The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson: Foreign Policy

The Barbary Pirates American shipping had been protected from powerful North African pirates by the British (before the Revolution) and the French (from 1778 – 1783), and then by paying $80,000/year in tributes until 1801 When the pasha of Tripoli (a sort of “pirate prince” demanded $225,000 from the U.S. in 1801, Jefferson refused to pay, resulting in the pasha declaring war against the U.S.

“…to the Shores of Tripoli …” Jefferson sent the U.S. Navy to the Mediterranean and successfully fought a 4-year long war against the pirates, although the frigate U.S.S. Philadelphia was lost in the fighting Tribute payments to the Barbary states would not be completely eliminated until a second American naval expedition to the region in 1815

Louisiana Louisiana had been reacquired by France when Napoleon conquered Spain in 1800 Napoleon decided that he could not afford to protect the territory due to a threat of war with England and a slave revolt in Haiti, so he offered to sell Louisiana to the United States – this would free up French troops to be used elsewhere and provide Napoleon with ready cash to cover his military expenses

The Louisiana Purchase Jefferson was prepared to offer $10 million to France for just the port of New Orleans, so he was shocked when Napoleon offered the entire Louisiana Territory (all 828,000+ mi² of it) for only $15 million

The Louisiana Purchase Afraid that Napoleon would withdraw the offer, Jefferson agreed to the purchase, even though he doubted that he had the Constitutional authority to do so Once completed, the Purchase doubled the size of the U.S. and extended its borders all the way to the Rocky Mountains The Purchase also began to build in Americans the belief that they were “destined” to control North America

The Napoleonic Wars In May 1803, Britain and France went to war for the third time since 1778 Britain declared that all ships headed for European ports needed special licenses from the British government and would be subject to search by the British Navy France declared that ships obeying British orders would have their goods confiscated by the French government

Impressment of Sailors Britain began stopping U.S. ships to search them for British “deserters” and often forced crewmen from U.S. ships to join the crews of British ships instead, a practice called “impressment” This practice infuriated American citizens, leading some to call for war with Britain

The USS Chesapeake incident In 1807, the British warship HMS Leopard attempted to stop the American warship USS Chesapeake The Chesapeake refused to stop and be boarded, so it was fired upon by the Leopard The attack killed 3 American sailors; ultimately, the Chesapeake surrendered and the British impressed four of her crewmen This attack led to even more calls for war against Britain

Embargo Act of 1807 Even though he was pro-France, President Jefferson wanted to avoid a war with Britain To prevent any further incidents which might lead to war, he convinced Congress to pass the Embargo Act, which stopped all trade between the U.S. and Europe

The Embargo Backfires The embargo ended up hurting the U.S. more than it did Britain or France American shipping companies failed; Southern farmers, who sold most of their cash crops (especially cotton and tobacco) in Europe, were ruined The Act was ultimately repealed in 1809, after Jefferson had left office