Name: Social Studies Seven/PD: Chapter Nine/Part One – The Fall of the Federalist Party


Famous political cartoon making fun of and criticizing the Embargo Act



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Famous political cartoon making fun of and criticizing the Embargo Act HMS Leopard fires on the USS Chesapeake outside New York Harbor on of 1807 – pointing out who the act really hurt. “Ograbme” is Embargo June 22, 1807. Three U.S. sailors were killed and an additional 18 were spelled backwards wounded. The British boarded The Chesapeake and seized four sailors – all of whom had deserted from the British Navy.


Review Questions
1. What did the brief war against the Barbary States show the world?
2. What is “impressment?”
3. What did Jefferson believe that the Embargo Act would do for the U.S.?
4. How did the Embargo Act impact the United States?
5. What did Jefferson know about his plans as a President if the U.S. did go to war?

Name: ___________________________________ Social Studies Seven/PD: _____



Chapter Nine/Part Five – The War of 1812

V. The War of 1812
A. Americans Push for War:
Feelings against the British remained strong in large areas of the United States after President Madison was elected. New England, however,

was still suffering terribly from the loss of trade with Great Britain that began under Jefferson’s Embargo and Nonintercourse Acts. New England, which contained most of the nations’ trading companies and ports, wanted to put an end to the laws, which prevented trade with either Britain or France. Madison knew that anger against his Republican Party in New England (the last stronghold of the Federalist Party) was very strong and he did sympathize with their suffering.


Congress urged Madison to make the British and the French an offer as soon as the Nonintercourse Act expired. Under the offer, Madison told the two nations that the United States would begin to trade with the first nation that stopped attacking U.S. ships and would continue to refuse to trade with the other nation. Napoleon saw this as an opportunity to hurt the British and ordered the French Navy to stop the attacks. True to his word, Madison allowed Americans to trade with France but kept the embargo against trade with Britain in place.
At this time, a group of Congressmen from the south and west began a strong push for war with Britain. Within a short time, they earned the nickname of “War Hawks” by other Congressmen and the people. The people from the south and west supported their attempts to go to war. Only New Englanders, who were still hurting from the loss of trade with Britain, resisted. Their objections, however, were drowned in the rising feeling of intense nationalism or pride in one’s country.
The War Hawks argued that Britain was still treating the United States as if it were a British colony and that Britain remained a threat to the United States. In addition, many War Hawks pointed out that the British were supplying Indians with weapons and encouraging them to attack American settlers on the frontier. War Hawks voiced the feelings of many Americans when they said that it was time to punish the British for attacks on American ships and the impressment of American citizens. The most outspoken of all of the War Hawks was Henry Clay of Kentucky, who argued that a war with Britain could lead to the conquest and addition of all of Canada and Florida to the United States.
EFFECTS: Tensions continued between the U.S. and Britain as the British attacked U.S. ships, impressed American sailors, and began to blockade U.S. ports. After a battle between an American and British warship outside New York Harbor left a number of sailors dead and wounded on both sides, the War Hawks urged the nation to prepare for war. The call touched off a bitter and long debate in Congress, with New Englanders arguing that a war would only benefit southerners and westerners (by conquering land) while it would harm New England.

In June of 1812, Madison gave in to the demands of the War Hawks and asked for a declaration of war. Despite a close vote, Congress declared war on Britain. The United States was at war with Britain again and the nation was as unprepared for this war as it had been for the revolution in 1776. Much as Jefferson had feared, his plans to reduce the size of the government and pay off the national debt were being destroyed by a war.
B. War Preparations:
News of the declaration of war produced mixed reactions in the United States. In some cities (especially southern and western cities where

the Republicans were popular), people danced in the streets, held parties, and created songs and poems to celebrate the beginning of the war. Very little celebrating was done in New England or in areas with many Federalists. Federalists and New Englanders had opposed what they scornfully called “Mr. Madison’s War.” Regardless of the mood of the nation, the United States was as unprepared for the War of 1812 as it had been for the Revolutionary War.


