French cruisers, and sent vessels of war to the American coast. Congress took active measures of defense. An army and navy were organized, but fortunately, before actual hostilities broke out, the French Directory made overtures of peace. Washington, who had been appointed as commander of the small standing army which had been raised, did not live to witness the restoration of peace. On the 14th of December, 1799, he died at his residence at Mt. Vernon, Va., after a short illness, at the age of sixty-eight years. During the following summer the seat of government was removed from Philadelphia to the city which had been named after him, and the site of which he had assisted in choosing. His death, together with the unpopularity of the "alien and sedition laws," aimed at rebel aliens and Government libeles, prepared the way for the defeat of the Federalists at the next presidential campaign. JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION (1801 TO 1809). After a close contest Thomas Jefferson was elected President, Aaron Burr, Vice-president, both belonging to the Anti-federal or Democratic party. The internal revenue system was at once abolished, and other laws, distasteful to the party now in power abolished. In 1802 Ohio was admitted as a state, and in the next year Louisiana was purchased from France, for $15,000,000. The same year Commodore Preble was sent against pirates of the Barbary coast. After two years of desultory conflict, favorable terms of peace were offered by the bashaw and accepted by the United States. In 1807, the celebrated trial of Aaron Burr, Vicepresident under the previous administration, took place. was arrested on the charge of treason, but not convicted. He The wars of France and England, and especially the unjust claims put forward by the latter, constantly increased the resentment felt toward the latter power by the Americans. An unprovoked attack on the American frigate Chesapeake, in 1807; the seizure of American sailors by press-gangs; the injustice of the British "orders in council," which exposed neutral vessels trading with France to capture; and the inciting of the western Indians by British emissaries, combined to convince the people that their only mode of redress was a declaration of war. This alternative, however, was postponed to the last, and was not adopted until MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION (1809 TO 1817). James Madison belonged to the same party as his predecessor, and continued his policy. After an ineffectual attempt to obtain justice from Great Britain, the President, in accordance with the action of Congress, issued a proclamation of war, June 19, 1812. THE WAR OF 1812-1814. In the fall of the previous year (Nov., 1811), Gen. William Henry Harrison succeeded in crushing the power of the hostile Indians of the West, at the bloody and obstinately-contested battle of Tippecanoe, in Indiana. But the campaign of 1812 did not continue such success. The Americans lost the posts of Mackinaw and Detroit, and were defeated at Queenstown, on the Niagara river. Fortunately, the navy more than counterbalanced these reverses. Within seven months from the declaration of war, five hundred British vessels and three frigates were captured by the Americans, with an average loss of but one sailor to eight of the enemy. Captain Isaac Hull, and Commodores Decatur and Bainbridge especially distinguished themselves in these engagements; but the large majority of prizes were taken by "privateers," fitted out by citizens. In the beginning of 1813, the American forces were ranged in three divisions, one under General Harrison, on Lake Erie, the second under General Dearborn, on Lake Ontario, the third under General Wade, on Lake Champlain. Commodore Perry commanded the American squadron on Lake Erie, which distinguished itself, on Sep. 10th, by a brilliant victory over the British fleet. The troops of Harrison immediately embarked, crossed the lake, and gained a complete victory over the English soldiery, under General Proctor, at the battle of the Thames (Oct. 5). In this engagement the renowned Indian warrior, Tecumseh, was slain. His death destroyed the power of the Indians of the north, while in the decisive battle of Horse Shoe Bend, in Georgia, the following March, General Jackson humbled the southern tribes. Gen. Dearborn, in the meanwhile, attacked and captured York in Canada, and the English in return made a descent on Sackett's Harbor. Several other engagements occurred on the northern frontier, but none of a decisive character. At sea, the fortunes of war were not so much in favor of the Americans as previously. In February the Hornet under Captain Lawrence, destroyed the British brig Peacock, but in the following June that brave officer was killed and his ship captured in an engagement with the frigate Shannon. His last words were: "Don't give up the sbip," which has become the motto of our navy. The British commerce, however, suffered severely by the numerous privateers which scoured the seas capturing British merchantmen. In the following year, 1814, Generals Winfield Scott and Ripley crossed Niagara River at the head of about 3,000 men, seized Fort Erie, and on the 25th of July engaged the British forces under General Drummond at Lundy's Lane. This was the most obstinate battle of the war. It resulted favorably for the American forces, but at a loss of nearly one-third their number. Still more