Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Western CIV. Episode five hundred and eight.
Speaker 1: The Jefferson Administration. When Thomas Jefferson placed his hand on
Speaker 1: the Bible on March fourth, eighteen oh one. Yes, when
Speaker 1: a president takes office has changed over the years. We'll
Speaker 1: get to that. He became the first president to take
Speaker 1: office in the new capital, which was Washington, d C.
Speaker 1: The city at that point was not much more than
Speaker 1: a swamp. Well that's not true, a swamp with a
Speaker 1: construction site on top of it. It was sparsely populated.
Speaker 1: But the moment symbolized a transfer of power. Honestly, that
Speaker 1: was anything but small. Because we talked previously about the
Speaker 1: election and the revolution of eighteen hundred and because the
Speaker 1: first time in American history political power shifted peacefully from
Speaker 1: one party to another, from the Federalist to Jefferson's Democratic Republicans.
Speaker 1: In a world that was still honestly relating from revolutions
Speaker 1: in coup from Paris to San Deman, the American experiment
Speaker 1: had survived its first political litmus test. Jefferson acknowledged this
Speaker 1: fragile triumph when he spoke in his inaugural address saying,
Speaker 1: we are all Republicans. We are all federalists. He attempted
Speaker 1: to lower the temperature of years of partisan ranker. Boy,
Speaker 1: could we ever use some of that today? But for
Speaker 1: all his conciliatory time, the election of eighteen hundred, like
Speaker 1: I said, often called the Revolution of eighteen hundred, had
Speaker 1: in fact been fiercely contested. Jefferson came into office with
Speaker 1: a clear ideological mission, and that was to roll back
Speaker 1: what he viewed is the creeping centralization of government power
Speaker 1: under Washington and Adams. His presidency would be a careful
Speaker 1: balancing act between principle and practicality, between a vision of
Speaker 1: minimalist government and the realities of governing a growing and
Speaker 1: I do mean with him growing republic now. Jefferson moved
Speaker 1: quickly to reshape the executive branch in line with his
Speaker 1: belief in simplicity and republican virtue. He found the presidential
Speaker 1: mansion sparsely furnished with and cluttered with unfinished work, an
Speaker 1: image perfectly aligned with his political philopacy. Rejecting anything that
Speaker 1: even smelled remotely like monarchy, he replaced formal levies with
Speaker 1: informal dinners. He often greeted guests in simple plane clothes
Speaker 1: and slippers, Jefferson called it republican. The federalists called it
Speaker 1: unbecoming of the president. His first major acts targeted the
Speaker 1: federalist legacy. He worked with Congress to repeal internal taxes,
Speaker 1: including the infamous whisk tax, arguing that the federal government
Speaker 1: could and should operate on customs duties alone. He dramatically
Speaker 1: cut the size of the Army and Navy, believing standing
Speaker 1: armies were a threat to liberty. He wrote the least
Speaker 1: government is the best government, which was definitely an early
Speaker 1: policy statement. Yet governing also meant confronting the legacy of
Speaker 1: the Adams administration, most notably, as we'll talk about now,
Speaker 1: the Midnight Judges see. In the final hours of his presidency,
Speaker 1: John Adams had filled new judicial seats with Federalists, and
Speaker 1: Jefferson was furious. He complained, quote, they have retired into
Speaker 1: the judiciary as a stronghold, and from that battery all
Speaker 1: the works of Republicanism are to be beaten down. The
Speaker 1: Democratic Republican Congress quickly repealed the Judiciary Act of eighteen
Speaker 1: oh one, eliminating some of Adam's appointments, but the real
Speaker 1: constitutional milestone came two years later. In eighteen oh three,
Speaker 1: when Chief Justice John Marshall issued the famous Marbury Versus
Speaker 1: Madison decision. You see, the rush to appoint these midnight
Speaker 1: judges changed everything from a constitutional perspective, because among the
Speaker 1: men that were appointed that late evening on March third,
Speaker 1: eighteen oh one, was a guy by the name of
Speaker 1: William Marbury, a wealthy Federalist from Maryland, chosen to be
Speaker 1: a Justice of the Peace for the District of Columbia.
