Transcript Thomas Jefferson - Jessamine County Schools

•Born in Virginia
•Graduate of William and
Mary College
•A practicing lawyer and
member of Virginia’s House of
Burgesses
•Father of the DOI
•Secretary of State under
President Washington
•Vice President under Adams
Anti-British/Pro-French
•Almost allied with England and went to war with France
to force Napoleon out of New Orleans.
Against slavery
•Owned 200 slaves
Strict Construction of Constitution
•Used loose construction of Constitution to justify his
purchase of the Louisiana territory
Jefferson realized that “ideas” are often hard to
put into practice in the “real world”.
By 1800, the Federalist party was split,
clearing the way to the presidency for the
Democratic-Republicans.
• Two men ran for the party
nomination: Thomas
Jefferson and Aaron
Burr.
ELECTION OF 1800
Jefferson & Burr received an
equal number of votes in the
Electoral College
This meant that the Federalistdominated House of
Representatives was required to
choose a president
Ironically, Alexander Hamilton
campaigned for Jefferson
• Hamilton disagreed on most issues
Jefferson stood on
• Hamilton personally disliked
Jefferson and believed Burr to be “a
most unfit and dangerous man.”
• It took 35 ballots, but Jefferson finally
won.
John S. Adams
Federalist
Thomas Jefferson
Democratic/Republican
Significance of Election of 1800
• Peaceful transfer of power from one political party to
another (bloodless revolution)
• “Revolutionary” achievement
• Jefferson referred to his victory and the subsequent changeover as “the bloodless revolution”
Election of 1800: For the second time, a president was
saddled with a vice-president he did not want
Federalists
Democratic Republicans
Adams--Pres---65
Jefferson---Pres.---73
Burr---VP----73
2. To eliminate future problems
12th Amendment: Requires electors to specify which
person they want for President and VP on separate
ballots so their would never be a tie.
electoral
college
A New President
•
Jefferson integrated democratic
principles into presidency,
including walking, pell-mell
dining, casual dress
•
Set precedent of sending
messages to Congress to be
read, rather than speaking
himself
• Jefferson dismissed few
Federalist appointments, used
very little patronage, consistent
with conciliatory inaugural
address
•
Jefferson as politician used
personal charm to sway
congressional representatives
• New type of democracy
• Champion for the
common man
• Believed education
would prepare them for
participation in
government
• Believed education the
key to social mobility
• Educated should rule
He kept most Federalist programs.
•
Continued to
uphold the
treaties signed by
Adams&
Washington
WHY?
• Felt Federalist diplomats signed
good treaties with England, Spain,
France, and kept US out of war.
Followed policy of
neutrality
• The Bank of the United States
was helping to get the country out
of debt
•
•
Did not attack
tariffs, Bank,
funding at par, or
assumption of
debt
• Federalists preserved
democratic gains, while fending
off anarchy
• Wanted to help 2-party system
by showing that defeat (for
Federalists) didn’t mean disaster
Jefferson axed a few Federalist policies
• Pardoned those
convicted under
expired Sedition
Act
• Reduced
residency
requirement for
citizenship back
to 5 years
Jefferson and his treasurer Albert
Gallatin set out to reduce the national
debt
• Under Hamilton, the government had
borrowed money to finance national
growth
– He thought debt was a good thing: If the
government borrowed from its rich
citizens, those citizens would have a
vested interest in the country’s growth
• Jefferson decided to abandon this
policy, trimmed the federal budget,
and cut taxes, all of which he
succeeded in doing.
•Jefferson’s Presidency is
considered a transitional period in
US History.
•Many historians look at this time
period as the beginning of the true
democracy.
• TJ believed the National
Government became too powerful
during Adam’s Presidency
•Would try to reduce National
Govt. power but actually expands
Presidential power.
KING GEORGE
FEDERALISTS
JEFFERSON
Jeffersonian
democracy
•Visualized an agrarian society
•Feared industrialization and its effects
•Farmers were the chosen class.
•Laissez faire--govt. stays out of people’s
lives
•Felt slavery would eventually end but predicted it would
divide country
•Ultimate goal: African Americans would assimilate into
American society
•Co-existence with Native Americans was a long range
goal but felt they would have to learn agricultural ways
and become self-sufficient
•For the time being, felt Native Americans & whites could
not co-exist and worked towards voluntary removal of
tribes to western lands
Jeffersonian democracy
Spanish Land
1800
• Great Britain’s
claims in 1783
• United States in
1783
• Spanish land
after 1783
New Orleans
•In 1800, France & Spain signed
secret pacts & France acquires
Louisiana & New Orleans
French Land in
1801
•Great Britain’s
land after 1783
•United States in
1783
•Spanish land
• New Orleans is a
highly desirable
port. WHY?
Haitian rev
The French and Spanish developed this port city during the
eighteenth century.
By century's end many in the United States saw New
Orleans as a key to the new nation's future expansion and
prosperity.
• Jefferson knew that the French would use their New
Orleans’ strategic location to restrict American trade along
the river
•He offered to buy New Orleans and as much of the
Mississippi Valley as possible from France ($10 million)
Haitian rev
•Toussaint L’Ouverture, former slave led a slave rebellion in
French Haiti.
•Napoleon was unable to put down this rebellion. He had wanted
to use this island as stepping stone into America
•Forced him to abandon his dream of a French America.
Louisiana
purchase
• Since Napoleon lost Haiti & was
at war with Great Britain, he
offered the entire Louisiana
Territory to US for $15 million
• Jefferson authorizes the
purchased of the Louisiana
Territory, making it an excellent
bargain (about 3 cents an acre)
•Doubled the size of the US
• Considered Jefferson’s greatest
accomplishment
•Why? Didn’t fight a war; no
blood shed.
