The Jeffersonian era was rife with conflict, partisan passion, and larger-than-life personalities. On the domestic front, a new party, the Republicans, came to office for the first time and a former vice president was charged with treason.

2. CHAPTER TIME LINE

3. CHAPTER TIME LINE

4. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS-6TH/7TH
1. What are some of the major
events that occurred during
Jefferson’s presidency that
affected the United States?
2. How did the Louisiana Purchase
affect the nation’s economy and
politics?

5. The Election of 1800
saw incumbent
President John Adams
running against Thomas
Jefferson
Adams had chosen
Charles Pinckney for
vice-president, and
Jefferson had selected
Aaron Burr.
Both candidates began
to write letters to
famous citizens and
newspapers explaining
their viewpoints.
Neither went around
the country to
campaign.

6. FIGURE 1

7. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied in 1800 with 73
electoral votes.
In case of a tie in the presidential election, the House
of Representatives has the duty of selecting the
president.
The House tried 35 times to vote to break the tie, but
continued to remain tied themselves.
Federalists tried to prevent Jefferson from being
elected by supporting Aaron Burr in the tiebreaker
vote.
Eventually Alexander Hamilton urged federalists to
support Thomas Jefferson.
After Jefferson became president, the Congress passed
the 12th Amendment which called for the president
and vice-president to be elected on separate ballots.

8. Thomas Jefferson dressed in normal
clothes and walked to his
inauguration.
Jefferson called out to both
Federalists and Republicans to create
a government that was smaller and
that spent less money.
Jefferson thought the federal
government should take a backseat to
the states, who he thought would
protect freedoms and liberty better
than the national government.
Jefferson supported the laissez-faire
approach, the idea that the
government should keep their hands
out of things and let the people (and
states) do as they choose.

9. Thomas Jefferson made Albert Gallatin his
Secretary of the Treasury.
Together, they reduced the national debt by
cutting down on military spending.
Federal taxes like the ones on whiskey were
repealed.
Only customs duties (taxes on imports) and
selling western lands were methods of
raising money for the government.
Finally, Jefferson scaled back the federal
government to consist of only a few
hundred people.
James Madison became Secretary of State

11. In the early 19th Century (1800’s), many
Americans began to seek a new life in the
West.
Pioneers began to go over the
Appalachians into the lands of Kentucky
and Tennessee.
To the West of the Mississippi River was
the Louisiana Territory, which was owned
by the Spanish.
The Spanish had taken it from the French
in the French and Indian War.
Pinckney’s Treaty with Spain had allowed
the U.S. and its farmers and pioneers the
right to use and trade on the Mississippi
River.

12. FIGURE 2

13. During President Jefferson’s presidency,
Spain decided to stop letting Americans use
the Mississippi River.
Jefferson discovered that the Spanish were
going to give Louisiana back to the French.
Jefferson worried about the Americans
being cut off from the Mississippi River, and
that their expansion west would be stopped.
Jefferson sent Robert Livingston, the
minister (ambassador) to France, to offer
Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France,
$10 million for New Orleans and West
Florida.
Napoleon had plans for an empire in the
Americas and in Europe.

14. Santo Domingo was an island in the Caribbean
controlled by the French.
Napoleon needed it as a naval base for his
ships.
Enslaved Africans and other servants on Santo
Domingo were inspired by the French
Revolution and began to revolt against
plantation owners.
Led by Toussaint-Louverture, the rebels took
control of Santo Domingo and renamed it Haiti.
Without control of Santo Domingo, Napoleon
changed his mind about an empire in the
Americas.
Napoleon was fighting the British back in
Europe, and no longer had need of Louisiana.

15. Robert Livingston and James Monroe, a
representative for Jefferson in France were
shocked when French foreign minister Charles
Talleyrand said that all of Louisiana was now for
sale.
Napoleon wanted cash to fight his wars more
than the Louisiana Territory.
Monroe and Livingston agreed to a price of $15
million for all of Louisiana.
Jefferson decided that the treaty-making powers
of the president were enough to allow him to
finalize the deal with Napoleon.
The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the
United States and would allow farmers and
pioneers plenty of land to settle for several
decades.

