Chapter 8: The Early Republic, 1796-1804 1
CHAPTER 8
The Early Republic, 1796-1804
Learning Objectives
After you read and analyze this chapter, you should be able to:
1.Explain what the Federalists sought to achieve by engaging in a limited war with France in 1798 and how the Republicans reacted.
2.Describe the constraints Federalists tried to place on the incoming Republican president and analyze what Jefferson meant by the statement that “every difference of opinion is not a difference of principles,” along with the Federalists’ response to it.
3.Describe Jefferson’s vision of America’s future development when he became president and the policies he consequently adopted.
4.Analyze the impact of westward expansion during Jefferson’s presidency on Native Americans, African Americans, and on American society in general.
Chapter Outline
I.Conflict in the Adams Administration
A.The Split Election of 1796
1.The Republicans ran Jefferson for president and Aaron Burr for vice president.
a)Both shared a belief in democracy and republicanism.
2.The Federalists were divided between the two candidates for president.
a)Hamilton favored Thomas Pinckney.
b)Most backed John Adams.
3.Hamilton’s scheme to elect Pinckney led to the election of a president and vice president from two different parties.
a)Angry Federalists voted for Jefferson rather than Pinckney in the Electoral College.
b)Adams won the presidency and Jefferson the vice presidency.
4.Adams angered the Republicans.
a)He appointed Hamilton’s men to the Cabinet and refused to appoint James Madison to a diplomatic post.
B.XYZ: The Power of Patriotism
1.Adams faced conflict with France.
a)The French cut off relations with the United States because of the Federalists’ pro-British stance.
b)They began to seize American ships.
c)The XYZ Affair turned American public opinion against France.
2.A “Quasi-War” between France and the United States began.
a)Congress created a navy and authorized a standing army.
b)Hostilities did not occur on land but did take place at sea.
3.Federalists and Republicans differed sharply with regard to France.
a)Federalists favored full-scale war because of all that revolutionary France represented.
C.The Home Front in the Quasi-War
1.Congress enacted legislation to weaken the Republicans by countering the influence of immigrants.
a)The Naturalization Act extended residency requirement for citizenship from five to fourteen years.
b)The Alien Act gave the president power to deport foreigners identified as posing a danger to the U.S.
c)The Sedition Act outlawed criticism of the government or its officials.
2.The government prosecuted 15 Republican newspaper editors under the Sedition Act.
3.The Republicans responded to the Alien and Sedition Acts by turning to the states.
a)The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions asserted that the states could declare a federal law void.
4.The Quasi-War was financed by customs duties and land taxes.
a)In Pennsylvania, Fries Rebellion, a movement to free jailed tax resisters, was broken by federal troops.
D.Settlement with France
1.Sentiment for a peaceful settlement of the Quasi-War grew.
a)On his own, George Logan succeeded in making contact with the French government.
b)Adams decided to pursue Logan’s opening, and the United States and France agreed to end hostilities.
2.Adams’s decision for peace caused a widening of the gap between him and Hamilton.
II.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 to prevent a recurrence of this kind of crisis.
B.Federalist Defenses and a Loyal Opposition
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.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.
III.Republicanism in Action
A.Assault on Federalist Defenses
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 appointment—including 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, and this solidified Jefferson’s leadership of the Republican Party.
B.Implementing a New Economy
1.Albert Gallatin implemented Jefferson’s economic policies.
2.The government’s budget was slashed.
3.All internal taxes were repealed; customs duties and sale of western lands alone remained to finance the government.
C.Threats to Jefferson’s Vision
1.Conflict erupted again with the Barbary pirates.
a)Jefferson decided on war with them, rather than continue to pay 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.
D.Pushing Westward
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.
2.The Louisiana Purchase
a)France offered to sell all of Louisiana for $15 million.
b)Congress quickly ratified the purchase.
c)Even before the purchase, Jefferson sent the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the area.
IV.Challenge and Uncertainty in Jefferson’s America
A.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.Critics of Jefferson’s vision had some justification for their concerns about the rapid growth of the West.
