Chapter 6, Section 3 The Age of Jefferson

1
Chapter 6, Section 3The Age of Jefferson
2
The Age of Jefferson

• Jefferson led the Democratic-Republicans.
• He won the election of 1800 and the party also
  took control of Congress and most of the state
  governments.
• His goal was to steer away from the things the
  Federalists did with the government when
  Washington and Adams were President.

3
Good Ideas

• Jefferson wanted to get rid of the Alien and
  Sedition Acts and taxes on stamps, land, and
  alcohol.
• He cut the national debt from 80 million to 57
  million.
• He made major cuts to the army and navy.
• He streamlined the governments bureaucracy
• Made each government department and workers more
  efficient.
• Got money for land in the west from families
  buying federal land.

4
John Marshall

• Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
• They were cousins but also political enemies.
• Marshall was a Federalist and had been appointed
  the last minute by John Adams just before he left
  office.
• He participated in more than 1,000 court
  decisions, writing over ½ of them, more than any
  of the Supreme Court Justice ever.

5
Marshalls 4 Part Legacy

• Implemented Judicial Review.
• The power to review the acts of Congress and the
  President to determine if they were
  constitutional.
• He made sure federal laws were superior to state
  laws.
• He broadly interpreted the Constitution.
• Implemented sanctity of contracts limited the
  power of state governments to interfere with
  business.

6
Midnight Judges

• Several federal judges were appointed in the last
  days of John Adams administration.
• They were all Federalists, it is clear that Adams
  hope to secure Federalist control of the courts
  since a DR would be President (Jefferson).

7
Marbury VS. Madison

• 1st case to assert the power of judicial review.
• President John Adams was about to leave office.
• He appointed William Marbury, a Federalist, a
  justice for the D.C.
• The incoming Secretary of State, James Madison,
  refused to deliver the official papers of
  appointment.
• Marbury complained to the Supreme Court.
• Marshall ruled in favor of Madison
• DRs were happy because Marbury would not be in
  office.

8
Why this case matters?

• Marbury vs. Madison established the power of
  judicial review, ensuring that the Supreme Court
  had the final authority to interpret the meaning
  of the Constitution.
• It also established the judiciary branch as an
  equal partner in government.

9
The Nation Expands

• Jefferson considered defeating Spain in the
  Louisiana territory and taking it over.
• In 1801, Frances military dictator, Napoleon
  Bonaparte, had forced Spain to give him the
  Louisiana territory, including the strategic city
  of New Orleans.

10
The Louisiana Purchase

• Jefferson offered to buy the territory from the
  French.
• 1803, Jefferson obtained the 828,000 square miles
  for 15 million.
• It doubled the U.S.s size, extending it west to
  the Rocky Mountains.
• He sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to
  explore the territory in what became the Lewis
  and Clark Expedition.

11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
British Impressment

• The British navy angered the U.S. By relying on
  impressment, or taking American sailors from
  their ships and forcing them to serve in the
  British navy.
• By 1812, about 6,000 Americans had been impressed.

14
Embargo

• The U.S. Lacked a navy large enough
• to challenge the British fleet.
• Jefferson balked at the high cost of building of
  bigger navy, which would undermine his policies
  of reducing the national debt and keeping taxes
  low.
• In an attempt to prevent a war, Jefferson
  persuaded Congress to declare an embargo
  suspending trade by ordering American ships to
  stay in port.
• He expected the embargo to starve the British
  and close their factories.
• Instead, the British found other markets in South
  America.
• The embargo bankrupted American merchants.
• Jefferson lifted the embargo just before he left
  office.