THE THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Thomas Jefferson Election of 1800 In the Election of 1800 Thomas Jefferson beat out his old friend now political enemy, John Adams, for the Presidency. The Midnight Judges Before leaving office, John Adams wanted those with similar views to have power and influence within the government. Judiciary Act of 1801 organized the nations court system and increased the number of federal judges by 16. Planned to fill these positions with fellow Federalists. The Midnight Judges In the 19 days of this act passing and Thomas Jeffersons inauguration, Adams did the best he could to fill these positions with appointments. Ended up signing these appointments at midnight on his last night as President. The Midnight Judges However the appointments were not sent out and it was up to the next administration to do so. Thomas Jefferson then told Madison, his Secretary of State, not to send the appointments. This led to a very important Supreme Court case, Marbury v. Madison Simplifying the Presidency In keeping with his beliefs of a small central government, he cut costs whenever possible. Reduced the size of the army Lowered the expenses of government social functions. Allowed the Bank of the United States charter to expire. Alien and Sedition Acts expired like planned in 1800 (Those imprisoned under these acts were released) Expansion West Created under the Articles of Confederation: Northwest Ordinance of It dealt with land north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River. split it into territories. Congress would appoint a territorial governor and judges. When a territory had 5000 voting residents, the settlers could write their own constitution and elect their own government. When the total population of the territory reached 60,000, they could write a state constitution, which had to be approved by Congress before it granted statehood. Provided a blueprint for the growth of the nation. Northwest Ordinance Provided a mechanism that divided the land into rectangular sections. Provided a way to finance free education through the sale of the 16 th section in each township Also, neither slavery or involuntary servitude was allowed. Between , Ohio grew from 45,000 to 231,000 Louisiana Purchase In 1800, Napoleon persuaded Spain to return the Louisiana Territory. Once the US found out about this, alarm spread throughout America. Remember we are currently in a naval war with France. Louisiana Purchase He sent James Monroe to join our ambassador there, Robert Livingston, to see if we could purchase the land and trade once again with France. Lucky for us, Napoleon had already abandoned his hopes for an American Empire He needed money Faced slave revolts in Haiti Louisiana Purchase Napoleon agreed to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States. With no time to consult the govt., Monroe and Livingston went ahead and closed the deal for $15,000,000. Jefferson finalized the purchase, and the Senate ratified it. Louisiana Purchase This more than doubled the size of the United States! Lewis and Clark Expedition After gaining all that new territory from the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson was eager to explore the new land. He appointed Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition called the Corps of Discovery. Lewis and Clark Expedition Their mission : Travel from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean, hoping for a water route. Collect scientific information about unknown plants and animals. Learn as much as possible about the Native Americans out west. Lewis and Clark Expedition Lewis, knowing William Clark to be strong, smart, and a good cartographer, made Clark second in command. On their route they came across a Native American woman, Sacagawea, who helped them on their trip. She acted as interpreter and guide. She played a key role in the expeditions success. Lewis and Clark Expedition After 2 years and 4 months, the Corps of Discovery completed their mission! It was an amazing success (especially when most believed they would never make it back) Clarks final map of their trail was within 40 miles of being accurate. (out of 8,000 miles!)