CHAPTER 9: THE ERA OF THOMAS JEFFERSON Mrs. Straka

JEFFERSON TAKES OFFICE

REPUBLICANS TAKE CHARGE The Presidential Election of 1800 was contested. Federalists raised the prospect of a civil war if Jefferson were to be elected Republicans accused John Adams of wanting to create a monarchy Jefferson gets 73 electoral votes and defeats Adams According to the Constitution the person with second most votes becomes Vice Pres. However, Aaron Burr, Jefferson’s running mate also gets 73 votes. HOR has to decide who is to be president. House was deadlocked for 6 days. On the 36th vote Jefferson wins. Constitution gets 12th Amendment which has electors voting separately for Vice President and President.

JEFFERSON’S INAUGURATION Jefferson is first president to be inaugurated in Washington D.C., the country’s new capital. Believed in simple customs. Walked in the inauguration rather than having a carriage ride. Also ended people bowing for president. Hand-shakes instead.

JEFFERSON CHARTS A NEW COURSE Jefferson’s goal as President: To limit the federal government’s power over the states and citizens. He thought that the Federal government had become too involved in economic affairs under Washington and Adams. Believes in Laissez faire : means the government should not interfere in the economy

NEW REPUBLICAN POLICIES Jefferson goes the Laissez faire route. He reduced the number of people in the government. He fired all the tax collectors and cut the number of US diplomats. Shrinks the military which leads to larger cuts. Eliminated all federal taxes, which left most tax money coming from the tariff on imports. Returns fines from Sedition Act and lets all the people go He does keep some Federalist Policies though. He believes that we need to keep paying the national debt Keeps most of the Federalist officeholders

SUPREME COURT AND JUDICIAL REVIEW Federalist Judge William Marbury was appointed right before Adams left office. This was thought to keep the Federalist power. Jefferson appointed Madison, his secretary of state, to cease work on the appointment of Marbury. Marbury sues Madison. Judiciary Act of 1789 This act gave the Supreme Court the power to review cases brought against a Federal Official. This forever changes the relationship between the 3 branches of government.

Chief Justice John Marshall had spoken for an unanimous Court when he ruled that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional. Congress does not have the authority to give power to the Supreme Court over the Judiciary Act. Only the constitution could do so. The courts actual decision on Marbury vs. Madison is not important. What is important is that it establishes the principle of judicial review: the authority of the Supreme Court to strike down unconstitutional laws.

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

NATION LOOKS WEST Most of the people that lived west were farmers. There were not many roads at this point to receive and ship goods so most people relied on the Mississippi River. River and New Orleans was controlled by Spain. They had threatened a few times to close the port to American ships. We wanted to prevent this from happening so we negotiate a treaty with Spain. (The Pinckney Treaty) This treaty allows Americans to use Mississippi to ship goods This deal works out well for awhile…until..Jefferson finds out that Spain secretly gave all of New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana Territory to France

Jefferson is unhappy about this Napoleon Bonaparte had already set out to conquer Europe. Jefferson was worried Bonaparte wanted to make America part of his power as well. If Napoleon is in charge of Louisiana then the westward expansion of the United States would be blocked.

BUYING LOUISIANA Jefferson believes the best option to deal with the issue is to purchase the city of New Orleans from France. James Monroe and Robert Livingston go to France to make the deal. They are asked to buy New Orleans and West Florida

They get to France and find that the situation has changed. The French lost their base in Haiti. This would make it difficult for the French to defend Louisiana in the event of a war. At this time tension was rising between France and Britain again. War was looming and Napoleon needed money to support the war effort. France offers not only to sell New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana Territory.

It would takes a really long time to get Jefferson’s decision about the change of the deal So the men made an executive decision and purchased the whole Louisiana Territory for $15 Million dollars. (about 4 cents an acre) Doubled the United States in size Gave the US control of the Mississippi River

LEWIS AND CLARK before we even purchased the Louisiana Territory Jefferson convinced Congress to spend $2,500 on a Western Expedition He chose Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition and William Clark to be his co-leader. Their job: report back on geography, plants, animals, and other natural features of the region. Other jobs: make contact with native americans who lived in the Louisiana Territory and find out if there was a waterway between the Mississippi and Pacific Ocean

INTO THE UNKNOWN 1804 they begin traveling up the Missouri River and eventually meet Native Americans for the first time.They then reach the edge of the Great Plains. By Oct. of 1804 they reach North Dakota.They were met by a French Canadian trader and his wife (Sacagawea) who was a Shoshone who would travel with them as a translator

They all reach Montana by summer of 1805 and climb the Rocky Mountains. They were met by a bunch of Shoshone warriors. leader happened to be Sacagewea’s brother lucky because he then agreed to sell them horses to cross the mountains. Eventually reach all the way through to the Pacific Ocean. Make their way back to St. Louis by 1806 American people now aware of what is west and all its riches and glory.