Jefferson’s cost-cutting measures to pay off the foreign debt had resulted in the reduction of the military. When President Madison declared war in June of 1812, the United States Navy had only 16 true warships to face Britain’s 400 – 500 ships and the United States Army had fewer than 4,000 men. Although small, the United States Navy (and its shipboard soldiers – the Marines) was a well-trained and professional force that was prepared for war. U.S. sailors looked forward to getting a chance for “payback” and an opportunity to meet the British Navy in combat
The U.S. Army, on the other hand, was in very poor shape. The soldiers were poorly trained and had little equipment. To make matters worse, most of the officers in the Army had never seen combat or received any military training (many were political appointments). The situation in the Army was so bad that one Congressman remarked “The state of the Army is enough to make any man who has the smallest love of country to wish to get rid of it.” Congress realized that the situation with the Army needed to be corrected immediately.
Congress decided to attract volunteers by offering each man who joined the Army a $124 bonus payment (about one year’s pay) and 360 acres of land. The offer attracted thousands of men from the west and south (but far fewer from New England) and by the end of the war over 500,000 men served in the military. The Federal Government borrowed $98 million to pay for their training, equipment, and salaries. Jefferson’s plans for a small and inexpensive government and a nation free from debt were finished.
Despite the effort to bring men into the military, one further obstacle remained in place as the war started – training the volunteers to fight. Most of the volunteers had, at best, received very limited military training in militia groups in their home states. Officers soon discovered that the new volunteers had to be trained and that American volunteers often had a hard time adjusting to obeying commands without question. While it is true that the Army greatly improved by the end of the war, it was very much unprepared to fight through much of 1812 and 1813.
EFFECTS: The United States was unprepared for the war that it had started in 1812. The need to increase the size of the military and to train it meant that the United States would not be able to go on the offensive and would instead have to wait for the British to make the first moves. The delay gave the British time to prepare to defend Canada and to begin shifting ships from the war in Europe to North America. In reality, the only thing that saved the United States from an immediate blockade and invasion was the fact that Britain was both caught off guard by America’s declaration of war and the fact that Britain had dedicated most of its resources to fighting France.


C. The War at Sea and on the Great Lakes:
The British Royal Navy had “ruled the waves” and experienced very few defeats in centuries of fighting the French, Spanish, and Dutch

Navies. Few British captains and crews held any doubts about fighting the small American Navy. As far as the British were concerned, it was unfortunate that they had to fight the Americans, but it would prove to be another quick British victory. To their great shock and concern, the American Navy quickly inflicted the first serious defeats on the British Navy in over 100 years of heavy fighting at sea.


Several American warships won victories against the British, but few could equal the record of the U.S.S. Constitution. In August of 1812, the U.S.S. Constitution fought and destroyed a British frigate, forcing the captain to surrender his ship. During the battle, an American sailor saw a British cannonball bounce off the thick oak side of the Constitution and yelled, “Her sides are made of iron!” The Constitution had earned its nickname – “Old Ironsides.” Before being trapped in harbor by the British blockade, the Constitution went on to win several more victories and captured a number of British merchant ships.
On the Great Lakes, “scratch” (made in a hurried fashion for immediate use) squadrons of U.S. Navy ships defeated British Navy squadrons at the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 and the Battle of Lake Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain in 1814. The importance of the two battles far outweighed their size. Each battle prevented the British from gaining control over two major bodies of water that could have been used to invade the United States and ruined British plans to invade New York State.
EFFECTS: American victories at sea gave the nation good news and encouragement to balance the defeats it began to suffer on land in 1812 and 1813, but did little to change the situation at sea (The United States was still greatly outnumbered). The British blockaded the U.S. coast by the middle of 1813.
Britain was deeply shocked by its setbacks at sea but quickly transferred more ships to block American harbors – effectively trapping U.S. warships and preventing them from putting out to sea. The British Navy had a new and real respect for the U.S. Navy, however, and orders were sent to all British captains to avoid a fight with the Americans unless they had at least a two to one ship advantage. On the Great Lakes, the Americans halted British invasion plans in 1813 and 1814, but could not successfully launch invasions of their own and the war in this region settled into an uneasy “stalemate” or draw.

D. War on the Frontiers
The war did not go nearly as well for the United States on land as it did at sea. Convinced somehow that Canadians would rebel against the

British if the United States invaded Canada; the United States Army planned several attacks on British Canada. Every attempt to invade Canada failed and no Canadians rebelled against Britain.


