The Early National Period

429 Pages·2004·6.911 MB·English

by  Sarah J. Purcell

A E H
N YEWITNESS ISTORY
The Early National Period
Sarah J.Purcell
The Early National Period
Copyright © 2004 by Sarah J.Purcell
Maps copyright © 2004 by Facts On File,Inc.
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
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LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Purcell,Sarah J.
The early national period / Sarah J.Purcell.
p. cm.— (An eyewitness history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8160-4769-3
1.United States—History—1783–1865.2.United States—History—1783–1865—Biography.3.
United States—History—1783–1865—Sources. I.Title. II. Series.
E301.P87 2004
973.4—dc22 2003014969
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Text design by Joan M.Toro
Cover design byCathyRincon
Maps by Jeremy Eagle
Printed in the United States of America
VB JT 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
N P
OTE ON HOTOS
Many of the illustrations and photographs used in this book are old,historical
images.The quality of the prints is not always up to current standards, as in
many cases the originals are from old or poor-quality negatives or are dam-
aged.The content of the illustrations,however,made their inclusion important
despite problems in reproduction.
C
ONTENTS
Author’s Note ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. Post-Revolutionary Change:1783–1786 1
2. Making a New Constitution:1787–1788 29
3. A New Nation:1789–1792 53
4. Federalist Order:1793–1796 78
5. Federalist Disorder:1797–1800 102
6. Jeffersonian America:1801–1803 127
7. Rising Conflict:1804–1807 151
8. Commercial Crisis and the Clamor for War:1808–1811 175
9. The War of 1812:1812–1815 199
10. The Era of Good Feelings?:1816–1819 227
11. Economic Crisis,Political Stability:1820–1823 252
12. Democracy:1824–1825 276
Appendix A:Documents 303
Appendix B:Biographies of Major Personalities 336
Appendix C:Maps and Charts 355
Notes 365
Bibliography 370
Index 387

