217-695: Thomas Jefferson served as the third president of the United States from March 4, 1801, to March 4, 1809. Jefferson assumed the office after defeating incumbent John Adams in the 1800 presidential election . The election was a political realignment in which the Democratic-Republican Party swept the Federalist Party out of power, ushering in a generation of Jeffersonian Republican dominance in American politics. After serving two terms, Jefferson
434-463: A British subject . His father, Peter Jefferson , was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen; his mother was Jane Randolph . Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 on the death of William Randolph III , the plantation's owner and Jefferson's friend, who in his will had named Peter guardian of Randolph's children. The Jeffersons returned to Shadwell before October 1753. Peter died in 1757, and his estate
651-479: A filibuster to conquer Mexico. At the very least, there were reports of Burr's recruiting men, stocking arms, and building boats. New Orleans seemed especially vulnerable, but at some point, the American general there, James Wilkinson , a double agent for the Spanish, decided to turn on Burr. Jefferson issued a proclamation warning that there were U.S. citizens illegally plotting to take over Spanish holdings. Though Burr
868-503: A party block voting , or general ticket method, to choose their electors, meaning all their electors go to one winning ticket. Maine and Nebraska choose one elector per congressional district and two electors for the ticket with the highest statewide vote. The electors meet and vote in December, and the inaugurations of the president and vice president take place in January. The merit of
1085-548: A "natural right" to liberty is one he would later incorporate as he set about authoring the Declaration of Independence. He also took on 68 cases for the General Court of Virginia in 1767, in addition to three notable cases: Howell v. Netherland (1770), Bolling v. Bolling (1771), and Blair v. Blair (1772). Jefferson wrote a resolution calling for a "Day of Fasting and Prayer" and a boycott of all British goods in protest of
1302-576: A Continental Congress delegate from Massachusetts and an emerging leader in the Congress. They became close friends, and Adams supported Jefferson's appointment to the Committee of Five , charged by the Congress with authoring a declaration of independence. The five chosen were Adams, Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin , Robert R. Livingston , and Roger Sherman . The committee initially thought that Adams should write
1519-462: A U.S. Senate report in 1826 critiqued the evolution of the system: It was the intention of the Constitution that these electors should be an independent body of men, chosen by the people from among themselves, on account of their superior discernment, virtue, and information; and that this select body should be left to make the election according to their own will , without the slightest control from
1736-661: A capital close to the major commercial centers of the Northeast , while Washington, Jefferson, and other agrarians wanted it further south. After lengthy deadlock, the Compromise of 1790 was struck, permanently locating the capital on the Potomac River , and the federal government assumed the war debts of all original 13 states . Jefferson's goals were to decrease American dependence on British commerce and to expand commercial trade with France. He sought to weaken Spanish colonialism of
1953-445: A cause around which to rally his party and organized a national opposition from Monticello. The treaty, designed by Hamilton, aimed to reduce tensions and increase trade. Jefferson warned that it would increase British influence and subvert republicanism, calling it "the boldest act [Hamilton and Jay] ever ventured on to undermine the government". The Treaty passed, but it expired in 1805 during Jefferson's presidential administration and
2170-673: A common interest in the playing of the violin. Jefferson entered the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia , in 1761, at the age of eighteen, and studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy with William Small . Under Small's tutelage, Jefferson encountered the ideas of the British Empiricists , including John Locke , Francis Bacon , and Isaac Newton . Small introduced Jefferson to George Wythe and Francis Fauquier . Small, Wythe, and Fauquier recognized Jefferson as
2387-599: A competent officer engineering corps that would not have to rely on foreign sources for top grade engineers. An academy would also help to replace many of the Federalist officers whom Jefferson dismissed when he took office. Jefferson signed the Military Peace Establishment Act on March 16, 1802, thus founding the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Act documented in 29 sections
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#17328585346342604-405: A dissenting opinion, the original intention of the framers was that the electors would not feel bound to support any particular candidate, but would vote their conscience, free of external pressure. "No one faithful to our history can deny that the plan originally contemplated, what is implicit in its text, that electors would be free agents, to exercise an independent and nonpartisan judgment as to
2821-577: A few documents Burr had requested having invoked executive privilege . Jefferson refused to appear at Burr's trial. The weak government case led to Burr's acquittal, but with his reputation ruined he was never able to mount another adventure. Burr later died on his Staten Island residence in October 1836. After early 1802, when he learned that Napoleon intended to regain a foothold in Saint-Domingue and Louisiana, Jefferson proclaimed neutrality in relation to
3038-574: A few weeks in 1777; Mary "Polly" (1778–1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781); and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1784). Only Martha and Mary survived to adulthood. Martha's father John Wayles died in 1773, and the couple inherited 135 enslaved people, 11,000 acres (45 km ; 17 sq mi), and the estate's debts. The debts took Jefferson years to satisfy, contributing to his financial problems. Martha later suffered from ill health, including diabetes, and frequent childbirth weakened her. Her mother had died young, and Martha lived with two stepmothers as
3255-463: A firm supporter of the French Revolution while opposing its more violent elements. Soon after returning from France, Jefferson accepted President Washington's invitation to serve as Secretary of State . Pressing issues at this time were the national debt and the permanent location of the capital. He opposed a national debt, preferring that each state retire its own, in contrast to Secretary of
3472-502: A girl. A few months after the birth of her last child, she died on September 6, 1782, with Jefferson at her bedside. Shortly before her death, Martha made Jefferson promise never to marry again, telling him that she could not bear to have another mother raise her children. Jefferson was grief-stricken by her death, relentlessly pacing back and forth. He emerged after three weeks, taking long rambling rides on secluded roads with his daughter Martha, by her description "a solitary witness to many
3689-594: A hereditary aristocracy and took the lead in abolishing what he called "feudal and unnatural distinctions." He targeted laws such as entail and primogeniture by which a deceased landowner's oldest son was vested with all land ownership and power. Jefferson was elected governor for one-year terms in 1779 and 1780. He transferred the state capital from Williamsburg to Richmond , and introduced additional measures for public education, religious freedom, and inheritance. During General Benedict Arnold 's 1781 invasion of Virginia , Jefferson escaped Richmond just ahead of
3906-420: A law to ban it. He denounced the trade as "violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, in which the morality, the reputation, and the best interests of our country have long been eager to proscribe." Jefferson signed the new law and the international trade became illegal in January 1808. The legal trade had averaged 14,000 slaves a year; illegal smuggling at
4123-516: A letter of inquiry into the geography, history, and government of Virginia, as part of a study of the United States. Jefferson organized his responses in a book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785). He compiled the book over five years, including reviews of scientific knowledge, Virginia's history, politics, laws, culture, and geography. The book explores what constitutes a good society, using Virginia as an exemplar. Jefferson included extensive data about
4340-740: A lifelong correspondence. During the summer of 1786, Jefferson arrived in London to meet with John Adams, the US Ambassador to Britain. Adams had official access to George III and arranged a meeting between Jefferson and the king. Jefferson later described the king's reception of the men as "ungracious." According to Adams's grandson, George III turned his back on both in a gesture of public insult. Jefferson returned to France in August. Jefferson sent for his youngest surviving child, nine-year-old Polly, in June 1787. She
4557-559: A majority. Responding to the problems from those elections, Congress proposed on December 9, 1803, and three-fourths of the states ratified by June 15, 1804, the Twelfth Amendment . Starting with the 1804 election , the amendment requires electors to cast separate ballots for president and vice president, replacing the system outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3. Some Founding Fathers hoped that each elector would be elected by
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#17328585346344774-399: A man of exceptional ability and included him in their inner circle, where he became a regular member of their Friday dinner parties. Jefferson later wrote that, while there, he "heard more common good sense, more rational & philosophical conversations than in all the rest of my life". During his first year at the college, Jefferson spent considerable time attending parties and dancing and
4991-476: A new set of laws and limits for the military. In reaction to the Electoral College tie between Jefferson and Burr in 1800, Congress approved an amendment to the Constitution providing a new procedure for electing the president and vice president, and submitted it to the states for ratification in December 1803. The Twelfth Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states (then 13) to become part of
5208-465: A party-run legislature or a permanent body that could be influenced by foreign interests before each election. Hamilton explained that the election was to take place among all the states, so no corruption in any state could taint "the great body of the people" in their selection. The choice was to be made by a majority of the Electoral College, as majority rule is critical to the principles of republican government . Hamilton argued that electors meeting in
5425-433: A person when allocating electors, and by small states who increased their power given the minimum of three electors per state. The compromise was reached after other proposals, including a direct election for president (as proposed by Hamilton among others), failed to get traction among slave states. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt describe it as "not a product of constitutional theory or farsighted design. Rather, it
5642-560: A philosophy that historians would later call Jeffersonian democracy , which was marked by his belief in agrarianism and strict limits on the national government . In a world in which few believed in democracy or egalitarianism, Jefferson's belief in political equality stood out from many of the other Founding Fathers of the United States , who continued to believe that the rich and powerful should lead society. Under pressure from Jeffersonian Republicans, states achieved greater suffrage by eliminating property requirements. Expanding suffrage and
