1. The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson: Foreign Policy

2. 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.

3. “…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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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