Thomas Jefferson

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The Election of 1800

The tumult caused by the Alien and Sedition Acts, the growing international crisis precipitated by the French Revolution,
and the domestic conflict arising from Hamilton's national economic development program culminated in Thomas
Jefferson's election to the presidency in 1800 after an acrimonious campaign between himself and Adams. Jefferson's
taking office, however, was delayed several weeks as the result of a controversy caused by a flaw in the Constitution.
Aaron Burr, the vice presidential candidate, had received as many electoral votes as Jefferson because at that time there
was no distinction made on the ballots between candidates for president and vice president. The man with the most votes
became president, and the second-place finisher became vice president. In the event of a tie, the election was
automatically thrown into the House of Representatives. Burr briefly capitalized on the confusion in the House to try to
usurp Jefferson's election and win the office himself, but Hamilton's advice to Federalists to vote for Jefferson as the
lesser of two evils helped settle the matter. The Twelfth Amendment remedied this defect in the Constitution by changing
the procedure for the election of president and vice president.

During his first term in office, Jefferson reduced the national debt, cut taxes, and sought unsuccessfully to reduce the
power of the Federalist-dominated judiciary. Although he believed in a strict constructionist interpretation of the
Constitution in theory, in practice he was more flexible.

The only foreign conflict he faced at this time was in ordering the small American navy to blockade Tripoli to suppress the
raids of Barbary pirates on American shipping. Although the military effects of the action were mixed, the action was
extremely popular, and the securing of a favorable treaty in 1805 with Tripoli seemed to justify his resort to force.
Louisiana Purchase

On April 30, 1803, one of the greatest real estate deals in history took place. The United States purchased the Louisiana
Territory from France. The territory included 828,000 square miles, for which the United States paid $15 million—less than
three cents an acre!

The sale of the Louisiana Territory to the United States by Napoleon I was the result of a complicated series of events.
Originally claimed by France in the 17th and 18th centuries, the territory known as Louisiana was ceded to Spain in 1762.
Then, in 1800, Napoleon successfully secured its return. Napoleon, however, was not as easy to get along with as the
Spaniards. When the United States lost its "right of deposit" (the privilege of storing goods for later reshipment) at New
Orleans, it meant that U.S. farmers would not be able to use the Mississippi River to get their crops to market. There was
talk of war, but President Thomas Jefferson was determined to find a peaceful solution to this very real problem.

Jefferson sent American statesman James Monroe to join American minister Robert R. Livingston in France to negotiate
for at least the port of New Orleans, which was economically and strategically essential to the Mississippi Valley and the
American South. During the negotiations, it became apparent that Napoleon was in need of funds. The U.S. envoys
offered to buy the entire territory, and France accepted the offer.

Acquisition of the Louisiana Territory doubled the size of the United States. It greatly strengthened the country
economically and strategically. And it provided a powerful impetus for westward expansion. His efforts to have western
Florida included in the Louisiana Purchase failed, but overall, his first term was remarkably successful, and he was easily
reelected in 1804.
Westward Exploration
The first American exploration of the vast Louisiana Territory was made by the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806.
Interestingly enough, the expedition had been planned and organized long before the purchase was made. Jefferson had
challenged Meriwether Lewisand William Clark to find a water route connecting the Mississippi River with the Pacific
Ocean.

Lewis, Clark, and their cadre of 33 men set out from St. Louis, Missouri on May 14, 1804. When they reached what is
today North Dakota, they hired the French fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau and his Shoshone wife, Sacajawea, to serve
as guides and interpreters for their journey to the Pacific. Sacajawea's role became highly romanticized in the decades
following the expedition.

The adventure, which was undertaken during President Thomas Jefferson's term, accomplished its primary goal of
reaching the Pacific Ocean and also yielded a comprehensive map of the western terrain; descriptions of flora, fauna, and
animals in the wilderness; and interaction with western Native Americans. In the end, they proved that the theory of a
Northwest Passage was a myth. More important though, they brought back valuable information to fill in a huge blank
space on the map of North America.

The Rocky Mountains were considered to be the western boundary of the Louisiana Territory, and the Mississippi River
was accepted as the eastern boundary. It was discovered that much of the territory contained rich mineral resources,
productive soil, valuable grazing land, forests, and wildlife resources of inestimable value. Within its boundaries lie today's
states of Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, as well as parts of
Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and Minnesota.
Foreign Policy

Jefferson's second term was dominated by efforts to protect American neutral trade rights as warring England and France
both established naval blockades against each other. The British impressment of seamen was a constant grievance, and
when a British ship fired upon and boarded a U.S. naval frigate, the Chesapeake, in 1807, the American public might have
backed a declaration of war. Jefferson, who never wanted to resort to war and opposed constructing a large navy, decided
to rely on economic pressure tactics. First the Nonimportation Act of 1806 was tried, then the Embargo Act of 1807.
Unfortunately, these acts required Americans not to attempt to trade with their principal clients, England and France, and
brought economic havoc to merchants as well as to shippers. New England, the maritime center of America, was
especially hurt. In addition, enforcement of the embargo required infringements upon the very individual rights that
Jefferson heralded as inviolate. The embargo was a major issue in the Election of 1808, won by James Madison. The
result was that by the time he left office in 1809, even though the Embargo Act had been repealed, he was the target of
considerable public hostility.