United States with Britain & France from 1781-1823

United States, Great Britain and France

“Let it be remembered that civil liberty consist, not in a right to every man to do just what he pleases, but it consist in an equal right to all citizens to have, enjoy, and do, in peace, security & without molestation, whatever the equal & constitutional laws of the country admit to be consistent w/ the public good.”

~John Jay

• Jay forced to agree that Britain had the right to seize cargo heading to French ports
• Agreed to submit the issue of paying back Am. Merchants whose goods had already been seized to international arbitration (hearing by a 3rd neutral country)
• Britain gave America “Most Favored Nation” status – would not discriminate against when they traded w/ Britain
• Limited Am. Trade w. British colonies in the Caribbean.
• Set the w/drawal of British soldiers from posts in the American west
• Est. a commission to settle outstanding border issues between the U.S. & Canada
• Est. a commission to resolve American losses in British ship seizures & Loyalist losses during the American Revolution.

Article III, Section 2 lays out the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court

"In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction."

• French officials offered to sell all of Louisiana to the United States.
• Why?
• France needed the money to finance a war against Britain.
• Napoleon also hoped that U.S. control of Louisiana could challenge Britain’s power in North America
• U.S. purchases Louisiana for $15 million
• Jefferson feared that he did not have the constitutional power to buy Louisiana, but agreed to the purchase because it was the country’s best interest
• Louisiana Purchase of 1803 almost doubled the size of the U.S.

Proposed in 1808 and completed in 1825, the canal links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east.

In order to open the country west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers and to offer a cheap and safe way to carry produce to a market. It was not until 1808 that the state legislature funded a survey for a canal that would connect to Lake Erie. In those early days, it was often "sarcastically" referred to as "Clinton's Big Ditch". It included 18 aqueducts to carry the canal over ravines and rivers, and 83 locks, with a rise of 568 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. It was 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide, and floated boats carrying 30 tons of freight. A ten foot wide towpath was built along the bank of the canal for the horses and/or mules which pulled the boats and their driver, often a young boy (sometimes referred to by later writers as a "hoggee").

Manifest Destiny would spur Americans to move further west and not only increase tension with the Native, but also lead to the opening of many trails west. Wagon trains, walking on foot, and horseback would take many pioneers through treacherous terrain and dangerous conditions, such as harsh weather and lack of water. As new inventions became available to the general public and improvements were made to roads, river travel, and eventually railways, the idea of Manifest Destiny was a lot easier to obtain.

Most information was obtained from: "Daily Lecture & Discussion Notes", The American Vision, Glenco/The McGraw-Hill Companies:New York

Images were obtained from Google Images

Lewis & Clark Expedition

Fallout over Treaty

• Although still admired, Washington came under sharp attack
• John Jay resigned from the Supreme Court
• Led to Pinckney’s Treaty (1795)

• Prior to the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson sent Meriweather Lewis & Lt. William Clark to explore the Louisiana Territory
• May 1804 – the expedition set out from St. Louis, in present day Missouri
• Sacagawea, a Shoshone Native American woman, assisted the group
• They crossed Great Plains & Rocky Mountains – reaching the Pacific in November 1805
• Returned – September 1806
• Expedition Results:
• Taught about western lands & paths
• Est. relations w/ several Native American groups
• Collected valuable scientific information

Adams-Onis Treaty, 1819

Early 1800s, Southerns were angry over run-way slaves heading to Spanish-held Florida. They were also upset over the Seminoles using Florida as a base to stage raids on Georgia settlements.

Americans could not cross the border into Spanish Territory, but in 1818, General Andrew Jackson seized Spanish settlements in Florida and removed the Florida governor from power.

In the Treaty of Adams-Onis Treaty, SPain ceded all of Florida to the United States and finalized the western border of the Louisiana Purchase.

Americans object . . .

• Outraged Congress – wanted to keep it secret, but ratified it anyway
• Terms were leaked to the public
• Outraged Republicans – accused Federalist of being pro-British
• Missing from the treaty
• a refrain from the arrest of American ships
• impressment of American seamen
• An angry crowd in N.Y. stoned Hamilton
• Senate ratified w/ provision limiting trade in the British West Indies
• Washington ultimately agreed to implement the treaty.
• Why? It prevented war w/ Britain & protected America’s fragile economy
• Raised concerns in Spain
• Felt that the British & Americans might join forces to take over Spanish holdings in N. Am.

FYI - The Cutters

First Coast Guard, known as “the cutters”, was established in 1790.

