Thomas Jefferson's Presidency

Thomas Jefferson's Presidency

Framing Question: How did the United States change during Jefferson’s Presidency?

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Index

Foreign and Domestic Policy

Guiding Questions

See how Jefferson faced different challenges the United States faced.

Questions that are covered in this lesson

60 seconds on Jefferson

Jeffersonian Republicanism

Watch a quick video summarizing his presidency.

Jefferson's political ideals

Timeline

of Thomas Jefferson's Presidency

Guiding Questions

1. How did Jefferson’s ideas about government and domestic policy help define America during the early 1800’s?
2. How did early foreign policy challenges contribute to the growth of power and authority of the United States?

Jeffersonian Republicanism

How did Jefferson’s ideas about government and domestic policy help define America during the early 1800’s?

The U.S. before Jefferson

Jefferson's Inauguration

The U.S. during Jefferson's presidency

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Timeline of Jefferson's Presidency

August 31, 1803

March 4, 1801

April 6-14, 1802

July 11, 1804

February 24, 1803

January 8, 1802

Lewis ad Clark

Thomas Jefferson's Inauguration

Previous laws repealed

The U.S. and Great Britain convene

Marbury vs. Madison Decided

Burr kills Hamilton

April 30, 1802

May 14, 1801

April 30, 1803

Feb. 16, 1804

Sept. 25, 1804

Feb. 6, 1802

Enabling Act

Tripoli declares war on the United States

Louisiana Purchase

U.S.S Philadelphia Burned

Ratifying the 12th Amendment

War with Tripoli

March 2, 1807

July 23, 1805

March 4, 1805

March 9, 1806

Dec. 7, 1808

July 15, 1806

Importation of slaves prohibited

British seize ships

Jefferson inaugurated

Pike explores the SouthWest

Building a national road

James Madison elected as the 4th president

Dec. 12, 1806

Nov. 7, 1805

June 4, 1805

Dec. 5, 1804

Dec. 22, 1807

April 18, 1806

Jefferson asks for a ban against slave trade

Treaty with Tripoli

Lewis ad Clark reach the Pacific

Jeffesron reelected

The Embargo Act

Prohibiting British Imports

Jefferson's Policies: How He Faced Foreign and Domestic Challenges

Foreign Policy

British Impressment and the Embargo Act

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

The Barbary Pirates

How did Jefferson deal with challenges he had with foreign countries/groups of people?

Federalist Packed Judiciary Branch

Cutting Taxes and Budget Spending

Domestic Policy

Marbury vs. Madison decided

How did Jefferson deal with challenges he had within the nation's borders?

John Adams had packed the Supreme Court full of Federalists before he left office. This allowed the Supreme Court to continue to enforce laws such as the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Jefferson cut taxes on various items, the cost of land, and the size of the military

Supreme Court Cheif of Justice John Marshall rules that WIlliam Marbury will not reiceve his Supreme Court appointment given to him by the previous president John Adams

60 seconds on Jefferson

May 14, 1801

Tripoli declares war on the United States

The United States refused to continue to pay the Barbary pirates that provided "safe passage" for U.S. naval ships traveling through the Medditteranean Sea. Due to this refusal to pay, Tripoli declared war against the United States.

Jan. 8, 1802

The U.S. and Great Britain convene A convention between the United States and Britain regarding portions of Jay's treaty of 1794. A commission rules that the United States owes £2,664, 000 to British citizens in settlement of Revolutionary War claims.

April 18, 1806

Prohibiting British Imports In protest against the seizure of American ships and the impressment of American sailors by Britain, Congress passes a law prohibiting the importation of many British products into the United States.

February 16, 1804

The U.S.S Philadelphia burned Lt. Stephen Decatur burns the captured U.S. frigate (ship) Philadelphia while docked in Tripoli harbor. Tripolitan gunboats had captured the frigate during the previous October. No one is killed.

March 9, 1806

Building a National Road Congress authorizes a commission to build a national road from Cumberland, Maryland, to the Ohio River.

Before Jefferson

The U.S. before his presidency

Remember, Thomas Jefferson beat former President John Adams in the election of 1800 for a reason. By the end of Adam's presidency he (adam's) was not very popular with the majority of the American people. As a Federalist, John Adams limited the rights of alien immigrants and Democratic Republicans when he passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, taking away their freedom of speech and press. He also appointed "midnight judges" to the Supreme Court in an attempt to perpetuate Federalist power within the Judiciary Branch; an imbalance Jefferson would have to deal with while president.

• How does Jefferson's political ideals differ from John Adams?
• How will he continue to guide and grow the new country while trying to interpret his job as identified in the Constitution?
• Will he protect people's individual rights? Or tighten his grip on the American people in an effort to try and control them?