Speaker 1: This was a spoil system reward. Now, Marbury had his
Speaker 1: commission signed and sealed, but not delivered. It didn't get
Speaker 1: to him in time before the new Secretary of State,
Speaker 1: James Madison took over in the Jefferson administration. When Madison
Speaker 1: took over, he refused to deliver Marbury his commission. You see.
Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson viewed the Judiciary Act of eighteen oh one
Speaker 1: as a partisan track. He thought that they were going
Speaker 1: to use that they being the Federalist, to entrench themselves forever.
Speaker 1: So when he learned, actually that many of Adam's late
Speaker 1: night commissions, including William Marbury's, had not been delivered, he
Speaker 1: issued a very simple order, don't deliver them. Jefferson's rationale
Speaker 1: was pragmatic and political. If the commissions remained undelivered, the
Speaker 1: appointments could be treated as incomplete, and that would weaken
Speaker 1: federalist power. That meant that William Marbury, who by law
Speaker 1: had actually been appointed, was going to be denied the
Speaker 1: office that he believed was rightly his. And so he
Speaker 1: decided to file a lawsuit. But interestingly, and here's his mistake,
Speaker 1: he did not file a lawsuit in the lower federal court. Instead,
Speaker 1: he decided to go straight to the US Supreme Court.
Speaker 1: He invoked a provision of the Judiciary Act of seventeen
Speaker 1: eighty nine, which allowed the court to issue a writ
Speaker 1: of mandamus. A rid of men damas is a court
Speaker 1: order that forces a government official to perform a duty.
Speaker 1: In fact, that's all Marbury wanted. He asked the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court clearly to issue a writ an order commanding James
Speaker 1: Madison to deliver his commission. The case put the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court in a difficult position. At its center stood Chief
Speaker 1: Justice John Marshall, one of the most brilliant legal minds
Speaker 1: of the early Republic and John Adams's former Secretary of State,
Speaker 1: the very man who ironically had failed to deliver the
Speaker 1: last of the commissions. His oversight was, honestly enough, part
Speaker 1: of the problem in the first place. Now, the problem here,
Speaker 1: of course, was what the heck is the Supreme Court
Speaker 1: supposed to do in this new United States. If you
Speaker 1: look at the constitutional it says that there is one.
Speaker 1: It doesn't have any enforcement powers. If the Court ordered
Speaker 1: Madison and Jefferson to deliver the commission, they could just
Speaker 1: ignore the order and the Judiciary's authority would be permanently weakened.
Speaker 1: But if the Court refused to hear the case, it
Speaker 1: would look weak regardless, and so Marshall had to walk
Speaker 1: a tight rope. When oral arguments were held in February
Speaker 1: of eighteen oh three, Jefferson did not allow Madison to
Speaker 1: appear or file a brief. In fact, didn't acknowledge the
Speaker 1: Court's power at all, And so that left Marshall with
Speaker 1: three questions. Did Marburie have a right to the commission?
Speaker 1: If he had a right, was their illegal remedy? And
Speaker 1: could the Supreme Court issue that remedy? The decisions were simple.
Speaker 1: Did Marbury have a right to the Commission? Yes, Adam
Speaker 1: sign it. Marshall himself had affixed his own seal. Delivery
Speaker 1: was just a formality. Was there a remedy? Yes, American
Speaker 1: law promised a remedy when a legal right had been violated.