16. LT 2

17. The land purchased by Jefferson was virtually
unexplored.
Jefferson asked Congress to provide money for
an expedition (exploration mission) into the
western lands.
Jefferson was interested in science and nature,
but also was focused on exploring the new
lands for future forts and strategic resources.
Jefferson was also curious if there was a
Northwest Passage, or a water route that
would allow Americans to sail to Asia.
Meriwether Lewis, Jefferson’s assistant, was
chosen to lead the expedition.
William Clark, a friend of Lewis’s was chosen to
be co-leader.

18. Lewis and Clark were both
educated men. They knew how
to survey and explore land and
record their findings.
They assembled a crew of men
that were expert sailors,
gunsmiths, carpenters, scouts,
and cooks.
A couple of men who had
French and Native American
ancestors served as interpreters
for the expedition.
Lewis and Clark set out from St.
Louis in 1804.
They kept records and made
notes of all findings along their
journey.

19. Along the journey, Lewis
and Clark met many
Native Americans.
One such Native
American was a
Shoshone woman
named Sacagawea.
She served as a guide
and interpreter for Lewis
and Clark.
She helped Lewis and
Clark to reach the Pacific
Ocean a year and a half
after they had first set
out.

20. Zebulon Pike led
other expeditions
into the West in
1805 and 1807.
Exploring into
Colorado, he
discovered Grand
Peak, later
renamed Pike’s
Peak.
Pike informed
Americans of the
Great Plains and
the Rocky
Mountains after
his adventures
were made known.

21. FIGURE 3

22. The Federalists opposed buying Louisiana.
They were afraid territories and states would form
in the new lands that would be loyal to the
Republicans and take away Federalist power.
Some Federalists were ready to secede, or leave
the United Sates. These federalists wanted to
form a northern confederacy.
This movement started in Massachusetts, and
expanded to New York when Federalists
supported Aaron Burr for governor of New York in
1804.

23. Alexander Hamilton had helped Jefferson to
defeat Burr for the presidency in 1800.
Suspecting that he might help Massachusetts and
New York out of the Union, Hamilton began to
speak out against him.
Burr would ultimately lose the election for
governor in 1804 and held Hamilton responsible.
Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel to restore his
honor and pride.
Both men were armed with pistols and met in
New Jersey. Hamilton had not planned on firing
at Burr.
Burr chose to fire at Hamilton, and severely
wounded him.
Hamilton died the next day.

25. Traveling on the oceans was
not the safest thing to do in
the early 19th Century.
Storms and pirates presented
problems for even the ablest
crews.
American shipping was
spreading into China, India,
and the Mediterranean.
When Britain and France went
to war in the late 1700’s,
Americans took advantage by
filling in for European
merchants who feared capture
or destruction.

26. Many ships were victims of the Barbary Pirates.
The pirates came from the Barbary States of
northern Africa.
Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis were all
Barbary states.
These pirates sailed the Mediterranean Sea and
demanded tribute, or protection money, in
order to safely travel through the
Mediterranean.
The ruler of Tripoli tried to raise the amount of
tribute that the United States paid to try to
make more money off of American trade.
President Jefferson refused to pay more money
to the pirates, provoking Tripoli to declare war
on the United States.

28. Jefferson sent the brand new U.S.
Navy to blockade Tripoli.
One of the ships, the Philadelphia,
was captured by the pirates.
The crew was captured and jailed, but
the captain, Stephen Decatur,
managed to burn the Philadelphia to
prevent the pirates from using it
against the U.S.
Eventually the fighting ended and the
crew of the Philadelphia was
returned. It cost the U.S. $60,000 for
the crew to be returned.
Americans no longer had to pay
tribute however after fighting off the
Barbary Pirates.