5859-411: A profiteering scheme involving the sale of confiscated Loyalist lands. Unlike some Founders, Jefferson was content with his Monticello estate and the land he owned in the vicinity of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley . Jefferson thought of Monticello as an intellectual gathering place for his friends James Madison and James Monroe . In 1780, Jefferson received from French diplomat François Barbé-Marbois
6076-454: A provision preventing Congress from enacting a law banning the importation of slaves until 1808. In the years before Jefferson took office, the growing fear of slave rebellions led to diminished enthusiasm in the South for the abolition of slavery, and many states began to enact Black Codes designed to restrict the behavior of free blacks. During his presidential term, Jefferson was disappointed that
6293-584: A re-established French colonial empire in North America threatened to reignite the tensions of the recently concluded Quasi-War . He initially planned to re-establish a French empire in the Americas centered around New Orleans and Saint-Domingue , a sugar-producing Caribbean island in the midst of a slave revolution . One army was sent to Saint-Domingue, and a second army began preparing to travel to New Orleans. After French forces in Saint-Domingue were defeated by
6510-460: A reflection of his own belief in egalitarianism, Jefferson broke with many of the precedents set by Adams and Washington. Jefferson accepted visitors without regard to social status, discontinued the practice of delivering speeches to Congress in person, and enforced a less formal protocol at White House events. In reaction to the expansion of the franchise, even Federalists began to adopt partisan techniques, such as party organization, newspapers, and
6727-723: A regular companion of the Marquis de Lafayette , a French hero of the American Revolution , and Jefferson used his influence to procure trade agreements with France. As the French Revolution began, he allowed his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Langeac , to be used for meetings by Lafayette and other republicans. He was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille and consulted with Lafayette while
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6944-558: A republic of yeoman farmers. By the time Jefferson took office, Americans had settled as far west as the Mississippi River , though vast pockets of land remained vacant or inhabited only by Native Americans . Many in the United States, particularly those in the west, favored further territorial expansion, and especially hoped to annex the Spanish province of Louisiana . Given Spain's sparse presence in Louisiana, Jefferson believed that it
7161-436: A result, there was little change in the federal government during the transition between Washington and Adams, the first presidential transition in U.S. history. With Jefferson's election in 1800, there was a transfer of power between parties, not simply a transition between presidents. As president, Jefferson had the power of appointment to fill many government positions that had long been held by Federalists. Jefferson resisted
7378-763: A state unrepresented on the Court, Jefferson selected William Johnson , a young attorney who had previously served as an appellate judge in South Carolina. After the death of William Paterson in 1806, Jefferson appointed Henry Brockholst Livingston , a justice of the New York Supreme Court . After Congress added another seat to the Supreme Court with the Seventh Circuit Act of 1807 , Jefferson asked individual members of Congress for their recommendations on filling
7595-680: A viable system of government for the new Republic and to propose a policy for settlement of the western territories. He was the principal author of the Land Ordinance of 1784 , whereby Virginia ceded to the national government the vast area that it claimed northwest of the Ohio River . He insisted that this territory should not be used as colonial territory by any of the thirteen states, but that it should be divided into sections that could become states. He plotted borders for nine new states in their initial stages and wrote an ordinance banning slavery in all
7812-530: A violent burst of grief". After serving as U.S. Secretary of State from 1790 to 1793 during Washington's presidency , Jefferson returned to Monticello and initiated a remodeling based on architectural concepts he had learned and acquired in Europe. The work continued throughout most of his presidency and was completed in 1809. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence . At age 33, he
8029-405: A wealth of scientific and geographical knowledge of the vast territory, along with knowledge of the many Indian tribes. Two months after the expedition's end, Jefferson made his first public statement to Congress giving a one sentence summary about its success before asserting the justification for the expenses involved. The American Philosophical Society ultimately became the repository for many of
8246-742: Is required to elect the president and vice president. If no candidate achieves a majority, a contingent election is held by the House of Representatives , to elect the president, and by the Senate , to elect the vice president. The states and the District of Columbia hold a statewide or district-wide popular vote on Election Day in November to choose electors based upon how they have pledged to vote for president and vice president, with some state laws prohibiting faithless electors . All states except Maine and Nebraska use
8463-482: Is responsible for electing the vice president, with each senator having one vote. The elected president and vice president are inaugurated on January 20. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors. States select 535 of the electors, this number matches the aggregate total of their congressional delegations. The additional three electors come from the Twenty-third Amendment , ratified in 1961, providing that
8680-458: Is the number of Senators (two) plus the number of Representatives for that state. Each state appoints electors using legal procedures determined by its legislature . Federal office holders , including senators and representatives, cannot be electors. Additionally, the Twenty-third Amendment granted the federal District of Columbia three electors (bringing the total number from 535 to 538). A simple majority of electoral votes (270 or more)
8897-420: Is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance." The judge cut him off and ruled against his client. As a consolation, Jefferson gave his client some money, which was conceivably used to aid his escape shortly thereafter. However, Jefferson's underlying intellectual argument that all people were entitled by their creator to what he labeled
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9114-599: The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves the following year. Rising tensions between the United States and Britain dominated the final years of Jefferson's second term, as the Royal Navy began impressing sailors from American ships and attacking American shipping. Jefferson rejected war and instead used economic threats and embargoes that ultimately hurt the U.S. more than Britain. The disputes with Britain continued after Jefferson left office, eventually leading to
9331-615: The American South . Historian Tim Matthewson notes that Jefferson "acquiesced in southern policy, the embargo of trade and nonrecognition, the defense of slavery internally and the denigration of Haiti abroad." According to the historian George Herring, "the Florida diplomacy reveals him [Jefferson] at his worst. His lust for land trumped his concern for principle." Jefferson's non-recognition of Haiti did little to advance his goal of acquiring East Florida and West Florida , which remained under
9548-484: The Anglican Church , but both were later revived by James Madison . In 1778, Jefferson was given the task of revising the state's laws. He drafted 126 bills in three years, including laws to streamline the judicial system. He proposed statutes that provided for general education, which he considered the basis of "republican government". Jefferson also was concerned that Virginia's powerful landed gentry were becoming
9765-735: The British Parliament passing the Intolerable Acts in 1774. Jefferson's resolution was later expanded into A Summary View of the Rights of British America , in which he argued that people have the right to govern themselves . In 1768, Jefferson began constructing his primary residence, Monticello, whose name in Italian means "Little Mountain", on a hilltop overlooking his 5,000-acre (20 km ; 7.8 sq mi) plantation. He spent most of his adult life designing Monticello as an architect and
9982-571: The Congress , where they are tabulated in the first week of January before a joint meeting of the Senate and the House of Representatives , presided over by the current vice president, as president of the Senate. Should a majority of votes not be cast for a candidate, a contingent election takes place: the House holds a presidential election session, where one vote is cast by each of the fifty states. The Senate
10199-497: The Connecticut Compromise and Three-Fifths Compromise ), but chosen by each state "in such manner as its Legislature may direct". Committee member Gouverneur Morris explained the reasons for the change. Among others, there were fears of "intrigue" if the president were chosen by a small group of men who met together regularly, as well as concerns for the independence of the president if he were elected by Congress. Once
10416-767: The Dunbar and Hunter Expedition on the Ouachita River , Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis led the Red River Expedition , and Zebulon Pike led the Pike Expedition into the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. All of the exploration expeditions sent out under Jefferson's presidency produced valuable information about the American frontier. Jefferson strongly felt the need for a national military university that could produce
10633-474: The Haitian Revolution . The U.S. allowed war contraband to "continue to flow to the blacks through usual U.S. merchant channels and the administration would refuse all French requests for assistance, credits, or loans." The "geopolitical and commercial implications" of Napoleon's plans outweighed Jefferson's fears of a slave-led nation. After the rebels in Saint-Domingue proclaimed independence from France in
10850-407: The House of Representatives pursuant to the Constitution's contingency election provision. Having already lost the presidential contest, Federalist Party representatives in the lame duck House session seized upon the opportunity to embarrass their opposition by attempting to elect Burr over Jefferson. The House deadlocked for 35 ballots as neither candidate received the necessary majority vote of
11067-587: The Louisiana Purchase , which doubled the nation's geographic size, and was able to reduce military forces and expenditures following successful negotiations with France. In his second presidential term, Jefferson was beset by difficulties at home, including the trial of his former vice president Aaron Burr . In 1807, Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act to defend the nation's industries from British threats to U.S. shipping, limiting foreign trade and stimulating
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#173285853463411284-577: The Louisiana Territory and the Pacific Northwest . During his second term, Jefferson's attention was focused on the trial of then former Vice President Aaron Burr for treason, which resulted in an acquittal, and on the issue of slavery, specifically the importation of slaves from abroad. In 1806, he denounced the international slave trade as a "violation of human rights" and called upon Congress to criminalize it. Congress responded by approving
11501-551: The Northwest Territory . Thomas Jefferson envisioned America as the force behind a great "Empire of Liberty", that would promote republicanism and counter British imperialism. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, made by Jefferson in a $ 15 million deal with Napoleon Bonaparte , doubled the size of the growing nation by adding a huge swath of territory west of the Mississippi River, opening up millions of new farm sites for
