United States: history 1783-1861

July 4th celebrations, in an illustration by Charles G Bush, about 1860. In 1860, shortly before Abraham Lincoln was to be inaugurated as president, a number of southern states decided to secede from the Union, over the divisive issue of slavery. This led, in the following year, to the formation of the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy), and the precipitation of civil war between North and South.

The inauguration of George Washington as president of the United States, on 4 April 1789, at Old City Hall, New York. Following the ratification of the Constitution by nine states in 1789, George Washington and John Adams were chosen as the country's first president and vice-president, and New York City became the country's first temporary capital.

US statesman and 6th president of the USA, John Quincy Adams. In 1823, as Secretary of State, he helped to formulate the Monroe Doctrine: that any interference in the politics of the USA was potentially a hostile act against the country. After leaving presidential office he was elected to the House of Representatives and was a prominent campaigner against slavery.

For the history of the American colonies and the American Revolution see America: colonial history to 1783.

The creation of the Constitution From 1781 the independent USA had been governed by the Articles of Confederation, which guaranteed to the states (as the colonies had now become) their rights of ‘sovereignty, freedom, and independence’. The central government was severely limited in its powers (see Confederation, Articles of).

During the following decade there arose a movement to create a stronger national government. Consequently, delegates from all states except Rhode Island met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 with a mandate to revise the Articles. Instead, an entirely new constitution was written and submitted to the states for ratification. The new constitution was the product of a series of compromises in Philadelphia, especially between the large and small states, and between North and South. A substantial number of Americans opposed the 1787 constitution, even after the promise of a Bill of Rights, which was eventually incorporated in 1791 (see Bill of Rights (USA)). The Constitution of the USA came into force, however, in 1789, although the last state, Rhode Island, did not ratify it until 1790.

Washington's presidency In 1789 the new government had been instituted after the ratification of nine states, and in January George Washington and John Adams were chosen as the first president and vice-president respectively. New York City became the first temporary capital, and Congress settled down to the work of government. It passed a Tariff Act to raise revenue, it chartered a national bank, it enacted a law forming the president's cabinet, and it created the Supreme Court of the country. It was decided that the capital should be the present city of Washington, DC. The national debt was founded and paid in interest-bearing bonds.

In 1794 came the first real test of the new government's power. Farmers in Pennsylvania resisted the excise tax on whisky. Washington requested troops from the governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia, and the rebellion collapsed.

The emergence of political parties The two terms of Washington's presidency (1789-97) saw the rise of political parties. The major divisive issues were the economic programme of the conservative centralist Alexander Hamilton (first secretary of the Treasury 1789-95), and attitudes to the French Revolution. Hamilton became the dominant figure in the Federalist Party (see Federalist), with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison the architects of the Democratic Republican opposition (the precursors of the Democratic Party).

The presidency of John Adams When Washington retired at the end of his second presidential term, the first real campaign for the presidency began. John Adams, the Federalist candidate, was chosen by the electoral college in 1797 by 71 to 68 votes, and Jefferson became vice-president. Adams's administration is chiefly remembered for the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the most serious attempt made in the USA to restrict freedom of speech and the press, and for his conciliatory gestures towards Revolutionary France, an act that split the Federalist Party, and contributed to his defeat by Jefferson in the election of 1800.

Jefferson's presidency Jefferson's assumption of office marked the beginning of real democratic rule in America. It was a rapidly growing country. The 1800 census showed a population of over 5,300,000, though one-fifth were slaves. Virginia was still the most populous state, Pennsylvania second, New York third, and Massachusetts fourth. Already the people had begun to look westward, and more than half a million had settled in the Mississippi valley.

The greatest of Jefferson's achievements was the Louisiana Purchase, by which an empire was added to the USA for $15 million. The treaty, which was signed with France on 30 April 1803, added 2,144,000 sq km/828,000 sq mi of territory to the USA, a greater domain than the 13 original states combined.

