1. Jeffersonian Republicanism
“JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY, 1800 – 1815”
The Jeffersonian Republican rise to power represented a shift from the northeastern “mercantile aristocracy” to a southern “agrarian aristocracy.”  Nevertheless, President Thomas Jefferson maintained his own idealistic perspective on the operation of government which favored “strong local governments to check monarchial trends in the national government.
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1800 – 1815

2. Thomas Jefferson What do you know about Thomas Jefferson?
Why is he important in American history?
What did Jefferson
think was worth
remembering about
himself?
It was Jefferson's wish that his tomb stone reflect the things that he had given the people, not the things that the people had given to him. It is for this reason that Thomas Jefferson's epitaph reads:
HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA BORN APRIL O.S. DIED JULY

3. Jefferson’s grave marker
HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

4. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, America's third president and leading political thinker, was born at Shadwell in Albemarle County, Virginia. He graduated from the College of William and Mary, studied law and administered a landed estate inherited from his father.
He was elected to the House of Burgesses, the Virginia legislature, in 1769 and established his reputation as a writer on political issues and not as an orator. In 1772, he married Martha Skelton, who had significant land holdings of her own. His wife bore six children in 10 years, but only two survived infancy. Jefferson never remarried after his wife's death in 1782.
Jefferson drafted instructions for the Virginia delegates at the First Continental Congress and served himself at the Second Continental Congress. In the latter capacity, he is best known for his authorship of the Declaration of Independence.
During much of the early part of the War for Independence, Jefferson served the Virginia legislature and later as governor ( ). He was unfairly castigated for fleeing in the face of a British advance while governor and would be charged with cowardice in later political campaigns.
Jefferson again served in the local legislature and in the Congress. In 1784, he was sent to France as America's diplomatic representative, not returning home until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 and missing the Constitutional Convention. Jefferson had initially been supportive of the changes in France, but later was repulsed by the bloodshed.
In 1789, Jefferson became the United States' first secretary of state. During the Washington administration he became the focal point of the Democratic-Republican forces, which contended for influence with the Federalists under Alexander Hamilton. In 1796 Jefferson became vice-president in the John Adams administration.
The results of the Election of 1800 pointedly illustrated a serious constitutional defect. Both Jefferson and Aaron Burr won identical numbers of electoral votes, necessitating action by the House of Representatives to decide the election. Bitter debate eventually gave way to Jefferson's selection. He was reelected in Major events during his administrations included the War with Tripoli, the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Burr Conspiracy and the Embargo of 1807.
Jefferson devoted much of his retirement to the establishment of the University of Virginia, tending his estate as the "Sage of Monticello," and corresponding with his former bitter political rival, John Adams. In one of the great ironies in American history, Jefferson and Adams died on the same day, July 4, 1826-fifty years to the day after the approval of the Declaration of Independence.
There was much to admire in Jefferson, clearly the greatest intellect to occupy the presidency. He was a lifelong seeker of knowledge, a musician, an accomplished writer and philosopher, a student of several languages and a naturalist. Jefferson pursued scientific studies, some of which resulted in practical benefits; he was the inventor of the swivel chair and the dumbwaiter. He developed plans for public school reform and instituted land reform in Virginia. Jefferson also worked to establish religious toleration and freedom by eliminating the tax support of the Anglican Church in his home state.
There was, however, a less appealing side to Jefferson's character. He clearly understood that slavery was morally indefensible, but continued to own slaves himself. He was accused during his lifetime of fathering a child with his slave, Sally Hemings, a controversy that remains alive today. In foreign affairs, he was an unbending foe of Britain when prudence would have dictated a more balanced approach. His view of an agrarian democracy was naïve in his own day and was soon eclipsed.
Source: Right portrait source:
Left portrait source:

5. Jeffersonian Republicans
Favored an agrarian society over an industrial society.
Preferred power in the hands of the common people.
Advocated public education
Favored France over Great Britain
Were strict constructionists of the Constitution.
The Jeffersonian Republicans placed their faith in the virtues of an agrarian democracy. They believed that the greatest threat to liberty was posed by a tyrannical central government and that power in the hands of the common people was preferred. Those natural democratic instincts required sharpening, however, by education. In foreign affairs, the Jeffersonian-Republicans favored France over Britain. Jefferson lauded the French Revolution, which claimed the American Revolution as its model, but decried its bloody excesses. The Jeffersonian-Republicans opposed the Jay's Treaty (1795) as excessively pro-British.
The Jeffersonians began using the name Democratic-Republicans in 1796 and would later shorten it to Republicans. During the time of Andrew Jackson they became the Democratic Party.
Over the course of history the idealistic Jeffersonian philosophy lost out to Federalism.
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6. The Jeffersonian View of Land
The Jeffersonians saw land not as a resource to bring income to the federal government (as did the Federalists), but as a means to open lands up for settlement.  During the 1820s such policies (like “preemption”) protected the rights of “squatters” to possess unoccupied lands contributed to the rapid transfer of great tracts of federally owned property into private hands.  The widespread land speculation that resulted contributed to the Panic of Source:

