Transcript Discovering Our Past, Grade 8

As the United States began to take a
stronger role in world affairs, the new nation
faced challenges.
• In the early 1800s, the livelihoods of many
Americans depended on foreign trade, but a war
between Great Britain and France threatened
U.S. shipping and trade. (page 339)
• President James Madison struggled with trade
issues with France and Britain, as well as with
tensions between Native Americans and white
settlers. (page 341)
I. Freedom of the Seas (pages 339–340)
A. Sailing in foreign seas was dangerous.
Ships in the Mediterranean had to be aware
of pirates from Tripoli and other Barbary
Coast states of North Africa. These pirates
raided ships and demanded tribute, or
protection money, from European
governments to let ships pass.
I. Freedom of the Seas (pages 339–340)
B. In 1804, pirates seized a U.S. ship and had it
towed to Tripoli Harbor, where they threw the
captain and crew in jail. Stephen Decatur, a
U.S. Navy captain, burned the captured ship
to prevent pirates from using it. Tripoli
agreed to stop demanding tribute, but the
United States had to pay a ransom to free
the ship’s crew.
I. Freedom of the Seas (pages 339–340)
C. Foreign trade depended on sea travel.
Between 1803 and 1805 U.S. trade
prospered because the United States had
neutral rights—the right to sail the seas
and not take sides—in the war between
Britain and France. In 1805 Britain and
France began a new policy of seizing and
searching ships.
I. Freedom of the Seas (pages 339–340)
D. The British needed soldiers in its Royal
Navy because many were deserting.
British naval patrols stopped American
ships and searched for any soldiers they
thought might be British deserters. The
British would force sailors on the American
ships to serve in the British navy in a
practice called impressment.
I. Freedom of the Seas (pages 339–340)
E. In 1807 the British intercepted an American
ship off the coast of Virginia and demanded
to search it. When the captain of the U.S.
ship refused, the British opened fire.
F. The United States passed an embargo,
which prohibits trade with another country,
on Britain, but it was ineffective.
G. In 1808, James Madison was
elected president.
I. Freedom of the Seas (pages 339–340)
II. War Fever (pages 341–345)
A. In 1810 Napoleon Bonaparte promised to
end France’s trade restrictions with the
United States, and the United States
resumed trade with the French. However, the
French continued to seize American ships.
Americans were unsure of who their enemy
was—the British or the French.
B. Ohio became a state in 1803, and more
farmers began settling in the Ohio Valley
on land that had been guaranteed to the
Native Americans.
II. War Fever (pages 341–345)
II. War Fever (pages 341–345)
C. Tecumseh, a powerful Shawnee chief, built
a confederacy among Native American
nations in the Northwest to halt the white
movement onto Native American lands.
D. The Prophet was Tecumseh’s brother,
Tenskwatawa. He urged Native
Americans to return to the customs of
their ancestors. He attracted a huge
following and set up a village in northern
Indiana called Prophetstown.
II. War Fever (pages 341–345)
E. William Henry Harrison, the governor of
Indiana territory, was alarmed by the
Shawnee brothers. He wrote a letter to
Tecumseh, telling him the United States had
many more warriors than did the Native
Americans. Tecumseh went in person to
speak to the white people.
II. War Fever (pages 341–345)
F. Harrison attacked Prophetstown in 1811 in
the Battle of Tippecanoe. Many Native
Americans, including Tecumseh, fled to
Canada. This flight to Canada led
Americans to believe the British were
supporting Native Americans.
II. War Fever (pages 341–345)
G. A group of young Republicans known as the
War Hawks pressured the president to
declare war on Britain. They wanted revenge
for British actions against Americans, and
they wanted to expand United States power.
Their nationalism, or loyalty to their country,
appealed to many Americans.
II. War Fever (pages 341–345)
H. Henry Clay and John Calhoun led the
War Hawks.
I. By the spring of 1812 Madison had decided
that war with Britain was inevitable. He had
not received word of Britain’s decision to end
searches and seizures of American ships.
Beginning in 1812, the United States went to war
with Britain. Fighting took place in the United
States, in Canada, and at sea.
• In 1812 the United States was at war with Britain
and was unprepared from the onset. (page 354)
• Even though the last battle of the war, the Battle
of New Orleans, took place two weeks after the
war had officially ended, the American victory
there instilled a strong sense of national pride.
(page 356)
I. War Begins (pages 354–355)
A. The United States did not have a large army
at the beginning of the War of 1812.
B. In July 1812 General William Hull led troops
from Detroit toward Canada and
encountered Tecumseh and his warriors.
Hull surrendered Detroit.
I. War Begins (pages 354–355)
C. Oliver Hazard Perry, commander of the
Lake Erie naval forces assembled a fleet to
seize the lake from the British. In a bloody
battle, Perry’s ships defeated the British
naval force.
D. Tecumseh was killed in the Battle of the
Thames on October 5, 1813.
E. By the end of 1813 the Americans had won
some battles on land and at sea.
I. War Begins (pages 354–355)
Click the map to view a dynamic version.
I. War Begins (pages 354–355)
F. Americans had three of the fastest frigates,
or warships, afloat that successfully
destroyed British ships. American
privateers, armed private ships, also
captured numerous British vessels.
G. Andrew Jackson, a Tennessee planter, led
an attack against the Creek in March 1814.
Defeat at The Battle of Horseshoe Bend
forced the Creek to give up their lands to
the United States.
