Meet Mr. Jefferson On a morning in March 1801, Thomas Jefferson sat down to breakfast at his usual seat at the end of a long table at Conrad and McMunn s boardinghouse in Washington, D.C., where he paid $15 a week for a room and three meals a day. The morning was cold and it was a special day, so someone offered him a seat near the fireplace. No, thank you, said Jefferson, who would accept no favors. He meant to be a democratic president, a man of the people. It was later that very day that he walked up the hill to the Capitol and was sworn in as the third president of the United States, the very first Democratic-Republican President. Afterwards, in a quiet voice, he read his inaugural address. What was it about this man that made him so special? He was not a soldier. He was not a good speaker. He was shy. He didn t pretend to be anything he was not. Perhaps it was that Jefferson looked for the good in people. He was, himself, a combination of the best the country had: his father was a farmer, his mother came from the Virginia planter upper class. From them he got a superb education and learned responsibility, good manners, and to be generous. Jefferson was a political philosopher and a practical politician. He was an architect and an inventor. Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal. He believed in a nation of small farmers. Yet, Jefferson owned a huge estate in Virginia called Monticello, worked by enslaved Africans. He was a man of many contrasts. Jefferson tried to unite the two political parties. He supported stronger state governments. He believed state governments would best protect individual freedom. He saw the federal government as a threat to liberty. Jefferson wanted a government that would interfere as little as possible with people s lives, especially business. He supported a laissez-faire government, where the people make decisions and the federal government only plays a small part in the economic concerns of a country. 1
People liked him. President Jefferson s receptions were different from those of his predecessors the Federalists. Mostly Jefferson gave small, informal dinners, but on New Year s Day and the Fourth of July the President s House was open to any citizen who wanted to meet the president. On ordinary mornings, if you had business to do with the government, you could stop by. Jefferson issued orders to his staff that all visitors farmers and diplomats should receive the same courtesy. There was to be no favored treatment in a democracy. Though Jefferson ended many Federalist programs and acts such as the Alien and Sedition Acts, he had little power over the courts. John Adams had seen to that with the Judiciary Act of 1801. Under this act, Adams had appointed as many Federalist judges as he could before Jefferson s inauguration (what a guy!). These last-minute appointments meant that the new Democratic-Republican president would deal primarily with a Federalist Supreme Court. John Adams did not stop there. Before he left office in 1801, President Adams also appointed his own Secretary of State, as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall. Guess what? Adams did not stop there either; he spent his last few weeks in office appointing Federalist judges to newly created courts. The socalled midnight appointments were to 59 loyal Federalists, whose commissions were to be delivered by John Marshall but ran out of time and left those last few for his successor Jefferson s Secretary of State, James Madison. William Marbury was one of Adams s last-minute appointments. Adams had named him as a justice of the peace for the District of Columbia. Marbury was supposed to receive his position from Secretary of State James Madison. President Jefferson, ordered Madison to not commission Marbury. When Madison refused to give him the job, Marbury sued. When the case went to the Supreme Court in 1803, it was ruled that the law under which Marbury sued was unconstitutional that is, it contradicted the law of the Constitution. Although the Court denied Marbury s claim, it did establish the principle or precedent of judicial review. This principle states that the Supreme Court has the final say in interpreting the Constitution. This power of the Supreme Court is part of the checks and balances system today. William Marbury Chief Justice, John Marshall 2
The next order of business for Jefferson involve the future of the United States, its growth and ability to trade. Jefferson saw an opportunity to secure the nation s future and he went shopping and bought a huge piece of land for the nation, some people thought it was extravagant. Jefferson bought all the land that France claimed in North America. That land went from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and maybe beyond. No one was sure how far it went. Jefferson spent $15 million on the Louisiana Purchase (which amounts to about four cents an acre). Jefferson saw an opportunity for the United States to have control of the Mississippi River, important for shipping products within and beyond the United States. With that purchase he doubled the size of the country, and he did it peacefully. It was a great bargain. The Louisiana Purchase happened in 1803. That is a date to remember. The Mississippi River was no longer controlled by a foreign power. Once the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory, someone had to find out what it had bought. Jefferson sent an expedition to investigate. He sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Along the way they had the help of a Native American guide whose name was Sacagawea. The expedition was a success. With the purchase of the Louisiana territory, Jefferson started the spirit of Manifest Destiny, which means that Americans during this time, felt that they had the god given right to grow westward, expand all the way to Pacific Ocean. www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com Jefferson was a very busy president. During his administration, remaining neutral was difficult. This was especially true when Britain begun practicing impressments or kidnapping of American sailors and forcing them to serve in their navy. Instead of declaring war, Jefferson asked Congress to pass a law that would stop all foreign trade. 3
He thought this would hurt trade with Britain and France, therefore forcing them to leave the American sailors alone on the high seas. Congress passed the Embargo Act (1807) An embargo prohibits (stops) trade with another country. The policy was a disaster because it hurt American merchants instead of hurting Britain and France as intended. Embargo spelled backwards is O grab me as expressed in the cartoon below. The cartoon was used to express that American merchants could feel the pinch (in the pocketbook) as a result of not being able to trade with foreign countries. Many merchants resorted to smuggling their goods onto foreign ships. www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com The Federalists who had predicted terrible things from the man they described as a radical were surprised. The nation didn t fall apart under a Democratic-Republican administration. Although Jefferson faced many hardships he also had many successes. He served his country well as its third president. Hakim, J. (1999). A History of US: The New Nation, 1789-1850, Book 4 (pp. 13-17, excerpts). Oxford University Press; --Garcia, Ogle, Risinger, Stevos, Jordan. (2003)Creating America. McDougal-Littell 4
Meet Mr. Jefferson Directions: As you read the secondary source information on Thomas Jefferson, record your answers to the following questions onto the chart. Question Based on the text, what type of person was Thomas Jefferson? Evidence from the text Identify some of Jefferson s beliefs. Why did Jefferson support strong state governments? Explain laissez-faire. How did Adams attempt to retain Federalists control after Jefferson was elected president? Who is William Marbury and why did he eventually sue James Madison? What precedent did Marbury v. Madison set in 1803? Why is this precedent important today? In 1803, Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory/ Why was the purchase important? What effect did it have on the size of the United States? Explain Manifest Destiny. Why was Jefferson responsible for spirit of Manifest Destiny? How was the United States neutrality policy challenged in the early 1800s? 5
Define impressments. What action did Jefferson take in order to prevent the impressments of American sailors? According to the cartoon, what action did Jefferson take? What effect did Jefferson s actions have on the nation s economy? 6
Critical Thinking Activity #1 Directions: In the boxes list the effects that came from the appointment of the midnight judges. Critical Thinking Activity #2 Directions: Lists at least 3 benefits of acquiring the Louisiana Territory in 1803. A Tribute to Jefferson Directions: Thomas Jefferson was very proud of his accomplishments and he had a right to be. Based on what you know about Thomas Jefferson, create an epitaph that commemorates three events that happen during his presidency. 7