11718-418: The Senate quickly ratified the treaty, and the House immediately authorized funding. The purchase, concluded in December 1803, marked the end of French ambitions in North America and ensured American control of the Mississippi River. The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States, and Treasury Secretary Gallatin was forced to borrow from foreign banks to finance the payment to France. Though
11935-470: The U.S. government for $ 23,950, hoping to help jumpstart the Library of Congress's rebuilding. Jefferson used a portion of the proceeds to pay off some of his large debt. However, Jefferson soon resumed collecting what amounted to his third personal library, writing to John Adams , "I cannot live without books." By the time of his death a decade later, the library had grown to nearly 2,000 volumes. Jefferson
12152-567: The United States , the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years during the presidential election for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president . The process is described in Article Two of the Constitution . The number of electoral votes exercised by each state is equal to that state's congressional delegation which
12369-561: The United States Navy . By the end of the 1790s, the United States had concluded treaties with all of the Barbary States, but weeks before Jefferson took office Tripoli began attacking American merchant ships in an attempt to extract further tribute. Jefferson was reluctant to become involved in any kind of international conflict, but he believed that force would best deter the Barbary States from demanding further tribute. He ordered
12586-557: The Virginia Constitution , George Mason 's draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights , and other sources. Other committee members made some changes, and a final draft was presented to Congress on June 28, 1776. The declaration was introduced on Friday, June 28, and Congress began debate over its contents on Monday, July 1, resulting in the removal of roughly a fourth of Jefferson's original draft. Jefferson resented
12803-531: The War of 1812 . Despite the economic and political troubles caused by naval tensions with Britain, Jefferson was succeeded by his preferred successor in the form of James Madison . His legacy remained highly influential until the American Civil War, but his reputation has ebbed and flowed since then. Nonetheless, in surveys of academic historians and political scientists, Jefferson is consistently ranked as one of
13020-512: The Yazoo land scandal , Georgia had engaged in a massive real estate fraud by selling large tracts of Yazoo land before passing a law retroactively invalidating the grants. With the Compact of 1802 , the federal government purchased western Georgia (now the states of Alabama and Mississippi ), agreed to seek to extinguish all Native American claims in the region, and also agreed to settle all claims against
13237-675: The lame duck Adams, to the outrage of the Democratic-Republicans, at the last minute appointed many federal judges (mostly belonging to the Federalist Party) to fill positions created by the Judiciary Act of 1801 . These would be dubbed "midnight judges". Jefferson denounced this action. Jefferson's first inauguration, on March 4, 1801, was the first to be held in the nation's new capital, Washington, D.C. That morning an artillery company on Capitol Hill had fired shots to welcome
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#173285853463413454-545: The national bank , Gallatin persuaded Jefferson to retain the First Bank of the United States . With the repeal of the Federalist program, many Americans had little contact with the federal government, with the exception of the postal service . Jefferson's ultimate goal was to abolish the national debt, which he believed to be inherently dangerous and immoral. Though Gallatin and Jefferson did not find as much Federalist governmental waste as they had expected, their fiscal cuts and
13671-404: The trans-Appalachian West and British control in the North, believing this would aid in the pacification of Native Americans. Jefferson and political protegé Congressman James Madison founded the National Gazette in 1791, along with author Phillip Freneau , to counter Hamilton's Federalist policies, which Hamilton was promoting through the influential Federalist newspaper the Gazette of
13888-528: The 174 electoral votes. Jefferson, who believed that incumbents should not serve indefinitely, followed the two-term tradition precedent established by Washington, and declined to seek a third term. Instead, he endorsed his advisor and friend James Madison for the presidency. Jefferson's assertive foreign policy created intra-party criticism from the tertium quids , led by Randolph. Randolph and other powerful Democratic-Republican leaders opposed to Madison, including Samuel Smith and William Duane , rallied around
14105-459: The 176 electoral votes in the 1808 election. Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, planter, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence . Following the American Revolutionary War and before becoming president in 1801, Jefferson
14322-490: The 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton. She was a frequent hostess for Jefferson and managed the large household. Biographer Dumas Malone described the marriage as the happiest period of Jefferson's life. Martha read widely, did fine needlework, and was a skilled pianist; Jefferson often accompanied her on the violin or cello. During their ten years of marriage, Martha bore six children: Martha "Patsy" (1772–1836); Jane Randolph (1774–1775); an unnamed son who lived for only
14539-425: The 50 states, state laws mandate that the winner of the plurality of the statewide popular vote receives all of that state's electoral votes. In Maine and Nebraska , two electoral votes are assigned in this manner, while the remaining electoral votes are allocated based on the plurality of votes in each of their congressional districts . The federal district, Washington, D.C. , allocates its 3 electoral votes to
14756-497: The Alien and Sedition Acts and pardoned all ten individuals who had been prosecuted under the acts. He also began dismantling Hamilton's fiscal system with help from Secretary of the Treasury Gallatin. Jefferson's administration eliminated the whiskey excise and other taxes after closing "unnecessary offices" and cutting "useless establishments and expenses". After the repeal of these taxes, over 90 percent of federal revenue came from import duties. Despite Jefferson's earlier opposition to
14973-418: The American Revolution, Jefferson represented Virginia at the Second Continental Congress . He served as the second governor of revolutionary Virginia from 1779 to 1781. In 1785, Congress appointed Jefferson U.S. minister to France , where he served from 1785 to 1789. President Washington then appointed Jefferson the nation's first secretary of state, where he served from 1790 to 1793. During this time, in
15190-430: The American territory. The raids became a major cause of the later War of 1812 . In the 1790s, many anti-slavery leaders had come to believe that the institution of slavery would become extinct in the United States in the foreseeable future. These hopes lay in part on the enthusiasm for the abolition of slavery in the North, and in the decline of the importation of slaves throughout the South. The Constitution had included
15407-408: The Barbary pirates by the naval and diplomatic influence of Great Britain, but that protection came to end after the colonies won their independence. In 1794, in reaction to the attacks, Congress had passed a law to authorize the payment of tribute to the Barbary States. At the same time, Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 , which initiated construction on six frigates that became the foundation of
15624-531: The British Royal Navy seized hundreds of American ships and impressed 6,000 sailors from them, angering Americans. The British began to enforce a blockade of Europe, ending their policy of tolerance towards American shipping. Though the British returned many seized American goods that had not been intended for French ports, the British blockade badly affected American commerce and provoked immense anger throughout
15841-552: The British forces, which razed the city. He sent emergency dispatches to Colonel Sampson Mathews and other commanders in an attempt to repel Arnold's efforts. General Charles Cornwallis that spring dispatched a cavalry force led by Banastre Tarleton to capture Jefferson and members of the Assembly at Monticello, but Jack Jouett of the Virginia militia thwarted the British plan. Jefferson escaped to Poplar Forest , his plantation to
16058-681: The British sought to restrict trade with the French, they had largely tolerated U.S. trade with mainland France and French colonies after the signing of the Jay Treaty in 1794. Jefferson favored a policy of neutrality in the European wars, and was strongly committed to the principle of freedom of navigation for neutral vessels, including American ships. Early in his tenure, Jefferson was able to maintain cordial relations with both France and Britain, but relations with Britain deteriorated after 1805. Needing sailors,
16275-547: The British to vacate their posts in the Northwest and to compensate the U.S. for enslaved people whom the British had freed at the end of the war. Jefferson sought a return to private life, and resigned from the cabinet position in December 1793; he may also have wanted to bolster his political influence from outside the administration. After the Washington administration negotiated the Jay Treaty with Britain in 1794, Jefferson saw
16492-694: The Constitution : Election expert, William C. Kimberling, reflected on the original intent as follows: "The function of the College of Electors in choosing the president can be likened to that in the Roman Catholic Church of the College of Cardinals selecting the Pope. The original idea was for the most knowledgeable and informed individuals from each State to select the president based solely on merit and without regard to State of origin or political party." According to Supreme Court justice Robert H. Jackson , in
16709-463: The Constitution in June 1804. The president had no role in the process. One new state, Ohio , was admitted to the Union while Jefferson was in office. The exact date upon which Ohio became a state is unclear. On April 30, 1802, the 7th Congress had passed an act "authorizing the inhabitants of Ohio to form a Constitution and state government, and admission of Ohio into the Union." On February 19, 1803,
16926-636: The Corps of Discovery, consisting of about 40 men, departed from St. Louis and traveled up the Missouri River . Guided by Sacagawea and various Native American tribes along the way, the expedition, traveling on the Columbia River , reached the Pacific Ocean by November 1805. After the winter thaw the expedition began their return trip on March 22, 1806, and returned to St. Louis on September 23 that year, adding
17143-403: The Court, but, with the partial exception of Johnson, his Supreme Court appointments tended to support Marshall's decisions. Jefferson also appointed seven United States circuit court judges and nine United States district court judges. Many Federalists hoped that society would remain largely as it had been during the colonial era , but Jefferson wanted to upend the social order. He advocated
17360-424: The Electoral College had been decided on, several delegates (Mason, Butler, Morris, Wilson, and Madison) openly recognized its ability to protect the election process from cabal, corruption, intrigue, and faction. Some delegates, including James Wilson and James Madison, preferred popular election of the executive. Madison acknowledged that while a popular vote would be ideal, it would be difficult to get consensus on
17577-502: The Electoral College, in other words, was a body of men who could serve as a check on the uninformed mass electorate." In spite of Hamilton's assertion that electors were to be chosen by mass election, initially, state legislatures chose the electors in most of the states. States progressively changed to selection by popular election. In 1824 , there were six states in which electors were still legislatively appointed. By 1832 , only South Carolina had not transitioned. Since 1864 (with
