Thomas Jefferson's Presidency Quiz

The Louisiana Purchase

• Napoleon Bonaparte was in secret negotiations with Spain to reclaim North American territory that France had lost after the French and Indian War.
• Napoleon offered to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million due to financial struggles.
• The purchase doubled the size of the U.S. overnight, opening up huge amounts of inexpensive farmland and guaranteeing access to the Mississippi River.

Opposition to the Louisiana Purchase

• Many people opposed the purchase, including Federalists who thought it would lead to war with Spain, Congress who opposed expanding the national debt, and Northerners who saw it as an expansion of slavery.
• Some believed the purchase was unconstitutional and opposed Jefferson's expansion of presidential power.

The Essex Junto and the Burr Conspiracy

• The Essex Junto, a group of wealthy Federalists, plotted to secede from the United States, but their plan was foiled by Alexander Hamilton.
• Vice President Aaron Burr agreed to help the Essex Junto in exchange for their help in winning the governorship of New York, but he was challenged to a duel and killed Hamilton.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition

• Thomas Jefferson accomplished his most enduring legacy as president: the successful completion of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
• The expedition drew accurate maps and pictures of the land, animals, people, and plants of the American West, dispelling erroneous assumptions about the land.

Completing Washington D.C.

• Thomas Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in the new permanent capital, Washington, D.C., and live in the completed White House.
• Jefferson approved funding to continue with the construction of the Capitol building in 1803.

Outlawing the Slave Trade

• President Jefferson signed a bill that outlawed the Atlantic slave trade, effective January 1, 1808, prohibiting the importation of new slaves into America from overseas.