29. Long time enemies Britain and
France went to war again in 1803.
Wars were being fought against
French Ruler Napoleon and his
dreams for a European empire.
The U.S. chose to remain neutral,
which would allow their merchants
to trade with both countries.
They would also enjoy neutral
rights, allowing them to sail the
oceans without fear of attack
because they did not choose sides.
As France and Britain continued
fighting, both sides began to
present problems for American
merchants trading abroad.

30. The British Navy was always in need
of sailors.
Being a sailor in the Royal Navy could
be so bad that some sailors would
desert their ships.
Some of these sailors found their
way to America to sail in American
crews.
British ships began to stop American
ships to see if any of their deserting
crew members were on board.
Forcing sailors to serve in the British
Navy was known as impressment,
and had been going on since the U.S.
became independent.

31. The British would wait for American ships
outside American ports to try and search
them for deserting crew members.
A British warship called the Leopard did this
very thing to a U.S. ship called the
Chesapeake.
When the Chesapeake’s captain refused to let
the British search the ship, it was fired upon.
3 Americans were killed and the Chesapeake
was badly damaged.
Americans became nearly as mad at the
British as they were during the American
Revolution.
The people wanted war, but Jefferson looked
to find a way to avoid war with Great Britain.

32. Though short of going to war,
the Americans did do things to
show the British they were
upset.
The Embargo Act was passed in
1807, banning all imports from
and exports to another
country.
This law destroyed American
trade and did not stop the
British from getting American
goods.
The Nonintercourse Acts were
passed instead to ban trade
with Britain, France, and the
colonies of both.

33. Thomas Jefferson
followed the precedent
of Washington and
decided not to run for a
third term as president.
James Madison was
chosen to run for
president by the
Republicans.
Charles Pinckney was
chosen by the
Federalists.
Madison carried most of
the country (minus New
England) to win the
election 122-47.

34. Like many presidents after him, Madison took office
with many issues to deal with.
The British and the French were both treating
American ships with no respect.
Both seized ships and cargo, selling them for money.
In 1810, Congress decided that it would lift the
embargo on whichever of the two countries that first
demonstrated it would allow American ships to
travel safely on the oceans.
Napoleon decided that France would be the country
to allow the Americans to trade again, but
unfortunately they continued to seize ships.
Americans felt it was time to fight, but were not sure
on whether or not it was France or Britain that was
the enemy.

35. More and more settlers were moving to places like Ohio.
Lands promised to Native Americans in treaties signed
with the U.S. were in danger of being taken by the
settlers.
Some Native Americans looked for help from the British
as they had in the past.
One Shawnee tribe leader, Tecumseh, decided instead to
ally many Native American tribes in the Northwest.
Tecumseh hoped a strong Native American confederation
with the support of the British in Canada would be a
strong enough force to deal with the settlers.
Tecumseh had a brother who was nicknamed “The
Prophet” that spoke to Native Americans and convinced
them to try to return to their ancestors’ ways.

36. The Prophet founded Prophetstown in present-day Indiana.
William Henry Harrison, the governor of the Indiana
Territory was worried about Tecumseh and his growing
Native American alliance.
He sent a letter warning the Native Americans of what war
with the U.S. would mean.
Tecumseh said peace could not continue with the Native
Americans being continually pushed off of their lands.
Harrison attacked Tecumseh as he continued to build his
alliance.
They met at Prophetstown which is located near the
Tippecanoe River.
Harrison defeated Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe,
but it forced Tecumseh to turn to the British for help.

37. A group of young Republicans wanted harsher treatment for Britain
because of their actions on the seas and the help they gave the Native
Americans.
The War Hawks as they were known were led by Henry Clay of
Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina.
War Hawks wanted a stronger military and more land for the country.
The War Hawks wanted to expand the U.S. and snatch up land
belonging to Spain and Britain.
The War Hawks had a strong sense of nationalism, or loyalty to the
U.S.
By the middle of 1812, James Madison finally asked Congress to
declare war on Great Britain for all of the actions taken against the U.S.
Unfortunately, at about the same time, Britain began to stop some of
the policies that were angering the Americans, but news traveled too
late.

