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This week we will examine the tensions between Jeffersonian theory and practice. Thomas Jefferson and his Republican supporters took control of the Presidency in 1800. Despite Jefferson's claims that the "government that governs least governs best," however, he quickly expanded the power of the federal government. He oversaw the purchase of the vast Louisiana Territory in 1803 and embargoed all trade with foreign nations in 1807 as part of an effort to combat European violations of American trading rights at sea. The embargo was a disaster, and when Jefferson's protégé, James Madison, entered the Presidency in 1809 he had to deal with its aftermath. Soon, War Hawks in Congress pushed Madison to declare war against Great Britain, and Federalist Party leaders ridiculed the President for his poor handling of the War of 1812. Despite these problems, Andrew Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 -- when the war was technically over -- secured a respectable end to the conflict and killed the Federalist Party. The era from 1815 to 1824 is thus known as the Era of Goodfeelings, when the Republican Party and President James Monroe governed largely through consensus.
Following our discussion of the politics of the era, we will view a documentary film on race and slavery during the period. "Africans in America: Brotherly Love" presents a gripping and disturbing discussion of the growth of slavery from 1791 to 1831. It ends with Nat Turner's historic rebellion in South Hampton County, Virginia in 1831. This rebellion occurred less than 150 miles from the homes of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, proving that the Era of Goodfeelings did not extend to the enslaved population held in bondage. |