17794-543: The Electoral College] for the temporary and sole purpose of making the appointment. And they have EXCLUDED from eligibility to this trust, all those who from situation might be suspected of too great devotion to the President in office [in other words, no one can be an Elector who is prejudiced toward the president]... Thus without corrupting the body of the people, the immediate agents in the election will at least enter upon
18011-513: The Federalist Party had been "completely and irrevocably abandoned....it never can and never will be revived." As Jefferson's presidency continued, Adams's prediction proved accurate, and the Federalists struggled to compete outside of New England. Much of Jefferson's early agenda focused on undoing the Federalist program of the 1790s. Upon taking office, he repealed the remaining provisions of
18228-595: The Federalists of being secret monarchists, while the Federalists charged that Jefferson was a godless libertine in thrall to the French. Under the election system in place at the time, the members of the Electoral College were permitted to vote for two names for president; any tie would be decided in a contingent election in the United States House of Representatives . Jefferson and Burr each received 73 electoral votes, while Adams finished in third place with 65 votes. The House of Representatives, still controlled by
18445-532: The Federalists, held a contingent election in February 1801 to decide whether Jefferson or Burr would accede to the presidency. Though some Federalists preferred Burr, Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton strongly preferred Jefferson. On the thirty-sixth ballot of the contingent election, enough Federalist congressmen abstained from the vote to allow Jefferson to win the presidency. Jefferson regarded his victory as "America's Second Revolution," and he hoped to transform
18662-576: The French began to seize ships trading with the British, leaving American shipping vulnerable to attacks by both of the major naval powers. In response to attacks on American shipping, Congress passed the Embargo Act in 1807, which was designed to force Britain and France into respecting U.S. neutrality by cutting off all American shipping to Britain or France. Almost immediately the Americans began to turn to smuggling in order to ship goods to Europe. Defying his own limited government principles, Jefferson used
18879-634: The Jay Treaty. Jefferson had never favored the Jay Treaty, which had prevented the United States from implementing economic sanctions on Britain, and he rejected the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty. Tensions with Britain heightened due to the Chesapeake – Leopard affair , a June 1807 naval confrontation between an American ship and a British ship that ended in the death or impressment of several American sailors. Beginning with Napoleon's December 1807 Milan Decree ,
19096-454: The Jefferson administration viewed the embargo as a flawed policy, but they saw it as preferable to war. Appleby describes the strategy as Jefferson's "least effective policy", and Joseph Ellis calls it "an unadulterated calamity". Others, however, portray it as an innovative, nonviolent measure which aided France in its war with Britain while preserving American neutrality. Jefferson believed that
19313-486: The Judiciary Act of 1801. The Jefferson administration also refused to deliver judicial commissions to some Adams appointees who had won Senate confirmation but had not yet formally taken office. One such appointee, William Marbury , sued Secretary of State Madison to compel him to deliver the judicial commissions. In the 1803 Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison , the court ruled against Marbury, but also established
19530-472: The Louisiana Purchase was widely popular, some Federalists criticized it; Congressman Fisher Ames wrote, "We are to give money of which we have too little for land of which we already have too much." Having been dropped from the 1804 Democratic-Republican ticket, Burr ran for the position of Governor of New York in an April 1804 election , and was defeated. Federalist Party leader Alexander Hamilton
19747-678: The Navy Robert Smith . After his decision to pursue the presidency in the contingent election, Burr was excluded from any role in the Jefferson administration. Jefferson sought to make collective decisions with his cabinet, and each member's opinion was elicited before Jefferson made major decisions. Gallatin and Madison were particularly influential within Jefferson's cabinet; they held the two most important cabinet positions and served as Jefferson's key lieutenants. When Adams took office in 1797, he carried many of outgoing President George Washington 's supporters over into his new administration. As
19964-694: The Ohio Valley, with munitions provided by British traders in Canada. Attempting to form a confederation of Indian people in the Northwest Territory , the two brothers would be a continual source of irritation to westward settlers. The Indian Nations followed Tenskwatawa who had a vision of purifying his society by expelling American settlers, the "children of the Evil Spirit". The success of the Indians gave Britain hope that it could create an Indian satellite nation in parts of
20181-509: The Senate, he assumed a more passive role than his predecessor John Adams. He allowed the Senate to freely conduct debates and confined his participation to procedural issues, which he called an "honorable and easy" role. Jefferson had previously studied parliamentary law and procedure for 40 years, making him quite qualified to serve as presiding officer. In 1800, he published his assembled notes on Senate procedure as A Manual of Parliamentary Practice . He cast only three tie-breaking votes in
20398-519: The Senate. In four confidential talks with French consul Joseph Létombe in the spring of 1797, Jefferson attacked Adams and predicted that his rival would serve only one term. He also encouraged France to invade England, and advised Létombe to stall any American envoys sent to Paris. This toughened the tone that the French government adopted toward the Adams administration. After Adams's initial peace envoys were rebuffed, Jefferson and his supporters lobbied for
20615-581: The Shawnees led by Black Hoof and the Creek. However, Jefferson dreamed of a transcontinental nation, and he became increasingly skeptical of assimilation efforts. As his presidency continued, Jefferson prioritized white settlement of the western territories over peaceful assimilation. When Jefferson assumed power, the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa were leading raids against American settlements in
20832-514: The Treasury Alexander Hamilton , who desired consolidation of states' debts by the federal government. Hamilton also had bold plans to establish national credit and a national bank, but Jefferson strenuously opposed this and attempted to undermine his agenda, which nearly led Washington to dismiss him from the cabinet. He later left the cabinet voluntarily. The second major issue was the capital's permanent location. Hamilton favored
21049-651: The U.S. Navy into the Mediterranean Sea to defend against the Barbary Pirates, beginning the First Barbary War . The administration's initial efforts were largely ineffective, and in 1803 the frigate USS Philadelphia was captured by Tripoli. In February 1804, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a successful raid on Tripoli's harbor that burned the Philadelphia , making Decatur a national hero. Jefferson and
21266-430: The United States . The National Gazette made particular criticism of the policies promoted by Hamilton, often through anonymous essays signed by the pen name Brutus at Jefferson's urging, which were written by Madison. In Spring 1791, Jefferson and Madison took a vacation to Vermont ; Jefferson had been suffering from migraines and was tiring of the in-fighting with Hamilton. In May 1792, Jefferson became alarmed at
21483-632: The United States tried to remain neutral in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars that engulfed Europe. He established a military academy, used the Navy to protect merchant ships from Barbary pirates in North Africa , and developed a plan to protect U.S. ports from foreign invasion by the use of small gunboats (a plan that proved useless when war came in 1812). He also authorized the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore
21700-543: The Yazoo lands would continue until 1814, when Congress finally agreed to compensate the claimants. Even before the 1803 purchase of the Louisiana Territory , Jefferson had begun planning for an expedition to the lands west of the Mississippi River . Jefferson considered it important for the United States to establish a claim of "discovery" to Oregon Country by documenting and establishing an American presence there before Europeans could establish strong claims. Jefferson also hoped
21917-512: The acquisition of the Floridas, but under the terms of the Treaty of Aranjuez, Spain retained control of both of those territories. On April 30, the two delegations agreed to the terms of the Louisiana Purchase, and Napoleon gave his approval the following day. After Secretary of State James Madison gave his assurances that the purchase was well within even the strictest interpretation of the Constitution,
22134-472: The army with 3,350 officers and enlisted men. At the end of his two terms, Jefferson had lowered the national debt from $ 83 million to $ 57 million. In 1806, believing that the country would soon abolish its national debt, Jefferson proposed enlarging the army and passing a constitutional amendment to explicitly allow Congress to spend funds on internal improvements and education, but these proposals were not acted on by Congress. That same year, Congress authorized
22351-424: The benign economic conditions that persisted for much of Jefferson's presidency allowed them to run budget surpluses. Jefferson shrank the army and the navy , deeming them largely unnecessary in peacetime. He transformed the navy into a fleet consisting of inexpensive gunboats used only for defense, with the idea that they would not provoke foreign hostilities. His administration discharged numerous soldiers, leaving
22568-545: The best scientific credentials because of Lewis' military experience in the woods and "familiarity with the Indian manners and character." Jefferson possessed the largest collection of books in the world on the subject of the geography and natural history of the North American continent, and before the expedition he tutored Lewis in the sciences of mapping, botany, natural history, mineralogy, astronomy, and navigation. In May 1804,
22785-496: The birth of the American manufacturing industry. Jefferson is ranked by both scholars and in public opinion among the upper tier of American presidents. Presidential scholars and historians praise Jefferson's public achievements, including his advocacy of religious freedom and tolerance, his peaceful acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France, and his leadership in supporting the Lewis and Clark Expedition . They acknowledge
23002-455: The body of the people. That this intention has failed of its object in every election, is a fact of such universal notoriety that no one can dispute it. Electors, therefore, have not answered the design of their institution. They are not the independent body and superior characters which they were intended to be. They are not left to the exercise of their own judgment: on the contrary, they give their vote, or bind themselves to give it, according to
23219-410: The calls of his fellow Democratic-Republicans to remove all Federalists from their appointed positions, but he felt that it was his right to replace the top government officials, including the cabinet. He also replaced any lower-ranking Federalist appointees who engaged in misconduct or partisan behavior. Jefferson's refusal to call for a complete replacement of federal appointees under a " spoils system "
23436-405: The centerpiece of their campaign, arguing that Jefferson's affair with an enslaved woman was hypocritical given his continuing support for slavery. The Democratic-Republicans enjoyed a marked advantage in party organization, while the Federalists and their ethos of government-by-the-elite were becoming increasingly unpopular. Jefferson won every state except for Connecticut and Delaware, taking 162 of
