1804: Emperor Napoleon

“Portrait of Napoleon on the Imperial Throne” (1806) by Jean August Dominique Ingres at the Musée de l'Armée, Hôtel des Invalides, Paris

Napoleon supports the freedom of individuals to do the kind of work they want to do and believe what they want to believe, but he does not trust the wisdom of the people or see the value of public debates when it comes to running a country.

In August 1804, the French people vote him to be their leader for life and give him the power to choose his own successor.

Napoleon crowns himself Emperor of France on December 2, 1804.

In 1804, Beethoven completes his 3rd Symphony. He plans to dedicate it to Napoleon for defending the revolutionary French republic.

After he learns that Napoleon has declared himself Emperor,

Beethoven decides instead to dedicate it to “the memory of a great man.”

Between 1795 and 1815, French soldiers fight massive battles on land and at sea from the cape of Trafalgar near Cadiz, Spain in the southwest, to Moscow in the northeast, and Egypt and Syria in the southeast. 

1809: Madison

James Madison, Democrat-Republican from Virginia, beats South Carolina Federalist Charles Pinckney by 32% of the propular vote in the 1808 election.

Ordered Attack on Canada

In May 1812, Madison sent Congress a list of complaints about the British. After hearing Madison's list, the Congress agreed to declare war on Great Britain. It was a close vote. No leaders in New Englands supported the war. They called it "Mr. Madison's War." One reason some leaders voted for war was to stop Britain from taking sailors off of American merchant ships. Another unspoken reason may have been so that the United States could take land from the British while the British were busy fighting Napoleon's armies. After Congress declared war, madison ordered his generals to invade Canada, which was then a part of Great Britain. Three different attempts to invade Canada ended in surrender, defeat, and retreat. In 1814, British soldiers burned much of Washington, D.C., including the White House and the Capitol. The British promised freedom to African-Americans held captive as slaves if they could get to the British ships. Over 4,000 managed to do so.

Ordered Attacks on Native American Nations

The British also gave money and weapons to Native American nations in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin so that these Native American nations would keep the United States from invading Canada. A greater proportion of Native Americans died in Madison's war than the British or Americans did. In Ohio, the Native Americans were led by Tecumseh, who hoped to unite the Native American nations. But at the Battle of Thames, American soldiers commanded by General William Henry Harrison killed Tecumseh and the Native Americans of the Midwest never came close to uniting again. At the Battle of Horseshow Bend in Alabama, American soldiers commanded by General Andrew Jackson killed many warriors fighting for the Creek Nation. As a result, the Creek Nation was forced to surrender much of its homeland in Alabama and Georgia. In December 1814, Madison agreed to end "his" war.

1815: Waterloo

“The Triumph of Death” (1563) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, at el Prado

On September 14, 1812, Napoleon’s army enters Moscow.

On October 19, 1812, they retreat.

A year later, on October 19, 1813, Napoleon’s army is defeated decisively near Leipzig, Germany at the “Battle of Nations.”

On April 11, 1814, Napoleon surrenders his crown and retreats to the island of Elba, just off the coast of Italy.

On May 3, 1814, Louis XVIII is crowned king.

On February 26, 1815, Napoleon escapes from Elba. He then gathers an army and crosses the Alps

On March 20, Napoleon retakes power in Paris.

On June 16, 1815, Napoleon’s army is destroyed by British and Prussian soldiers near Waterloo in Belgium.

By 1815, The French Revolution and Napoleon’s Wars have killed 7 million.

After his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon gives up power a second time.

Napoleon is sent to St. Helena, an isolated island 1500 miles west of Angola.

He dies there six years later, on May 5th, 1821.

1817: Monroe

James Monroe

Democrat-Republican from Virginia, elected to office in 1816.

Expanded Slavery to Missouri

In 1820, Monroe agreed to let Missouri join the U.S. as a pro-slavery state and let Maine separate from Massachusetts and join the U.s. as a free state. Monroe promised that if any territories north of the northern border of what is now Oklahoma applied to become states in the future, slavery would not be permitted there.

Ordered Attacks on Seminole and Creek Nations

In 1818, Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson to Georgia's border with Florida, which was then a part of Spain. Slave owners in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina complained that the Seminole and Creek nations who lived in the Florida sawamps were protecting runaway slaves and leading raids against white farmers in the border region. Monroe, who held 75 African-American men, women, and children captive as slaves on his own farms, sympathized with the slavers. Jackson's army invaded Florida, captured a Spanish fort, took control of the Spanish port of Pensacola, and kicked out the Spanish governor. Jackson also ordered his soldiers to kill two British citizens because he thought they had encouraged the Seminoles to raid American settlements. Jackson's violent cts and the threat that he might do worse helped Monroe convince Spain to sell Florida to the U.S.

1825: J.Q. Adams

 

John Quincy Adams

Democratic-Republican from Massachusetts, elected in 1825 (though he lost the popular vote to Andrew Jackson by 10%). He was the first President to be photographed.

Improved Harbors

Developed Roads and Canals

Congress blocked Adams's plans for a national university, a national observatory, and a uniform system of weights and measures.

1828: Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Democrat from Tennessee, elected in 1828 and re-elected in 1832.

Ordered Native Americans Out of the South

The U. S. government had promised the Cherokees control over their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. But when the white leaders of those states decided they wanted that land, jackson told the Cherokee they either had to give up control of their homelands or move west of the Mississippi river. He told the same thing to the Chickasaws, the Choctaws, and the Creeks. All of these nations except the Cherokee agreed to leave and moved to Oklahoma. The Supreme Court said the Cherokees had a right to their land, but Jackson encouraged Georgia to ignore the Supreme Court. Later, Jackson got a few Cherokees to agree to his plan. He said those few who agreed with him represented allf othe Cherokees, even though the vast majority of the Cherokees were against the deal.

When many of the people of the Seminole nation refused to leave their homelands in Florida in 1836, Jackson started a bloody war with them that did not end until long after his presidency was over.

Stopped Delivery of Mail That Advocated for an End to Slavery

Jackson told mail carriers in slave states that they did not have to deliver mail that promoted bringing an end to slavery. Jackson himself held over 150 African-American men, women, and children captive as slaves on his Tennessee farm.

1837: Van Buren

Martin Van Buren

Democrat from new York, Vice-President to Andrew Jackson, beats Ohio Whig William Henry Harrison in the election of 1836.

Opposed Adding Texas to the United States

When the Mexican government declared slavery to be illegal in 1829, many American immigrants in the Mexican state of Coahulia y Tejas were unahppy. They wanted slavery to be legal in Mexico as it was in the southern half of the United States, where many of them came from. In 1836, these American immigrants started a rebellion. Their leader was Andrew Jackson's friend, Sam Houston. When Houston's rebels captured the Mexican general and President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Santa Anna signed a document that said Mexico would let Texas became an independent country that would control the land north of the Rio Grande. Not long after that, the leaders of the new country of Texas declared that slavery was legal. President Jackson and many other slavers were eager for Texas to become a part of the United States, but in August 1837, Van Buren said he was against it.

Forced Cherokees to Walk the "Trail of Tears"

In the winter of 1838, Van Buren ordered the U.S. Army to kick all the 16,000 Cherokee men, women, and children out of their homelands in Georgia and make them walk over one-thousand miles to Oklahoma in winter. Many of them did not have warm clothing or shoes, and about 4,000 Cherokee men, women, and children died on the way.