Age of Jefferson

​Louisiana Territory was purchased from France in 1803. France had lost its colony on Haiti in a slave revolt. To off set the cost of this conflict France decided to sell territory to the United States. A series of conflicts with the Spanish from 1817-1819 gave Florida to the United States.

Thomas Jefferson sent a group of explorers to the new territory to map the areas and gather information. This group met 50 different Native American tribes. The group explored 7,000 miles and took two years to complete the journey.

Lewis and Clark

Santo Domingo (Haiti) gained independence from France, ending Napoleon’s dream of a Western empire. This motivated the sale of Louisiana to the United States.

Conflict in Haiti

Thomas Jefferson vs. John Adams

John Adams had lost the presidency. But to whom? Both Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr had the same number of electoral votes. The election was sent to the House of Representatives to decide the next president. After two rounds of voting Jefferson won. To prevent this from happening again the 12th Amendment (Amendment XII) was added.

How are presidents elected in the United States?

George Washington had started a policy of isolationism. President James Monroe ended this policy. France and Great Britain were at war with each other and attacked American ships. The British had a problem with ​desertion. Some Americans were forced into service by the British.

How does conflict change government?

Impressment

Speaker of the House of Representatives. Leader of the group of Republicans called the War Hawks.

Henry Clay

The start of the War of 1812 went badly for the Americans. Revolutionary War leaders were too old to fight. The military was not prepared to fight. British burned most of Washington D.C.

U.S. Capital Burned

Officially war had ended. News had not spread to New Orleans, where Andrew Jackson and his troops fought and defeated the British in battle.

Andrew Jackson