Thomas Jefferson 3rd POTUS
In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first President to take the oath of office in Washington, D.C.
First Republican President
Tried to keep the government small and simple.
Renaissance Type ManServed as a President, Vice-President, Secretary
of State, legislator, governor, and as the author and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Inventor – new type of clock, the swivel chair, the dumbwaiter elevator, and a new form of plow.
He was also a musician, a farmer, an architect, and spoke 5 languages.
3rd President 1801-1809Put Republican ideas about government to work.
Ended many customs of President Washington and Adams
Guests now shook hands with the President, instead of bowing before him.
Formal receptions were also replaced with informal dinners at a round table, so no person appeared superior to anyone else.
1803 Marbury vs MadisonThe Supreme court gained a new, more powerful
role in the Federal government. In the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, the court established its power of judicial review.
Judicial review-the power to decide whether or not an act of Congress is constitutional.
1803 Marbury vs. MadisonSoon after taking office, Jefferson noticed that a
stack for new judges had not been delivered.
Before Jefferson’s inauguration, President Adams appointed loyal Federalists to new judgeships. Why?
Jefferson was outraged when he saw them and told his Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver them.
1803 Marbury vs. MadisonOne man who did not receive his commission
was William Marbury.
Marbury claimed that the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the Supreme Court the power to force federal officials to perform their duties. Marbury argued, the court could order Madison to
give him his commission.
Outcome of Marbury vs Madison
In 1803, the outcome of the case of Marbury vs. Madison forever changed the relationship of the three branches of government.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional because the Constitution did not grant such power to the Court.
Therefore the Supreme Court could not force Madison to give Marbury his commission.
Louisiana Purchase 1803In 1803, Jefferson doubled the size of the United
States by buying Louisiana from France.
President Jefferson sent James Monroe to France. His mission was to persuade Napoleon to sell New Orleans to the United States. Luckily France was on the brink of war with Great
Britain.
Napoleon knew that he did not have a strong enough navy to protect French lands in North America.
Louisiana Purchase 1803Choices for Napoleon: British take the Louisiana
Territory or he sells it and makes money to fight the British
On April 30, 1803, he signed a treaty with France in which the United States agreed to buy Louisiana from France for about $15 million dollars. (about 3 cents per acre)
$15 million in 1803 = about $300,000,000 today
Exploration of the Louisiana Purchase
Although the Louisiana Purchase did double the size of the United States, it added 200,000 Native American, French, and Spanish inhabitants.
Thomas Jefferson hired Meriwhether Lewis and William Clark to explore the Louisiana Purchase and find a route to the Pacific Ocean.
Lewis and ClarkOther information – native tribes they met
(established trade with them),soil samples, terrain, and animals they encountered.
Lewis and Clark were joined by a guide named Toussaint Charbonneau and his 17 year old Shoshone Indian wife, Sacagawea. Sacagawea had been kidnapped as a child and
taken far from her mountain homeland.She would serve as a guide and interpreter.
Zebulon PikeIn 1806, Zebulon Pike began exploring a
different part of Louisiana.
Pike and his party pushed west across the Kansas Plains along Osage and Arkansas rivers.
Upon reaching the Colorado Rockies, Pike caught a sight of the “Grand Peak”, now named “Pike’s Peak”.
The party got lost and wandered south into present day New Mexico. Spanish soldiers arrested them as spies and took
them deep into Mexico. They were held captive until the spring of 1807.