U.S. History: From Jefferson to Jackson (1801-1829)

Following the end of George Washington’s presidency, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson competed to be his replacement. At first, Adams governed from 1797 to 1801, but his administration was so turbulent that Americans voted for a change in the 1800 elections. This marked the rise of Jefferson and his agrarian and isolationist tendencies, with an enduring legacy left to the presidencies of James Madison and James Monroe. These leaders expanded America’s territory and engaged in international conflicts such as the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. In 1825, John Quincy Adams, the son of the former president, rose to power with the help of Congress, despite losing the popular vote to Andrew Jackson. In the end, Jackson’s election in 1828 marked the rebirth of American populism, ushering in a new chapter in the history of the country.

The Jeffersonian Era

Thomas Jefferson, from Virginia, was a Democratic-Republican who opposed the Federalist presidency of John Adams (1797-1801). He witnessed the rapid growth of the U.S. population and believed that the country’s future lay in population and territorial expansion. Under the influence of Thomas Malthus’ ideas, he concluded that America needed more territory to support its people. He was particularly concerned with yeomen — farmers with small rural properties. He thought that those who led such a modest life were the best kind of citizen: one that is not easily influenced and has the autonomy to make political choices and decisions.

In the 1800 presidential elections, Jefferson appealed to American idealism, what earned him significant popularity. He rose to power, and later on was easily reelected, thanks to a coalition of small farmers, shopkeepers, and urban workers. In his first inaugural address, he promised a “wise and frugal government” that would maintain order while allowing people to freely pursue their own businesses and opportunities for personal development. His presence in the White House fostered democratic principles. He viewed America as a refuge for the oppressed and enacted a liberal naturalization law. In addition, Jefferson embraced democratic simplicity avoiding much of the traditional pomp and ceremony associated with the presidency.

Yet Jefferson was not in favor of unrestrained popular sovereignty. He proposed to cede power to a “natural aristocracy” — one that derived its power from talent and virtue (or merit), rather than from wealth or inherited titles. For him, public education was essential. If everyone had the same opportunities, the best people would become qualified for having a job in the government. Accordingly, he believed state institutions had to be decentralized and their laws and decisions had to be periodically reviewed by those who merited such a power. All in all, Jefferson was less a champion of the political rights of the masses than a great proponent of meritocracy.

In line with his agrarian tendencies, Jefferson feared the rise of factories and the accumulation of power in the hands of the military. With the support of his fellow Republicans, he drastically reduced military spending during his time in office. These budget cuts, overseen by the Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, contributed to reducing the national debt to less than 560 million dollars.

Thanks to the decisions of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall, who had been appointed by John Adams, the federal government’s power was significantly bolstered. Yet Marshall also transformed the Supreme Court into a powerful entity on par with Congress and the presidency. In 1803, in the landmark case Marbury v. Madison, the Court established its authority to review the constitutionality of laws.

The Jefferson administration also had to deal with a series of international issues, due to the ongoing Napoleonic Wars. After the Seven Years’ War, France had ceded its territory west of the Mississippi River to Spain. Access to the port of New Orleans was crucial for American trade from the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. When Napoleon Bonaparte forced Spain to return the Louisiana Territory to France, Americans were alarmed. French plans for a large colonial empire threatened the United States’ future development. Jefferson warned that if France took possession of Louisiana, the U.S. might need to ally with Britain.

However, Napoleon lost interest in the territory after a slave revolt, the Haitian Revolution, expelled the French from Haiti. Anticipating another war with Britain, Napoleon decided to sell Louisiana to the United States to fund his treasury and keep the territory out of British hands. Jefferson faced a dilemma since the Constitution did not explicitly authorize the purchase of territory. Initially, he considered proposing an amendment but feared the French ruler might change his mind. Advised that the power to purchase territory was inherent in treaty-making powers, Jefferson agreed to the purchase, trusting that any negative effects of this loose construction would be corrected by the country’s good sense.

In 1803, the United States purchased Louisiana for $15 million, a territory of over 2.6 million square kilometers, including the vital port of New Orleans. This acquisition doubled the size of the United States, adding vast plains, mountains, forests, and river systems that would become the nation’s heartland.

In the midst of the Napoleonic Era, Jefferson declared American neutrality in the conflict between Great Britain and France. However, this was an obstacle to international trade, because both countries attempted to restrict the movements of neutral ships by means of seizures. British naval dominance made their seizures far more severe: its commanders frequently searched ships, seized cargoes, and forced American sailors to serve in the British Navy, believing them to be British subjects.

At first, Jefferson responded by passing the Non-Importation Act of 1806, which banned certain imports from Britain, and by ordering British warships to leave U.S. waters. Despite the economic pressure, the British continued their campaign against neutral ships. This led Jefferson to propose the Embargo Act of 1807, which banned all American foreign trade — in essence, true neutrality in the conflict. Ironically, enforcing the embargo required strong police powers, what helped to expand the authority of the national government. Meanwhile, also in 1807, Congress approved the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, which determined that the United States would be barred from international slave trade as of January 1st, 1808. Needless to say, domestic slave trade remained unchanged.