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.
b)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)Economic opportunities available on the frontier lessened young people’s need to rely on their parents for support and lowered the age at which they began to break away.
(1)Young people also began to challenge their parents’ authority at home.
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 Problems of Race in Jefferson’s Republic
1.Jefferson believed that whites were superior to blacks.
2.In the North, blacks 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.
b)Until acculturation was complete, the Indians should be protected.
4.Some American Indian groups—Cherokees and 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.
Identifications
Identify the following items and explain the significance of each. While you should include any relevant historical terms, using your own words to write these definitions will help you better remember these items for your next exam.
1.Benjamin Banneker
2.Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Almanac and Ephemeris
3.election of 1796
4.Aaron Burr
5.Thomas Pinckney
6.Calvinists
7.statesman
8.Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
9.Affair
10.Quasi-War
11.Alien and Sedition Acts
12.Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
13.states’ rights
14.excise tax
15.Fries Rebellion
16.Napoleon Bonaparte
17.election of 1800
18.Twelfth Amendment
19.lame duck
20.Judiciary Act of 1801
21.John Marshall
22.opposition party
23.urbanization
24.supply and demand
25.constitutionality
26.Marbury v. Madison
27.precedent
28.judicial review
29.manifesto
30.impeach
31.Albert Gallatin
32.Santo Domingo
33.FranÇois Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture
34.Louisiana Purchase
35.Meriwether Lewis
36.appropriation
37.William Clark
38.Sacajawea
39.anti-expansionist
40.balance of payments
41.Natchez Trace
42.evangelicalism
43.rationalism
44.Trinity
45.Unitarianism
46.Henry Ware
47.African Methodist Episcopal Church
48.James Forten
49.acculturation
Multiple-Choice Questions
Select the correct answer.
1.In foreign affairs,
a.Adams sought an alliance with Spain to block British expansion.
b.the United States backed away from confronting the French on the high seas.
c.the Republicans favored France, while the Federalists supported Britain.
d.the Adams administration heeded Washington’s advice to stay away from engagement in European affairs.
2.Hamilton regarded the idea of democracy
a.as a good one whose time had not yet come.
b.in much the same way as Thomas Jefferson.
c.with disdain.
d.as the French Revolution’s greatest achievement.
3.The presidential election of 1796 was unique because
a.the president-elect and the vice president-elect represented opposing political parties.
b.political parties divided the electorate.
c.a former vice president was elected president.
d.the final electoral vote did not exactly mirror the popular vote.
4.To cope with the Republicans, the Federalists
a.sought to silence them by enacting the Sedition Act.
b.appointed them to important offices in order to win their support.
c.made certain to elect Jefferson to the vice presidency in 1796.
d.agreed to repeal the Judiciary Act of 1801.
5.The Twelfth Amendment
a.barred partisan politics from the Electoral College.
b.separated the Electoral College balloting for president and vice president.
c.undermined the implied-powers doctrine.
d.gave constitutional recognition to the presidential cabinet.
6.In Marbury v. Madison,
a.the Federalist chief justice ordered Madison to let Marbury assume his judicial position.
b.the outcome made the Republicans attempt to remove as many Federalist judges as possible from the courts.
c.John Marshall asserted the power of the Supreme Court to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional.
d.Samuel Chase set the stage for his later impeachment trial.
7.Jefferson’s plans for the United States included
a.encouraging the development of large cities.
b.a smaller, less expensive national government.
c.government assistance to encourage the development of industry.
d.laws like the Sedition Act to keep the Federalists under control.
8.In his conflict with the Barbary pirates, Jefferson
a.enjoyed an overwhelming victory.
b.had to rescue Americans who were being held hostage.
c.used the naval superiority of the United States to excellent advantage.
d.resolved the conflict with a successful land invasion of Tripoli.
9.The Louisiana Purchase
a.made the Federalists threaten to impeach Jefferson.
b.led to war with Spain.
c.ended the Quasi-War with France.
d.ended the recurring problem of American navigation on the Mississippi River once and for all.
