AGE OF JEFFERSON Day 1 Jefferson’s First Term American History 1 Mr. Hensley SRMHS

The Revolution of 1800 Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans are in power after a bitter election Jefferson encourages Congress to repeal Sedition Acts (and they do) Jefferson cuts taxes and wants to balance the budget Government becomes efficient, do more with less Reduces size of army and allows charter of BUS to expire

North America in 1800

Meanwhile in Europe… Meet Napoleon Takes over in France after the Revolution (early 1800’s) Then takes over Spain Spends the next 20 years trying to conquer all of Europe and defeat the British War costs money…

Louisiana Purchase of 1803 Jefferson buys the entire Louisiana territory from Napoleon for $15 million Federalists argue this exceeds the power given the President under the Constitution Most people support the Purchase Purchase doubles size of United States!

United States After 1803

Lewis and Clark Need to explore and map new territory Meriwether Lewis gets the job – he picks Clark as his assistant Goal is to find water route from Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean Also, goal is to explore, make maps, find new resources, contact Natives Native guide is Sacajawea

The Barbary Coast North African pirates seized American merchant ships Most countries paid them tribute to be left alone, no attack Jefferson stopped tribute and sent the Navy and the Marines to blockade their capitol, Tripoli Very popular at home

Election of 1804 Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans win in a landslide Federalists lose popularity by opposing Louisiana Purchase Candidate Pinckney is a wealthy South Carolina aristocrat with sympathies to Great Britain Jefferson trounces Pinckney 73% to 27%

Conflict with Britain Britain is fighting Napoleon and the French in Europe America is neutral and wants to sell to both sides Britain attacks, harasses and intimidates American ships – the British don’t want the French getting supplies from the U.S. USS Revenge is sent to London to get an apology - and is fired upon!

Impressment Issues British ships stop American ships on the open seas – then board them, seize the cargo and kidnap sailors Sailors are forced (“pressed”) to work for British Navy Impressment humiliates America because we are powerless to stop it By 1807, is a huge problem

Jefferson Prepares American people want war with Britain Jefferson thinks it is a war we cannot win – we are too weak, unprepared Jefferson does buy war supplies and encourages state governors to call up and expand militias Jefferson sends James Monroe to London

The Embargo Act Made law by Congress in December 1807 Makes it illegal to ship anything to any other country! Smugglers are put in jail Jefferson’s hope: losing U.S. supplies will force Britain to respect our ships and our neutrality

Embargo Impact

Economic Chaos Northern states are impacted the most by loss of foreign trade Rich Southerners can’t import from England –nor export their cash crops West is relatively unaffected Causes recession and mass unemployment in the North Increases demand for American-made products

Review: Age of Jefferson – First Term BIG QUESTION: What is Thomas Jefferson’s legacy as President of the United States? Jefferson took office as the first Democratic-Republican to serve as President. He followed through on his promises to reduce the size of the federal government, lower taxes and eliminate the BUS. As a D-R, he supported the idea of nullification but saw that idea defeated by Chief Justice Marshall and the precedent of judicial review set by Marbury v. Madison. He became extremely popular for the Louisiana Purchase which (ironically) happened because he took an uncharacteristic loose interpretation of the Constitution instead of a strict one.