So well planned was Jackson's defence that the British were repulsed with fearful slaughter, resulting in the death of General Packenham and the destruction of one-fourth of his army. The American loss in killed and wounded numbered but seventy-one.

355. Treaty of Ghent-1814.-Had there been an Atlantic cable at that time, the battle of New Orleans would not have been fought, a treaty of peace had been signed two weeks previous at Ghent, Belgium (December 24, 1814). By the terms of the treaty, peace was established, all conquered territory restored, and the old questions of dispute between the two countries left just as they had been prior to the declaration of war. The British right of search and impressment, which was considered to have been the chief cause of the war, was not even referred to in the treaty, nor was its mention insisted upon by the American peace commissioners. However, that question had been satisfactorily settled on the sea by the American sailors themselves, and the right has since never been insisted upon by the British government.

356. The Hartford Convention and the Federalist Party— Dec. 15, 1814.-The Federalists in New England had from the beginning opposed the issue of war. At the close of the year 1814, these states, suffering from a complete destruction of their commerce, were outspoken in their demand for peace. Delegates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut met in Hartford in secret convention on December 15, 1814, for the purpose of protesting against the war policy of the administration. Before their adjournment a false rumor was circulated that New England was threatening secession. While it is now known that no such unpatriotic course was contemplated, still such credence was given to the rumor at the time as to bring upon the New England Federalists the greatest odium. The unwise course of this convention resulted in the complete downfall of the Federalist party.

357. Results of the War.-Notwithstanding the spirit

revealed in the Hartford Convention, American confidence and national pride had steadily increased. The little American navy had commanded the respect of the nations of the world. And-greatest gain of all-the United States had permanently separated her political affairs from all connection with the politics of Europe.

However, the war also left its evil effects. The government was confronted with a public debt of $127,000,000, of which amount $80,000,000 was due to the war, American commerce had been destroyed, and great depression was felt in all lines of business-the finances of the country were in need of immediate attention.

358. The Second Bank of the United States-1816.-Consequently the first task of congress was to reconstruct the financial system. The charter of the First United States Bank having expired in 1811, congress had refused to recharter it. However, the state banks, which had taken its place, proved so unsatisfactory that the people at the close of the war demanded its renewal. Accordingly, in 1816, congress created the Second Bank of the United States, with a capital of $35,000,000-one-fifth of the amount of stock being held by the government. It was chartered for twenty years, and greatly aided in restoring the finances of the country to a normal condition.

359. Tariff of 1816: The "Protective Tariff."-The manufacturing interests of the United States also demanded immediate attention. During the war, manufacturing industries had been extensively established, especially in the northern states. When trade was reopened with Great Britain at the close of the war, that nation flooded the country with English manufactures of all descriptions. Wherever these came in competition with home manufactures, the corresponding English goods were sold at a price below the cost of making the same in America. The manufacturing industries being thus threatened with destruction, the tariff bill of 1816 was passed to meet the emergency. Its purpose being

not only to raise a revenue, but especially to protect home manufactures, it was called the "protective tariff.”

360. Decatur and the Algerine War-1815.-During the war with England the pirates of the Barbary states again began preying upon American commerce. As soon as the war was closed the United States dispatched Commodore Decatur with a fleet of ten ships with instructions to bring the pirate states to terms. Decatur compelled the Dey of Algiers to sign a treaty on the deck of the American flagship, by which the Dey agreed to demand no more tribute money of the United States, and to pay for all seizures made in violation of the previous treaty. Similar submission being exacted of Tunis and Tripoli, no further trouble was experienced from the pirate states.

361. New States: Louisiana-1812; Indiana-1816.-In this administration, Louisiana was admitted to the union as the eighteenth state, with a constitution permitting slavery; and Indiana, as the nineteenth state, with a constitution prohibiting slavery.

362. The Third Census-1810.-The third census, taken in 1810, showed that the United States had a total population of 7,215,791-an increase of thirty-six and one-half per cent over the population of 1800. Of this population, 1,191,364 were slaves-27,510 in the north, the remainder in the south.

363. Presidential Election of 1816.-The last two years of Madison's administration had seen the country happy and prosperous, and the Democratic-Republicans restored to the confidence of the people. The Federalist party, under the odium of the Hartford Convention, was making its last feeble struggle, and counted but little in the election of 1816. James Monroe, candidate of the Democratic-Republican party, was elected president, receiving one hundred eightythree votes in the electoral college to thirty-four cast for Rufus King, candidate of the Federalists. Daniel D. Tompkins of New York was elected vice-president.

MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION

DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN: 1817-1825

364. James Monroe, fifth president of the United States, had been intimately connected with the public life of America since the days of the struggle for independence. At the age of eighteen, he left William and Mary College to join Washington's army. He studied law under Thomas Jefferson, whose influence had much to do with his early advancement. He was a member of the Virginia assembly, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a member of the· Virginia Convention to decide upon the adoption of the constitution. He was one of the first United States senators from Virginia. He was appointed minister to France by Washington. Upon his return he was elected governor of Virginia. During Jefferson's administration he was again appointed minister to France, and later minister to Spain, and still later to Great Britain. As special envoy to France, he assisted in negotiating the purchase of Louisiana in 1803. On his return, he again became governor of Virginia, from which office he was called to Madison's cabinet as secretary of state.

The second term of Monroe's administration is known as the "Era of Good Feeling," party lines disappearing altogether. When Monroe was reëlected in 1820 there was but one vote cast against him in the electoral college, and tradition has it that this single adverse vote was given to John Quincy Adams in order that the honor of a unanimous election to the presidency might belong to Washington alone. The years after his retirement to private life were spent partly at his old home in Virginia, and partly in New York city, where he died July 4, 1831. He was born in Virginia in 1758.

365. The Seminole War, and the Purchase of Florida1819. During the War of 1812 the Seminole Indians in Florida had aided the British. These Indians, during the

years 1817 and 1818, had continued to make raids into Georgia and Alabama. After a raid it was their custom to retire across the border into the Spanish province of Florida. Here they felt secure from attack,-due to the fact that they had been told that the United States troops would not dare to follow them into Spanish territory. It was believed in the United States that the Seminoles were incited to insurrection by a few English adventurers and by the Spanish authorities in Florida.

After several failures to quell the Indians, the government dispatched General Andrew Jackson to the seat of the war, with instructions to bring the savages to submission, even if he had to pursue them across the Florida border. Jackson, always a stern and self-willed man, though cautioned not to interfere with the Spanish authorities, felt, after his arrival on the Florida frontier, that he knew better how to settle the difficulty than did the government at Washington. Accordingly, he advanced into Florida and forced the Spaniards to abandon one post and later captured their stronghold at Pensacola. He also captured two British adventurers, whom he court-martialed and hanged. Jackson's action produced great excitement throughout the United States, but both the president and congress approved his course.

The Spanish government protested, but the United States, holding Spain partly accountable for the Seminole insurrection, insisted upon its right to protect its own citizens. The king of Spain, feeling that it would cost more to defend Florida than the province was worth, offered to sell it to the United States. Negotiations were at once entered upon by which the United States came into undisputed possession of East and West Florida, by the payment to Spain of $5,000,000.

366. New States Admitted: Mississippi-1817; Illinois1818; Alabama-1819; Maine-1820; Missouri-1821.-Five states were admitted to the union in this administration— Mississippi as the twentieth in 1817; Illinois as the twenty