7. “The Revolution of 1800”
Some observers have regarded Jefferson's election in 1800 as revolutionary. This may be true in a restrained sense of the word, since the change from Federalist leadership to Republican was entirely legal and bloodless. Nevertheless, the changes were profound. The Federalists lost control of both the presidency and the Congress.
By 1800, the American people were ready for a change. Under Washington and Adams, the Federalists had established a strong government. They sometimes failed, however, to honor the principle that the American government must be responsive to the will of the people. They had followed policies that alienated large groups. For example, in 1798 they enacted a tax on houses, land and slaves, affecting every property owner in the country.
Jefferson had steadily gathered behind him a great mass of small farmers, shopkeepers and other workers; they asserted themselves in the election of Jefferson enjoyed extraordinary favor because of his appeal to American idealism. In his inaugural address, the first such speech in the new capital of Washington, D.C., he promised "a wise and frugal government" to preserve order among the inhabitants, but would "leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry, and improvement."
Jefferson's mere presence in The White House encouraged democratic behavior. White House guests were encouraged to shake hands with the president, rather than bowing as had been the Federalist practice. Guests at state dinners were seated at round tables, which emphasized a sense of equality. He taught his subordinates to regard themselves merely as trustees of the people. He encouraged agriculture and westward expansion. Believing America to be a haven for the oppressed, he urged a liberal naturalization law.
Federalists feared the worst. Some worried that Jefferson, the great admirer of the French, would set up a guillotine on Capitol Hill.
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8. The Candidates
From left clockwise: President John Adams (Vice Presidential portrait), John Coteswoth Pickney, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and Kohn Jay (bottom center).

9. Results of the Election
Presidential Candidate
Party
State
Popular Vote:
Electoral Vote:
Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-Republican
Virginia
Unknown 73
Aaron Burr
New York
John Adams
Federalist
Massachusetts 65
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
South Carolina 64
John Jay
None 1

11. Tripolitan War
The Jefferson administration was continually beset with “European conflicts” and “domestic problems” that prevented the full realization of many of their policies.  The cabinet included the following men:
James Madison as Secretary of State.
2) Albert Gallatin as Secretary of the Treasury.
Secretary Gallatin replaced the lost revenues from the repeal of the Whiskey Tax by the collection of duties from shipping.
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The Mediterranean coast of North Africa had long been a hotbed of piracy. Most nations, including the United States, dealt with the threat by paying "tribute" (bribes) to the rulers of the Barbary States (Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli and Tunisia). The Americans had paid $2 million in tribute in its first 10 years of existence.
A crisis developed in 1801 when the dey of Algiers demanded more tribute than usual. The United States employed a naval blockade and diplomacy as a means to end the pirate threats, but to no avail.
In 1804, naval Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a raid in the harbor at Tripoli, which was highlighted by the destruction of the Philadelphia, a captured U.S. ship in Tripolitan hands. Hostilities with Tripoli were concluded by treaty in 1805, but problems with the other Barbary States remained until the end of the War of 1812.
The exploits of the American forces in the Tripolitan War were widely reported in the newspapers and brought increased prestige to the emerging navy. Jefferson set aside his party's pacifism and pursued a more militant course, believing that this was in the nation's best interest.
This conflict was later memorialized in the opening words of the Marine Hymn, "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.“ Source:
"Burning of the Frigate Philadelphia in the Harbor of Tripoli, February 16, 1804"

