the second president, Adams had very little to go off of. He is often criticized for his choices in helping to form the country, but often the fact that he had nothing that he could look back on to help is overlooked. When John Adams left the oval office in 1801, Thomas Jefferson followed him. When Jefferson had begun his presidency, the France crisis had passed. He began to focus on saving the country money. He started this by lowering the amount of money being spent on the navy and army and began cutting budgets. He also removed the whiskey tax, but still lowered national debt by a third. Jefferson realized that the Barbary Pirates were slowing down trade in the Mediterranean, and sent naval units down to take care of the problem. Jefferson was pulled from both sides to become involved in the Napoleonic wars, and even though American merchants were being hassled by both sides, Jefferson continued to keep the United States neutral. James Madison took over the presidency in 1809. During his first year, the United States prohibited trade with Britain and France, but in 1810, Congress authorized trade with both, but made a policy that if either country would accept America's policy of neutral rights, it would forbid trade with the other nation. The French agreed, but was not serious. In 1810, Madison announced "non-intercourse" with Great Britain. A group called the "War Hawks" in Congress, wanted Madison to look towards a more militant policy. Britain began attacking American ships, and seizing cargo, and Madison gave in. On June 1, 1812, he declared war. We were not prepared. The British came to Washington, and started fires in the White House, and the Capitol. Because of a few victories, Americans believed that the War of 1812 had been successful. This caused Federalism as a national party to disappear. When Madison's presidency ended in 1817, James Monroe came into the picture.
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