Unit 4.4 - America on the World Stage

key terms/events and significance

Barbary Pirates (1801–1805) (WXT)

• A significant obstacle created by darkening states on the North African coast / Washington & Adams paid tribute to the Barbary gov to maintain peace for merchant ships

• Demand for a higher sum from Jefferson → refusal to pay & sent navy → did not gain victory but gained respect & offered protection for U.S. vessels trading in the Mediterranean

Chesapeake-Leopard Affair & Impressment (1807) (WXT)

• Incident at sea → aroused U.S. anger & almost led to war

• Leopard (British) fired at Chesapeake (U.S.) / 3 were killed + 4 were captured & impressed into the British navy → many Americans demanded war, but Jefferson resorted to diplomacy & economic pressure

Embargo Act 1807 & the Non-Intercourse Act (WXT)

• Prohibited U.S. merchant ships from sailing to foreign ports / Congress hoped it would stop Britain from violating U.S. neutrality rights / causing more economic hardship for U.S. than Britain

• Depression → New England movement to secede from Union / Jefferson repealed it in 1809 / U.S. traded legally with all nations except Britain & France

Reasons for the War of 1812 (PCE)

• Continued violations of U.S. neutrality at sea & troubles with the British on the western frontier

The Failed Invasion of Canada (WXT)

• 1812 / Detroit, Niagara, Lake Champion / U.S. army initiated military action in Canada → repulsed by British defenders

• An American raid & burning of gov’s building in York (Toronto), 1813 → retaliation by British defenders

Old Ironsides (WXT)

• The U.S. warship Constitution / notable victories due to superior shipbuilding / captured British merchants

Francis Scott Key & the Star-Spangled Banner (SOC)

• The British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore / Key wrote a poem about the British retreat

Andrew Jackson & the Battle of Horseshoe Bend & New Orleans (WXT)

• Commander of the South U.S. troops

• Ended the power of an important British ally (Creek Nation) → eliminated the Natives & opened lands to White settlers

• Jan 18th, 1815 / British effort to control the Mississippi was halted at New Orleans by Jackson → victorious but meaningless because the treaty was signed before it reached the military forces

The Treaty of Ghent (1814) (NAT/PCE)

• Treaty ending the War of 1812 / returned captured territory / restored relations between the U.S. and Britain

The Hartford Convention (NAT/PCE)

• New England threatened to secede from the Union before the war ended because it opposed the war & D-R gov → New England federalists urged the Constitution be amended & secession voted upon → special convention held to consider these matters (Dec 1814)

• New England delegates rejected secession but adopted numerical proposals to limit the D-R power / victory ended the war’s cristism & weakened federalists (deemed them as unpatriotic)

Legacy of the War of 1812 (NAT/PCE)

• Increased sense of national pride / strengthened American manufacturing / U.S gained respect from others

The Florida Purchase Treaty (1819) / (WXT)

• Spain was worried that the U.S. would seize Florida & intervene in Latin America → turned over its possessions in Florida & Oregon Territory

• U.S. agreed to assume $5 million in claims against Spain & give up any U.S. claims to the Spanish province of Texas

• U.S. acquired Florida from Spain / Defined the border between the U.S. and Spanish territory

The Monroe Doctrine (WXT)

• U.S. policy opposing European colonialism in the Americas / declared that any European intervention would be seen as a threat