Transcript The New Republican President

Chapter 11 section 1
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In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first
President to take the oath of office in
Washington, D.C. Jefferson was also the first
Republican President. He put his political
ideas to work by keeping the government
small and simple.
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Thomas Jefferson was a renaissance type
man. He served his country as a President,
Vice-President, Secretary of State, legislator,
governor, and as the author and a signer of
the Declaration of Independence.
As a inventor, Jefferson designed a new type
of clock, the swivel chair, the dumbwaiter
elevator, and a new form of plow. He was also
a musician, a farmer, an architect, and spoke
5 languages.
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As President, Jefferson tried to live by his
words and put Republican ideas about
government to work. He ended many
customs of President Washington and
Adams.
Guests now shook hands with the President,
instead of bowing before him. Formal
receptions were also replaced with informal
dinners at a round table, so no person
appeared superior to anyone else.
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The Supreme court gained a new, more
powerful role in the Federal government. In
the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, the
court established its power of judicial review.
Judicial review-the power to decide whether
or not an act of Congress is constitutional.
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Soon after taking office, Jefferson noticed
that a stack for new judges had not been
delivered. Before Jefferson’s inauguration,
President Adams appointed loyal Federalists
to new judgeships. Adams did this so the
Federalists would have the upper hand.
Jefferson was outraged when he saw them
and told his Secretary of State James
Madison not to deliver them.
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One man who did not receive his commission
was William Marbury. Marbury claimed that
the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the Supreme
Court the power to force federal officials to
perform their duties. Marbury argued, the
court could order Madison to give him his
commission.
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In 1803, the outcome of the case of Marbury
vs. Madison forever changed the relationship
of the three branches of government. In his
decision, Chief Justice John Marshall and the
court ruled that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was
unconstitutional because the Constitution did
not grant such power to the Court. Therefore
the Supreme Court could not force Madison
to give Marbury his commission.
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John Marshall’s decision in Marbury vs.
Madison was important because it
established the power of judicial review for
the Supreme Court. Just as the President
could veto acts passed by Congress, now the
Supreme Court could rule them
unconstitutional.
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In 1803, Jefferson doubled the size of the
United States by buying Louisiana from
France. President Jefferson sent James
Monroe to France. His mission was to
persuade Napoleon to sell New Orleans to
the United States. Luckily France was on the
brink of war with Great Britain. Napoleon
knew that he did not have a strong enough
navy to protect French lands in North
America.
- Rather than lose Louisiana to Britain, why not
sell it to the Americans? Napoleon thought.
Monroe accepted Napoleon’s offer of the
Louisiana Purchase.
- On April 30, 1803, he signed a treaty with
France in which the United States agreed to
buy Louisiana from France for about $15
million dollars.(about 3 cents per acre)
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To many Americans, the Louisiana Purchase
looked like the bargain of the century.
Although the Louisiana Purchase did double
the size of the United States, it added
200,000 Native American, French, and
Spanish inhabitants.
Thomas Jefferson hired Meriwhether Lewis
and William Clark to explore the Louisiana
Purchase.
In 1804 Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on an
expedition to explore the vast Louisiana Purchase and
find a route to the Pacific Ocean. The other
information they documented was native tribes they
met (established trade with them),soil samples,
terrain, and animals they encountered.
 Lewis and Clark were joined by a guide named
Toussaint Charbonneau and his 17 year old Shoshone
Indian wife, Sacagewea. Sacagawea had been
kidnapped as a child and taken far from her mountain
homeland. She would serve as a guide and interpreter.
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In 1806, Zebulon Pike began exploring a different part
of Louisiana. Pike and his party pushed west across
the Kansas Plains along Osage and Arkansas rivers.
Upon reaching the Colorado Rockies, Pike caught a
sight of the “Grand Peak”, now named “Pike’s Peak”.
 The party got lost and wandered south into present
day New Mexico. There, Spanish soldiers arrested
them as spies and took them deep into Mexico. They
were held captive until the spring of 1807.
 Both expeditions returned with valuable information
about newly purchased lands.
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