23653-449: The changes, but he did not speak publicly about the revisions. On July 4, 1776, the Congress ratified the Declaration, and delegates signed it on August 2; in so doing, the delegates were knowingly committing an act of high treason against The Crown , which was deemed the most serious criminal offense and was punishable by torture and death . Jefferson's preamble is regarded as an enduring statement on individual and human rights, and
23870-526: The citizens of a district and that elector was to be free to analyze and deliberate regarding who is best suited to be president. In Federalist No. 68 Alexander Hamilton described the Founding Fathers' view of how electors would be chosen: A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated [tasks]... They [the framers of
24087-416: The collective designation for the electors selected to cast votes for president and vice president. The phrase was first written into federal law in 1845, and today the term appears in 3 U.S.C. § 4 , in the section heading and in the text as "college of electors". Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution provided the original plan by which the electors voted for president. Under
24304-402: The constitution ] have not made the appointment of the President to depend on any preexisting bodies of men [i.e. Electors pledged to vote one way or another], who might be tampered with beforehand to prostitute their votes [i.e., to be told how to vote]; but they have referred it in the first instance to an immediate act of the people of America, to be exerted in the choice of persons [Electors to
24521-572: The construction of the National Road , a route designed to connect the East Coast to St. Louis , although construction on the road did not begin until 1811. In the early 1800s, much of the American frontier was subject to the competing claims of settlers, land speculators, and Native Americans. The Yazoo lands of western Georgia were no exception, and they emerged as a point of major tension during Jefferson's administration. In what became known as
24738-543: The control of Spain. Jefferson argued that the Louisiana Purchase had extended as far west as the Rio Grande , and had included West Florida as far east as the Perdido River . He hoped to use that claim, along with French pressure, to force Spain to sell both West Florida and East Florida. In 1806, he won congressional approval of a $ 2 million appropriation to obtain the Floridas; eager expansionists also contemplated authorizing
24955-550: The country as a clear statement of the party's principles. The presidential oath of office was administered by Chief Justice John Marshall . Outgoing President Adams had left the capital earlier that day, and did not attend the ceremony. By July 1801, Jefferson had assembled his cabinet, which consisted of Secretary of State James Madison , Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin , Secretary of War Henry Dearborn , Attorney General Levi Lincoln Sr. , and Secretary of
25172-456: The country by limiting government and weakening the power of elites. Before Jefferson could take office, there was a transition period in which he was the president-elect following his victory in the contingent election. The transition between Adams and Jefferson represented the first transfer of the presidency between two different political parties in United States history, and set the precedent for all subsequent inter-party transitions. It
25389-535: The court until his death in 1811. Though Federalists would never regain the political power they had held during the 1790s, the Marshall Court continued to reflect Federalist ideals until the 1830s. Jefferson appointed three people to the Supreme Court during his presidency. The first vacancy of Jefferson's presidency arose due to the resignation of Alfred Moore . Determined to appoint a Democratic-Republican from
25606-572: The daybreak, and in a first for a newspaper, Jefferson gave a copy of his speech to the National Intelligencer for it to be published and available right after delivery. He delivered a 1721-word speech in the United States Capitol 's Senate Chamber . He was not a strong speaker, and the audience could barely catch his words, which called for national unity. The speech was widely reprinted and celebrated by Democratic-Republicans across
25823-403: The decision makers could deliberate reasonably, not in one place where decision makers could be threatened or intimidated. If the Electoral College did not achieve a decisive majority, then the House of Representatives was to choose the president from among the top five candidates, ensuring selection of a presiding officer administering the laws would have both ability and good character. Hamilton
26040-608: The district established pursuant to Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 as the seat of the federal government (namely, Washington, D.C. ) is entitled to the same number of electors as the least populous state. In practice, that results in Washington D.C. being entitled to three electors. The Electoral College was officially selected as the means of electing president towards the end of the Constitutional Convention, due to pressure from slave states wanting to increase their voting power, since they could count slaves as 3/5 of
26257-522: The document, but Adams persuaded the committee to choose Jefferson. His choice was due to Jefferson being a Virginian, popular, and being considered a good writer by Adams. Jefferson consulted with his fellow committee members, but mostly wrote the Declaration of Independence in isolation between June 11 and 28, 1776, in a home he was renting at 700 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia . Jefferson drew considerably on his proposed draft of
26474-413: The early 1790s, Jefferson and political ally James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the nation's First Party System . Jefferson and Federalist John Adams became both personal friends and political rivals. In the 1796 U.S. presidential election between the two, Jefferson came in second, which made him Adams' vice president under
26691-469: The electoral college system has been a matter of ongoing debate in the United States since its inception at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, becoming more controversial by the latter years of the 19th century, up to the present day. More resolutions have been submitted to amend the Electoral College mechanism than any other part of the constitution. An amendment that would have abolished
26908-409: The electoral laws of the time. Four years later, in the 1800 presidential election , Jefferson again challenged Adams and won the presidency. In 1804 , Jefferson was reelected overwhelmingly to a second term. As president, Jefferson assertively defended the nation's shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies, promoted a western expansionist policy with
27125-423: The electors in the electoral colleges. It is notorious, that the electors are now chosen wholly with reference to particular candidates, and are silently pledged to vote for them. Nay, upon some occasions the electors publicly pledge themselves to vote for a particular person; and thus, in effect, the whole foundation of the system, so elaborately constructed, is subverted. Story observed that if an elector does what
27342-417: The electors voted, Jefferson and Burr were tied with one another with 73 electoral votes each. Since ballots did not distinguish between votes for president and votes for vice president, every ballot cast for Burr technically counted as a vote for him to become president, despite Jefferson clearly being his party's first choice. Lacking a clear winner by constitutional standards, the election had to be decided by
27559-467: The establishment of auxiliary societies. The Federalists peacefully accepted the transfer of power to the Democratic-Republicans in 1800, but most party leaders hoped that it would be just a temporary anomaly. Many Federalists continued to serve in state or local office, though prominent Federalists like John Jay and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney retired from public life. Reflecting the fears of other ambitious young Federalists, John Quincy Adams wrote that
27776-448: The expedition would discover the long-sought-for Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, which would greatly promote commerce and trade for the country. In 1804, he appointed his personal secretary Meriwether Lewis , along with William Clark , as the leaders of a western expedition, dubbing it the Corps of Discovery . Jefferson chose Lewis to lead the expedition rather than someone with only
27993-572: The expedition's findings, including seeds, fossils, plant, and other specimens. In 1808, businessman John Jacob Astor established a transcontinental fur trading company, and in 1811 his company established Fort Astoria , the first American settlement on the Pacific Coast. In addition to the Corps of Discovery , Jefferson organized other western exploration expeditions, some of which traveled through Spanish territory. William Dunbar and George Hunter led
28210-457: The fact of his lifelong ownership of large numbers of slaves and give differing interpretations of his views on and relationship with slavery . Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743, Old Style , Julian calendar ), at the family's Shadwell Plantation in the British Colony of Virginia , the third of ten children. He was of English and possibly Welsh descent, and was born
28427-455: The failure of the embargo was due to selfish traders and merchants showing a lack of "republican virtue." He maintained that, had the embargo been widely observed, it would have avoided war in 1812. Like both of his predecessors, Jefferson ran for a second term. The election of 1804 was the first to be held after the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment , which instituted the current electoral system in which separate electoral votes are cast for
28644-452: The federal concentration of power, whereas Hamilton sought more power for the federal government. Jefferson supported France against Britain when the two nations fought in 1793, though his arguments in the Cabinet were undercut by French Revolutionary envoy Edmond-Charles Genêt 's open scorn for Washington. In his discussions with British Minister George Hammond , he tried in vain to persuade
28861-408: The fewest objections. The convention approved the committee's Electoral College proposal, with minor modifications, on September 4, 1787. Delegates from states with smaller populations or limited land area, such as Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland, generally favored the Electoral College with some consideration for states. At the compromise providing for a runoff among the top five candidates,
29078-427: The framers anticipate candidates "running" for president. Within just a few years of the ratification of the Constitution, however, both phenomena became permanent features of the political landscape of the United States. The emergence of political parties and nationally coordinated election campaigns soon complicated matters in the elections of 1796 and 1800 . In 1796, Federalist Party candidate John Adams won
29295-587: The framing the more important consideration was that electors, expected to be more knowledgeable and responsible, would actually do the choosing." Constitutional expert Michael Signer explained that the electoral college was designed "to provide a mechanism where intelligent, thoughtful and statesmanlike leaders could deliberate on the winner of the popular vote and, if necessary, choose another candidate who would not put Constitutional values and practices at risk." Robert Schlesinger , writing for U.S. News and World Report , similarly stated, "The original conception of
29512-582: The general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.' Philip J. VanFossen of Purdue University explains that the original purpose of the electors was not to reflect the will of the citizens, but rather to "serve as a check on a public who might be easily misled." Randall Calvert, the Eagleton Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis , stated, "At
