Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency
1800-1808
“Taking our country in a different direction”
Standards
• SSUSH6 The student will analyze the
nature of territorial and population
growth, and its impact in the early
decades of the new nation
• EQ – How did Jefferson’s Presidency
take America in a “different
direction”?
Jefferson’s Agenda
• 1. Lessen Taxes
• 2. Reduce size of army
• 3. Cut the size of the bureaucracy
How Jefferson handled these
• 1. Lessen taxes – Government job is
not to tax citizens, just provide for
their safety.
• 2. Reduce size of army – army only
needed in times of war
• 3. Bureaucracy – too many government
workers and gov is wasteful, too big
and too inefficient
Jefferson’s beliefs
• The government should work to
protect the rights of the people.
• The government should be small and
non oppressive.
• The bigger a government is, the more
oppressive towards the individual it
will be.
Judiciary Act of 1789
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary
_Act_of_1789
Marbury v. Madison
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T
VkeRUvX_U
Midnight Judges
• Lame duck Adams attempts to appoint
multiple federal judges in his final days as
President.
• Thomas Jefferson is inaugurated and tells
Madison not to deliver the appointments.
• Marbury becomes angry and sues the federal
government.
• Marbury vs. Madison established JUDICIAL
REVIEW IN AMERICA
• Judicial review - Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Issue of the Midnight Judges
• Judicial Review and the Supreme Court
Louisiana Purchase
• Fearing war with France, Jefferson sent
Livingston and Monroe to France to acquire
New Orleans and W. Fla for 15 million.
• Napoloean offers the entire LA. Territory.
• The men agree although they were not
permitted to do so.
• Jefferson was happy yet, upset at their
decision.
• Why was he upset?
Loose vs. Strict construction
• Loose construction = Believed that the
government could do anything that the
constitution did not say it couldn’t.
• Strict construction = Believed that the
government could only do what the
Constitution said it could.
Louisiana Purchase
• An account of the issue from the
United States State Deparment
Lewis and Clark expedition
• Spring of 1804 Lewis and Clark with the
help of Indian guide Sacagawea,
explored the newly acquired territory.
– 3 Goals
• 1. Find the Pacific / blaze trails and paths
• 2. Find any natural resources
• 3. Befriend the natives of the area
America and Spain after the
purchase
Pinckney Treaty of 1795
•
Pinckney's Treaty, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo or the Treaty of
Madrid, was signed in San Lorenzo de El Escorial on October 27, 1795 and
established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It
also defined the boundaries of the United States with the Spanish colonies and
guaranteed the United States navigation rights on the Mississippi River –
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinckney's_Treaty)
•
The Dispute after the Louisiana Purchase:
–
•
Under the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso of October 1, 1800, Louisiana and an undefined
portion of West Florida were formally transferred back to France, although the Spanish continued
to administer it. The terms of the treaty did not specify the boundaries of the territory being
returned. When France then sold the Louisiana Territory to the US in 1803, a dispute arose again
between Spain and the US on which parts of West Florida exactly had Spain ceded to France, which
would in turn decide which parts of West Florida were now US property versus Spanish property (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinckney's_Treaty)
One of the most important provisions of the treaty was that the US and Spain
were responsible for acting as arbiter for Indians in their respective territories
and preventing Indians from attacking.
Federalist undoing
• Alexander Hamilton engages in a duel
with Aaron Burr and is killed.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BurrHamilton_duel
Jefferson’s undoing
• After winning election and serving in his
second term, Jefferson leaves office a goat,
not a hero because of his trade embargo of
1807.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embargo_Act_
of_1807
• Embargo stated that the USA could not trade
with GB and France due to US ships being
taken over on the high seas.
• Some merchants disobeyed law
• Embargo severely hurt US economy