Western Expansion

• Americans moved in large numbers to the area between Appalachian Mountains & the MS River because of abundant land, fertile soil, wide rivers, & a variety of fish game.
• Increase of white settlers led to tension w/ Na. Am.
• Little Turtle – chief of the Miami people of the Northwest Territory - formed a confederacy of several Na. Am. Groups against the white settlers.
• After 2 battles in which American troops were defeated, Na. Am. Resistance was put down by AMmerican Troops under General Anthony Wayne
• 1795 – 12 Native Am. Nations signed the Treaty of Greenville.
• Na. Am. Gave up parts of what later became Ohio & Indiana for a yearly payment of $10,000 from the federal government.
• Treaty allowed for more settlers to move into the region.

Pinckney’s Treaty 1795

• Thomas Pinckney negotiated a treaty w/ Spain
• Recognized U.S. borders @ the Mississippi & the 31st Parallel – northern border of Florida (Spanish possession)
• Agreed to allow the U.S. free navigation of MS River to the Gulf of Mexico & granted the right of deposit in New Orleans for 3 years
• Both nations agreed not to incite Na. Am. Attacks against each other
• Supported by Western farmers

New States:

Kentucky (1792)

Tennessee (1796)

Quasi-War w/ France

• 1798 – Congress suspended trade w/ France & ordered the navy to capture French ships.

= undeclared war at sea was called the Quasi-War.

• Convention of 1800 - negotiations w/ France led to an agreement
• U.S. gave up all claims against France for damages to American shipping.
• France released the U.S. from the Treaty of 1778

Quasi-War ENDED!!

Jay's Treaty

1807, the Clermont, designed by Robert Fulton, traveled upstream on the Hudson River. Steamboats made river travel more reliable and traveling upstream a lot easier. This lead to the building of canels.

National Road

1806, Congress funded the building of a National road, which would be an major east-west high-way that started in Cumberland, Maryland and ended in Wheeling Virginia (now W. VA). This was the largest federally funded transportation project of its time.

XYZ Affair

• French, angry over Jay’s Treaty, stopped American ships & seized goods while en route to Britain.
• Federalist called for war against France

• President John Adams (Elected in 1796) sent Charles Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, & John Marshall to France in order to negotiate a treaty w/ Talleyrand (French Foreign Minister)
• € 3 Frenchmen (tried to bribe these American diplomats
• Asked for $12 Million loan & $250,000 to imitate talks.

A Surprising Offer . . .

America expands west . . .

Louisiana Purchase

(1803)

Why’d Napoleon sell all?

He wanted to conquer Europe & they were short on funds.

Paid $11.25 Million

Assumed another $3.75 Million in debt = $15 Million

Diagram of How the Case Moved Through the Court System

Marbury vs. Madison

Louisiana Purchase

1803 – Marbury v. Madison – est. the Court’s right of judicial review – the power to decide whether laws passed by Congress were constitutional & to strike down laws that were not.

• Jefferson supported the idea of the U.S. expanding west – believed that a republic could survive only if most people owned their own land
• 1800 French leader Napoleon Bonaparte convinced Spain to give LA back to France
• He wanted to rebuild France’s empire in North America
• U.S. feared that French control of the region would block U.S. western expansion
• French control of New Orleans could interfere w/ American trade along the Mississippi River
• Jefferson told the U.S. Ambassador to France to make an offer to buy New Orleans & West Florida from France

Peter Cooper & Tom Thumb

In 1830, Cooper designed and built a small, but powerful steam locomotive, that could hit speeds of 15 MPH. This tiny engine, would revolutionize over-land travel and help to increase western expansion.

Railroads were built during the early 1800s in order to help settle the western territories and states. These also helped to establish national markets by making transportation cheaper & increased the demand for iron and coal.

Iron Horse Race

States respond . . .

The race on August 28, 1830, between Peter Cooper's diminutive Tom Thumb locomotive and the horse-drawn Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad car demonstrated the superiority of steam power. Though the gallant horse won eventually when mechanical failure stopped the locomotive, the Tom Thumb had led the race, rounding curves at 15 miles an hour.

• VA – introduced interposition – “ . . . If the fed’l gov.t did something unconstitutional , the state could interpose between the fed’l gov.t & the people to stop the illegal action
• Kentucky – advanced the theory of nullification – “ . . . If the fed’l gov.’t passed an unconstitutional law, the states had the right to nullify the law or declare it invalid

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/rakeman/1830.htm

Alien & Sedition Acts

• Federalist pushed through 4 laws know as the Alien & Sedition Acts – were designed to destroy Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans
• Stated:
• 3 were aimed @ aliens – people living in the country who are not citizens
• Immigrants could not become citizens for 14 years (rather than 5), thus weakening the republican party. (Why? French & Irish immigrants tended to vote republican.)
• Gave the President the power to imprison or deport immigrants deemed dangerous to the U.S. w/out a trial.
• Prevented Sedition – an incitement leading to a rebellion.
• Made it unlawful to say or print anything false or scandalous against the government or its officers.
• Results:
• These Sedition Acts virtually destroyed the First Amendment rights outline under the Constitution.
• Bolstered support for the republicans in 1800 election.