29729-553: The greater the population and expanse of the Republic, the more difficulty factions would face in organizing due to such issues as sectionalism . Although the United States Constitution refers to "Electors" and "electors", neither the phrase "Electoral College" nor any other name is used to describe the electors collectively. It was not until the early 19th century that the name "Electoral College" came into general usage as
29946-408: The inequity that, due to the distribution of electors, individual citizens in states with smaller populations have more voting power than those in larger states. Because the number of electors each state appoints is equal to the size of its congressional delegation, each state is entitled to at least three electors regardless of its population, and the apportionment of the statutorily fixed number of
30163-649: The land from those who had been defrauded in the scandal. In 1804, Jefferson sought to compensate those defrauded in the Yazoo land scandal by giving them some of the lands acquired in the compact, but Congressman John Randolph successfully mobilized opposition to the proposal, castigating it as a giveaway to land speculators. The incident marked the start of a factionalism within the Democratic-Republican Party that would prove problematic for Jefferson and his successors, as Randolph's " tertium quids " freely criticized presidents of their own party. Controversy over
30380-638: The latter drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen . Jefferson often found his mail opened by postmasters, so he invented his own enciphering device, the " Wheel Cipher "; he wrote important communications in code for the rest of his career. Unable to attend the 1787 Constitution Convention, Jefferson supported the Constitution but desired the addition of the promised Bill of Rights. Jefferson left Paris for America in September 1789. He remained
30597-422: The legislation's passage, but it faced strong opposition in a state whose economy was largely agrarian. Jefferson took seven cases of freedom-seeking enslaved people and waived his fee for one he claimed should be freed before the minimum statutory age for emancipation. Jefferson invoked natural law , arguing "everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will ... This
30814-533: The matter provoked outrage and weakened Jefferson's hand, and he subsequently gave up on Florida. In keeping with his Enlightenment thinking, President Jefferson adopted an assimilation policy towards American Indians known as his "civilization program" which included securing peaceful U.S.–Indian treaty alliances and encouraging agriculture. Jefferson advocated that Indian tribes should make federal purchases by credit holding their lands as collateral for repayment. Various tribes accepted Jefferson's policies, including
31031-450: The men best qualified for the Nation's highest offices." In support for his view, Justice Jackson cited Federalist No. 68 : 'It was desirable that the sense of the people should operate in the choice of the person to whom so important a trust was to be confided. This end will be answered by committing the right of making it, not to any pre-established body, but to men chosen by the people for
31248-527: The military to enforce the embargo. Imports and exports fell immensely, and the embargo proved to be especially unpopular in New England. In March 1809, Congress replaced the embargo with the Non-Intercourse Act , which allowed trade with nations aside from Britain and France. Most historians consider Jefferson's embargo to have been ineffective and harmful to American interests. Even the top officials of
31465-533: The military, levied new taxes, and enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts . Jefferson believed these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered them unconstitutional. To rally opposition, he and James Madison anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions , declaring that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by
31682-448: The mobilization of ordinary people ensured that individuals outside of the elite class had the opportunity to become government officials, especially in the North. Prior to the 1790s, campaigning was considered an interference on each citizen's right to think and vote independently. Without competition for office, voter turnouts were often low, sometimes fewer than 5 percent of eligible men. With
31899-461: The nation became increasingly polarized. Jefferson and Adams were once again the major presidential candidates of their respective parties in the 1800 presidential election, and Aaron Burr was the Democratic-Republican Party's vice presidential nominee. Adams's campaign was weakened by unpopular taxes and vicious Federalist infighting over his actions in the Quasi-War. The Democratic-Republicans accused
32116-459: The nation's most esteemed presidents. Jefferson ran for president in the 1796 election as a Democratic-Republican , but finished second in the electoral vote to Federalist John Adams ; under the laws then in place, Jefferson's second-place finish made him the Vice President of the United States . Jefferson strongly opposed the Federalist program, including the Alien and Sedition Acts , and
32333-872: The nation's territories. Congress made extensive revisions and rejected the ban on slavery. The provisions banning slavery, known as the "Jefferson Proviso", were modified and implemented three years later in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and became the law for the entire Northwest Territory . On May 7, 1784, Jefferson was appointed by the Congress of the Confederation to join Benjamin Franklin and John Adams in Paris as Minister Plenipotentiary for Negotiating Treaties of Amity and Commerce with Great Britain and other countries. With his young daughter Patsy and two servants, he departed in July 1784, arriving in Paris
32550-554: The nation. Aside from commercial concerns, Americans were outraged by what they saw as an attack on national honor. In response to the attacks, Jefferson recommended an expansion of the navy, and Congress passed the Non-importation Act , which restricted many, but not all, British imports. To restore peaceful relations with Britain, Monroe negotiated the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty , which would have represented an extension of
32767-503: The national presidential election day on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, each state, and the federal district, selects its electors according to its laws. After a popular election, the states identify and record their appointed electors in a Certificate of Ascertainment , and those appointed electors then meet in their respective jurisdictions and produce a Certificate of Vote for their candidate; both certificates are then sent to Congress to be opened and counted. In 48 of
32984-399: The new judicial positions were necessary, and partly to weaken Federalist influence on the courts. Federalists vehemently opposed this plan, arguing that Congress did not have the power to abolish judicial positions that were occupied. Despite these objections, the Democratic-Republicans passed the Judiciary Act of 1802 , which largely restored the judicial structure that had prevailed prior to
33201-498: The new republic of Haiti in 1804, Jefferson refused to recognize Haiti as the second independent republic in the Americas. In part he hoped to win Napoleon's support over the acquisition of Florida. American slaveholders had been frightened and horrified by the slave massacres of the planter class during the rebellion and after, and a southern-dominated Congress was "hostile to Haiti." They feared its success would encourage slave revolt in
33418-672: The next month. Jefferson had Patsy educated at the Pentemont Abbey . Less than a year later he was assigned the additional duty of succeeding Franklin as Minister to France. French foreign minister Count de Vergennes commented, "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear." Jefferson replied, "I succeed . No man can replace him." During his five years in Paris, Jefferson played a leading role in shaping U.S. foreign policy . In 1786, he met and fell in love with Maria Cosway , an accomplished—and married—Italian-English musician of 27. She returned to Great Britain after six weeks, but they maintained
33635-449: The original plan, each elector cast two votes for president; electors did not vote for vice president. Whoever received a majority of votes from the electors would become president, with the person receiving the second most votes becoming vice president. According to Stanley Chang, the original plan of the Electoral College was based upon several assumptions and anticipations of the Framers of
33852-568: The phrase " all men are created equal " has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language". The Declaration of Independence, historian Joseph Ellis wrote in 2008, represents "the most potent and consequential words in American history". At the start of the Revolution, Colonel Jefferson was named commander of the Albemarle County Militia on September 26, 1775. He
34069-539: The political rivalries taking shape; he wrote to Washington, imploring him to run for reelection that year as a unifying influence. He urged the president to rally the citizenry to a party that would defend democracy against the corrupting influence of banks and monied interests, as espoused by the Federalists. Historians recognize this letter as the earliest delineation of Democratic-Republican Party principles. Jefferson, Madison, and other Democratic-Republican organizers favored states' rights and local control and opposed
34286-458: The potential candidacy of James Monroe. Additionally, Vice President Clinton, who had accepted the vice presidential nomination again, announced his own candidacy for president. It took all of Jefferson's prestige and charm to convince dissident Democratic-Republicans not to bolt from the party out of disdain for Madison. In the end, Madison headed off the intra-party challenges and defeated Federalist nominee Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, winning 122 of
34503-475: The precedent of judicial review , thereby strengthening the judicial branch . Still unhappy with Federalist power on the bench even after the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1802, the Democratic-Republicans impeached district court Judge John Pickering and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase . Federalist congressmen strongly opposed both impeachments, criticizing them as attacks on judicial independence. Pickering, who frequently presided over cases while drunk,
34720-439: The presidency and vice presidency. With Burr having little chance at re-nomination, the party's congressional nominating caucus chose Governor George Clinton of New York as Jefferson's running mate. The Federalists nominated Charles Cotesworth Pinckney for president and Rufus King for vice president. The Federalists made attacks on Jefferson's alleged atheism, his support for democratization, and his affair with Sally Hemings
34937-443: The president to acquire Canada , by force if necessary. In this case, unlike that of the Louisiana Territory, the dynamics of European politics worked against Jefferson. Napoleon had played Washington against Madrid to see what he could get, but by 1805 Spain was his ally. Spain had no desire to cede Florida, which was part of its leverage against an expanding United States. Revelations of the bribe which Jefferson offered to France over
35154-410: The presidential election. Finishing in second place was Democratic-Republican Party candidate Thomas Jefferson , the Federalists' opponent, who became the vice president. This resulted in the president and vice president being of different political parties. In 1800, the Democratic-Republican Party again nominated Jefferson for president and also again nominated Aaron Burr for vice president. After