12. Chief Justice John Marshall
Marbury v. Madison 1803
Another item on the Republican agenda was the Repeal of the Judiciary Act (1789), which allowed the Federalist Congress and President John Adams to create 16 “federal judgeships,” something they did just before leaving office.  With the repeal, the Federalists brought suit in the case of  Marbury v. Madison (1803).  The outcome of the case, as brought before the Supreme Court of the United States (the opinion was written by Chief Justice John Marshall), was that the Supreme Court had the power to declare certain acts of Congress unconstitutional.  The Jeffersonian Republicans then set out to impeach the “more biased Federalist judges.”
Source:
February 24, 1803 Marbury v. Madison confirms the Supreme Court’s power
Interior of the old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol
Image Donated by Corbis - Bettmann “The courts were designed to be an intermediate body between the people and the legislature…to keep the latter within the limits assigned to their authority.” —Alexander Hamilton
Today, Chief Justice Marshall cleverly used a case about William Marbury’s disputed appointment to a minor government post to claim a major power for the Supreme Court.
Marbury deserves his post, Marshall said, even though the Jefferson administration refuses to give it to him. But the Court cannot grant Marbury’s request. That’s because the congressional law that sent this case to the Court is unconstitutional. And since the Constitution is “supreme,” any law that is “repugnant to the Constitution is void.”
The result: the unanimous Court will take no action.
And since Marbury won’t get his appointment, there’s no chance the president will defy the ruling. Or challenge the important precedent the court has set by declaring – for the first time – that an act of Congress is unconstitutional. Source: ../cw03_11954.html
Chief Justice John Marshall

13. Thomas Jefferson envisioned an American agrarian democracy, and the great expansion of U.S. territory allowed by the purchase of Louisiana fit into his plans.
“Louisiana, the Shuttlecock province.”
Recall that Louisiana was transferred to Spain at the end of the last of the "French and Indian Wars" (colonial wars between England and France), at the culmination of the "Seven Years War."
A) The Seven Years War ended in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, which also " end[ed] French control of Canada." To recap what the settlement of this war entailed: a) the Treaty of Paris was negotiated between Great Britain, France, and Spain.
b) Canada and all French territories East of the Mississippi River were turned over to Britain.  France's vast territories West of the Mississippi River (West Louisiana) were transferred "to its ally Spain, in compensation for Florida, which Spain yielded to Great Britain."  Additional land swaps between Spain, France and Great Britain in the Caribbean, India, the Philippines, Africa, and Europe completed the settlements of the treaty, which solidified Britain's colonial and maritime supremacy".
Recall the earlier mention of Pinckney’s Treaty/ Treaty of San Lorenzo (1795), which established the borders of the United States and the colony of New Spain (Spanish Florida and Louisiana) and gave the U.S. possession of a disputed part of West Florida (north of 31 degrees latitude). At this time, Napoleonic France was interested in repossessing the Territory of Louisiana that it lost in 1763.  In 1800, Napoleon “persuaded the King of Spain to cede Louisiana back to France,” alarming most Americans, reminding them that North America was still subject to European colonial influence.
The biggest issue (persistent since the 1790s) was the control of access to the mouth of the Mississippi River; “Even Jefferson, the friend of France, declared: ‘There is on the globe one single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy.  It is New Orleans France, placing herself at that door, assumes to us the attitude of defiance.’”  To further complicate matters, “the Spanish commander at New Orleans in 1802 took away [the U.S.] right to deposit goods at that port, a right secured by . . .treaty with Spain in 1795” thus blocking all U.S. trade on the lower Mississippi.
In an effort to avert war, President Jefferson dispatched special envoy James Monroe to France, instructing him to negotiate the sale of New Orleans and the strip of land west of Florida to the United States.  By the time he had arrived, however, the U.S. minister to France, Robert Livingston, had “practically completed” the negotiations.  To the astonishment of the American delegation, Napoleon decided to abandon France’s plans for an American colony, and offered to sell all of Louisiana for $15 million.
Napoleon needed the money for his own imperial expansion in Europe, but he also other motives; stated Napoleon: “This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the United States.  I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride.”  War had broken out between France and England in 1803 (affecting U.S. shipping worldwide).
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) resulted in:
1) More than doubling the territory of the United States. 2) Made westward expansion to the Pacific a possibility. 3) Created the availability of inexpensive lands, creating a favorable climate for immigration into the United States. 4) Secured access to the Gulf of Mexico. 5) The avoidance of a certain war with France (which would also have furthered Federalist political aims; the settlement took the steam out of the Federalist party).
LOUISIANA PURCHASE (1803)

14. The Lewis and Clark Expedition
While the federal government dealt with minor disputes with Spain over the boundaries of West Florida (these weren’t settled until 1819), and the Congress debated and quarreled over how to organize the vast territory, the president commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–06) to explore and map it.
Source:
1804–06

