Ch.10, Sec.

3a Problems with
Foreign Powers
Jeffersons Foreign Policy
- Jefferson felt all along that the government should focus on
domestic affairs and stay out of foreign affairs
- his idea of neutrality was doomed from the beginning
because of the many merchants trading all over the world and
westward expansion from the Louisiana Purchase
- expansion would bring Americans into closer contact with
people from other nations who had already established
settlements in the West

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers
- lastly, Jefferson had little control over the actions of England
and France
Problems with France and England
- the U.S. was fortunate to stay out of European wars after the
French Revolution
- however, by 1805, England started clamping down on
American ships that were providing supplies to their enemies
- England set up a partial blockade, which angered France and
put our merchants into a difficult situation

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers
- if our merchants followed the British stockade, the French
would seize our ships and vice-versa
- England also interfered with the U.S.
trade by impressment of American
sailors to work on British ships
- from 1803 to 1812, England had
impressed about 6,000 U.S. sailors
- many politicians & citizens were
angry with Jefferson for not declaring
war on England!

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers
Trade as a Weapon
- instead of declaring war, Jefferson asked Congress to pass
legislation that would stop all foreign trade
- in 1807, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807, which
no longer allowed U.S. merchants to sail to foreign ports &
closed American ports to British ships
- the act was a disaster that ended up hurting our economy
- the embargo became a major issue in the election of 1808,
which was won by James Madison

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers
- by the time Madison took office, Congress had repealed the
embargo and replaced with a law that allowed merchants to
trade with any country except England & France
- this law proved no more effective than the embargo!
Tecumseh and Native American Unity
- Americans were furious with the British for their interference
with shipping, impressment, and stirring up Native American
resistance to frontier settlements in the Northwest Territory &
Louisiana Territory

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers
- since the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, Native Americans
had lost a lot of land in Ohio & Indiana
- Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, vowed to stop the loss of Native
American land though the unification of many tribes
- in 1809, William Henry
Harrison, governor of the
Indiana Territory, signed the
Treaty of Fort Wayne with
chiefs of the Miami,
Delaware, and Potawatomi
tribes

Tecumseh

William Henry
Harrison

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers
- the treaty sold over 3 million acres of land, but Tecumseh
refused to recognize the treaty
- in November of 1811, the Shawnee tribe was defeated by
Harrisons forces at the Battle of Tippecanoe, severely
crippling his efforts to unite more tribes against the U.S.

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers
War Hawks
- after the Battle of Tippecanoe, Tecumseh allied his warriors
with the British in Canada
- many Americans began demanding war against England and
they were named War Hawks
- War Hawks wanted the British out of Canada and their aid to
the Native Americans stopped; some Americans wanted war
because of the British violations at sea
- urged on by future president, Andrew Jackson, and War
Hawks, Congress declared war on England June 18, 1812!!!

Ch.10, Sec.3a Problems with

Foreign Powers