Even though the 1806 and 1807 laws were imperfectly enforced, they devastated the U.S. economy and were ineffective in their foreign policy goals. American exports were reduced to one-fifth of their previous volume in a single year. Shipping interests, especially in New England and New York, were nearly ruined, and widespread discontent arose. Agricultural interests also suffered as Southern and Western farmers could not export their surplus goods, causing food prices to plummet. In addition, the embargo failed to compel Britain to change its policies — in fact, even more Americans were forced to serve in the British Navy.

As domestic dissatisfaction grew, Jefferson adopted a more moderate approach. In early 1809, he signed the Non-Intercourse Act. This law allowed trade with all nations except Britain and France and their dependencies, and its passing partially appeased domestic shipping interests.

Madison and the War of 1812

James Madison took over as president in 1809, and tensions with Great Britain escalated rapidly. Madison presented Congress with a detailed report showing thousands of instances where the British had benefited from the forced labor of American citizens. Additionally, settlers in the Northwest were suffering from attacks by Indians, who they believed were being incited by British agents in Canada. Many Americans supported the idea of conquering Canada to eliminate British influence in North America and to retaliate for British actions. By 1812, the country was eager for war, and on June 18, the United States declared war on Britain.

The War of 1812 began with the nation deeply divided. The South and West were in favor of the conflict, while New York and New England opposed it due to its impact on their commerce. The U.S. military was unprepared, with fewer than 7,000 regular soldiers stationed in scattered posts along the coast, near the Canadian border, and in the remote interior. State militias were poorly trained and undisciplined. The initial hostilities included an invasion of Canada, which failed and resulted in the British occupation of Detroit. However, the U.S. Navy achieved some successes, and American privateers captured 500 British vessels in late 1812 and early 1813.

The campaign of 1813 focused on Lake Erie. General William Henry Harrison, who would later become president, led an army to reconquer Detroit. On September 12, while still in Ohio, Harrison learned that Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry had destroyed the British fleet on Lake Erie. Harrison then occupied Detroit and advanced into Canada, defeating the British and their Indian allies on the Thames River. Because of that, the entire region came under American control. In 1814, Commodore Thomas Macdonough won a crucial battle on Lake Champlain, forcing a British invasion force to retreat to Canada. Despite these victories, the British continued to harass the Eastern seaboard, and on August 24, 1814, a British expeditionary force burned Washington, D.C., forcing President Madison to flee to Virginia.

Peace talks were underway in Europe, and the British decided to concede after learning of Macdonough’s victory. With the British treasury depleted by the Napoleonic Wars, the negotiators accepted the Treaty of Ghent in December 1814. This treaty ended hostilities, restored conquered territories, and established a commission to settle boundary disputes. As some troops led by General Andrew Jackson were unaware of the peace treaty, they kept fighting near New Orleans, where they achieved decisive victory.

The War of 1812 acted as a second war of independence, affirming America’s separation from England and resolving many difficulties that emerged after the American Revolution. Yet the war also demonstrated growing divides between the American states. Although the South supported the war, its disruption of commerce was detrimental to Northern industries. The conflict illustrated the triumph of the Democratic-Republicans over the Federalists in the political sphere.

These were the main consequences of the War of 1812:

• British hopes of reestablishing influence below the Canadian border were destroyed.
• Southern and Northern states had to deal with the incorporation of newly-acquired territories to the Union — particularly, they had to deal with whether to extend or not slavery to these territories.
• The Federalist Party practically disappeared. While peace negotiations were ongoing, Federalist delegates from several New England states met in Hartford, Connecticut, to oppose what they called “Mr. Madison’s war”. In the Hartford Convention (1814), they claimed the war was ruining the economy and discussed strategies to curb the power of Southern states. However, the end of the war and the victory at New Orleans made the Federalists seem as disloyal to country — a reputation they never recovered from — while Democratic-Republicans gained popularity.
• In order to help the economy to recover after the war, the Second Bank of the United States was created. Although this bank lent money to the government and stored the government’s money, it was a private institution. Also, unlike other private banks, this one was allowed to open branches in all U.S. states.

The hardships of war highlighted the need to protect American manufacturers from foreign competition. At the time, economic independence was deemed as crucial as political independence. Leaders like Henry Clay and John Calhoun promoted protectionism, advocating for tariffs to support American industry. Because of their actions, the United States enacted its first high tariffs on foreign trade in 1816. These tariffs protected various industries, such as Vermont’s, Ohio’s and Kentucky’s textile production, boosting domestic production against foreign competition.

Meanwhile, also in 1816, a group of Northerners and Southerners founded the American Colonization Society. They believed freedmen were a danger to American society and wished to sponsor their emigration to Liberia, in Africa, where a Black colony would be founded. Most freedmen themselves were opposed to this plan, because they had been born in America and had little ties to African societies. In any case, only about 3,000 former slaves ended up being sent to Liberia — a minuscule portion of the Black population of the United States.