15. The Lewis and Clark Expedition - In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson successfully requested $2,500 from Congress for exploration of the trans-Mississippi west, land soon to become part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase. The president helped to plan an expedition and appointed his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead it. Lewis selected William Clark to share command over the crew of 40 soldiers, boatmen and hunters. Jefferson's aims were to assess the new lands' commercial possibilities, military prospects, and regional flora and fauna. Uppermost, it was hoped that a Northwest Passage, comprising rivers and portages, would be discovered for easy access to the Pacific.
The expedition left from St. Louis in late May 1804, proceeded up the Missouri River, across the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. There they established Fort Clatsop near the present site of Astoria, Oregon. The trek was arduous in the extreme, but only one life was lost (a ruptured appendix) over the course of 28 months and 8,000 miles on the trail.
The findings of the expedition made the nation face the harsh reality that no easy all-water route to the Pacific existed. Nonetheless, the extensive information gained about the natural features, peoples and resources of the new lands would help attract thousands of hardy pioneers in the following decades.

16. Ceremonial Transfer of the Louisiana Purchase in New Orleans - 1803
Artist: Mike Wimmer
Sponsor: Henry & Jane Primeaux
Dedication: Size: 6' x 10'
Type: Oil on Canvas
Location: Senate Lobby 
On December 20, 1803, William Claiborne, former governor of the Mississippi Territory, and James Wilkinson, Commanding General of the United States Army, met with French representative Pierre Laussat in the Sala Capitular (capitol room) at the Cabildo in New Orleans. There they signed the document transferring the Louisiana Territory and ceremoniously passed the keys of the city from French hands to American hands.
At a cost of $15 million (or less than five cents per acre), the purchase added 828,000 square miles to the United States. It took more than 100 years to finally settle the Louisiana Territory and divide it into 13 states. Oklahoma was the last state carved out of the Louisiana Territory and entered the Union as the 46th state in 1907.
The Cabildo was constructed in and served as the seat of the Spanish municipal government in New Orleans. The governing body who met there was the “Cabildo” or city council. Over the years, the building also served as the home of the Louisiana Supreme Court. A bicentennial exhibit of the Louisiana Purchase is now on display in the restored Sala Capitular room.
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Ceremonial Transfer of the Louisiana Purchase in New Orleans

18. The Pike Expedition
1805–06
Zebulon Pike led an expedition to find the headwaters of the Mississippi, reaching Leech Lake in northern Minnesota.  He led another explorative expedition (1805–06) through Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, before being arrested by Spanish colonial forces.  They were released after a period of imprisonment.
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19. United States Army Captain Zebulon Pike led the Pike expedition (July 15, 1806 – July 1, 1807) to explore the south and west of the Louisiana Purchase. Roughly contemporaneous with the Lewis and Clark expedition, Pike's excursion was the first American effort to explore the western Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and marked the discovery of Pikes Peak.
Purpose of the Expedition
Initiated by order of the Governor of the newly-formed Louisiana Territory James Wilkinson, the Pike expedition had several overt goals, and at least one covert one. The most prosaic purpose was the return to their native soil of 50 Osage Nation prisoners who had been held hostage by rival Potawatomis and liberated by the US Army. More ambitious and vague were orders to negotiate a peace settlement between the Kansas and Pawnee people, and to establish relations with the Comanche. Finally, the expedition was to explore the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers, and explore the length of the Red to its mouth on the Mississippi.
The covert purpose of the mission was to determine the strength and location of Spanish forces in what is now Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and northern Texas. The Louisiana Purchase had just been completed, and large swathes of the southwest edge of the territory were disputed between the United States and Spain. Pike and his outfit were to determine what ability Spain had to defend that claim, if pressed.
Wilkinson did not have approval from his superiors in Washington DC for any of the more important points of this mission. Some of the goals, such as the prisoner repatriation, would fall under a territorial governor's jurisdiction, but the more important exploratory and military ones were beyond his authority. After the expedition's departure, however, Wilkinson presented the mission as a fait accompli to the War Department, and received explicit approval.
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20. Embargo Act 1807
                       
In response to the British actions against the US Cheasapeake the Congress passed a law banning trading with almost every nation.                   
In an effort to assert American neutrality during the continuing war between France and England, President Jefferson’s Embargo Act (1807), forbidding U.S. ships to enter all foreign ports, hurt the American economy (meanwhile, Britain set up a blockade of the European coast, and in retaliation, Napoleon I put up a blockade of English ports).  Meanwhile, British impressment of U.S. sailors continued under the pretext of recovering English deserters.  “In all some six thousand American seamen, many of whom had never set foot on British soil” were pressed into service aboard English warships before the end of Jefferson’s term of office in 1808.  A notorious incident between the British warship Leopard and the American frigate Chesapeake (June 1807) caused Americans to call for another war with Britain. Source:

21. The Burr Conspiracy - 1806 The Burr Conspiracy
After completing the term of his vice presidency, Aaron Burr re-emerged in a spectaculer attempt to establish himself as the leader of a separate independent nation.  Upon leaving office, Burr set out to implement a scheme to set himself up as the president of an independent Louisiana.  Part of his plan also involved the possibility of undertaking the conquest of Texas and Mexico (As Thomas Jefferson later said of the scheme, “[it was] the most extraordinary since the days of Don Quixote.”  In 1806, Aaron Burr traveled down the Mississippi River, seeking men and support for the wild venture.  One of these men, General James Wilkinson, the governor of the Louisiana Territory, signed on, but soon backed out, revealing the plot to the Jefferson administration, which had Burr arrested at Natchez, in Mississippi Territory.  Free on bail, Burr fled into Alabama Territory, where he was arrested and sent to Richmond, Virginia, to be tried for treason in a “picturesque trial, with witnesses from far and near, for, as Jefferson expressed it, Burr’s crimes had been “sown from Maine through the whole line of western waters to New Orleans.” . . .”  U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall heard the case; Andrew Jackson was a witness, and President Thomas Jefferson, who refused to testify, sent his papers instead.  Aaron Burr was acquitted on a technicality, and removed himself thereafter from public life.
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Aaron Burr was in general disrepute after 1804 because of his political indiscretions and the fatal duel with Hamilton. His soaring ego, however, compelled him to undertake further schemes.
Burr's exact aims are not clear today, but may have involved an effort to capture Spanish possessions in the Southwest or to engineer the secession of western states from the Union, or both. In any event, he worked with two very interesting personalities. One was James Wilkinson, then governor of the Louisiana Territory and a man with a reputation for shady dealing that exceeded even Burr’s. The other associate was Harman Blennerhasset, an Irish immigrant who lived in splendor on an island in the Ohio River (near present-day Parkersburg, West Virginia).
In 1806, Blennerhasset provided funding for the outfitting of a small fleet of flatboats; Burr’s personal vessel contained all the necessary amenities, including ample wine storage. The assemblage began a cruise down the Ohio River, headed for the Mississippi and eventually for New Orleans. For reasons unknown, Wilkinson reported Burr’s actions to President Jefferson. The president ordered Burr's arrest; he was taken to Richmond for trial on charges of treason.
Burr’s trial was presided over by none other than John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. (In the early days of the republic Supreme Court justices had little business and spent time on circuit duty.) Marshall, always anxious to spite Jefferson, insisted upon the narrowest possible interpretation of treason, requiring an overt act to prove treason and not just a conspiracy to do so. The case was doomed from the start. Despite Jefferson’s stage management, the prosecution’s case was badly mishandled and Burr was acquitted.
One significant sidelight of the Burr trial occurred when Chief Justice Marshall subpoenaed Jefferson to testify. The president refused to do so, citing the independent nature of the branches of the government. Source:
Profile of Aaron Burr with shoulder length hair that appears braided. Lower left under image: J. Vanderlyn Pinx, lower right: G. Parker, sculpt. Object Medium: Object Medium: steel engraving on paper.  After a painting by American artist John Vanderlyn. Artists: J. Vanderlyn Pinx & G. Parker, sculpt. Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY. Source: burrhamiltonsite/AaronBurr.htm

22. James Madison Fourth President 1809-1817
James Madison succeeded Jefferson as President in He was, at the time, the only man who could carry forward the mantle of Republicanism, but he inherited from Jefferson a deeply troubled Presidency in a dangerous world. France & Britain were locked in struggle of domination. Each took advantage of the United States as it was struggling with its own problems. Madison the delegate was widely loved & respected for his reason, even temper, & humility. As President, however, he was expected to dominate those around him. From appearances, at least, he was unable to do this. He was also very accustomed to living by his wits, as he so amply demonstrated in his roles as representative & Secretary. Thus he often made judgments in foreign relations too quickly—not realizing that he would be lied to or mislead by agents of the European contestants. Britain & France were preying on merchants, citizens, & mariners at every turn, impounding ships & men. There was great fear that these nations had designs on the interior of the United States. These conflicts lead ultimately to the War of Madison lost many of his followers in the War of 1812, for he was essentially a man of peace & not very successful as a war president; he was, however, re-elected for a second term a few months after war was declared. Several American defeats on land & the burning of the Capitol in Washington decreased his standing. The war ended with the Treaty of Ghent in December The Madison presidency had been disaster. But we must look at the larger context of the problems facing the nation when he gained office. The difficult relations with Britain & the jealousies of France were very real threats long before President Madison took the helm. Indeed, Madison had spent a lot of time & effort fighting the Federalist administrations over the policies, practices, and compromises that informed the War of In retrospect, he carried a poorly focused & dangerous war to a conclusion that was quite satisfactory to the American people. As often happens, a very unpopular President enjoyed great popularity after his presidency. Madison's esteem amongst his fellow citizens grew to remarkable heights long before his death. At the close of his second term he retired to Montpelier, his estate in Virginia. Source:

23. The War of 1812 Battle of the Thames (1813). USS Constitution and the
USS Chesapeake
War on the Great Lakes USS Chesapeake
The Burning of Washington, D.C.
Battle of New Orleans (1815)
The Embargo Act of the Jefferson administration was replaced by the Congress’s Nonintercourse Act (1809) which reopened trade between all nations except Britain and France.  After international exchanges between the U.S. and England, and again with France and the U.S., England backed down, but after the American defeat of a British warship that had tried to impress its sailors, war was declared between England and the United States, on June 18, 1812.
Numerous interior battles were also fought, venting the pressure built between British and Americans and their American Indian clients, who sought relief from incursions into their traditional homelands.  Of these battles, perhaps the most decisive was the Battle of the Thames (1813). During the War of 1812, this 1813 engagement was fought on the Thames River, Ontario Province, Canada, between 400 British regulars under General Henry A. Procter, supported by 1,000 Indian warriors under the direction of Tecumseh, and the U.S. Army troops commanded by Major General William Henry Harrison (a veteran of the Battle of Fallen Timbers against a confederation of various Muscogean, Iroquoian and Algonquian-speaking Indian tribes in 1794).  According to Samuel McAfee, who was present at the battle, a decision was made to make a cavalry charge into the British ranks. Due to the “thickness of the woods and the swampiness of the ground,” McAfee wrote later, the mounted assault was made, which successfully disrupted the British lines of defense, leading to their defeat.  The only resistance of significance came from the Indian warriors, but they too eventually yielded to the American forces and their superior numbers.  The great Shawnee chief Tecumseh was killed in the Battle of the Thames.
On the sea, the U.S. Navy, supported by American privateers, made a remarkable showing.  The U.S.S. Constitution was successful in many battles around the Atlantic rim from North and South America, to the Cape Verde Islands and the shores of England itself.  The American ship Chesapeake, commanded by Captain James Lawrence (who rallied his men with the exclamation: “Don’t give up the ship!”) defeated the British ship Shannon in 1813.  Nevertheless, Britain maintained its naval superiority for the duration of the war, bottling up American vessels in their harbors with blockades. Source:

24. Image caption: Commodore Perry leaves his severely damaged flagship, the USS Lawrence. Rowing through heavy gunfire to board the USS Niagara, he takes command, then goes on to soundly defeat the British fleet.  The youngster tugging at Perry's uniform is his brother, urging him to take cover. Artist William H. Powell's masterpiece hangs in the US Capitol.   Image courtesy of US Senate website.
The “most notable” battles, however, were fought on the inland waterways and Great Lakes; engagements that involved Native Americans to a large degree.  Oliver Hazard Perry (1785 – 1819) led the most decisive campaign on the inland North American waterways. This American naval officer and native of southern New England, and the older brother of the U.S. naval officer Matthew C. Perry.
Perry began his naval career as a boy in the Barbary Wars of North Africa.  During the War of 1812, he commanded the U.S. naval fleet on Lake Erie, where, in 1813, he soundly defeated British naval forces for the first time in history.  At the close of that battle, he issued his famous message to William Henry Harrison, the U.S. Army commander on shore: “We have met the enemy, and they are ours.”  Perry’s victory against the British gave the United States control of the northwest region, and prepared the way for Harrison and Perry to again be victorious over the British at the Battle of the Thames River (Captain Oliver Hazard Perry later died of yellow fever while on a diplomatic mission to Venezuela in 1819). Source:
The first major campaign of the War of 1812 was the planned US invasion of Canada.  This strategy backfired disastrously because of poor strategy and organization, loosing Detroit to the British and their Indian allies, led by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh.  Further to the east, the Americans did not advance beyond the Canadian border because the New York militia refused to extend themselves beyond the confines of their state.
Commodore Perry leaves his severely damaged flagship, the USS Lawrence. Rowing through heavy gunfire to board the USS Niagara, he takes command, then goes on to soundly defeat the British fleet.  The youngster tugging at Perry's uniform is his brother, urging him to take cover. Artist William H. Powell's masterpiece hangs in the US Capitol.   Image courtesy of US Senate website.
In September 1813, US forces reoccupied Detroit and took control of the Great Lakes following a crucial naval victory on Lake Erie.  The commander of the American fleet, Commodore Oliver H. Perry, famously reported to his superior officer, future president General William H. Harrison, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours".  These words are held in high esteem to this very day as an honored chapter in American naval tradition.
As the British-Indian coalition abandoned Detroit, Harrison chased them into Canada, finally catching up with them at the Thames River, where the British were defeated, and Indian leader Tecumseh was killed. 
On the high seas, small individually owned ships called privateers, operating with the consent of the US government, managed to annoy British shipping, but eventually the superiority of the British navy began to assert itself.  By early 1814, few American vessels dared venture into the Atlantic.
On the Great Lakes

