History, U.s. Honors - 2008-09 - Ch 9a Lecture

Honors U.S. History 2008/2009 Mr. Irwin Week 9

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Lecture - Chapter 9A Defining the Nation 1801 - 1823 Election of 1800 - Thomas Jefferson becomes the Nation’s 3rd President Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican who epitomized the philosophy of his political party. He advocated that the United States would be best suited with a small and simple federal government; a government that would be capable of solving disputes between citizens, but one that did nothing to impede the economic and commercial endeavors of its citizenry. He believed strongly in individual liberty, the concept of limited government, and he saw the future of America as becoming an agrarian society. Jefferson believed strongly in the concept of separation of church and state, and has been quoted as writing that “religion is a matter which lies solely between a man & his God.” Voting in the Election of 1800 The U.S. Constitution specifies that the task of electing a president is to be done through individual state elections. For the most part, it was the population of propertyholding men who voted. With one (temporary) state exception, women were not allowed to vote. Free blacks were legally allowed to vote in most states, but were either prohibited from voting in the southern states, or discriminated against, through voting policies that had built in roadblocks, designed to keep free blacks from voting. By the election of 1800, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans had emerged as America’s two strong opposing political parties. Each side made great efforts to further their specific political philosophies, through the use of speeches, written documents, posters, newspapers, and magazines, in order to get their messages out to the public. In the early 1800s, the New York Evening Post became the voice of the Federalist Party, and the National Intelligencer became the voice of the Democratic Republican Party. These publications came out about five or six times per week. Jefferson Takes Office When Jefferson took over as President, he refused to recognize certain appointments that his predecessor, John Adams had made; after all, Adams was a Federalist and Jefferson was a Democratic Republican. Jefferson instead, filled treasury and judicial offices by awarding them to members of his own party, the Democratic Republicans. Jefferson’s reversal of these appointments upset many Federalists. Probably the most well known challenge to Jefferson’s denial of Federalists to government appointed office is the 1803 Supreme Court case of Marbury v Madison (which students will explore in groups). www.mirwin.weebly.com page 1 of 5

When Jefferson took office, he perceived a government already corrupt and bloated as the result of new positions that had been created in order to dole out government appointments as political favors. Jefferson began eliminating such positions, and set out to reduce the size and the expense of the federal government. Jefferson called for substantial reductions in federal spending, and implemented a plan designed to eliminate the government’s $83 million debt by the year 1817. Together with a Democratic-Republican controlled Congress, all U.S. internal taxes were rescinded, including the unpopular Whiskey Tax that had been passed in 1791. The Democratic-Republican Congress let the Seditions Act expire in 1801, and the Alien Act to expire in 1802. Also in 1802, Congress also revised the Naturalization Act of 1798, by lowering the residency requirement of aliens seeking to become a U.S. citizen from fourteen years to five years. President Jefferson and Congress also set their sights on incompetent or corrupt federal judges. Since federal judges are presidential appointments, they typically turn into longterm career positions. Jefferson did not want Federalist judges in the courts who might use their position to further the political philosophies of the Federalist Party. He wanted Federal judges on the bench who would rule based upon the merits of the case and the law. As the result Congress held impeachment proceedings against some of the Adams appointees. In 1803, through the impeachment process, federal judge John Pickering of New Hampshire was removed from office. It should be noted that during the Jefferson era, serious misconduct and/or criminal activity was established as the basis for removal of a federal judge from office. Simply removing a judge from office because he was a Federalist could not be a valid reason for impeachment. John Marshall – Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court During Jefferson’s presidency, and beyond, the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was John Marshall. Marshall was a Federalist who had been appointed by President Adams, with a term that would begin in 1801, the same year that Jefferson would take office. Marshall held this position from 1801 – 1835, and during those years he would consistently uphold federal supremacy over the states, and also rule in favor issues relating to commerce. During his years a Chief Justice, Marshall, through his rulings, strengthened the judicial branch of government to become comparable to that the legislative and executive branches of government. Marbury v Madison and the Concept of Judicial Review As the result of Jefferson’s refusal to allow Federalist William Marbury’s appointment as Justice of the Peace, in the District of Columbia, to go through, The Supreme Court of John Marshall would be given an opportunity to rule on the legality of Jefferson’s actions regarding the “Midnight Appointments” of John Adams. When Jefferson’s Secretary of State, James Madison refused to allow Marbury’s appointment to go through, Marbury filed suit against Madison. Ultimately, the case of