35371-423: The proposal given the prevalence of slavery in the South: There was one difficulty, however of a serious nature attending an immediate choice by the people. The right of suffrage was much more diffusive in the Northern than the Southern States; and the latter could have no influence in the election on the score of Negroes. The substitution of electors obviated this difficulty and seemed on the whole to be liable to
35588-433: The rate of about 1,000 slaves a year continued for decades. "The two major achievements of Jefferson's presidency were the Louisiana Purchase and the abolition of the slave trade," according to historian John Chester Miller . American trade boomed after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in the early 1790s, in large part because American shipping was allowed to act as neutral carriers with European powers. Though
35805-505: The reason that it could violate the separation of powers. James Wilson then made a motion for electors for the purpose of choosing the president. Later in the convention, a committee formed to work out various details. They included the mode of election of the president, including final recommendations for the electors, a group of people apportioned among the states in the same numbers as their representatives in Congress (the formula for which had been resolved in lengthy debates resulting in
36022-408: The rebels, Napoleon gave up on his plans for an empire in the Western Hemisphere. In early 1803, Jefferson dispatched James Monroe to France to join ambassador Robert Livingston in purchasing New Orleans, East Florida , and West Florida from France. To the surprise of the American delegation, Napoleon offered to sell the entire territory of Louisiana for $ 15 million. The Americans also pressed for
36239-422: The release of papers related to the incident, called the XYZ Affair after the letters used to disguise the identities of the French officials involved. However, the tactic backfired when it was revealed that French officials had demanded bribes, rallying public support against France. The U.S. began an undeclared naval war with France known as the Quasi-War . During the Adams presidency, the Federalists rebuilt
36456-456: The rest is only roughly proportional. This allocation has contributed to runners-up of the nationwide popular vote being elected president in 1824 , 1876 , 1888 , 2000 , and 2016. In addition, faithless electors may not vote in accord with their pledge. A further objection is that swing states receive the most attention from candidates. By the end of the 20th century, electoral colleges had been abandoned by all other democracies around
36673-403: The rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." A republican government (i.e., representative democracy , as opposed to direct democracy ) combined with the principles of federalism (with distribution of voter rights and separation of government powers), would countervail against factions. Madison further postulated in the Federalist No. 10 that
36890-487: The rise of the two-party system, many regions saw voter participation rise to approximately 20 percent in the 1790s and to 80 percent during Jefferson's presidency. Wood writes, "by the standards of the early nineteenth century America possessed the most popular electoral politics in the world." The egalitarianism of the age extended beyond voting rights, as the practice of indentured servitude declined and traditional hierarchies in employment and education were challenged. In
37107-415: The same Congress passed an act "providing for the execution of the laws of the United States in the State of Ohio." Neither act, however, set a formal date of statehood. An official statehood date for Ohio was not set until 1953, when the 83rd Congress passed a joint resolution "for admitting the State of Ohio into the Union", which designated March 1, 1803, as that date. It was the first state created from
37324-485: The selection of the president should be "made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station [of president]." Hamilton stated that the electors were to analyze the list of potential presidents and select the best one. He also used the term "deliberate." In a 2020 opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court, the court additionally cited John Jay 's view that the electors' choices would reflect "discretion and discernment." Reflecting on this original intention,
37541-437: The small states supposed that the House of Representatives, with each state delegation casting one vote, would decide most elections. In The Federalist Papers , James Madison explained his views on the selection of the president and the Constitution . In Federalist No. 39 , Madison argued that the Constitution was designed to be a mixture of state-based and population-based government. Congress would have two houses:
37758-503: The sole exception of newly admitted Colorado in 1876 for logistical reasons), electors in every state have been chosen based on a popular election held on Election Day . The popular election for electors means the president and vice president are in effect chosen through indirect election by the citizens. The framers of the Constitution did not anticipate political parties . Indeed George Washington 's Farewell Address in 1796 included an urgent appeal to avert such parties. Neither did
37975-429: The special purpose, and at the particular conjuncture... It was equally desirable, that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow citizens from
38192-437: The state capitals were able to have information unavailable to the general public, in a time before telecommunications. Hamilton also argued that since no federal officeholder could be an elector, none of the electors would be beholden to any presidential candidate. Another consideration was that the decision would be made without "tumult and disorder", as it would be a broad-based one made simultaneously in various locales where
38409-421: The state delegations in the House (The votes of nine states were needed for a conclusive election.). On the 36th ballot, Delaware's lone Representative, James A. Bayard , made it known that he intended to break the impasse for fear that failure to do so could endanger the future of the Union. Bayard and other Federalists from South Carolina, Maryland, and Vermont abstained, breaking the deadlock and giving Jefferson
38626-460: The state's natural resources and economy and wrote at length about slavery and miscegenation ; he articulated his belief that blacks and whites could not live together as free people in one society because of justified resentments of the enslaved. He also wrote of his views on the American Indians, equating them to European settlers. Notes was first published in 1785 in French and appeared in English in 1787. Biographer George Tucker considered
38843-422: The state-based Senate and the population-based House of Representatives . Meanwhile, the president would be elected by a mixture of the two modes. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 68 , published on March 12, 1788, laid out what he believed were the key advantages to the Electoral College. The electors come directly from the people and them alone, for that purpose only, and for that time only. This avoided
39060-485: The states. The resolutions followed the " interposition " approach of Madison, that states may shield their citizens from federal laws that they deem unconstitutional. Jefferson advocated nullification , allowing states to invalidate federal laws altogether. He warned that, "unless arrested at the threshold", the Alien and Sedition Acts would "drive these states into revolution and blood". Electoral College (United States) [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In
39277-445: The system was approved by the House in 1969, but failed to move past the Senate. Supporters argue that it requires presidential candidates to have broad appeal across the country to win, while critics argue that it is not representative of the popular will of the nation. Winner-take-all systems, especially with representation not proportional to population, do not align with the principle of " one person, one vote ". Critics object to
39494-617: The task free from any sinister bias [Electors must not come to the Electoral College with bias]. Their transient existence, and their detached [unbiased] situation, already taken notice of, afford a satisfactory prospect of their continuing so, to the conclusion of it." However, when electors were pledged to vote for a specific candidate, the slate of electors chosen by the state were no longer free agents, independent thinkers, or deliberative representatives. They became, as Justice Robert H. Jackson wrote, "voluntary party lackeys and intellectual non-entities." According to Hamilton, writing in 1788,
39711-439: The vacancy. Though Representative George W. Campbell of Tennessee emerged as the most popular choice in Congress, Jefferson was unwilling to appoint a sitting member of Congress. Jefferson instead appointed Thomas Todd , another individual popular among members of Congress, and who served as the chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals . Jefferson hoped that his appointments would weaken Chief Justice Marshall's influence on
39928-444: The west. When the General Assembly reconvened in June 1781, it conducted an inquiry into Jefferson's actions which eventually concluded that Jefferson had acted with honor—but he was not re-elected. In April of the same year, his daughter Lucy died at age one. A second daughter of that name was born the following year, but she died at age two. In 1782, Jefferson refused a partnership offer by North Carolina Governor Abner Nash , in
40145-415: The will of their constituents. They have degenerated into mere agents, in a case which requires no agency, and where the agent must be useless... In 1833, Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story detailed how badly from the framers' intention the Electoral Process had been "subverted": In no respect have the views of the framers of the constitution been so completely frustrated as relates to the independence of
40362-474: The winner of its single district election. States generally require electors to pledge to vote for that state's winning ticket; to prevent electors from being faithless electors , most states have adopted various laws to enforce the electors' pledge. The electors of each state meet in their respective state capital on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday of December, between December 14 and 20, to cast their votes. The results are sent to and counted by
40579-414: The work "surprising in the extent of the information which a single individual had been thus far able to acquire, as to the physical features of the state"; Merrill D. Peterson described it as an accomplishment for which all Americans should be grateful. Jefferson was appointed a Virginia delegate to the Congress of the Confederation organized following the peace treaty with Great Britain in 1783. He
40796-512: The world in favor of direct elections for an executive president . Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution directs each state to appoint a number of electors equal to that state's congressional delegation (the number of members of the House of Representatives plus two senators ). The same clause empowers each state legislature to determine the manner by which that state's electors are chosen but prohibits federal office holders from being named electors. Following
41013-452: The yeomen farmers idealized by Jeffersonian democracy . President James Monroe rounded out the Southeast when he obtained Florida from Spain in the Adams–Onís Treaty . President Jefferson planned the Embargo Act of 1807 to force Europe to comply. It forbade trade with both France and Britain, but they did not bend. Furthermore, Federalists denounced his policy as partisanship in favor of agrarian interests instead of commercial interests. It
41230-454: The young American navy forced Tunis and Algiers into breaking their alliance with Tripoli which ultimately moved it out of the war. Jefferson also ordered five separate naval bombardments of Tripoli, which restored peace in the Mediterranean for a while, although Jefferson continued to pay the remaining Barbary States until the end of his presidency. Jefferson believed that western expansion played an important role in furthering his vision of