25. The Burning of the Nation’s Capital
August 23, 1814:  In advance of British invasion forces moving on the nation’s capital, Secretary of State (and acting Secretary of War) James Monroe informed President James Madison, that “[t]he enemy [Great Britain] has advanced six miles along the road to the wood-yard, and our troops are retreating.  You had better make preparations to leave.”  The following day, the President and members of his cabinet flee across the Potomac River with the “unprepared and loosely organized troops . . .to the hills of Georgetown.”  “Madison himself was a refugee in the hills and got miserably drenched in the downpour.  Dolly, too, had to run for it, but before leaving the White House she hurriedly grabbed everything of value she could, [including] a . . .portrait of George Washington.”  Madison became "the only President of the United States who has ever been compelled to flee from the capital."  The British “put the torch to the Capitol, the White House, and most every other public building.  Had it not been for a sudden downpour, the entire city would have been burned to the ground.”  On August 25, with President James Monroe absent, the British captured Washington, DC.  On August 28, 1814, President James and Mrs. Dolly Madison return to Washington, DC, to find the city in ruins and the White House burned out. Source:

26. CREDIT: "Capture and burning of Washington by the British, in 1814
CREDIT: "Capture and burning of Washington by the British, in 1814." Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

27. Image caption: British soldiers set fire to US government buildings in Washington DC.  The US Capitol in the background is fully engulfed in flames.  A sudden heavy rainstorm saved the buildings.  Image courtesy of The Architect of the Capitol.
Following the defeat of Napoleon in Europe (but before his escape from Elba and his final Waterloo), additional British resources in Europe were available to commit to the war against the United States.  Knowing this, the British high command planned a three-front offensive for late summer 1814.  One was to sail to the mouth of the Potomac and assault Washington, D.C., and generally create as much havoc and destruction throughout the area as possible.  The second front was to strike at the Americans by advancing south from Canada along the same waterway route General Burgoyne had taken during the Revolution.  And thirdly, a large force was sent to capture the southern port city of New Orleans.
As planned, a large British force sailed into Chesapeake Bay, and after casting aside token resistance, their landing parties entered Washington D.C. on August 24.  President Madison and other government officials had safely escaped into the countryside.  Before evacuating the White House, First Lady Dolley Madison removed the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
The British then set fire to the White House, the Capitol, and other public buildings before moving on.  Fortunately, a heavy rainstorm quenched the fires before massive damage was done, allowing many of the buildings to be rebuilt.

28. The Star Spangled Banner
After leaving Washington, the same group of Brits fixed their sights on Baltimore.  Guarding the entrance to the city's harbor was Fort McHenry, an obstacle the British would have to overcome to launch their ground foray.  In spite of the heavy naval bombardment beginning September 13, 1814, the American defenders at Fort McHenry fiercely refused to surrender.
Francis Scott Key beholds the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry at dawn, September 14, 1814.  Inspired by the sight, Key pens the "Star Spangled Banner", later to become the national anthem of the United States. Image courtesy of Library of Congress.
A young lawyer and poet named Francis Scott Key witnessed the entire spectacle as a prisoner aboard a nearby British warship.  As darkness fell, Key's heart soared as bombs bursting in the air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.  Upon seeing the flag still flying at dawn, a sure sign the Americans had held out overnight, Key jubilantly jotted down several verses on the back of an old envelope, and called it the "Star Spangled Banner".  This, of course, became the words to the national anthem of the United States, officially recognized in 1931.

