Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd President of the United States. He favored limited central government. He approved of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, sent out the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore this territory and, helped pass The Embargo Act of 1807
The U.S., under Jefferson, bought the Louisiana territory from France in 1803. The U.S. paid $15 million for the vast amount of land, which literally doubled the size of the country at that time. The land purchase also allowed the U.S. to gain control of the Mississippi trade route. This new territory extended from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. The territory was made up of an area that covers 15 present-day states and some parts of Canada. Jefferson won his presidential campaign by advocating for “small government” and strict adherence to the Constitution. The Constitution doesn’t authorize the executive branch to use public funds to increase the nation’s territorial size. Jefferson would claim that the power to increase the country’s land size was implied in the treaty-making clause of the Constitution.
From 1804-1806 an expedition was sent by Thomas Jefferson to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. It had 3 main goals: map and study the land (geography); make contact with Native Americans; and see if waterway exists between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. The expedition included 45 men, and was lead by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The explorers moved from the Mississippi River, over the Rocky Mountains, and finally reached the Pacific Ocean in November of 1805. In the end, the team discovered that there was no wa...