This sparks a large debate:
Did the President even have the right to purchase
land if it is not expressed in the US Constitution?
Jefferson used implied powers or loose construction to
justify his decision
“It was for the best interest of the nation. It is the case
of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in
purchasing an important adjacent territory; and
saying to him when of age, I did this for your good; I
pretend to no right to bind you; you may disavow me,
and I must get out of the scrape as I can: I thought it
my duty to risk myself for you.”
LP Constitutional ?
•Hamilton and Federalists were against the
purchase
•Why?
• It would create a population shift take
Federalist power away in Congress
• They feared Jefferson’s vision of an
“agrarian society”
•Jefferson referred to this as his “valley of
democracy”
LP Constitutional ?
•Conflicted with his commitment to debt reduction
• It facilitated the removal of eastern Native Americans by
providing land for their exile
• It promised fulfillment of his dream of an agrarian
LP Constitutional ?
Expansion of the United States
Map 6 of 45
Map 7 of 45
Expansion of the United States
with Louisiana Purchase 1803
•Spring, 1804: Jefferson sends
personal secretary Merriweather
Lewis and army officer William
Clark to explore north Louisiana
• Corp of Discovery: 28 men who
accompanied Lewis/Clark.
• Included York, an African
American slave
• Carried 21 bags of gifts
•Establish good & stimulate
interest in trading for US
manufactured goods
•Interpreter and guide for Lewis
and Clark
•Her knowledge of trails and
mountain passes helped with
the success of the expedition.
•She was also a “diplomat” for
Lewis and Clark. Knew the
languages of mountain tribes
•Her presence with a baby was
looked upon as good and
Lewis and Clark were
considered peaceful.
The Expedition yielded maps,
knowledge of Native Americans, &
overland trail to Pacific
• It caused
many
pioneers to
turn their
attentions
westward in
search of
wealth and
freedom.
•Aaron Burr (1756-1836)
•Born in Newark N.J.
•Democratic Republican
•Fought with the continental
Army in the Revolutionary
war.
•A practicing lawyer in New
York City against Hamilton
•Vice President of the United
States (1801-1805).
 Both held grudges
against each other &
when Hamilton accused
Burr of being a liar, Burr
challenged the
Federalist leader to a
duel
 Hamilton did not fire & Burr was indicted for murder
Hamilton’s death in 1804 deprived the Federalists of
their last great leader and earned Burr the enmity of
many
 Political career in ruins, he
fled to the West
 In 1806, he schemed to take
Mexico from Spain and carve a
new empire out of the
Louisiana Territory
 Jefferson learned of the
conspiracy and ordered Burr’s
arrest and trial for treason
A jury acquitted Burr, basing its decision on
Marshall’s narrow definition of treason and the lack
of witnesses to any “overt act” by Burr
 In 1805, the British and
French were at war and at a
stalemate. In an effort to gain
an advantage, each side began
blockading the other’s trade
routes.
• The US, dependent on both as trade partners,
suffered greatly from the blockades.
• To add insult to injury, the British began
stopping American ships and impressing them
again
Chesapeake affair
•1807, the USS Chesapeake was sent to protect US merchant ships 10 miles off
the coast of Virginia.
•A British ship in the region ordered it to stop, but it refused.
•British fired 3 shots at the Chesapeake before it surrendered
•3 Americans were killed, 18 wounded and 4 sailors impressed
Chesapeake article
Regarding the Chesapeake
Affair, the Washington
Federalist reported,
“We have never, on any
occasion, witnessed the spirit
of the people excited to so
great a degree of
indignation, or such a thirst
for revenge, as on hearing of
the late unexampled outrage
on the Chesapeake. All
parties, ranks and
professions were unanimous
in their detestation of the
dastardly deed, and all cried
aloud for vengeance.”
Most Americans were angered over this incident and
public opinion was to go to war with the British
• Jefferson was at
a loss.
• He couldn’t go to
war against the
British because
the US Navy was
no match for
England’s forces.
• If you were
Jefferson, what
would you do?
• He decided to boycott by convincing Congress
to pass the Embargo Act of 1807.
•This cut off trade with all foreign nations
•By cutting off trade with them, he hoped that it
would force them to respect US neutrality (aka
economic coercion)
While boycotting, he decided to
increase military & naval expenditures
• Embargo Act hurt the US because it basically shut down
America’s import and export business, causing disastrous
economic results
• New England’s economy collapsed (talks of secession
started), and smuggling became widespread
• Jefferson thus repealed the unsuccessful Embargo Act
and did not run again for president.
embargo2
A Federalist circular in Massachusetts
against the embargo cried out,
“Let every man who holds the name of
America dear to him , stretch forth his hands
and put this accursed thing, this Embargo
from him. Be resolute, act like sons of liberty,
of God, and your country; nerve your arms
with vengeance against the Despot (Jefferson)
who would wrest the inestimable germ of
your Independence from you---and you shall
be Conquerors!!!”
•American people became
angry with Jefferson
•The Embargo Act was
thus replaced by the NonIntercourse Act by
President Madison, which
allowed U.S. exports and
trade but not with France
and Great Britain
“Our ships all in motion,
Once whiten’d the ocean;
They sail’d and return’d with a Cargo;
Now doom’d to decay
They are fallen a prey,
To Jefferson, worms and EMBARGO.”
• Born in Virginia, 1755
• Served as an officer with General
Washington during the Revolution
• Attended College of William and
Mary and became a practicing
attorney.
• 2nd cousin of Thomas Jefferson.
• Marshall became a committed Federalist where his court
decisions would reflect the need for a strong national
government over the states.
• Dominated court for 34 years, long after Federalist party
died out.