Period Four Quiz Study Guide

Impressment

• The practice of forcing men to serve in the military against their will

Bloodless Revolution

• Caused by a tie in electoral votes
    * Both Jefferson and Burr received 73 electoral votes
    * The only time in history that there was a tie with electoral votes
    * The election goes to the House of Representatives
    * Jefferson wins and Burr becomes his VP
    * Led to Marbury vs. Madison as Adams elects Midnight Judges

Marbury vs. Madison and Judicial Review

• “Midnight Judges” were appointed by Adams hours before he left office (at midnight)
    * Jefferson takes issue with this appointment because the judges are Federalists and he refuses the appointments
    * The case goes to the Supreme Court and is heard by Chief Justice John Marshall
    * They decided to keep the appointments but also established judicial review
    * Judicial review: the legal power of a court to determine if a decision contradicts or violates the Constitution
    * Judicial review led to the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801, removing the Midnight Judges

Constitutional Issues With the Louisiana Purchase

• Caused by the Louisiana Purchase
    * Jefferson was upset at first over the purchase because the Constitution does not specifically say that you can use government money to purchase land from a foreign country
    * So, Jefferson had to change from a strict interpreter of the Constitution to a loose interpreter
    * Jefferson said he was using his power as President to make treaties with a foreign country

Chesapeake Leopard Affair

• The Chesapeake is an American ship off the coast of Virginia
    * It moves less than 5 miles before running into the Leopard, a British ship, which demands to board the Chesapeake
    * When the American ship refuses to be boarded, the Leopard opens fire
    * They board the ship and take 4 sailors and impress them
    * The Americans are outraged and demand that Jefferson take action by going into war (War Hawks)
    * Leads to the Embargo Act

War Hawks

• Madison tried from 1809-1812 to use diplomatic negotiations to protect American shipping, but it was unsuccessful and a war spirit in the US continued to grow
    * The War Hawks were a group of Southerners and Westerners who elected to Congress their leaders John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay
    * They demanded war against Britain to acquire Canada and against Britain’s ally Spain to acquire Florida

Macon’s Bill #2

• Permitted America to trade with the world
    * Said that the US would bribe belligerents into leaving us alone
    * This helped lead to war with Britain

Francis Scott Key

• Wrote the “Star Spangled Banner” while a prisoner on a British ship
    * He was watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry

Battle of New Orleans

• Fought after the Treaty of Ghent was signed
    * January 1815
    * Jackson with 3,800 men and Lafitte with 4,600 pirates fought 12,000 British
    * Casualties - 2,600 British and 13 Americans
    * Jackson's men were referred to as 'Mountain Men'
    * When the Mountain Men began to fight, Jean Lafitte, a pirate, offered help and ammo to them
    * Once the battle is over, Jackson gets credit for winning the war and becomes president, pardoning Lafitte and giving him citizenship
    * The Governor of Louisiana hated Lafitte because:
      * He had an affair with his wife
      * One of the ships he sent after gaining citizenship sunk with the governor’s sister-in-law in it and she died

Treaty of Ghent 1814

• Caused by the end of the War of 1812
    * Re-established pre-war boundaries of the US
    * Treaty did not mention impressment (the reason for the war)