29. On Sept. 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key peered through clearing smoke to see an enormous flag flying proudly after a 25-hour British bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry. Key was inspired to write a poem, which was later set to music. Even before "The Star-Spangled Banner" became our national anthem, it helped transform the garrison flag with the same name into a major national symbol of patriotism and identity. The flag has had a colorful history, from its origins in a government contract through its sojourn with several generations of a Baltimore family to its eventual donation to the Smithsonian.
Francis Scott Key first published his impressions of the Fort McHenry victory as a broadside poem, with a note that it should be sung to the popular British melody "To Anacreon in Heaven." Soon after, Thomas Carr's Baltimore music store published the words and music together under the title "The Star-Spangled Banner." The song gained steadily in popularity in the years before the Civil War. By 1861 it shared with "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia" the distinction of being played on most patriotic occasions. Nonetheless Congress did not make the song the national anthem until 1931.

30. O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream, 'Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

31. And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a Country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation! Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto - "In God is our trust," And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave Francis Scott Key

32. Francis Scott Key beholds the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry at dawn, September 14, 1814.  Inspired by the sight, Key pens the "Star Spangled Banner", later to become the national anthem of the United States. Image courtesy of Library of Congres

33. The Battle of New Orleans
The War of 1812 was most unpopular in New England, and as the prospects of the war looked “gloomy” for the United States in 1814, New England met at the Hartford Convention (Dec. 15, 1814 – Jan. 4, 1815).  Led by extremists John Lowell and Timothy Pickering, and moderates such as Harrison Gray Otis (1765–1848; a nephew of James Otis) the convention delegates employed a doctrine of states’ rights, and condemned “Madison’s War” and debated whether or not the New England states should secede from the Union and make its own terms of peace with Britain.  The thought of secession and separate terms of peace became moot, however, when the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent (December 24, 1814).  On January 8, 1815, after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, formally ending the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson soundly defeated overwhelming British forces at the Battle of New Orleans. Source:
This 1817 engraving from the collection of the National Army Museum in London depicts the death of Maj. Gen. Sir Edward Pakenham, the British commander at the Battle of New Orleans. Because of slow communications, General Pakenham was unaware that the Treaty of Ghent, which formally ended the War of 1812, had been signed 15 days before he led the attack on New Orleans (Jan. 8, 1815). The well-entrenched army of American commander Andrew Jackson defeated the British, inflicting heavy casualties and killing Pakenham and his second in command. More than 2,000 British officers and soldiers were killed or wounded in the battle. (Bridgeman/Art Resource, NY). Source
The Battle of New Orleans

35. The Eerie Canal
Because of the opportunities available from the great surplus of new lands, several individuals became very wealthy.  One of these was William James.  As an immigrant to the United States from a “middle-class” Presbyterian family in County Cavan, Ulster Province, Ireland, William James arrived in New York State during the last decade of the eighteenth century.  There, he established himself at Albany, where he took advantage of the commercial prospects available in this city located on the Hudson River.  His first employment was as a store clerk, and in 1795, William and another man formed a business partnership, and set up their own dockside store.  In 1797, James opened a second establishment, and became a “produce” factor.  Seven years later, in partnership once again, William James prospered as an “importer of staples, liquor, and dry goods” from abroad, ably undercutting the competition through his business and political connections.  William James multiplied his interests and investments over the ensuing years of the 1820s, until his death in 1832, to include sizable land holdings, hotels, “turnpike companies,” and railroads.  But, the venture that yielded the highest financial returns, making William James into “one of two or three of the wealthiest Americans of his time,” was the “Syracuse Salt Company” that blended the latest technology with “Billy” James’s sagacity and political connections.
In Albany, William James was part of the “inner circle” of an informal fraternity of “Scotch-Irish Jeffersonians.”  As a member of this “confederation,” he ably established and maintained numerous and important business and political connections.  One of James’s closest allies and friends was the politically powerful New York governor, De Witt Clinton.   Along with Clinton, William James promoted (and invested in) the Erie Canal, reaping tremendous profits for his efforts.  James delivered the main address in Albany at its opening, on November 2, 1825.  His descendants include several notable figures in nineteenth and early twentieth-century literature, philosophy, and psychology.  Of particular note are his son Henry James Sr., a theologian, and Henry Sr.'s sons, William James, the Harvard professor who became the founder of American psychology, and the philosophy of pragmatism, and Henry James Jr., one of the greatest of American novelists.
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