Transcript Chapter 10 Lesson 3

CHAPTER 10 LESSON 3
“PROBLEMS WITH FOREIGN POWERS”
• Essential Question:
What foreign policy challenges did
President Jefferson face, and what were
the political and economic causes of the
War of 1812?
JEFFERSON’S FOREIGN POLICY
• Thomas Jefferson wanted to focus on
domestic – at home- concerns.
• He advised the United States to seek
friendship of foreign nations, but not to enter
into “entangling” alliances with any.
• His desire to keep the U.S. separate from
other countries and their problems was
doomed to failure!
• Why?
JEFFERSON’S FOREIGN POLICY
• 1. American trade merchants were busy trading all
over the world.
• 2. The Louisiana Purchase opened the country to
westward expansion bringing Americans into close
contact with people from other countries already
established in settlements there.
• 3. The United states had little control over the actions of
foreign nations. The ongoing conflicts between France
and Great Britain would make things difficult for the U.S.
PROBLEMS WITH FRANCE AND
ENGLAND
• For a long time, the U.S. managed to stay out of the
European wars that followed the French Revolution.
• By 1805, the British began to clamp down on U.S.
shipping. They didn’t want Americans to provide food
and supplies to their enemies.
• They set up a partial “blockade” – they blocked or
prevented some American ships from bringing trade
goods into Europe.
PROBLEMS WITH FRANCE AND
ENGLAND
• The blockade made France angry so they enacted
their own laws to control foreign shipping.
• These changes put American merchants in a difficult
spot.
• If they obeyed British rules, their ships could be seized
by the French. If they obeyed the French rules, their
ships could be seized by the British!
• To make matters worse, Britain was kidnapping
American sailors forcing them to work on British ships
-this is known as impressment
• Between 1803 -1812 - 6,000 American sailors were
impressed!
IMPRESSING
PROBLEMS WITH FRANCE AND
ENGLAND
• In 1807, the British ship the Leopard attacked the
American naval ship the Chesapeake off the coast
of Virginia.
• Three Americans died in the battle.
• Many Americans called for war against Britain.
• President Jefferson, decided against war and was
criticized.
• One American called Jefferson “a dish of skim milk
curdling (spoiling) at the head of our nation”
THE CHESAPEAKE
THE LEOPARD
TRADE AS A WEAPON
• Jefferson asked Congress to pass laws against foreign
trade as a way to punish Great Britain.
• Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807 - American
ships were no longer allowed to sail to foreign ports.
This act also closed American ports to British ships.
• Unfortunately, Jefferson’s Embargo Act hurt the United
States more than Great Britain. American farmers and
merchants lost their markets for grains, cotton, and
tobacco. Shippers also lost income and violated the
Embargo Act by lying about where they were really
going.
TRADE AS A WEAPON
• James Madison became president in 1808, and
inherited the problems with the Embargo Act.
• He asked Congress to pass a law that allowed
merchants to trade with any country except France
and Britain.
• The law would remain in effect until Britain and
France would agree to respect U.S. ships.
TECUMSEH AND NATIVE AMERICAN
UNITY
• Many American settlers in the Northwest were
angry with the British and accused them of
stirring up Native American resistance to
frontier settlements.
• President Jefferson’s Native American policy
promoted what he called “civilization”. He
pushed for Native Americans to:
• farm the land
• convert to Christianity
• live just like the white settlers did
TECUMSEH AND NATIVE AMERICAN
UNITY
• Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, vowed to stop the loss
of Native American Land.
• He called for unity among the tribes and formed a
Native American Alliance.
• The American government learned of Tecumseh’s
plan to wage war.
• While Tecumseh was away recruiting tribes for the
alliance, the Shawnee were attacked and defeated
by American forces in the Battle of Tippecanoe.
WAR HAWKS
• Tecumseh and his warriors became allies with the
British in Canada!
• American settlers in the west demanded war
against Britain.
• The Western settlers who called for war became
known as the War Hawks.
• They wanted British aid to Native Americans
stopped and they wanted the British out of Canada.
• Urged by the War Hawks, Congress declared war
on Britain in June of 1812.
CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812
• 1. Impressment of U.S. Citizens
• 2. Interference with American shipping
• 3. British support of the Native American Resistance
•