Jefferson and Madison at War

On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman continue their series on presidents at war with a discussion about Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

First, they briefly talk about the John Adams administration. Adams dealt with a fraught time in American foreign policy. He was able to avoid outright war with France but suffered widespread political opposition due to the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Federalist policy unpopularity led to the "revolution" of 1798 and the election of Jefferson. Jefferson used the small blue water navy to deal with the Barbary pirates but much greater challenges loomed. His successor James Madison conducted America's first major war since the American Revolution, the War of 1812. Was this a conflict the United States should have avoided entirely? Maitra and Stepman discuss all these things and much more.

---

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.