1 What problems did Thomas Jefferson face as President in his second term What decisions did he make and what impact would they have on the nation During Thomas Jefferson s second term there were many hard hitting problems that arose and led to a hard term for Jefferson A small group of Federalists who apposed Jefferson and felt they were being drowned out by his supporters threatened to secede from the Union They would then create the Essex Junto a political entity apart from our government that favored political laws that helped the New England states and New York Jefferson also saw division in his very own Democratic Republican Party Some people believed that he went against the view of the party and gave more political power to the Federal Government and interfered with the rights of the states There was also corruption with Jefferson s former vice president Aaron Burr Burr made a deal with the Essex Junto that if he were elected Governor of New York then he would deliver the state to the northern confederacy When he didn t win the office he began to be involved in a conspiracy with former Revolutionary War commander James Wilkinson to create a new land in the Louisiana Territory for personal gain When Wilkinson threw Burr under the bus Burr was put on trial for treason The Economy and Neutrality also became issues within Jefferson s second term When the Napoleonic Wars began affecting the U S trade and Britain and France refused to accept American Neutrality Jefferson created the Embargo Act An act that ordered a ban on trade to European ports until Neutrality was recognized and accepted This served to have much larger consequences than Jefferson had ever intended to create The Embargo Act sprung the country into the worst economic depression since British Colonization Even though New England was most affected by the act people all over the country felt the blow The Economy of the South depended on the exportation of their staple crops such as tobacco and cotton Despite the turmoil the country endured Jefferson maintained a large support group but he refused to run for another term 2 What did the actions of frontier politicians such as William Henry Harrison do to bring the nation into war in 1812 What other issues contributed to the war The reasons that pushed America into the War of 1812 are almost a matter of peer pressure When James Madison became president in 1808 he continued the Embargo Act that Jefferson had created but renamed it the Nonintercourse Act which only stopped trade with Britain and France in order to achieve Neutrality France eventually saw their opportunity to accept the deal for the soul reason that America would then only embargo trade with Britain This stimulated the War Hawks or congressmen from the west and the south that campaigned for war with Britain These men included John C Calhoun Henry Clay and William Henry Harrison These politicians were Democratic Republicans and were voted into government circa 1810 The War Hawks voted to increase our country s militia and thought that if Britain saw that we were preparing for war they would yield to our authority This proved to be a large misconception on our part On June 18 1812 President Madison asked for a declaration of war from congress because of the pressure he got from the War Hawks and the angered Americans who were fed up with British interference 3 What were some of the principle battles of the War of 1812 Where were they fought Some principle battles of the War of 1812 include the Battle of Washington the Battle Lake Erie and the Battle of New Orleans The Battle of Washington was part of a long line of scare tactics Britain used on the United States This battle in particular involved the burning of the White House and other important government buildings Considering that Washington was our capitol it was not as guarded as it should have been Had it not been for Dolley Madison there would be many artifacts that would have burned in the fire such as Washington s famous portrait This gave a lot of doubt to American s about whether or not we were capable of winning the war However their doubt became their unity in the war due to their fear that they may lose Even though this was a dramatic event in our history there are many historians who believe that the event was exaggerated The Battle of Lake Erie established our naval capabilities When American Commander Perry took the British Captain Barclay prisoner along with the rest of the fleet This gave us control of Lake Erie and established our naval superiority over Britain The Battle of New Orleans was also a very important war even though it was fought after the treaty had been signed This battle was after Napoleon was finally defeated and British troops were able to invade New Orleans However General Andrew Jackson was aware of the impending attack and was awaiting their arrival When the British tried to storm the American troops our fire would not let them reach us The British major general was even killed in this battle however his death was not needed since the battle was technically post war This disastrous defeat of the British increased nationalism across the country and probably had the greatest affect on the American people as a whole 4 Was the War of 1812 a victory for the U S The War of 1812 was a victory in a sense for the U S because we improved in many areas and made changes that bettered our country Since we could not trade with Europe in the time of the war Americans were forced to produce their own goods that they would have imported other wise This stimulated industry and the growth of technology something Alexander Hamilton had advised years before The War of 1812 also had a large impact on the Era of Good Feelings After the War the Federalist Party became irrelevant leaving only the Democratic Republicans in politics This period of one party political bliss is known as the Era of Good Feelings and made for much agreement in the new changes that were coming The War of 1812 also spurred a time of economic prosperity after the war and made the U S self sufficient After launching the American System James Madison saw a time where states put forth money to support innovation and industry and encouraged domestic production Although there were many things that America took from the War of 1812 that bettered the country as a whole there was one thing that stuck with each American and helped in a larger scale than any other victory
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