Jefferson was triumphantly re-elected president in 1804. France and Great Britain were once more at war. The establishment by Napoleon of the Continental System and the counter-blockade by the British, closing all French ports to neutral shipping, were both paralyzing US sea-borne commerce, and Jefferson saw no way to make war upon the two greatest powers in Europe. On 22 December 1807 he persuaded Congress to pass the Embargo Act, by which, for a time, all foreign commerce was forbidden. Jefferson believed the warring powers would abandon their decrees because they needed US commerce. He was mistaken, however, and US farm products accumulated in warehouses, and ships lay rotting in harbours. Subsequent legislation replaced the Embargo Act, but failed to achieve Jefferson's purposes.

The beginning of the War of 1812 In 1808 Jefferson's secretary of state, James Madison, one of the chief framers of the Constitution, was elected fourth president of the USA. Then came the culmination of the troubles with Britain. With continued British interference in US shipping, Congress pressed Madison to declare war on Britain. The British government was slowly yielding on all the points pressed by the USA, and the orders in council to which the latter so objected were repealed on 16 June 1812. But before news of this repeal reached America Madison had signed a declaration of war. In the autumn he was re-elected president after a severe contest, the Federalists being opposed to the war.

The early stages of the war The war opened badly for the Americans. The British general, Isaac Brock, invaded the USA from Canada. On 16 August 1812 Governor Hull surrendered Detroit and with it the Michigan territory without striking a blow. On the same day Fort Dearborn, on the site of the future city of Chicago, was taken by American Indians. US forces were more successful at sea, and though the superior might of the British navy soon became evident, US privateers did considerable damage to vessels of the British merchant fleet.

In the meantime, on land, US troops met with disaster in a fight at the River Rasin. Oliver Perry's victory over the British on Lake Erie in September 1813 made it possible for US troops under Gen W H Harrison to invade Canada, and a battle was fought on the River Thames, 5 October 1813, which the Americans won, and Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, was killed. As a result of this victory, Michigan was once more held by US forces, and the war in that quarter was ended. Sir George Prevost, commander of British forces in Canada, abandoned the campaign to invade New York State.

The final stages of the war But by now the British government was able to display its true military power. A flotilla of ships reached Chesapeake Bay in August 1814 and an army was landed. The British met the Americans at Bladensburg, and defeated them. Washington, DC, the capital of the nation, was captured. The Capitol, the White House (residence of the US presidents), and the navy yard were burnt down. It was decided to march northward and take the important city of Baltimore. However, the troops were stopped by US resistance and the fleet could not pass Fort McHenry. The British abandoned the campaign and sailed away with their troops.

Meanwhile, in Alabama, Andrew Jackson had defeated the American Indians at Talladega. He was then made commanding general of all the Southern territory. In the autumn of 1814 it became known that the British had decided upon an attack on New Orleans with the object of capturing the entire Louisiana territory. The enemies met in front of New Orleans on 23 and 24 December 1814, and fierce battles were fought without victory for either side.

Jackson's final defeat of the British at New Orleans took place on 8 January 1815, news not having reached him of the peace treaty that had already been signed on 24 December 1814. It was the last time US and British soldiers met as enemies. The treaty merely ended hostilities; there was no cession of territory by either side, and all the old disputes about boundaries, fishery rights, and navigation of the Mississippi were left open for settlement at a later time.

Monroe and territorial expansion In 1816 James Monroe was elected president, and again in 1820. Early in his first administration trouble broke out with the Seminoles, an American Indian people in Florida, but it was speedily ended by US troops under Andrew Jackson (see Seminole Wars). This brought the country into conflict with Spain, which still owned Florida (Britain having returned it in 1783). In 1819, however, Spain ceded Florida to the USA for $5 million, and by the same treaty the USA gave up its claim to Texas, which thus became Spanish territory.

The USA was rapidly growing in population, and the West was being settled. A number of new states had been admitted to the Union, including Louisiana and Indiana. Now came the question of admitting Missouri, and this brought the slavery issue into prominence. The North wanted to stop the admission of states in which slavery was allowed; the South wanted the opposite. Missouri was finally admitted in 1821 by the Missouri Compromise, which in addition decreed that slavery should be prohibited in all the remainder of the Louisiana territory north of 36° 30' N.

In December 1823 Monroe signed the document that made his name famous, the message embodying the Monroe Doctrine, which effectively claimed the whole of the Americas as a US sphere of influence.