II. The British Offensive (pages 356–359)
A. In August 1814 the British sailed into
Chesapeake Bay and overpowered
American troops outside Washington, D.C.
The British marched into the city and burned
the Capitol and the White House.
B. The British left Washington, D.C., and sailed
to Baltimore. American troops were waiting
in Baltimore when the British attacked.
Francis Scott Key wrote a song about the
battle that is now the national anthem, “The
Star-Spangled Banner.”
II. The British Offensive (pages 356–359)
C. British troops entered New York State from
Canada to capture Plattsburgh, a key city on
the shore of Lake Champlain. An American
naval force on Lake Champlain defeated the
British, and they retreated to Canada. The
British decided that to continue fighting
would cost them too much with little to gain.
D. On December 24, 1814, the United States
and Britain signed a peace agreement called
the Treaty of Ghent.
II. The British Offensive (pages 356–359)
E. Before news of the treaty became known,
another battle broke out in New Orleans.
The Americans, led by Andrew Jackson,
won the battle.
F. New England Federalists gathered at the
Hartford Convention in December 1814
and discussed secession. Word arrived
about Jackson’s victory in New Orleans
and the peace treaty. The Federalist party
appeared unpatriotic.
In Section 2, you learned about the War of 1812.
In this section you will read about the United
States’s relations with foreign countries in the
postwar period.
• After the War of 1812, a new spirit of nationalism
took hold in American society. (page 363)
• In 1823 the United States proclaimed its
dominant role in the Americas with the Monroe
Doctrine. (page 366)
I. Relations with European Powers
(pages 363–365)
A. The Era of Good Feelings was the time after
the War of 1812 when a sense of national
unity was forged in America.
B. President James Monroe represented a
united America free of political strife. He
toured the nation, and everywhere he went
people celebrated his visit.
I. Relations with European Powers
(pages 363–365)
C. John Quincy Adams, Monroe’s secretary of
state, worked to resolve disputes with the
British because America needed good
relations with the European power.
D. The Rush-Bagot Treaty sets limits on the
number of naval vessels Britain and the
United States could have on the Great
Lakes. The treaty also provided for
disarmament, the removal of weapons,
along the border between the United States
and British Canada.
I. Relations with European Powers
(pages 363–365)
E. The United States and Britain worked
together to set the American-Canadian
boundary farther west. In a second
agreement with Britain, Americans set the
boundary of the Louisiana Territory
between the United States and Canada at
the 49th parallel. The countries agreed to a
demilitarized border—a border without
armed forces.
I. Relations with European Powers
(pages 363–365)
F. Americans also gained the right to settle in
Oregon Country, a vast area extending
from California to Alaska.
G. In the early 1800s, Spain, Britain, Russia,
and the United States claimed Oregon
Country. Spain and Russia eventually gave
up their claims, which left Britain and the
United States with claims. Both countries
based their claims on explorations of fur
trappers and traders. American presence
in Oregon Country grew; and in the Treaty
of 1846, Britain and the United States
divided Oregon.
I. Relations with European Powers
(pages 363–365)
H. The United States and Spain worked to
settle disputes over borders in Florida. In
1818 General Andrew Jackson went
beyond his instructions and invaded
Spanish East Florida, seizing control of two
Spanish forts.
I. The Spanish minister to the United States
protested Jackson’s actions. Secretary of
War John Calhoun said that Jackson should
be court-martialed—tried by a military
court—but Secretary of State John Quincy
Adams disagreed.
I. Relations with European Powers
(pages 363–365)
J. The raid demonstrated the strength of the
U.S. military. In the Adams-Onís Treaty,
Spain gave East Florida to the United States
and abandoned all claims to West Florida.
K. Spanish officials tried to keep Americans out
of western territories held by Spain, but they
found this to be increasingly difficult.
I. Relations with European Powers
(pages 363–365)
L. Mexico won its freedom from Spain in 1821
and gained control of the western territories.
The Mexican government welcomed
American traders and settlers into its lands,
but later questioned this policy.
I. Relations with European Powers
(pages 363–365)
M. The United States tried to buy territory from
Mexico, but Mexico refused. American
settlers in Texas revolted, and Texas gained
its independence in 1836 and statehood in
1845. These events angered Mexico.
Mexico and the United States went to war
the following year, and Mexico was
defeated. The two countries signed a peace
treaty in 1848, giving the United States what
is today California, Arizona, and New
Mexico, as well as other western states.
II. The United States and Latin America
(pages 366–367)
A. The United States supported Latin American
colonies when they began their struggles for
independence from Spain and Portugal.
B. Miguel Hidalgo was a priest who led a
rebellion against the Spanish government of
Mexico. Although Hidalgo was executed,
Mexico gained its independence in 1821 and
control of northern lands.
II. The United States and Latin America
(pages 366–367)
C. Simón Bolívar led a movement that won
freedom for the present-day countries of
Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia,
and Ecuador.
D. José de San Martín achieved independence
for Chile and Peru.
E. Americans hoped the independence of Latin
American colonies would increase trade
between the United States and Latin
America and help spread American ideals.
II. The United States and Latin America
(pages 366–367)
F. France, Austria, Russia, and Prussia wanted
to help Spain regain its American holdings.
President Monroe declared that the
Americas were no longer to be considered
for colonization by European powers.
Monroe warned that no European country
should interfere in United States affairs. The
president’s proclamation was later called the
Monroe Doctrine.