March 4, 1801

Thomas Jefferson's Inaugural Address

Jefferson became the nation’s third president in 1800. He felt as a Democratic Republican that most authority should be held in the hands of the individual states. He believed that the main purpose of the United States government is to secure the liberties guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence... “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1801, Jefferson outlined his policies.

Decemebr 12, 1806

Jefferson asks for ban on slave trade Jefferson appeals to Congress asking for a ban on the slave trade.

December 22, 1807

The Embargo Act

President Jefferson signs the Embargo Act, putting a halt to all trading with any country in the entire world. The act serves as a retaliatory measure to the increasingly coercive trade policies of the British and the French.

March 4, 1797

Ratifying the 12th AmendmentThe Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is officially ratified, allowing for the presidential election of 1804 to be conducted under new rules.

• "Motivated by the infamous election of 1800, Congress passes the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, requiring electors to vote for President and vice president separately. This ends the tradition of the runner up in a presidential race becoming vice president and prevents chances for a deadlock tie."

November 7, 1805

Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific after a perilous journey of nearly eighteen months and 4,000 miles.

April 30, 1803

Louisiana Purchase Livingston and Monroe are sent to sign a treaty for the acquisition of New Orleans, but instead sign a treaty for the purchase of the entire Louisiana Territory. This day marks the official signing of a peace treaty with France and the purchase of Louisiana. The addition of 828,000 square miles of land between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains is purchased from France for approximately $15 million, increasing the national territory by 140 percent.

March 2, 1807

Importation of slaves prohibited At Jefferson's behest, Congress passes a law prohibiting the importation of slaves into any place within the jurisdiction of the United States after January 1, 1808.

December 5, 1804

Jefferson reelected Thomas Jefferson is officially reelected President of the United States. Fellow Democratic-Republican and first governor of New York George Clinton will be the vice president.

June 4, 1805

Treaty of Peace and Amnity with Tripoli The United States and Tripoli sign a Treaty of Peace and Amity in Tripoli, effectively ending the Tripolitan War.

July 11, 1804

Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton In 1804, Burr was running for governor of New York, and Hamilton was leading the opposition to Burr's candidacy; he spoke out against him and questioned his integrity in public. For these slights, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. Burr and Hamilton met on July 11, 1804, in New Jersey (New York had outlawed dueling) where Burr hit hamilton who died a day later. As public outrage grew, Burr fled to the west, where from 1805 to 1807 he participated in a vague but ambitious plan to separate the southwest from the United States. The Supreme Court found him not guilty of treason in 1807, and after five years in Europe, Burr returned to New York, where he practiced law in New York until his death in 1836.

March 4, 1805

Jefferson inaugurated President Jefferson is inaugurated for his second term. George Clinton officially succeeds Aaron Burr as vice president. In his inaugural address, Jefferson proposes that Federalist-inspired internal taxes be completely eliminated.

August 31, 1803

Lewis and Clark's journey begins Captain Meriwether Lewis, formerly Jefferson's personal secretary, sets out from Pittsburgh to begin an expedition of the newly acquired western territory of the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis will pick up Captain William Clark to serve as co-leader of the trip early in the next year. Jefferson sponsored the journey out of personal scientific curiosity and concern for the economic and political security of the western United States.

April 30, 1802

Enabling Act President Jefferson signs the Enabling Act, establishing procedures under which territories organized under the Ordinance of 1787 can become a state. The law effectively authorizes people of the Ohio territory to hold a convention and frame a constitution.

April 1802

Laws Repealed April 6, 1802Excise taxes repealed - Infamous excise taxes on commodities such as whiskey are repealed. April 14, 1802Naturalization laws repealed - The notorious naturalization laws of 1798 are repealed. The required length of residency reverts from fourteen years to five years.

July 15, 1806

Pike Explores the SouthWest Zebulon Pike begins his exploration of what is now the southwestern United States. On November 15, Pike explores the famous 18,000-foot peak that still retains his name in what is now Colorado.

December 7, 1808

James Madison is elected

James Madison is elected president of the United States, with George Clinton as vice president.

July 23, 1805

British seize ships The British justify seizure of American ships in neutral ports with the invocation of the Rule of 1756.

Feb 6, 1802

War with Tripoli Congress recognizes the War with Tripoli, authorizing the arming of merchant ships to ward off attacks.

February 24, 1803

Marbury vs. Madison Decided The Supreme Court declared the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional which resulted in Wiliam Marbury not being appointed as a Supreme Court Justice. This was a decision that Thoams Jefferson opposed that had been made by John Adams right before he left office as the second president of the United States.