Speaker 1: The third question, however, was the key. Could the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court issue a writ of mandamus? Well, that, on his face,
Speaker 1: should have been an easy decision, because the Judiciary Act
Speaker 1: of seventeen eighty nine said yes. But the Constitution, Article
Speaker 1: three did not give the Supreme Court that type of
Speaker 1: original jurisdiction. And so here was the opening. On February
Speaker 1: the twenty fourth, eighteen o three, Marshall read the Court's opinion. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Court worked a lot faster back then. His words
Speaker 1: were measured, logical, and devastating. He said that Marbury had
Speaker 1: been wronged, that Madison lack acted illegally in withholding the commission.
Speaker 1: He then moved on and so the legal remedy existed.
Speaker 1: But third, and most decisively, he ruled that the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court could not issue the writ of mandamus because the
Speaker 1: section of the Judiciary Act of seventeen eighty nine authoring
Speaker 1: it was unconstitutional. Congress had improperly expanded the Court's original
Speaker 1: jurisdiction beyond what the Constitution permitted. Then came the sentence
Speaker 1: that changed American law forever. Quote. It is emphatically the
Speaker 1: province and the duty of the judicial department to say
Speaker 1: what the law is. End quote. With that single line,
Speaker 1: John Marshall established the biggest and most important prince in
Speaker 1: American law, judicial review, the idea being that the judiciary,
Speaker 1: ie the Supreme Court, has the authority to strike down
Speaker 1: laws that conflict with the Constitution, And brilliantly by denying
Speaker 1: Marbury his commission, not because he lacked the right, but
Speaker 1: because the law giving the Court the power to enforce
Speaker 1: it was unconstitutional, Marshall avoided a direct confrontation with Jefferson
Speaker 1: while simultaneously expanding the court's authority. Jefferson couldn't ignore a
Speaker 1: decision that gave him what he was asking for in
Speaker 1: the first place, and so Marshall turned a political trap
Speaker 1: into the constitutional triumph it was now. Marbury versus Madison
Speaker 1: wasn't celebrated immediately. Privately, we know Jefferson was furious at
Speaker 1: its implications, but he recognized the practical difficulty of opposing it.
Speaker 1: Now it would take decades for judicial review to become
Speaker 1: firmly entrenched, and interestingly enough, the Court's not going to
Speaker 1: strike down another federal law law until the infamous dread
Speaker 1: Scott the Stanford Decision in eighteen fifty seven. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about that. The principle established in Marbury that the Constitution
Speaker 1: is superior to ordinary legislation and that courts must enforce
Speaker 1: that superiority became the cornerstone of American constitutional law. Today.
Speaker 1: Every major constitutional case Brown versus the Board of Education,
Speaker 1: Rowe versus. Wade, Citizens United Overfeld b Hodges all rests
Speaker 1: on that foundation that John Marshall led in eighteen oh three.
Speaker 1: And interestingly enough, it all began with a forgotten judicial
Speaker 1: commission that John Marshall himself had forgotten to deliver. While
Speaker 1: domestic affairs were essential to Jefferson's presidency, the world had
Speaker 1: other things in mind. Jefferson entered office hoping for peace abroad. Instead,
Speaker 1: his first major foreign policy crisis came from the Mediterranean.
Speaker 1: For years, the Barbary States. These were semi independent North
Speaker 1: African entities. They're basically little petty kingdoms that cropped up
Speaker 1: after the Old Islamic caliphates grumbled across North Africa. These
Speaker 1: are in modern day states like Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, so on,
Speaker 1: and so forth. And because of their strategic location. For years,
Speaker 1: these had demanded tribute from nations to allow safe passage
Speaker 1: of merchant ships through the Straits of Gibraltar and around
Speaker 1: the Mediterranean. The European powers had for decades just paid
Speaker 1: the tribute, so had Washington's and Adams administrations, but now
Speaker 1: Jefferson refused. When the Pasha of Tripoli declared war on
Speaker 1: the United States in eighteen oh one, Jefferson reluctantly deployed
Speaker 1: the navy, despite earlier objections that he had to a
Speaker 1: strong naval establishment. The war unfolded slowly blockades, ship captures,
Speaker 1: and then a daring eighteen o four raid led by
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, who burned the captured USS Philadelphia in
Speaker 1: Tripoli Harbor. Admiral Horatio Nelson reputedly called it quote the
Speaker 1: most bold and daring act of the age end quote.