A ’ N
UTHOR S OTE
This book provides an in-depth look at one of the most interesting and most
misunderstood periods in all of American history—the early national period,
sometimes called the early republic.Although many of the personalities and
individuals who lived during this time are well known to the American pub-
lic—John Adams,Thomas Jefferson,George Washington,Abigail Adams—many
people do not really have a sense of what these people did or why they were
important. Citizens of the United States often express a reverence for the
“founding fathers,”but they do not always know why or what for.
The early republican period was an era that helped to define the future of
the United States,and it is far too easy to get caught up in the feeling that the
Founding Fathers had everything figured out.They did not. Following the
conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1783,the country was fragile,and not
everyone was sure that the new republic was an experiment that would suc-
ceed,although many people liked to think it was destined for greatness.By the
end of the period covered in this book,1828,the nation had survived a change
in constitution; extensive changes in the electoral system; a major war with
Great Britain; military conflicts with North African states, France, and many
different American Indian nations; several economic booms and busts; and a
whole host of significant social changes. None of those would have seemed
fully evident to any observer in 1783.
In addition, the famous “founding fathers” (and perhaps a few founding
mothers) were not solely responsible for the vibrant history of change during
this period in the United States.During the early republic many more ordinary
men and women,some well known and some obscure,left their marks on the
fledgling country.Whether it was through marching with Daniel Shays and his
rebels in western Massachusetts, participating in one of the nation’s first labor
strikes,or performing backbreaking labor growing cotton that would become
the basis of huge national economic growth, many humble and obscure
Americans contributed significantly to society. Other people just got on with
the daily rhythm of life in an agricultural republic,but that life itself is of great
interest and has shaped the character of the nation almost as much as its great
political institutions have done.
This eyewitness history seeks to capture the points of view of both the
famous and the more obscure players in early American history.Although the
rich and articulate left many more records of their impressions of what life was
like in the United States and Canada between 1783 and 1828, one can make
the most of the humble voices to which one does have access, and one can
often read between the lines of more elite perspectives to discern information
ix
x The Early National Period
about the rest of the population as well.When one reads a newspaper adver-
tisement for a runaway slave, for example, one is seeing the world of the late
18th or early 19th century through the master’s eyes, but one also sees what
the slave took with him or her,one hears a bit about his or her personality,and
one catches a glimpse of how he or she sought to break away to freedom.
When you read the eyewitness accounts of life and events during the early
republic in this book, try to keep these multiple viewpoints in mind, and be
critical of what you read.The narrative and chronology sections of each chap-
ter are designed to help you put the eyewitness testimony in context. Not
every observer was telling the truth about what he or she saw in the surround-
ing world.Take these eyewitness accounts with the appropriate grain of salt.
Many observations also tell us more about the mind-sets or prejudices of
those who made them than they do about what or who was being observed.
Just because a white observer saw “savages,” for example, when he described
Indians,his description did not make them so.You will find many examples of
racism,sexism,classism,and downright ugliness in the eyewitness accounts told
here.One should not try to erase the ugliness in the past but rather to under-
stand it and figure out what it tells us about the society at large.
This is not to say that this book is all about conflict and ugly sentiments
between people,however.Nor does it reveal the early republic to be a dry and
boring place or time.On the contrary,one will find here a remarkable cast of
characters: People who lived their lives to the fullest, often with a sense of
goodwill and a sense of humor.Give up your preconceptions,and enjoy look-
ing at the United States through their eyes.
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
My heartfelt thanks go out to the staff of Burling Library at Grinnell College,
especially Sherry Shults and Christopher McKee.The staff of the Photographic
Division of the Library of Congress was extremely helpful in gathering illustra-
tions and information for this book.Thank you to Linda Price for computer
and clerical support and Karen Groves and Margaret Hainline for clerical assis-
tance in preparing the manuscript.
Thank you to Bert Holtje and Gene Brissie of James Peter Associates for
guidance and management.Thanks to Nicole Bowen at Facts On File.
My greatest debt of gratitude for this project is owed to L.Edward Purcell
for his unflagging support and soothing phone conversations,his editorial assis-
tance, his untiring solace, and the loan of the Benson Lossing illustrations. No
one could wish for a better role model of what a writer and historian should be.
xi

1
Post-Revolutionary
Change
1 7 8 3 – 1 7 8 6
When the Revolutionary War came to a close in 1783,the United States was
fully established as a free and independent nation after surviving nine years of
war and disorder and the upheaval of breaking away from Great Britain.This
change was certainly definitive, but at the same time, many crises brought on
by the war and the Revolution remained unresolved.Americans spent much of
the year 1783,and indeed many years thereafter,in a period of transition.The
United States had become a country, but it remained to be seen whether it
could function smoothly and how the everyday lives of its citizens would be
affected by the political changes underway.
While most of the large-scale fighting of the Revolutionary War had con-
cluded after the surrender by British major general Lord Cornwallis at York-
town,Virginia, in 1781, sporadic skirmishes took place during the subsequent
year even as peace commissioners were busy in Europe trying to hammer out
terms for a treaty that would formally end the war. In the meantime, many
American soldiers and sailors were still under arms, citizens were displaced
from their homes,families continued to be divided by Revolutionary politics,
and the British still occupied important American territories, including New
York City.
The United States in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War was a
society in the midst of political, social, and demographic changes that
heightened a sense of contradiction in public life.The country was over-
whelmingly rural, but after the war, it also began the process of becoming
significantly more urban.Patriots valued freedom and independence,but the
country as a whole still relied on Europe for financial support, and over 1
million American individuals lived in slavery. Although the Revolution
helped to create the ideological framework that would lead increasing num-
bers of people to question slavery, the institution simultaneously became
even more entrenched as a part of the southern economy. Americans had
won the right to create governments for themselves, but stable political
order sometimes seemed elusive as state governments disagreed with one
another and as citizens remained wary of granting too much power to the
central government.
1