•Lewis and Clark
•Aaron Burr
•John Marshall
•Judiciary Act of 1801
•midnight judges
•Marbury v. Madison
•judicial review
•Louisiana Purchase
•Sacajawea
1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
MAIN IDEA
2. TAKING NOTES
Make a chart like the one below
listing the major accomplishments
of Jefferson’s presidency and the
significance of each.
CRITICAL THINKING
3. EVALUATING
How did the Louisiana Purchase and
the Lewis and Clark expedition
affect the expansion of the United
States?
4. ANALYZING ISSUES
Why was Marbury v. Madison such
an important case? Think About:
• Judge Marshall’s decision
• its effects on the future
5. ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCES
How does this sketch by Patrick
Gass of a man treed by a grizzly
bear illustrate fanciful ideas about
the West?
Most of the settlers who arrived in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee came through
the Cumberland Gap, a natural passage through the Appalachians near where
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia meet. A generation earlier, in 1775, Daniel Boone,
one of America’s great frontier guides, had led the clearing of a road from Virginia,
through the Cumberland Gap, into the heart of Kentucky. When it was finished, the
Wilderness Road became one of the major routes for westward migration.
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte of France persuad-
ed Spain to return the Louisiana Territory, which it had received from France in
1762. When news of the secret transfer leaked out, Americans reacted with alarm.
Jefferson feared that a strong French presence in the midcontinent would force
the United States into an alliance with Britain.
Jefferson wanted to resolve the problem by buying New Orleans and western
Florida from the French. He sent James Monroe to join American ambassador
Robert Livingston in Paris. Before Monroe arrived, however, Napoleon had aban-
doned his hopes for an American empire. He had failed to reconquer France’s
most important island colony, Saint Domingue (now known as Haiti). By the time
that Monroe arrived in Paris in April 1803, Napoleon had decided to sell the
entire Louisiana Territory to the United States.
With no time to consult their government, Monroe and Livingston went ahead
and closed the deal for $15 million. Jefferson, though, was not certain that the
purchase was constitutional. As a strict constructionist, he doubted whether the
Constitution gave the government the power to acquire new territory. But, after a
delay, he submitted the treaty finalizing the purchase, and the Senate ratified it. With
the Louisiana Purchase, which included all the land drained by the western trib-
utaries of the Mississippi River, the size of the United States more than doubled.
LEWIS AND CLARK
Jefferson was eager to explore the new territory. In 1803, he
appointed Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition he called the Corps of
Discovery from St. Louis to the Pacific coast. Jefferson ordered the Corps to collect
scientific information about unknown plants and animals en route to the Pacific
and to learn as much as possible about the Native American tribes encountered
along the way. Lewis chose William Clark to be second in command. Starting off
with some 50 soldiers and woodsmen, including Patrick Gass, the expedition later
became smaller but added a Native American woman, Sacajawea, who served as
interpreter and guide. The Lewis and Clark expedition took two years and four
months and recorded invaluable information about the western territories.
Launching the New Nation 201
C
MAIN IDEA
MAIN IDEA
C
Analyzing
Issues
Why was the
United States
concerned about
the Louisiana
Ter ritory?
Event Significance
Background
Even before the
Louisiana Purchase,
Jefferson had
planned to explore
the West. In
February 1803,
Congress approved
Jefferson’s request
for funds to finance
an expedition.
Skillbuilder
Answers
1. Total miles,
about 3500.
2. About 7 miles
per day.
C. Answer
It was con-
cerned that a
strong French
presence in
North America
would force the
United States
into an alliance
with Britain.
