Chapter 9- The Era of Thomas Jefferson

Election of 1800 Tied Aaron Burr in electoral votes Needed to be decided by he House of Representatives Jefferson wins

Republican Policies Believed in a laissez-faire style of government= government should not intervene in the economy. Reduced number of people working in federal government Cut federal taxes

Marbury v. Madison Granted the Supreme Court the power of judicial review = the right for the Supreme Court to declare federal laws unconstitutional. gave more power to the judicial branch.

The Nation looks west By 1800, more than 1 million Americans lived west of the Appalachian Mountains More wanted to move west but we did not own the land Farmers in the West shipped many of their goods using the Mississippi River.

Importance of the Mississippi River and New Orleans The majority of the population lived on the east coast. So the Mississippi River was vital in shipping goods to where the population was The goods would travel down the Mississippi River through the Port of New Orleans, into the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida and up to east coast cities. Was extremely difficult to ship goods across land: No roads No rail roads yet Mountainous terrain No vehicles Slow Dangerous- Native Americans and bad weather

The New Orleans Problem Belonged to Spain Spain threatened to close down the port to American ships Spain secretly sells the Louisiana Territory to the French. Greatly increases France’s power in N. America

The New Orleans SOLUTION Jefferson sends James Madison to France to try and buy New Orleans France had just lost their colony in Haiti to a revolution France could no longer protect Louisiana Territory French were willing to sell us the territory

The Greatest real estate deal in human history??? U.S. buys the Louisiana Territory for $15 million or about 4 cents an acre Expands U.S. boundaries to the Rocky Mountains in the West. Doubles the size of the country Gain full control of the Mississippi River and New Orleans

Jefferson’s Dilemma Did he have the power as President to buy land from another nation? Remember, Jefferson was a Republican who believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. But it did say that he could make treaties with other nations. Decides to go ahead with the purchase.