10.The Lewis and Clark expedition
a.explored all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
b.discovered huge gold deposits in California.
c.caused President Jefferson immense political embarrassment.
d.led to a war with the Indians because Americans had now crossed the Mississippi River.
11.The Louisiana Purchase affected life in the East because
a.with a remote place in which they could hide, husbands began to desert their families in large numbers.
b.young people could declare their independence at an earlier age and move west for abundant land.
c.new sources of grain undermined prices for farm produce raised in the country’s older areas.
d.a boom in road building to the West began.
12.Evangelicalism spread quickly in the West because
a.it evolved from the deism of respected men like Jefferson.
b.it appealed to people who were rebels against all established authority.
c.it provided a sense of order and stability in areas where well-established institutions did not yet exist.
d.western settlers viewed it as the appropriate form of religion in a republic.
13.Thomas Jefferson’s attitudes toward American Indians included the view that
a.Indians were culturally less advanced than Europeans and Americans.
b.they all ought to be expelled to Canada.
c.their cultural level could never be raised.
d.they were descended from people who had once lived in Africa.
14.African Americans developed their own institutions in northern states because
a.every other ethnic group did so.
b.they hoped to develop their own culture in order to return one day to Africa.
c.they were excluded from white ones.
d.they preferred to segregate themselves.
15.In the presidential election of 1804, the Federalists hoped to use as their primary issue
a.their opposition to the Louisiana Purchase.
b.the Jeffersonian handling of the Chase trial.
c.the growing national debt.
d.an unfavorable balance of payments in international trade.
Essay Questions
1.As soon as he became president, Jefferson took steps to reverse the tendency of the Federalists to increase the power of the national government. Do you agree?
DEVELOPING YOUR ANSWER: It would be difficult to agree completely, in view of the fact that Jefferson took many decisive steps that added to the government’s power—and that of the president. He decided to go to war with the Barbary pirates. He sent out the Lewis and Clark expedition even before the United States had acquired land west of the Mississippi. Jefferson also acted decisively to purchase Louisiana.
On the other hand, Jefferson did not build up the government’s influence by taking positive steps to shape the economy as Hamilton had done. He did not, for example, create anything like Hamilton’s national bank. On the contrary, he believed that the marketplace should operate on its own, without government assistance or regulation. Jefferson (aided by Gallatin) also ended internal taxes, slashed the federal budget, and scaled back the government’s size, all of which would tend to reduce the power of the federal government.
2.Although the Louisiana Purchase and other western lands meant an opportunity for many Americans to improve their condition, westward expansion also gave rise to many social stresses. Explain how the western lands created strains in the lives of many Americans during the early 1800s.
DEVELOPING YOUR ANSWER: Young people could leave home at an earlier age because of the availability of land in the West. Complex, culturally diverse communities sprang up. The new regions were unstable economically because of transportation difficulties that complicated the shipment of produce. The rise of evangelical religion all over the West mirrored the uncertainties in people’s lives, as well as the absence of traditional, well-established controls.
In the East, as well, migration to the West must have made people uneasy. Families could no longer control the young as readily as they once had. Children were able to declare their independence at earlier ages.
3.In his Farewell Address, George Washington warned the nation about the adverse effects of political parties. Do subsequent events during the Adams and Jefferson administrations in your opinion prove that Washington had good reason to be alarmed?
DEVELOPING YOUR ANSWER: Some of the events that ensued do appear to bear out Washington’s alarm. The intensity of the conflict between Federalists and Republicans led to the Alien and Sedition Acts and to trials of newspaper editors for voicing their political opinions. Moreover, one could argue that political partisanship corrupted the courts. The Federalists rushed to appoint more judges before they left office. The Republicans then tried to purge the courts of Federalist judges on grounds other than those specified by law.
Other events and developments during Jefferson’s administration suggest that Washington need not have feared the rise of parties in American political life. In his inaugural address, Jefferson stressed that Federalists and Republicans shared many similarities. He argued for freedom of speech and made no effort to pay back the Federalists by using the Sedition Act against them, choosing instead to let it lapse. This attitude toward the opposition encouraged the development of the idea that the other political party was not the enemy. These examples point to parties as a reasonable development.