Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson
THOMAS JEFFERSON took office in 1801. During the campaign, his party
had created visions of an agrarian paradise protected by a small
government with no standing military and no debt. And, he was a strict
constructionist. Meaning, if it isn't in the Constitution, he believed the government doesn't have a right to do it. But many of
Jefferson's most important domestic achievements seemed to be in stark
contrast to his platform.
Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in the new permanent capital,
Washington, D.C., and live in the completed recognize either building today. When he moved into the president's White House - though you may not country mansion, he
complained that it was 'big enough for two emperors, one pope and the Grand Lama in
the bargain.' Jefferson claimed that he opposed grandeur and elitism, yet he
immediately began designing additions to the White House (including the photogenic West
Wing colonnade).
When Jefferson took office, only the north wing of the Capitol building
was ready for occupation, and it was shared by Congress, the Supreme
Court, the Library of Congress and the courts of the District of
Columbia. In 1803, Jefferson approved funding to continue with
construction.
Though by the time the south wing was ready for use, the north section was in need of repair. Completing
the Capitol might seem like an easy decision for us today, but Jefferson
had promised that his administration would be frugal.
However, this project wasn't nearly as controversial as his next big
expenditure.
The Louisiana Purchase Around the time of Jefferson's election,
Napoleon Bonaparte was in secret negotiations with Spain to reclaim North American territory that France had lost after the French and Indian War. They reached an agreement, but soon after,
events unfolded which left France nearly bankrupt in the middle of another war.
Napoleon realized that he couldn't afford to defend the LOUISIANA TERRITORY.
So, when the United States approached him about buying New Orleans in order to control access to the Mississippi River,
Napoleon offered to sell them all of his land on the continent for $15 million.
While that may seem cheap (it works out to about $.04 an acre), and the land
proved to be very valuable to America, the Constitution didn't give Jefferson
power to make such a purchase.
What's worse, he didn't consult with Congress over the deal,
exactly the kind of expansion of presidential power that Jefferson
said he opposed.
Think about how a modern president's opponents react when
he oversteps his bounds. Now imagine if both his rivals and his friends were angry. Outrage over
the Louisiana Purchase nearly split the country apart. Of
course, some people approved, especially many Southerners.
It doubled the size of the U.S. overnight, opening up huge
amounts of inexpensive farmland. It guaranteed access to the Mississippi River. But many others vigorously opposed the
purchase. Federalists thought it would lead to war with Spain.
Congress, with its Democratic-Republican majority, opposed
expanding the NATIONAL DEBT, rather than eliminating it as
Jefferson had promised. Members of both parties believed the purchase
was unconstitutional. Some Northerners foresaw this as an
expansion of slavery.
Jefferson's opponents in the Northeast recognized that this
would further reduce their political clout. Nonetheless, in
1803, the purchase was made and plans to explore it commenced.
Exploring the WestThomas Jefferson accomplished what may be his most enduring
legacy as president: the successful completion of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Even before the purchase was made, Jefferson had created the Corps of
Discovery to send explorers through the new land (and beyond) to the
Pacific Ocean. The president hired his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and Lewis' friend, William Clark, to lead
the expedition.
The 33 members of the so-called 'permanent party' departed from St.
Louis on May 14, 1804. Along the way, they were joined by various
people, including a French trapper and his Shoshone wife, Sacajawea,
who served as cooks, translators and diplomats. Their infant son,
nicknamed Pomp, helped indicate the Corps' peaceful intentions to the
people they encountered.
If you think about how long it would take today to travel more than 2,100 miles from St. Louis to the Oregon
coast on the interstate, it seems pretty amazing that they traveled all the way through present-day Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa,
South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and
Oregon - and back - in just 28 months!
They had no cars, no trains, no roads. They didn't even have
trails through a lot of the land. They encountered dozens of
Indian nations, not all of whom were receptive to outsiders in
their territory.
The Lewis and Clark expedition drew amazingly accurate maps and pictures of the land, animals, people
and plants of the American West. Their extensive notes shattered
erroneous assumptions about the land. For example, they dispelled,
once and for all, the belief that there was a Northwest Passage through
the American continent.
When Lewis and Clark arrived back in St. Louis on September 23, 1806, an excited nation now
had a map and reliable information to guide their own
westward migration. It was then, as it is now, a great achievement
for President Jefferson.
Shortly before Lewis and Clark's return, Jefferson retroactively approved a second expedition (led by Captain
Zebulon Pike), which had been commissioned by the governor of
Louisiana - who happened to be one of Burr's conspirators. Pike was assigned a
few insignificant tasks, but many historians now believe Pike was, in fact,
sent on a military reconnaissance mission.
His team traveled the southwestern edge of the Louisiana Territory, identified Pike's Peak and built a
fort at what they claimed to believe was the headwaters of the Red River.
But it was, in fact, the Rio Grande. Pike's Expedition was in Spanish
territory. They were arrested, charged as spies and marched to
Chihuahua.
Along the way, they passed through Santa Fe, Albuquerque
and El Paso where Pike observed the size and locations of Spanish
military installations. They learned that the people were
agitating against Spanish rule.
In prison, Pike convinced his translator to show him Spanish maps of the land. Then after his release, Pike's valuable military
intelligence proved just how little of a threat Spain posed.
Outlawing the Slave TradeOne of President Jefferson's last great acts was signing a bill that
outlawed the Atlantic slave trade, effective January 1, 1808. The
Constitution itself had set that as the earliest date allowed for such a law, not wanting the issue of slavery to
interfere with the development of the young nation.
Although slavery itself was still legal - and growing - the act prohibiting
importation of slaves made it a crime to bring new slaves into America
from overseas. There was smuggling of course, but the law was enforced, having the effect of raising prices for slaves, and encouraging the practice of selling slave children for profit.
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