the British begin to heat up o It becomes clear that a war is imminent Tecumseh seizes this moment and forms an alliance with the British War of 1812 Confederacy Waged to end the British threat on the seas and the Indian British alliance Tecumseh s War took place on many fronts o Great Lakes Maryland D C New Orleans The second war for independence o Tecumseh also saw this as a war for independence Tecumseh is killed in a battle in 1813 but his confederacy lives on In 1814 the Capital building and the White House were torched by the British Andrew Jackson gained fame in the Battle of New Orleans The war didn t end until 1815 in a draw o Many Americans still considered it a victory o This is followed by a wave of American patriotism The British ask the Americans to set aside some land in the West as a Native American reserve but the asshat Americans ignore them Tecumseh s vision officially dies when the treaty is drawn up Conclusion Despite Jefferson s desires to create an empire of liberty US territorial expansion depended on the rapid dispossession of Native Americans from their lands