Although the Americans had little success in defeating the British on land or in capturing Canada, they did experience greater success against Native Americans. William Henry Harrison invaded Canada and defeated a combined British-Native force at the Battle of the Thames. The American victory resulted in Tecumseh’s death and the break-up of the Native Confederacy that he had formed. In addition, it made Harrison a national hero (his defeat of Tecumseh would later help him win the Election of 1840). Tennessee Militia General Andrew Jackson also became a national hero for defeating the British allied Creek Tribe at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.



EFFECTS: Victories in the west against the Indians would open up large areas of land to American settlement after the war was over. The victories against the Indians, however, did little to change the situation against Britain. Britain remained in control of Canada and any hope of adding Canada to the United States vanished by the end of 1814. Plans to take Florida also failed and the War Hawks had to abandon their wartime goal of adding large areas of land to the United States.

E. Final Stages of the War:
Unfortunately for the United States, Great Britain and its allies defeated France in 1814. Britain was now able to devote all of its resources to

fighting the United States and decided to launch an invasion on three separate attack routes. One force landed thirty miles from Washington D.C., defeated a small American force, and burned the capital.


The British then marched on to Baltimore, but were unable to capture the city when the British Navy could not get by a fort guarding the mouth of Baltimore Harbor (Fort McHenry). A young American lawyer who witnessed the battle from the deck of a British warship later wrote the national anthem or “Star Spangled Banner” to describe the battle. Seeing little to gain, the British withdrew from the area shortly afterwards.
A second invasion from Canada into New York was defeated and driven off after a short naval battle on Lake Champlain (the Battle of Plattsburgh). The third invasion was set to attack New Orleans. At the Battle of New Orleans in January of 1815, General Andrew Jackson crushed the British invasion force, losing only seven men while the British lost over 2,000. Sadly, the soldiers at New Orleans did not know that the war was over even as they fought.
EFFECTS: The victory at New Orleans gave the American people confidence in a time when little was going well for the United States. In addition, the battle made Andrew Jackson the nation’s greatest hero and would directly lead to his election to the Presidency in 1828.


F. The Federalist Party Self-Destructs:
Federalist leaders decided to meet at what came to be known as the Hartford Convention in December of 1814. The war had severely

damaged trade and business in New England and the war was more unpopular than ever in this region. During the meeting, breaking away from the United States and joining the British unless the war came to an end was discussed. Fortunately, the war did come to an end that very month and the plan was never carried out.



EFFECTS: When news leaked out that the Federalists had considered abandoning the United States in the middle of a war, the party became extremely unpopular in the United States. For a time, there were even calls to arrest and try the members of the Hartford Convention for treason. Although no member was ever put on trial, the Federalist Party lost most of its support (even in New England) and ceased to be a force in American politics.


G. Peace and the Treaty of Ghent:
In 1815, the U.S. and Britain agreed to stop all fighting. No land or money was exchanged and no promises were made. Impressment and attacks on U.S. ships were no longer a threat now that Britain was not fighting France. The threat of a large Indian war in the west had also been eliminated. Both nations were eager to go back to trading with each other and to settling the remaining border disputes on the U.S.-Canadian Border (agreed to be the 49th degree of latitude under an 1818 treaty). One diplomat was heard to say: “Nothing was won, nothing was lost.”
EFFECTS: The war did, however, have several important effects:
1. The U.S. proved that it could and would defend itself and its interests (trade) when attacked. This gave Americans a sense of pride (nationalism) and earned the nation some respect in Europe.
2. The war forced Americans to begin to consider the building their own factories to produce needed goods when they were cut off from trade. After the war, Americans would be much less dependent on Europe (especially Britain) for trade goods.
3. Large areas of the western frontier were opened up to settlement.



USS Constitution defeats HMS Guerrierre Oliver Hazard Perry General Andrew Jackson


Review Questions
1. How did the government attract volunteers for the Army during the War of 1812?
2. What did American victories at sea do for the United States?
3. How did victories in the west against Natives help the United States after the war?
4. How did the Hartford Convention affect the Federalist Party?
5. How did the War of 1812 make the United States much less dependent on Great Britain and Europe?

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