The Democratic-Republicans in Power (1801 1815)
*The Revolution of 1800*
- In the Presidential Election of 1800, Jefferson and Burr both received 73 votes, soundly defeating the Federalist candidates, Adams and Pinckney. Since J&B tied, the decision was thrown into the House of Representatives. Due to Hamiltons anti-Burr sentiments, the House chose Jefferson.
- Anyhow, years later, Jefferson referred to his election as the Revolution of 1800 b/c it marked the restoration of a limited and frugal govt. Besides his beliefs in a simple, limited central govt, Jefferson called for unity in his First Inaugural Address.
- In reality, though, Jefferson was consolidating the DRs hold on power by refusing to recognize appointments Adams made in the last days of his presidency and by placing DRs in vacant seats formerly held by Federalists. The election of a DR Congress in 1800 completed the DR victory.
*Jeffersons Domestic Policies*
- So how did the DRs put their beliefs into policies for the country?
 A&S Acts the Alien and Sedition Acts, which the DRs had opposed from the start, were let expire in 1801 and 1802. Jefferson also refused to use the acts against his opponents, and pardoned all those indicted under the acts during the Adams administration.
 Naturalization Act of 1802 this replaced the Naturalization Act of 1798, setting the requirement for citizenship back to 5 years only [most immigrants were DRs].
 Debt Reduction Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin cut the army budget in ½ and also cut back on the navy in an effort to reduce the natl debt, which he predicted would be retired by 1817 with his plan. Unlike Hamilton, who saw the debt as a source of economic growth, Jefferson felt it was only the source of govt corruption.
 No Internal Taxes all internal taxes, including the Whiskey Tax, were repealed.
- Then there was the war w/the Judiciary, the last area of govt the Federalists still controlled, partially b/c of Adams midnight judges.
- In fact, the first problem related to the Judiciary Act of 1801, which created the 15 new judgeships Adams then filled w/Federalists and reduced the # of judges in the SC to 5 in order to deny Jefferson the privilege of choosing another judge. So, the DR Congress repealed the act, and Jefferson got to choose his judge.
- Then DRs began trying to remove opposition judges, starting w/an old drunk guy, Judge John Pickering, who actually was impeached. Then the House tried to impeach Federalist SC Justice Samuel Chase for judicial misconduct [he prosecuted people under the Sedition Act], but he was acquitted, setting the precedent that only criminal acts could lead to impeachment.
- The SC, b/c of Federalist Chief Justice John Marshall, continued to uphold federal over states rights and protect business interests, even after the DRs became a majority in 1811. Marshall was also responsible for elevating the stature of the judicial branch, especially through Marbury v. Madison (1803), where Marshall gave up the right to issue writs of mandamus in return for the greater power of judicial review [power of SC to rule state and federal laws unconstitutional and get rid of them].
*The Louisiana Purchase*
- Louisiana was a key area b/c the nation that controlled it automatically controlled New Orleans, which was a center for trading up and down the Mississippi River. So, the US preferred that the Spanish [weaker power], who had acquired the territory from France in 1763, have the area.
- In 1800 and 1801, however, France once again obtained control of the region. Oh no! Concerns grew when, right before giving the area to France, Spanish officials stopped letting Americans keep their goods in NO while waiting for their shipment to other countries.
- Jefferson responded by preparing for war and sending James Monroe to join Robert Livingston in France. Their goal: to buy NO. But they got a heck of a lot more than they bargained for when in April 1803 Napoleon offered the whole deal to the US for $15 million [needed the $].
- Strategically, the deal was a major dream, but there was the ever-annoying question: was it Constitutional for Jefferson to buy the land [didnt say in Constitution that Presidents could buy land]? Jefferson considered amending the Constitution for it, but decided the Presidents implied powers were enough. Besides, as an expansionist, it was just too good to pass up.
- In May 1804 Jefferson sent out Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to map the territory and go all the way to the Pacific Coast. L&C led the Corps of Discovery, which was a rather diverse group consisting of army regulars, young adventurer-wannabes, and Indian guides added along the way [Sacagawea]. The group arrived back home on September 23, 1806, bringing with them an extensive knowledge of the flora, fauna and peoples of the West.
- Other explorations, like the one led by Zebulon Pike, which explored the Southwest, followed, eventually leading to the creation of the Santa Fe Trail in the 1820s and the beginning of US settlement in Texas.