Speaker 1: Though the treaty in eighteen oh five that resulted didn't
Speaker 1: end piratesly completely, it did boost American prestige and demonstrated
Speaker 1: an important evolution in Jefferson's philosophy. Principle mattered, but sometimes
Speaker 1: the world required force. Now, of course, nothing defined Jefferson's
Speaker 1: presidency more than Louisiana purchase. In eighteen o two, word
Speaker 1: reached Washington that France under Napoleon had secretly great gained
Speaker 1: control of Louisiana from Spain and now restricted American access
Speaker 1: to New Orleans for Western farmers dependent on the Mississippi
Speaker 1: River for trade. This was a crisis, Jefferson warned. In fact,
Speaker 1: the day that France takes possession of New Orleans, we
Speaker 1: must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation. And
Speaker 1: so Jefferson instructed James Monroe and Robert Livingston to try
Speaker 1: to purchase New Orleans and, if possible, West Florida from Napoleon. Instead,
Speaker 1: in a stunning reversal, motivated by military setbacks in Haiti
Speaker 1: and looming war with Britain, Napoleon wanted to sell the
Speaker 1: entire Louisiana territory. Now you see, there's a story here.
Speaker 1: So let's back up a moment, because Napoleon had intended
Speaker 1: to make Louisiana a cornerstone of his worldwide emperor but
Speaker 1: that plan all all dependent on holding on to the
Speaker 1: sugar powerhouse that was Haiti. After years of civil war,
Speaker 1: racial conflict, war among European powers, the fate of that
Speaker 1: colony still hung in the balance. By eighteen oh two,
Speaker 1: Toussaint louve Tour, the brilliant former slave we talked about before,
Speaker 1: who had outmaneuvered European and internal enemies alike, now governed
Speaker 1: the colony with relatively broad autonomy. Even though France had
Speaker 1: abolished slavery in seventeen ninety four, Napoleon viewed louvy Toour's
Speaker 1: independence as intolerable. He envisioned a revived plantation economy, profitable
Speaker 1: sugar exports, and ultimately a restored French empire in the Americas,
Speaker 1: and so to accomplish this, Napoleon decided to bring Louvitour down,
Speaker 1: and to do this he sent a massive expedition under
Speaker 1: his brother in law, General Charles Leclair. His mission was
Speaker 1: clear removed tous Saint louvis Tour, restored direct French rule
Speaker 1: and unofficially prepared to re establish slavery. The Cleric's army
Speaker 1: landed in early eighteen oh two a force of more
Speaker 1: than thirty thousand men, one of the largest overseas expeditions
Speaker 1: ever dispatched by European power. At first, they gained the
Speaker 1: upper hand, Toussaint was actually captured, and eventually he was
Speaker 1: shipped to France, where he died in a cold mountain
Speaker 1: prison in April of eighteen oh three. Napoleon believed the
Speaker 1: rebellion would collapse without its most famous leader. He was mistaken.
Speaker 1: Leadership then passed to Jean Jacques Dessaline's, one of Dussint's
Speaker 1: most formidable generals. By now it was evident to everyone
Speaker 1: that Napoleon intended to restore slavery, already being reinstated in
Speaker 1: other French coluge. That single fear flipped a light switch.
