1. Chapter 9- The Era of Thomas Jefferson

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

3. 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

4. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

12. 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.