The emergence of the Democratic Party It was during Monroe's presidency that the first two-party system broke down. The Federalist Party had failed to adapt itself to changing social and political conditions, and had also suffered through the Democratic Republicans' adoption of its policies, as well as by its opposition to the War of 1812.

The election of 1824 was a turning point in US political history, with four major candidates, all nominally Democratic Republicans but each representing a different geographical constituency. Although Andrew Jackson gained most popular and electoral votes, John Quincy Adams was awarded the presidency by the House of Representatives. He was never popular, both Houses of Congress were against him, and no administrative measure of any importance was passed. In 1828 he ran for re-election, but was heavily defeated by Jackson.

Jackson's election marks the beginning of the modern US political era. American society had expanded rapidly since the Revolution (the population in 1830 was 12,860,000), with the result that 18th-century political forms and attitudes were quickly being eroded. The new Democratic Party, led by Jackson, was a coalition of various sectional, economic, and political interests, with a broad commitment to equal rights, strict adherence to the constitution, and laissez-faire economics.

From Jackson to Tyler The principal issue of Jackson's presidency (1829-37) was his quarrel with the Second Bank of the United States. He vetoed its recharter bill in 1832 and then removed the federal deposits, thus causing its destruction. Other major issues were the Nullification crisis, and the removal of the American Indians from the Southern states, in which Jackson showed an inconsistent attitude towards states' rights. The Nullification crisis occurred when the state of South Carolina declared that federal tariffs were null and void within its territory; Jackson threatened to use force to collect the tariffs and South Carolina backed down. However, Jackson did nothing to enforce the Supreme Court ruling that forbade the state of Georgia seizing a large area of territory from the American Indians. Jackson was re-elected in 1832, decisively defeating the National Republican leader, Henry Clay.

Jackson's hand-picked successor, Martin Van Buren (president 1837-41), however, failed to capitalize on his mentor's dominance, and although Congress finally passed the Independent Treasury System in 1840, the panic of 1837 and subsequent economic depression ensured the president's defeat by William Henry Harrison of the Whig Party in the election of 1840.

Harrison died one month after his inauguration, and John Tyler, a Virginian in favour of states' rights, succeeded to the presidency (1841-45). Tyler quickly alienated the Whig hierarchy and became a president without a party. A feature of his administration was the Webster-Ashburton Treaty between the USA and Britain, whereby the boundaries between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, were settled.

The annexation of Texas The Texas question soon came to the fore. In 1827 Mexico had freed its slaves, but its northern province of Texas refused to do so, and in 1836 declared its independence. This was recognized by the USA and by some of the European powers; and having defeated the Mexicans in the battle of San Jacinto (1836), Texas applied for admission as a state of the USA. In 1844 Tyler proposed to annex Texas, but this was rejected by the Senate. The question thus became a main issue in the 1844 presidential campaign. The Democrats pronounced for the annexation of Texas, and finally the Democrat James Knox Polk was elected president (1845-49). The Texas matter had been settled before Polk took office, Congress passing a joint resolution to annex the territory and admit it to the Union (1845).

The Oregon question A bill recreating an independent national treasury became law in 1846, and in the same year Polk signed a Tariff Bill which lowered many of the duties in the old Whig Tariff Bill.

Polk then turned his attention to the Oregon problem involving the great territory in the northwest that stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, lying between 42° and 54° 40' N, which had been occupied jointly by Britain and the USA. In 1846 a compromise was arranged: instead of 54° 40', the boundary line was fixed at 49° N, the USA thus securing 777,000 sq km / 300,000 sq mi of territory and Britain securing for the future Canada a sea coast on the Pacific and the whole of Vancouver Island.

War with Mexico The last item in Polk's programme was the acquisition of California, according to the belief that it was the USA's ‘manifest destiny’ to expand westward.

California belonged to Mexico, and an excuse for war and conquest was found in the dispute between the USA and Mexico over their boundaries. Polk had sent Gen Zachary Taylor with an army of occupation into the disputed Texas territory. On 8 and 9 May 1846 a Mexican army was defeated at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Polk declared war on Mexico, and a series of battles resulted in total Mexican defeat (see Mexican War).

The peace treaty with Mexico, signed on 2 February 1848, ceded to the USA the territory that now comprises the states of California, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.

