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CHAPTER 7
The Early Republic
1800–1815
This chapter covers Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, what it meant for the government as the Republicans
took control, Marbury v. Madison, and the Louisiana Purchase. It also looks at foreign affairs under the
Jefferson and Madison administrations as Britain and France harassed the new nation as a by-product of
the war in Europe, the United States’s declaration of war on Great Britain in 1812, and the course of the
war and its aftermath.
CORE OBJECTIVES
1. Summarize the major domestic political developments that took place during Thomas Jefferson’s
administration.
2. Describe how foreign events affected the United States during the Jefferson and Madison
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. Jeffersonian Republicanism
A. The “People’s President”
B. A More Democratic Culture
C. Marbury v. Madison
D. Jefferson’s Economic Policies
E. Western Expansion
F. The Louisiana Purchase
G. Lewis and Clark
H. Political Schemes
I. Divisions in the Republican Party
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J. The Burr Conspiracy
K. Slave Trade Legislation
2. War in the Mediterranean and Europe
A. The Barbary Pirates
B. Naval Harassment by Britain and France
C. The Embargo Act (1807)
D. James Madison and the Drift to War
3. The War of 1812
A. American Shipping Rights and Honor
B. Native American Conflicts
C. The Lust for Canada and Florida
D. War Fever
E. War Preparations
F. A Continental War
G. The War in the North
H. The Creek War
I. Thomas Macdonough’s Naval Victory
J. Fighting in the Chesapeake
4. The Aftermath of the War
A. The Treaty of Ghent
B. The Battle of New Orleans
C. The Hartford Convention
D. The War’s Legacies
LECTURE IDEAS
1. A good overview lecture of the Jefferson administration will help students understand this chapter. See
the following for ideas:
2. Given Jefferson’s importance in American history, an incredibly important issue is his attitude toward
slavery and how it might have been affected by his relationship with his mistress and slave, Sally
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3. More than two centuries after the Louisiana Purchase, some historians have argued that it
foreshadowed the future of the United States, especially in New Orleans, with its ethnic and cultural
diversity. Write a lecture on the origins of multiculturalism in New Orleans and its contributions to
4. The Lewis and Clark explorations could be used to illustrate a number of points, such as the Louisiana
Purchase and westward expansion. A good source for a lecture on Lewis and Clark is David F.
Hawke’s Those Tremendous Mountains (1980). Walter LaFeber offers a different perspective on
5. Give a lecture on dueling and how it illustrated concepts of honor and the rough-and-tumble nature of
politics in the early national period. Focus especially on the Burr and Hamilton duel, because it is
surely the most famous in American history and had such political consequences. Prime sources for
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES / FLIPPED CLASSROOM SUGGESTIONS
1. The War of 1812 fascinates students once they realize its causes and outcomes. Divide the class into
two groups and have them look at the war from both the U.S. and British perspectives. See the
following for examples:
Also consider staging a debate over whether the United States should go to war against Great Britain.
Doing so will help them dig deeper into the causes of the war and the concerns of the era.
2. John Marshall served as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court for thirty-four years. During
his tenure, the nation was essentially defined in regard to the rule of law. Discuss some of Marshall’s
most famous decisions and how they affected national development. Two strong treatments of
Marshall’s place in American legal history are Charles F. Hobson’s The Great Chief Justice: John
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3. The Louisiana Purchase was one of the most important developments in the nation’s path westward.
Discuss how it changed the course of American history. An excellent primary source is Bernard
DeVoto’s (ed.) The Journals of Lewis and Clark (1953) and a strong secondary source is Jon Kukla’s
A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and The Destiny of America (2003).
4. The War of 1812 is one of the least known wars in the history of the nation. Examine the causes that
brought about the war and how the nation was changed afterward. The best overview of the war
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Led by John Randolph of Roanoke, the Old Republicans became outspoken critics of Jefferson during
his second term. Examine their criticisms, and their vision for America.
2. Thomas Jefferson’s decision to enact the embargo is one of the most criticized moments in American
history. Did he make the right decision?
PRACTICING CITIZENSHIP
This chapter details the efforts of the Jefferson and Madison administrations to use the economic pressure
of embargoes or trade restrictions to inspire the British and French to change their policies of interfering
with American merchant vessels. Obviously, these efforts had very limited success. Are such efforts any