1. Unit 8: The Louisiana Purchase & The War of 1812 Lesson 4: The U.S. Tries to Stay Out of War

2.  Thomas Jefferson started his presidency committed to Washington’s policy of  neutrality:  not participating in a war between other countries

3.  Unfortunately, England was trying to use its trading relationship with the U.S. as a weapon against France, & France was trying to use theirs as a weapon against England as a weapon against England

4. Why weren’t England & France getting along?  Since Napoleon had come to power in France, he’d been steadily expanding France’s empire  Because this growing French empire was a threat to British trade & sea power, by 1803, England & France were at war by 1803, England & France were at war

5. The Napoleonic Wars  Jefferson declared that the U.S. would remain neutral, but England & France wouldn’t leave the U.S. alone wouldn’t leave the U.S. alone

6. Why involve the U.S.?  Each country said they’d stop American ships headed for the other country’s ports  Each was hoping to hurt the other country’s trade & deprive it of needed food & supplies

7.  During this time, some British sailors, called deserters, left British warships to sail on American ships left British warships to sail on American ships

8.  In June, 1807, the American warship Chesapeake left its base in Virginia  British sailors on another ship ordered the Chesapeake to stop so they could search the ship for deserters  When the commander of the Chesapeake refused, the British opened fire

9.  3 of the Chesapeake’s crewmen were killed, many others were wounded, & the ship was badly damaged  The British boarded the ship & took 4 suspected deserters  3 of them were actually Americans

10.  Americans were so angered by this that many of them demanded war with England demanded war with England

11. Would Jefferson agree to that?  No  Instead he put an embargo on all foreign trade  embargo: a ban on trade  He hoped to hurt England & France’s war efforts enough to force them to stop seizing American ships & sailors

12.  The Embargo Act actually ended up hurting the Americans more than it did the British or the French  American harbors were crowded with ships & cargo with no place to go  Many sailors & other workers lost their jobs, causing many American businesses to fail

13.  Through all of this, Jefferson decided not to run for a third term  In the election of 1808, his fellow Republican James Madison was voted President

14.  Just before Jefferson left office, Congress cancelled the Embargo Act  Jefferson approved the Non-Intercourse Act to be put in its place

15.  The Non-Intercourse Act allowed Americans to trade with any countries except France & England  It turned out to be no better than the Embargo Act at getting France & England to respect the U.S.’s neutrality

16.  So Madison became President in 1809 & planned to follow Jefferson’s neutrality policy  It didn’t last long

17.  In 1810, Congress passed a new law that reopened trade with all nations  The law also said that if England lifted the restrictions it had put on American trade, America would cut off trade with France America would cut off trade with France  If France lifted its restrictions, America would cut off trade with England

18. Ooo! Opportunity!  Napoleon saw this as an opportunity to hurt England & agreed to end its restrictions on American trade  Madison offered England a last chance to do the same, but the British refused but the British refused  In March, 1811, Madison cut off trade with England

19. Are the U.S. & England at war yet?  Nope  First we have to add another piece to the situation

20.  As more Americans moved west, they knocked Native Americans who lived there off of their land  The Native Americans fought back, & oftentimes the British helped  Americans trying to move west thus resented the Natives & the British

21. Americans now had 2 reasons to be angry at England  1. continuing trouble at sea insulted American pride & hurt trade & hurt trade  2. conflicts on the frontier, with the British supporting Native Americans, hurt westward expansion hurt westward expansion

22.  People who encouraged war with England became known as war hawks war hawks  The angriest war hawks were in the West & the South

23.  Those in the West knew there couldn’t be peace on the frontier until the British were pushed out of North America  They wanted them off the frontier and out of British Canada

24.  Those in the South wanted to obtain Florida from Spain, England’s ally  Southerners didn’t like that many runaway slaves were retreating to Florida  Some Southerners also liked the simple idea of obtaining Florida to add land to the U.S.

25. So how did we end up at war?  The harsh winter of 1811-1812, along with the American embargo, made life difficult for the British  Food was scarce, and they couldn’t make money by selling manufactured goods to Americans make money by selling manufactured goods to Americans

26.  Desperate for help, the British decided to stop interfering with American ships  But before President Madison learned about this decision, he gave in to the demands of the war hawks  On June 18, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war against England he asked Congress to declare war against England