History 210-1Lecture 15Thomas Jefferson’s Empire and Liberty (1801-1809)MadisonMonroe (1818-1825)I. Jefferson’s agrarian ideal

a. Fundamentally ironic: vision of agrarian republic, small government; but they actually made the government larger and the agrarian vision more remote than ever

b. By 1815: nation and Jefferson were fundamentally transformed in a way Jefferson did not want

c. Believed republics were fragile forms of government—only would work if citizens have impeccable morals, so must secure the environment to cultivate these morals

d. Saw Hamilton’s economic powerhouse and Britain model as masses of poor people starving—a distinct political threat

e. Poverty is threat to very practice of republicanism i. Poor people were so desperate that they would lose the ability

to make selfless decisions (only make decisions for self-interest)

ii. Yeoman farmers that are economically independent are also politically democratic as well

II. Conditions necessary to achieve that ideala. Good government

i. Secured with Jefferson’s “Revolution of 1800” (and sustained through 1825 with the presidencies of James Madison and James Monroe)

ii. Cut government employeesiii. Cut size of army by a third and navy; undoes Hamilton’s taxes

because not much to pay for anymore; pardoned those under Alien and Sedition Acts

iv. The United States is a “chosen country”b. Land

i. Impulse towards expansion1. Vision is inherently expansive—national growth2. Hamilton—qualitative/intensive3. Jefferson—quantitative/extensive

ii. The Louisiana Purchase (1803)1. “Empire of liberty”

a. Empire that will bring liberty to its citizen by getting them the land they needed to become these virtuous farmers/citizens

b. Doubled size of US for $15 million from Napoleon

2. Constitutional doubtsc. Accessible foreign markets

i. Role of commerce in Jefferson’s agrarian vision

1. Needed a place to sell agricultural surplus 2. Afraid if they have too much leisure timebecome

frivolous, wealthy, reckless and lose virtueii. Napoleonic Wars’ impact on America (1803-1815)

1. Massive, violent vortexthreatened to drag entire world with them

2. Britain vs. France trading (if you’re not with us, you’re against us)

3. Tells each country, the US is a neutral power—under international law, can trade with belligerents on either side

4. British searches on the high seas5. Impressment

iii. Embargo Act (1807)1. Outlaws all foreign imports/trade between US and rest

of world—breathtaking assertion of federal power2. Ends up hurting America more/faster than

Britain/France—they secured markets elsewhere in Latin America

iv. Non-Intercourse Act (1809)1. Repeals Embargo and replaces it with Non-intercourse

Act right after Madison’s inauguration 2. Only banned trade with France and Britain (not entire

world)3. Still not working—impressments continue

v. War of 1812 (-1815)1. Undermining the agrarian ideal and transforming

the Jeffersoniansa. One generation after Revolution, fighting Britain

again2. Madison asks for war against Britain 3. Sped up manufacturing, could argue that Jefferson’s

whole agrarian ideal was never going to be achieved4. Whole ideal of commercial expansion always needed

aggressive foreign policy which undermined the agrarian republic Jefferson wanted to build

III. The War of 1812’s other roots: Indian Countrya. Tecumseh, Tenskwatawa, and the Empire of Libertyb. Native people in West uniting/banding together c. Now, these people’s land are going to be backed by the US

government in a way that the British government never really backedd. Tecumseh is watching as native people sign treaty after treaty—

exploitation i. Really alarmed—plan (1815) rallying support around Great

Lakes region to resist American expansion

ii. All Indians held land in common and collectively—no one tribe can sell land, that all native people must agree to sell land

e. Devastates their foothold between Mississippi and Appalachian mountainsfundamental balance of power shifted to Americans

IV. Out of slavery, freedom?a. Looking ahead: from the Louisiana Purchase and the Missouri

compromise b. For these slave holders, the empire of liberty meant the ability to do

what they wanted with their land and slavesc. Out of slavery is coming white’s idea of liberty