41447-412: The younger generation was making no move to abolish slavery; he largely avoided the issue until 1806. He did succeed in convincing Congress to block the foreign importation of slaves into the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. Seeing that in 1808 the twenty-year constitutional ban on ending the international slave trade would expire, in December 1806 in his presidential message to Congress, he called for
41664-522: Was a key factor in Burr's defeat, having made callous remarks regarding Burr. Believing that his honor was offended, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. On July 11, 1804, Burr mortally wounded Hamilton in a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey. Burr was indicted for Hamilton's murder in New York and New Jersey causing him to flee to Georgia, although he remained President of the Senate during Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase's impeachment trial . The two Burr indictments were "quietly allowed to die". After Aaron Burr
41881-442: Was a member of the committee setting foreign exchange rates and recommended an American currency based on the decimal system that was adopted. He advised the formation of the Committee of the States to fill the power vacuum when Congress was in recess. The committee met when Congress adjourned, but disagreements rendered it dysfunctional. In the Congress's 1783–1784 session, Jefferson acted as chairman of committees to establish
42098-523: Was accompanied by a young slave from Monticello, Sally Hemings . Jefferson had taken her older brother, James Hemings , to Paris as part of his domestic staff and had him trained in French cuisine. According to Sally's son, Madison Hemings , the 16-year-old Sally and Jefferson began a sexual relationship in Paris, where she became pregnant. The son indicated Hemings agreed to return to the United States only after Jefferson promised to free her children when they came of age. While in France, Jefferson became
42315-446: Was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767, and lived with his mother at Shadwell. He represented Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 until 1775. He pursued reforms to slavery, including writing and sponsoring legislation in 1769 to strip power from the royal governor and courts, instead providing masters of slaves with the discretion to emancipate them. Jefferson persuaded his cousin Richard Bland to spearhead
42532-417: Was adopted by default, after all other alternatives had been rejected." In 1787, the Constitutional Convention used the Virginia Plan as the basis for discussions, as the Virginia proposal was the first. The Virginia Plan called for Congress to elect the president. Delegates from a majority of states agreed to this mode of election. After being debated, delegates came to oppose nomination by Congress for
42749-492: Was also concerned about somebody unqualified but with a talent for "low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity" attaining high office. In the Federalist No. 10 , James Madison argued against "an interested and overbearing majority" and the "mischiefs of faction" in an electoral system . He defined a faction as "a number of citizens whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to
42966-459: Was convicted by the Senate in 1804. However, the impeachment proceedings of Chase proved more difficult. While serving on the Supreme Court, Chase had frequently expressed his skepticism of democracy, predicting that the nation would "sink into mobocracy ," but he had not shown himself to be incompetent in the same way that Pickering had. Several Democratic-Republican senators joined the Federalists in opposing Chase's removal, and Chase would remain on
43183-430: Was destroyed in a fire at his Shadwell home. His second library replenished the first. It grew to 1,250 titles by 1773, and to nearly 6,500 volumes by 1814. Jefferson organized his books into three broad categories corresponding with elements of the human mind: memory, reason, and imagination. After British forces burnt the Library of Congress during the 1814 Burning of Washington , Jefferson sold his second library to
43400-411: Was disgraced in the duel of 1804 and his own presidential ambitions were ended, he was reported by the British ambassador as wanting to "effect a separation of the western part of the United States [at the Appalachian Mountains]". Jefferson believed that to be so by November 1806, because Burr had been rumored to be variously plotting with some western states to secede for an independent empire, or to raise
43617-407: Was divided between his sons Thomas and Randolph . John Harvie Sr. became 13-year-old Thomas' guardian. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres (2,000 ha; 7.8 sq mi), which included Monticello , and he assumed full legal authority over the property at age 21. Jefferson began his education together with the Randolph children at Tuckahoe under tutors. Thomas' father Peter, who
43834-444: Was followed by his successors until the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828. In the final days of his presidency, Adams had appointed numerous federal judges to fill positions created by the Judiciary Act of 1801. Democratic-Republicans were outraged by the appointment of these "midnight judges," almost all of whom were Federalists. Jefferson and his allies sought to reverse the Judiciary Act of 1801, partly because they did not believe
44051-461: Was greatly pleasing to Jefferson. In October of that year, however, Jefferson mourned his sister Jane's unexpected death at age 25; he wrote a farewell epitaph for her in Latin. Jefferson treasured his books and amassed three sizable libraries in his lifetime. He began assembling his first library, which grew to 200 volumes, in his youth. It included books inherited from his father and left to him by Wythe. In 1770, however, Jefferson's first library
44268-450: Was highly unpopular in New England, which began smuggling operations, and proved ineffective in stopping harsh treatment from British warships. For decades prior to Jefferson's accession to office, the Barbary Coast pirates of North Africa had been capturing American merchant ships, pillaging valuable cargoes and enslaving crew members, demanding huge ransoms for their release. Before independence, American merchant ships were protected from
44485-443: Was just a matter of time until Louisiana fell to either Britain or the United States. U.S. expansionary hopes were temporarily dashed when Napoleon convinced Spain to transfer the province to France in the 1801 Treaty of Aranjuez . Though French pressure played a role in the conclusion of the treaty, the Spanish also believed that French control of Louisiana would help protect New Spain from American expansion. Napoleon's dreams of
44702-465: Was nationally discredited, Jefferson feared for the very Union. In a report to Congress January 1807, Jefferson declared Burr's guilt "placed beyond question". By March 1807, Burr was arrested in New Orleans and placed on trial for treason in Richmond, Virginia, with Chief Justice John Marshall presiding. On June 13, Jefferson was subpoenaed by Burr to release documents that favored Burr's defense. Jefferson stated he had no loyalty to Burr and only released
44919-411: Was not renewed. Jefferson continued his pro-France stance; during the violence of the Reign of Terror , he declined to disavow the revolution: "To back away from France would be to undermine the cause of republicanism in America." In the presidential campaign of 1796 , Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Federalist John Adams 71–68 and was thus elected vice president. As presiding officer of
45136-417: Was not very frugal with his expenditures; in his second year, regretting that he had squandered away time and money in his first year, he committed to studying fifteen hours a day. While at William & Mary, Jefferson became a member of the Flat Hat Club . Jefferson concluded his formal studies in April 1762. He read the law under Wythe's tutelage while working as a law clerk in his office. Jefferson
45353-399: Was one of the youngest delegates to the Second Continental Congress beginning in 1775 at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War , where a formal declaration of independence from Britain was overwhelmingly favored. Jefferson was inspired by the Enlightenment ideals of the sanctity of the individual, and the writings of Locke and Montesquieu . Jefferson sought out John Adams ,
45570-440: Was quoted as saying, "Architecture is my delight, and putting up, and pulling down, one of my favorite amusements." Construction was done mostly by local masons and carpenters, assisted by Jefferson's slaves. He moved into the South Pavilion in 1770. Turning Monticello into a neoclassical masterpiece in the Palladian style was his perennial project. On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married his third cousin Martha Wayles Skelton ,
45787-429: Was self-taught and regretted not having a formal education, entered Thomas into an English school at age five. In 1752, at age nine, he attended a local school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister and also began studying the natural world, which he grew to love. At this time he began studying Latin , Greek , and French , while learning to ride horses as well. Thomas also read books from his father's modest library. He
46004-525: Was succeeded by Secretary of State James Madison , also of the Democratic-Republican Party. Jefferson took office determined to roll back the Federalist program of the 1790s. His administration reduced taxes, government spending, and the national debt, and repealed the Alien and Sedition Acts . In foreign affairs, the major developments were the acquisition of the gigantic Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, an embargo against trade with both Great Britain and France, and worsening relations with Britain as
46221-465: Was taught from 1758 to 1760 by the Reverend James Maury near Gordonsville, Virginia , where he studied history, science, and the classics while boarding with Maury's family. Jefferson came to know various American Indians, including the Cherokee chief Ostenaco , who often stopped at Shadwell to visit on their way to Williamsburg to trade. In Williamsburg, the young Jefferson met and came to admire Patrick Henry , eight years his senior, and shared
46438-509: Was the first time in United States history that a president handed over the presidency to a political opponent. Unlike modern-day presidential transitions, the transitions at this time were informal affairs, with relatively minimal activity required of the president-elect. During the transition, Jefferson picked members of his Cabinet . He also selected individuals less principal positions of his administration, such as Meriwether Lewis to serve as his personal secretary . Before leaving office,
46655-433: Was the nation's first U.S. secretary of state under George Washington and then the nation's second vice president under John Adams . Jefferson was a leading proponent of democracy, republicanism , and natural rights , and he produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels. Jefferson was born into the Colony of Virginia 's planter class , dependent on slave labor . During
46872-441: Was then elected to the Virginia House of Delegates for Albemarle County in September 1776, when finalizing the state constitution was a priority. For nearly three years, he assisted with the constitution and was especially proud of his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, which prohibited state support of religious institutions or enforcement of religious doctrine. The bill failed to pass, as did his legislation to disestablish
47089-535: Was well-read in a broad variety of subjects, which, along with law and philosophy, included history, natural law, natural religion, ethics, and several areas in science, including agriculture. During his years of study under the watchful eye of Wythe, Jefferson authored a Commonplace Book , a survey of his extensive readings. Wythe was so impressed with Jefferson that he later bequeathed his entire library to him. On July 20, 1765, Jefferson's sister Martha married his close friend and college companion Dabney Carr , which
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