Territorial Expansion and the Monroe Doctrine

In 1817, James Monroe, a Democratic-Republican like Jefferson and Madison, was sworn in as president. His administration came to be known as the Era of Good Feelings, because the country had just won the War of 1812 and Americans had a sense of national purpose and a desire for unity.

With the rise of the cotton industry, fueled by the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney and the expanding Industrial Revolution, slavery became more profitable. The South’s economy became deeply entwined with slavery as cotton cultivation spread westward and sugar cane farming grew in Louisiana. As the North and South expanded westward, political tensions over slavery grew. Slavery, once expected to fade, gained prominence as a national issue.

In 1819, Missouri’s application to join the Union as a slave state sparked intense debate. Northerners were vehemently against this, but a deal emerged in the following year, when Maine requested admission as a free state. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Henry Clay, orchestrated the Missouri Compromise (1820), which helped to restore the balance between the states:

• Missouri would join the Union as a slave state.
• Maine would join the Union as a free state.
• New states located above Missouri’s latitude would be free states, while those located below would be slave states.
• The Three-Fifths Clause, which determined that slaves counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of taxation and representation in the House of Representatives, would be maintained.

American westward expansion continued throughout the 1820s. Frontier settlers were a diverse group, hardy and hospitable, but living in simple conditions. As they settled, they built more permanent homes and communities, driving economic and social development. Besides settling in Texas, Americans helped to create six states from 1816 to 1821, always maintaining a balance between free and slave states.

During that period, Latin American countries were finally achieving their independence from Iberian powers — Spain and Portugal. By 1822, leaders like Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín had won independence for most countries. The United States, seeing parallels to its own struggle, supported these movements. President James Monroe swiftly recognized the new nations. However, some powers from the Concert of Europe pledged to restore Spanish control over its former colonies, according to the principles of the Holy Alliance. This caused concern in the United States, prompting the Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, to propose a way for Americans to support their neighbors.

In his annual message to Congress in December 1823, the President formulated the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. would not engage in European wars, but would consider any colonial ventures in Latin America as an act of aggression. In simpler terms, this doctrine preached the notion of “America for Americans”. Yet Monroe was not entirely opposed to European presence in the vicinity. Existing European colonies, like the Dutch settlement in Suriname, were left undisturbed, and foreign interventions were tolerated in exceptional circumstances. A case in point is the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata, a major transportation route for Latin American silver, in the 1840s.

Adams and the Corrupt Bargain

Because the Federalist Party had collapsed, the traditional method of choosing presidential nominees through congressional party caucuses collapsed, too. Thus, in the 1824 presidential elections, state legislatures nominated candidates. Tennessee and Pennsylvania chose Andrew Jackson, Kentucky picked Henry Clay, Massachusetts selected John Quincy Adams, and a congressional caucus chose William Crawford.

The election was influenced heavily by personality and regional loyalty. Adams secured New England and most of New York, Clay won Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri, Jackson carried the Southeast, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey, and Crawford took Virginia, Georgia, and Delaware. Given that no candidate won a majority in the Electoral College, the decision went to the House of Representatives. Despite winning the popular vote, Andrew Jackson faced opposition from Henry Clay in the House. Clay’s influence, often referred to as a “corrupt bargain”, helped John Quincy Adams become president.

Despite governing efficiently, Adams’ cold demeanor and unsuccessful efforts to implement a national system of roads and canals made him unpopular. In contrast, Jackson had immense popular appeal. Their rivalry was the backdrop for the emergence of new party alignments:

• National Republican Party: It advocated for a strong federal government to support national development. It included Adams’ supporters and former Federalists.
• Democratic Party: It advocated for a small, decentralized government. It included Jackson’s supporters as well as those who simply opposed the unorthodox way by which Adams had risen to power.

Andrew Jackson was neither literate nor experienced in politics, despite being a Tennessee politician. He was best known for being a hero in the War of 1812 and for engaging in the First Seminole War, both of which ended in overwhelming victories. His military career earned him significant support from the “common people” — precisely those that were, step by step, gaining the right to vote. Ever since the Jeffersonian Era, the United States had been moving towards universal male suffrage for whites. In the 1828 presidential elections, presidential electors were chosen by popular vote in all states except Delaware and South Carolina. In addition, most states no longer imposed income requirements for potential voters. Even the illiterate could vote, with the help of standardized lists that they could simply place in the ballot boxes. Thanks to these developments, Andrew Jackson secured an overwhelming victory and finally rose to the presidency in 1829.

Conclusion

In American History, the period from Jefferson to Jackson was a transformative era, characterized by significant political, territorial, and economic changes. Jefferson’s vision of a nation of small farmers and his policies on territorial expansion laid the groundwork for America’s westward growth. The War of 1812 under Madison’s leadership reaffirmed American independence but also highlighted regional divisions. Monroe’s presidency fostered a sense of national unity and set the country’s sights on Latin America. Finally, the contentious presidential election of 1824 was an interlude until the rise of Andrew Jackson. This period was characterized by profound transformations that would eventually lead to the Civil War, shaping the trajectory of the nation.