A P U S H : S P I C O N A R D I

THE JEFFERSON PRESIDENCY

DO NOW

• Based on Jefferson’s Inaugural, what were the principles he declared he would govern by and what were specific components of his agenda?

THE JUDICIARY ACT OF 1801

• In a last-minute piece of legislation, the Federalist Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1801

• Judiciary Act of 1801• Reduces number of Supreme Court

Justices from 6 to 5• Reorganizes circuit courts which

required 16 new judges be appointed

• Adams appoints “midnight judges” during the last 19 days of his presidency• Three are appointed on the last day

MARBURY V. MADISON (1803)

• Upon taking the oath of office, Jefferson attempted to block these judicial commissions• Jefferson instructed his secretary of

state, Madison, not to deliver Adams’ judicial commissions

• William Marbury, a judicial appointee, sued under the Judiciary Act of 1789• Argued the Supreme Court could force

Madison to turn in the commission• Madison argued the commissions were

issued too late

William Marbury

MARBURY V. MADISON (1803)

• The Ruling• Marbury had the right to his

commission• However, the Supreme Court did not

have the authority to enforce the commission

• The Judiciary Act of 1789 violated the Constitution and should be nullified

• Judicial Review• This case establishes the precedent

of judicial review• Judicial Review The Supreme

Court could exercise the power to decide whether an act of Congress or the president was constitutional.

Prior to this, the Supreme Court had

heard only ten cases; none of which

were terribly important

MARBURY V. MADISON

• Chief Justice John Marshall• Appointed Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court by Adams• Would served 34 years• Influenced the direction of the

Supreme Court for years to come

• The Marshall Court• During Marshall’s tenure, the

Supreme Court would strengthen the federal government at the expense of state’s rights

Did you know that Jefferson and Marshall were cousins?

JEFFERSON’S AGENDA

• Reduce the size of the federal government• Eliminated federal jobs (many of

which were tax collectors)

• Lower Taxes• Repeals excise taxes – including

those on whiskey • Only taxes through customs

• Decrease the size of the military• Believed citizens would band

together if America were threatened• Essentially made the navy gunboats

as opposed to ships

JEFFERSON’S AGENDA

• Jeffersonian Democracy• Jefferson envisioned an agrarian utopia• Only through farming could there truly

be an independent republican citizenry• Manufacturing and financial

speculation were threats to independence• Debt and factory worked robbed a man

of his autonomy• He was at the mercy of his boss or debtors

• Government must not violate the rights of an individual• To ensure this, there should be a strict

interpretation of the federal government’s powers

"Those who labor in the

earth are the chosen people

of God." 

LOUISIANA PURCHASE (1803)

• In 1800, Napoleon obtained territory from Spain in secrecy. This land included New Orleans and lands west of the Mississippi River.• Why is this a problem for the

United States?

• Jefferson offers $10 million for New Orleans and land that extended to Florida

• The French offered the entire Louisiana Territory for $15 million• Napoleon was desperate for

money

Vendez le territoire ! Je dois de l'argent !

LOUISIANA PURCHASE (1803)

• What does Jefferson do?• Adhere to his strict

constitutional principles?• Provide an opportunity for his

agrarian utopia?

• What would the Federalists thought about purchasing the Louisiana Territory?• WRONG! They believed

Jefferson had no constitutional authority to negotiate a deal with the consent of Congress

• Jefferson sends the deal the Senate, which quickly approve the purchase

We are to give money of which

we have too little for land of

which we already have

too much.

EMBARGO ACT (1807)

• To punish Britain for impressing Americans and for blockading French ports, Jefferson issues an embargo

• Embargo Act of 1807• Prohibits American merchant ships from sailing into any

foreign port• Jefferson believed that Britain was so dependent on American

raw materials they would stop impressing and blockading

• Effects• Britain acquires materials from South America• Exports drop by 80%• Economy devastated – New England considers succession

EMBARGO ACT (1807)

JEFFERSON ON BLACKS

Comparing them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, it appears to me, that in memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much inferior, as I think one [black] could scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the investigations of Euclid…

JEFFERSON ON BLACKS

Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their

own judgment in favor of the whites, declared by their

preference of them, as uniformly as is the preference of the

orangutan for the black women over those of his own species. The circumstance of superior

beauty, is thought worthy attention in the propagation of

our horses, dogs, and other domestic animals; why not in that

of man?

JEFFERSON ON BLACKS

I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks…are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind

EVALUATING JEFFERSON

• To what extent did Thomas Jefferson uphold the principles articulated in his inaugural address? To what extent did he realize his agenda?• Provide one piece of evidence for each of the following• Jefferson upheld his principles• Jefferson undermined his principles• Jefferson realized an aspect of his agenda• Jefferson failed to realize an aspect of his agenda