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Marbury v Madison made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1803. Marbury was seeking a writ of mandamus (a court order to force the appointment to go through). In accepting the case, the Marshall court had a dilemma on its hands. If the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Marbury, it was likely that Jefferson would still to refuse to allow Marbury’s appointment to go through. According to the Constitution, the judicial branch of government rules on and interprets laws, but it does not have the authority to enforce laws. According to the Constitution, it is the executive branch that has the authority to enforce federal law! On the other hand, if the Federalist dominated Supreme Court ruled that Jefferson had the right to deny Marbury’s appointment, the court would be handing down a political victory to Jefferson. Marshall found a way to rule on the case that xxx He ruled that Marbuy had the right to his appointment but that the Supreme Court could not compel Madison to honor the appointment because the Constitution did not grant the court the power to issue a writ of mandamus. Marshall then went on to rule that a section of a previous act of Congress, the Judiciary Act of 1789, that authorized the Court to issue writs, was unconstitutional. While this ruling might seem to diminish the power of the Court, it actually strengthens the power of the Supreme Court, because as the result of this ruling, the concept of judicial review is established. By establishing the power of judicial review for the Supreme Court, Marshall laid the foundation for the Court to be in position to be able to review the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress. Since the Constitution is the “supreme law of the land,” should upon review, the Court find that Congress has established a law that goes against the Constitution, the Court has the authority to declare such a law to be “null and void,” and therefore, the Court has the authority to order such a law to be retired. The Election of 1804 - Thomas Jefferson’s Second Term In the election of 1804, Thomas Jefferson was reelected. He won the election by a substantial margin of electoral votes over his opponent. By the early 1800s, there were hundreds of thousands of Americans settled along the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys. This was a source of friction with a number of Native American Indian tribes. Nevertheless, the white settlers in the northern part of this western frontier grew wheat. In the southern portion of this region, settlers began growing “short-staple” cotton, a crop that practically grew wild, but one that was very difficult to process because of its sticky seeds. The invention of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, in 1793, made it possible for one person to remove the same amount of cotton seeds from the plant that previously required fifty people to do by hand. As the result, the cultivation of cotton rapidly spread to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee. This increase in the production of cotton triggered an increase in the need for slave labor.

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The farmers of these west-inland states depended on the Mississippi River to transport their crops to market, and to bring needed supplies back to their farms and plantations. For the economic growth and success of the United States, the Mississippi was viewed as a very important resource. The territory west of the Mississippi had once been claimed as Spanish territory, but in 1801 and 1802, Spain transferred its holdings in this area to France. It seemed at the time, that Napoleon Bonaparte was interested in establishing a strong presence in this part of North America. According to Robert Livingston, America’s foreign Minister in Paris, “Every eye in the United States is focused on Louisiana.” With Pickney’s Treaty, the U.S. had had a treaty with Spain relating to the use of the Mississippi River, in the vicinity of New Orleans, and relating to the ability of the U.S. to deposit products in New Orleans, for shipment out of the area. On the eve of the transfer of New Orleans from Spain to France, access to this port city by American shippers was closed. The natural inference was that somehow, Napoleon had a scheme to cut off America’s ability to use the port of New Orleans. Jefferson sent James Monroe to join Robert Livingston in Paris, and gave instructions that the two should attempt to purchase New Orleans, and as much of the Mississippi Valley as possible from Napoleon. As it turned out, the two Americans were able to buy 827,000 square miles, the entire Louisiana Territory, for $15 million. Napoleon was occupied with a slave revolt, the French Revolution, and a war against Britain. As the result, he was forced to give up his idea of more colonies in North America. Instead, he took the $15 million from the United States to pay for the various conflicts that he was engaged in. The Louisiana Purchase gave Americans peace regarding access and control over the Mississippi River, and the port of New Orleans, although, some people were critical of this move. After all, Jefferson was in favor of “small government” and he wanted to erase the national debt by 1817. With the Louisiana Purchase, in the signing of just one treaty, he increased the national debt by $15 million. Some of Jefferson’s critics complained that the way in which the Louisiana Purchase was handled, was unconstitutional, and apparently, even Jefferson himself was said to question the constitutionality of the acquisition. Nevertheless, the Louisiana Territory became U.S. territory, and as the result, it increased the geographic size of the U.S. by more than one third. The Louisiana Purchase is considered the most import achievement of Jefferson’s presidency. Shortly after acquiring the Louisiana Territory from France, Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis & William Clark to map and explore the territory that very little was known about at the time. The Lewis & Clark expedition began in May 1804 and took more than two years to complete. *

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*Students will learn the details of the Lewis & Clark expedition by watching films in class.

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