Thomas Jefferson

D

War with Tripoli

Jefferson had long opposed paying tribute to protect American shipping from the pirates who operated from the Barbary states on the coast of northern Africa. As diplomatic representative to France he had tried but failed to persuade European countries to join with the United States in an attack on the pirate bases.

In 1801 the pasha (ruler) of Tripoli, one of the Barbary states (in what is now Libya), demanded tribute money beyond the amount fixed by treaty. When Jefferson refused the demand, war ensued. Jefferson sent warships to blockade Tripoli, and Stephen Decatur, a young naval officer, distinguished himself in several daring actions. However, the war with Tripoli did not end until 1805, when Captain William Eaton captured the Tripolitan town of Darnah and the pasha agreed to make peace. The payment of tribute to Tripoli came to an end. However, the United States continued to have trouble with pirates from other Barbary states.

E

Louisiana Purchase

Jefferson's chief accomplishment as president was the Louisiana Purchase. The huge territory of Louisiane (in English, Louisiana), stretching from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, was claimed as a possession by France in 1682. Because Louisiana was so large, its resources—although as yet mostly undiscovered—were thought to be of great value.

In the early years of the United States, Louisiana was of concern chiefly because it bordered the Mississippi River, which was vital to U.S. trade. In 1762 France had ceded Louisiana to Spain, which was too weak to offer a serious threat to American commerce. In 1800, however, rumors spread that Spain was about to cede Louisiana back to France. Jefferson was alarmed. Relations between the United States and France were still unfriendly, and France had the power to cut off American shipping at Louisiana's capital, New Orleans, at the mouth of the Mississippi. There was, said Jefferson, “one single spot” on the globe, “the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. It is New Orleans through which the produce of three-eighths of our territory must pass to market.”

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In 1802 the rumored cession was confirmed. Jefferson called the resulting crisis “the most important the United States have ever met since independence.” He sent James Monroe to help Robert R. Livingston, the American diplomatic representative to France, negotiate the purchase of New Orleans. Congress appropriated $2 million for the purchase.

In April 1803, one day before Monroe arrived in Paris, Talleyrand made Livingston a startling offer. The French emperor, Napoleon I, was willing to sell not only New Orleans, he said, but the whole of Louisiana as well. A treaty dated April 30, 1803, set the terms of the purchase: $15 million, which included $3.75 million to pay for American claims against France.

At the end of June, news of the treaty reached the United States. Jefferson was very eager to acquire the entire territory, but, viewing it from his strict-construction point of view, he questioned whether the Constitution permitted such a purchase. He wanted to amend the Constitution to make the transaction clearly legal.

Very soon, however, Jefferson changed his mind about waiting for an amendment. His envoys in France wrote that Napoleon already regretted his offer and might back out if given time. Furthermore, many Federalists opposed the purchase and were ready to seize on Jefferson's own doubts about its constitutionality to prevent its ratification. Jefferson therefore asked the Senate to ratify the treaty at once. The Senate did so on October 20, although every Federalist voted against it.

It then appeared that Spain, which had not yet actually turned over Louisiana to France, might challenge the purchase. Jefferson proceeded swiftly and firmly to establish American rights. He ordered out troops from the Mississippi Territory, Tennessee, and Kentucky. This show of force discouraged Spanish resistance, and Spain formally ceded Louisiana to France. On December 20, 1803, the flag of the United States flew over New Orleans.

F

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Jefferson had dreamed of the exploration of the West from the time he was secretary of state. As a scientist he wanted to know about the land and its inhabitants. He realized the importance of such exploration for the future expansion of the United States.

In January 1803, half a year before the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson proposed his idea to Congress. In order to conceal its expansionist aims from England, France, and Spain, he suggested that the journey be presented as a “literary pursuit.” Congress gave its approval. Jefferson chose his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead the expedition, and Lewis selected William Clark, a frontiersman, as his coleader. Jefferson instructed them to observe and note down the physical features, topography, soil, climate, and wildlife of the land and the language and customs of its inhabitants. In 1806 Lewis and Clark returned with their valuable journals. They had successfully breached the mountain barrier of the West, built a fort on the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River, and mapped and explored much of the American Northwest. Moreover, they had secured the friendship of a number of Native American peoples and given the United States a claim to the Oregon country.

Jefferson's interest in the new Western territory did not end with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1804 and 1806 he sent out expeditions to explore the Red River to its source. When these met with Spanish resistance, he shifted his interest to the north. In 1805 he sent Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike to discover the source of the Mississippi River, and in 1806, Pike was sent out to explore the Arkansas River to its source.

G

Merry Affair

Jefferson believed that the president's dress and manners should reflect the republican simplicity and informality of the country. Pomp and show reminded him too much of the European courts. In fact, Jefferson worked so hard to avoid ostentation that he began to dress not merely plainly, but sloppily. As for manners, he refused to observe the rules of protocol in seating his dinner guests. First come, first served was the rule in the presidential mansion, the White House. Jefferson explained:

The new British diplomatic representative to the United States, Anthony Merry, and his wife were shocked and insulted when the president received them in worn clothing and slippers. In December 1803 at a formal dinner in the White House, no one offered to escort Mrs. Merry to dinner. In the dining room, Merry and his wife had to scramble for places at the table in competition with the other guests. The Marquis d'Yrujo, the Spanish diplomat, had the same experience. He and Merry agreed that this treatment was an insult to them and to their countries. The two diplomats and their wives sought to retaliate. At their parties, for instance, no one escorted the wives of the Cabinet members to the dinner table. This social war greatly enlivened the atmosphere of Washington, D.C. The president refused to retreat from his pell mell rule, and Merry and Yrujo became increasingly angry and receptive to the plottings of Jefferson's opponents, the Federalists and Aaron Burr.

H

Native American Policy

Jefferson's policy toward Native Americans reflected less his humanitarian instincts than it did his understanding of the needs of the settlers on the expanding western frontier. When, in 1803, the Choctaw nation was persuaded to sell its lands on the Mississippi, Jefferson wrote to General Henry Dearborn, his secretary of war, that the Choctaw “are poor and will probably sell ... so as to be entitled to an annual pension, which is one of the best holds we can have on them.” Through Jefferson's efforts, 20 million hectares (50 million acres) of land were bought from the Native Americans for $142,000. As a result of this land grabbing, the Native Americans who remained east of the Mississippi River began to rally behind the Shawnee chief Tecumseh. Tecumseh, with his brother Tenskwatawa, who was known as the Shawnee Prophet, promised to rid the Native Americans of the white people forever.

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