disastrous to the British was the battle of Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, which took place Sept. 11, 1814. Their land forces attacked the United States troops under General Macomb, while their fleet engaged that of Commodore MacDonough, lying in the harbor. They signally failed in both attempts, losing most of their vessels and about 2,500 men. Meanwhile the British fleet on the Atlantic coast carried on a series of depredation on the defenseless seaport towns. Hampton, on the Cheaspeake, was burned; a force of 5,000 marines proceeded to Washington, and having burned the Capitol, President's House, and other public buildings, hastily retreated (Aug. 24). Alexandria was plundered, and Baltimore attacked, but unsuccessfully. General Andrew Jackson, commanding at the south, having driven the English troops from Pensacola, repaired to New Orleans to repel a large force under General Packenham. This he did most victoriously at the battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815, in which 12,000 British troops were repulsed, with a loss of nearly 2,000 dead and wounded, by 6,000 American militia, whose dead. and wounded amounted to only thirteen. This was the last important action of the war. Indeed, before it took place a treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent by commissioners of the two powers (Dec. 24, 1814). The objects for which the United States has been fighting were virtually conceded. In the following year (1815) Commodore Decatur still further established the reputation of the American navy by the reduction of Tunis and Tripoli, whose piratical inhabitants had been plundering our merchantmen. The war left the country in debt $75,000,000, and to aid in restoring the finances, early in 1816 a second national bank was established, with a capital of $35,000,000, and a charter to continue in force 20 years. ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MONROE (1817 to 1825). The next administration shared the political views of that which preceded it, but was marked by less bitterness and more general good feeling. The only warlike event was an invasion of Florida, then a Spanish colony, by General Jackson, in pursuit of hostile Indians. This might have given rise to serious trouble, but in 1821 Spain ceded east and west Florida to the United States, for $5,000,000. The slavery question at this time began to assume threatening proportions. In Aug., 1821, the "Missouri Compromise" was passed, by which slavery was to be excluded from all territory west of the Mississippi, north of 360 30, except in Missouri. This pacified the opposing parties for a time. President Monroe is, perhaps, best remembered for his maintenance of the Monroe doctrine. This is expressed in his message of Dec. 2, 66 1823, and is as follows: "We owe it to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and European powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system of government to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. JOHN Q. ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION (1825 to 1829). Freed from external foes, and not yet divided by party strife, the country now enjoyed remarkable prosperity. Internal improvements on a large scale commenced, and the first railroad (at Quincy, Mass.,) was constructed. The Erie Canal was finished by the state of New York, and the commerce and manufactures of the country rapidly increased. The President pursued the same policy as his father, John Adams, which was "Whig " or " Republican." It is mentioned as a remarkable coincidence that on the fiftieth anniversary of American Independence, which occurred July 4, 1826, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, so long the heads of the opposing political parties, both died. JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION (1829 to 1837.) After an exciting political campaign General Andrew Jackson was elected president by the Democratic party. His first action was to remove numerous office-holders and appoint in their place his political friends. In 1832, John C. Calhoun, who had been elected Vice-president, resigned that office, and representing South Carolina in Senate, declared the protective tariff (originally introduced by the south, but grown unplatable to it) null and void, and threatened secession if the general government attempted to execute it in South Carolina. The President at once ordered a vessel of war and troops to Charleston to collect the revenue by force, if necessary. Fortunately this resort was avoided and Henry Clay introduced a compromise measure by which the strife was adjusted. In the same year the President vetoed the extension of the charter of the United States Bank, which he termed "the scourge of the people," and in 1833 removed the government funds deposited in that institution-actions which excited the bitterest animadversion. Hostilities with the Indians constantly occupied the regular troops. On the western frontier, in Illinois and Wisconsin, the tribes assembled under the chief, Black Hawk, in 1832, but were dispersed and their leader captured. In 1835 and 1838, the Cherokees were after some difficulty removed west of the Missis sipi; while the Creeks and Seminoles, in Florida, refusing to emigrate, collected under Osceola, and for seven years successfully resisted the troops sent against them. At length Colonel Zachary Taylor compelled their submission. |