39. The War Hawks believed that the U.S.
could quickly defeat the British in a war.
They failed to realize however that the
U.S. was not ready to fight.
There were only 7,000 soldiers in the
regular U.S. Army.
There were also only between 50,000
and 100,000 militia that were not well-
trained.
Some people supported fighting the
British while others didn’t.
Dubbed by some “Mr. Madison’s War”
because they did not agree with
fighting the British, the War of 1812
began in July of 1812.

40. FIGURE 6

41. Early in the war, the U.S.
tried to attack British
Canada.
General William Hull and
General William Henry
Harrison both attacked
Canada.
Hull was defeated by the
British with the help of
Tecumseh. Harrison
knew that without
control of Lake Erie, the
Americans could not
attack Canada.

42. Oliver Hazard Perry was the commander of American
naval forces on Lake Erie.
His squadron fought the British on Lake Erie in 1813,
defeating them.
He let General Harrison know that he had “met the
enemy, and they are ours.”
By capturing Lake Erie, the U.S. was able to retake
Detroit and protect themselves from British invasion.
The U.S. had some of the best frigates afloat. They
were the fastest ships of their kind.
One of these was the famous U.S.S. Constitution,
which had fought the Barbary Pirates.
American privateers also captured British ships on the
seas, and gave Americans something to cheer about.

44. Trying to retreat
from Detroit
after the fighting
on Lake Erie, the
British were cut
off by General
William Henry
Harrison.
In the Battle of
Thames, Native
American leader
Tecumseh was
killed.
Tecumseh’s
death dealt a
huge blow to the
Native American
alliance.

45. Andrew Jackson was
an U.S. Army officer
who was sent to fight
the Creek Indians,
the latest additions
to Tecumseh's Native
American alliance.
He fought the Creeks
at the Battle of
Horseshoe Bend in
March of 1814.
The Creeks were
massacred and
Jackson forced them
to surrender their
land.

46. In August of 1814, the British
sailed into Chesapeake Bay with
the intention of capturing
Washington D.C.
They quickly defeated the militia
around Washington D.C. and
marched into the city.
All the government buildings
were destroyed including the
Capitol and the president’s
mansion.
A thunderstorm slowed the
destruction, but the low point of
the war came as Washington D.C.
went up in flames.

48. The British did not stay in Washington
D.C. after the attack.
Instead they moved north to
Baltimore, Maryland.
Ft. McHenry, which defended the
harbor of Baltimore, defended the
city from attack successfully.
It was from this harbor that Francis
Scott Key watched the attack from the
British ships against the fort and
would later write a poem called “The
Defense of Ft. McHenry.”
Set to music later on, it would
become our national anthem, the Star
Spangled Banner.

49. Lake Champlain saw another
British naval and army force
defeated by the Americans.
Trying to get into New York, the
British were stopped by
American ships on Lake
Champlain.
The British fled back to Canada,
worried they could end up
surrounded.
Worried continued invasions
into the U.S. would be too
costly, the British decided to try
to get the Americans to end
the war peacefully.

50. In December of 1814, the British and Americans met
in Ghent, a city in Belgium.
There they agreed to the Treaty of Ghent, which did
nothing to change borders, deal with impressment,
or handle the rights of American ships on the seas.
All it did was end the War of 1812… or did it?
Before news of the peace got back to North America,
the U.S. and British met at New Orleans.
Andrew Jackson barricaded his men on the edges of
the cities and waited the Redcoats.
Hiding and taking cover, the Americans mowed
down the British at the Battle of New Orleans.
Jackson became a hero because of the battle, which
would help his political career later in life.

51. The Federalists who opposed the war looked unpatriotic to the nation and began to lose favor
with the people.
Their ideas about strong central government were picked up by the Republican War Hawks.