Only nine days before the treaty was signed gold was discovered in California, and the famous gold rush began, which in two years increased the population of that state to 100,000. Zachary Taylor, nominated by the Whigs, was elected president in 1848.

The slavery issue The slavery question at once became prominent. California was claiming entrance into the Union, and in 1849 adopted a state constitution excluding slavery. Taylor was a southerner and slave-owner, but recommended that California be admitted as a free state. Henry Clay brought into the Senate his compromise measures (see Compromise of 1850), which provided, among other things, for the admission of California as a free state, prohibition of slavery in the District of Columbia (where the capital was situated), and a new fugitive slave law that would return fugitive slaves in the free states to their owners.

While the debate was still pending, President Taylor died (1850). He was succeeded by Vice-President Millard Fillmore. California was admitted as a free state, but the fugitive slave law was also adopted, arousing the wrath of the abolitionists, and in many Northern states there was covert rebellion against the law.

In the presidential election of 1852 the Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce. He carried all the states except four, thus obtaining a sweeping victory. It was the death blow to the Whig Party, and heralded a general reorganization of American parties, in which sectional rather than national considerations became paramount.

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill A new shock was felt in 1854 when Senator Stephen A Douglas introduced a bill known as the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which would allow the settlers in those territories to decide themselves on the issue of slavery. The Bill virtually repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had stood as a treaty between North and South for over 30 years. Douglas's action alienated the Northern states, which had hitherto been Democratic, and paved the way for the formation of the new Republican Party, dedicated to keeping the territories free of slavery.

In the presidential campaign of 1856 the Democratic convention nominated James Buchanan, and the platform endorsed the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. The Republicans nominated John C Frémont. Buchanan was elected, carrying ten Southern and five Northern states, while Frémont carried all the rest of the North.

After the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was passed, people from Missouri poured into Kansas for the purpose of making it a slave state; and the North sent bodies of immigrants into the territory, determined to make it free soil. There was a state approaching civil war in Kansas. John Brown, the abolitionist, led a night raid of ‘free-soilers’ on the village of Pottawatomie and killed some pro-slavery adherents. After that rival armed bands roamed the state. A pro-slavery convention met at Lecompton and produced a constitution that meant that Kansas would be a slave state. Buchanan sent the constitution to Congress and urged that Kansas be made a state under it.

It was at this juncture that Douglas defied the president and his party and opposed the Kansas constitution in a speech that made him once more the favourite of the Northern Democrats and defeated the bill not in the Senate, where he spoke, but in the House of Representatives. At the opening of the Civil War, Kansas was finally admitted as a free state.

The Dred Scott Case and Harpers Ferry Tensions between North and South were further heightened by the Supreme Court's pro-slavery Dred Scott Decision (1857). Tensions continued to increase when, on 17 October 1859, a band of abolitionists and black Americans under the leadership of John Brown seized the US arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The government sent forces under Col Robert E Lee and J E B Stuart. Brown was captured, tried for treason and murder, and hanged. Although most people in the North repudiated Brown's action, the South saw it as a logical extension of the abolitionist campaign against slavery and of the success of the Republican Party in the North.

The secession of the Southern states Then came the momentous presidential campaign of 1860. The Democrats were divided among themselves. The Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln on a platform that pronounced slavery an evil and denied the right of Congress to give legality to slavery in any territory. Lincoln obtained 180 votes in the electoral college, 152 being enough to win. Lincoln had swept the North, but the threats of secession made by Southern orators for 40 years were about to be realized.

Some months before Lincoln was inaugurated as president, the South Carolinians held a convention arising out of which, on 20 December 1860, they formally passed secessionist resolutions, and proclaimed the union between South Carolina and the USA at an end. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas soon followed their example at similar conventions. The seven states held a joint convention at Montgomery, Alabama, on 4 February 1861, adopted a temporary constitution, and chose as provisional president and vice-president Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and A H Stephens of Georgia respectively. Thus the Confederate States of America - the Confederacy - came into being.

For the outbreak and course of the Civil War, and the period of Reconstruction, see United States: history 1861-77. For subsequent history see United States: history 1877-1918 and United States: history 1918-45, and for events after 1945 see United States of America.