*Indian Resistance*
- The craze for expansion set off by the Louisiana Purchase certainly did not bode well for the Indians, who, due to continual land losses, were finding their traditional lifestyles difficult to maintain [disease was also a big problem].
- So in the early 1800s 2 Shawnee brothers, Prophet and Tecumseh led a revolt against American encroachment by creating a pan-Indian federation. Prophet, who claimed to have been born again, began the movement w/a religious POV by stressing a return to traditional moral values [no more alcohol].
- But by 1808 the pair, encouraged by the alliance-eager British to resist American land claims, was talking more about American aggression than about religion. Tecumseh took over and began traveling about to unify Indians in resistance against the Americans.
- Tecumseh led the Indians [who became British allies] against the Americans in the War of 1812 until his death at the Battle of the Thames, which marked the end of Indian unity.
*Political Factionalism and Jeffersons Reelection*
- Before the DR victory in 1800, Federalists objected to popular campaigning. After their loss, however, a new generation of Federalists began imitating their rivals, attacking the DRs for being autocratic Southern planters and stimulating fears of an overly weak army and navy.
- Competition between Federalists and DRs led to increasing participation in government, and grassroots campaigning efforts really began taking root [political BBQs].
- Since most Federalist never really got the hang of popular campaigning, the Federalists were weak at he natl level. Extremists like Timothy Pickering, who suggested the secession of NE in 1803/1804 [plan never worked b/c co-conspirator Burr wasnt elected NY Governor], did not help the Federalist position.
- When DRs werent busy fighting Feds they fought among themselves. The Hamilton-Burr Duel illustrates the explosiveness of the eras personal/political conflicts, but is *surprisingly* the only example where the situation deteriorated to the point to actual violence.
- On to the Presidential Election of 1804: Jefferson and Clinton [NY Governor] totally creamed Charles Pinckney and Rufus King [also of NY]. Jefferson campaigned by taking credit for the return of republican values and for the Louisiana Purchase.
*Prelude to the War of 1812*
- Jeffersons goals included non-involvement w/European conflicts in this, he was successful until 1805. After that, American commercial ties made it impossible to avoid entanglement in the European conflicts of the time.
- It all began with the renewal of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe in May 1803 [by then the US and Britain once again had friendly relationships]. This helped US commerce for 2 years, since it allowed America to become the chief supplier of food the Europe.
- But after the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 the Royal Navy tightened its control, a situation that worsened when Britain and France began blockading e/o trade to break the stalemate. This was terrible for US trade.
- The British then began violating US rights as a sovereign nation by: (1) impressing British-born sailors or British deserters on US ships and court-martialing alleged deserters, (2) interfering w/US trade in the West Indies and (3) searching and seizing US ships.
- So in February 1806 Congress passed the Non-Importation Act, which banned British manufactures from entering American ports, to protest British impressment. The act was more a warning than anything else, as it didnt ban the really important goods.
- Still, after failed attempts at negotiation the US-British relationship went down the drain, especially after the Chesapeake affair in June 1807. Inside US waters, the British ship Leopard fired on the Chesapeake after it refused to be searched for deserters. The ship was then boarded and four men were seized.
- This enraged Americans but also illustrated US military weakness, which prevented war. Instead, Jefferson closed American waters to the British, increased military spending, invoked the Non-Importation Act in December 1807 and then followed with the Embargo Act.
- A short-term measure meant to avoid war, the Embargo Act forbade all US exports to other countries. This was a majorly bad move b/c: (1) it killed the US economy (high unemployment), esp. in NE and led to smuggling, (2) it did not really hurt Britain overall as the people it affected (factory workers) had no role in govt, (3) it did not really hurt France b/c there was already was British blockade on Europe. Its only positive effect was that it encouraged domestic manufacturing.
- Then *perfect timing* came the Presidential Election of 1808. James Madison ran for the DRs (though his nomination was contested in the partys congressional caucus by James Monroe) and Pinckney and King once again ran for the Federalists. This time the Federalists had more of a chance [Embargo Act], and actually gained some seats in Congress.
men too after 1799 when a Seneca named Handsome Lake had visions and preached that Indians should redistribute their work for survival, but not give up their culture].
- Meanwhile, African Americans were also adapting parts of American culture to help them [the liberty, equality deal] and, as evangelicals became less egalitarian, began forming their own Baptist/Methodist congregations. These were sometimes used to plan revolts, such as Gabriels Revolt (1800) and Sanchos Conspiracy. Neither plan worked [they were found out] and they only resulted in increasingly severe laws against slaves.