Download The Jefferson Administration Thomas Jefferson was the author of the

The Jefferson Administration
Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence and elected the 3rd President of the United States.
Once Jefferson was elected president he worked to have the Sedition Acts repealed. Once Jefferson repealed the
Sedition Acts, he pardoned (released from punishment) everyone who had been convicted. This was part of Jefferson’s
goal to reduce the influence of the national government in the lives of the American people.
Reducing Government
To accomplish his goals, Jefferson reversed much of what the Federalists had done, including the Sedition Acts. With the
help of Congress, he reduced the amount of taxes paid by the American people by cutting the size of the federal
government. (This reduced the size of the government, and resulted in less money people needed to pay in taxes)
Jefferson also reduced the size of the army to just over 3,000 men. With Jefferson reducing the size the government and
the army, he was able to reduce the taxes paid by citizens. Jefferson’s goal was to limit the national government’s
presence in people’s lives.
National Debt
Another domestic issue Jefferson had to handle was balancing the federal budget and repaying the national debt. After
the Revolutionary War the United States had borrowed nearly $70 million. Balancing the budget was important to
Jefferson. Balancing a budget means not spending more money than you have. In other words, if you spend more
money than you have, you go into debt. Jefferson balanced the budget by reducing government spending.
Jefferson was strict constructionists, which meant he believed you should follow the Constitution exactly as it is written.
However, this would change when it came to American expansion west, Jefferson and his supporters used the power
and money of the national government boldly.
The Louisiana Purchase
American farmers in the West depended on the Mississippi River to transport their crops to foreign markets. The French
controlled the mouth of the Mississippi at New Orleans. The French used this control to charge large sums of money to
use the waterway. American traders had no choice but to pay the money. Jefferson appointed James Monroe to go to
France and buy the city of New Orleans.
A rebellion in the French colony of Haiti influenced Napoleon to quickly change his mind. Rather than sell only New
Orleans to the United States, Napoleon wanted to sell all of the French claims known as Louisiana. Not daring to ask him
to wait for weeks or months for an answer, Monroe and Livingston offered Napoleon $15 million for the Louisiana
Purchase. They desperately hoped that Congress and the President would support their decision.
When Jefferson heard of the agreement with the French, he was troubled. The Constitution did not mention the
purchase of foreign lands. He was also wary of spending large amounts of public money. Jefferson overcame his
doubts, however, and urged Congress to approve the sales. With the stroke of a pen, the Louisiana Purchase
dramatically increased the national debt and the size of the United States. The Louisiana Purchase would have an
enormous impact on the history of the United States.