Speaker 1: It united formerly divided factions amongst the Haitian peoples. People
Speaker 1: who had once fought each other now rallied around a
Speaker 1: single non negotiable principle. Liberty had been won on Haiti
Speaker 1: once before, it would not be surrendered again. And then,
Speaker 1: of course, nature intervened to doom the Lacleric expedition. Yellow
Speaker 1: fevers swept through the French army with devastating speed. As
Speaker 1: many as two thirds of soldiers died tens of thousands
Speaker 1: in a matter of months. Fresh reinforcements only added fuel
Speaker 1: for the disease. The French expeditionary force was not simply
Speaker 1: losing battles. It was dissolving before everyone's eyes. By mid
Speaker 1: eighteen oh three, the French position had become hopeless. Dessalines
Speaker 1: launched a series of fierce attacks, including the pivotal Battle
Speaker 1: of Vertaes on November the eighteenth, eighteen oh three, forcing
Speaker 1: the remaining French troops to withdraw. On January the first,
Speaker 1: eighteen oh four, Dessilein's proclaimed the independence of Haiti, the
Speaker 1: world's first black republic and the first nation born directly
Speaker 1: from a successful slave uprising. It was a geopolitical earthquake.
Speaker 1: France's richest colony was effectively gone, France's army destroyed, and
Speaker 1: its dream of an American empire had been severely wounded.
Speaker 1: And for Napoleon, this disaster forced a fundamental rethinking of
Speaker 1: his overall strategy. Napoleon's plan for Louisiana was not primarily
Speaker 1: about settlement or American frontier politics. Louisiana was good to
Speaker 1: be a granary that fed and supplied San Deman, the
Speaker 1: heart of the restored franch sugar Empire. Without San Deman,
Speaker 1: the economic purpose of Louisiana evaporated. There was no plantation
Speaker 1: engine for it to support. Louisiana became a burden rather
Speaker 1: than an asset, a vast territory that France could not
Speaker 1: easily defend. The catastrophe in San de Man cost Napoleon
Speaker 1: more than forty thousand soldiers, including many experienced officers. This
Speaker 1: loss severely weakened French military capacity overseas. If Napoleon could
Speaker 1: not hold a Caribbean island, how on earth could he
Speaker 1: hope to defend millions of acres along the Mississippi River
Speaker 1: from the British or the expanding United States. And so
Speaker 1: the lesson to Napoleon was pretty clear. France could not
Speaker 1: maintain a North American empire without the naval and military
Speaker 1: strength that frankly, it no longer possessed. Now there's another
Speaker 1: factor here, because by eighteen oh three Britain and France,
Speaker 1: as we know, were once again on the brink of war.
Speaker 1: Napoleon expected the Royal Navy to strike French outposts as
Speaker 1: soon as hostilities resumed. Louisiana, lightly defended and far away
Speaker 1: from France's reach, would be an easy target. Better to
Speaker 1: sell it to the United States than lose it to
Speaker 1: Britain for nothing. The defeat in Haiti and the coming
Speaker 1: war in Europe required enormous funds. Selling Louisiana would bring
Speaker 1: in immediate cash fifteen million dollars and allow Napoleon to
Speaker 1: focus more on his continental ambitions. As Napoleon later reportedly said,
Speaker 1: quote I have given England a rival who, sooner or
Speaker 1: later will humble her pride end quote, referencing obviously the
Speaker 1: United States. The Haitian Revolution convinced Napoleon that colonial ventures
Speaker 1: outside Europe were unreliable, They were expensive, and they were vulnerable,
Speaker 1: and so his ambitions shifted. Instead of a global empire,
Speaker 1: he doubled down on building a European one, And so
Speaker 1: Napoleon offered to sell when doctor Livingston showed up the
Speaker 1: entire Louisiana territory, eight one hundred twenty eight thousand square
Speaker 1: miles for fifteen million, the real estate deal of the millennium.
Speaker 1: But now Jefferson faced a philosophical dilemma of his own.
Speaker 1: The Constitution nowhere explicitly authorized the acquisition of new territory.
Speaker 1: His strict constructionalist instincts urged a constitutional amendment. His pragmatic
Speaker 1: political instincts urged immediate acceptance. Before Napoleon changed his mind
Speaker 1: in the end, the pragmatism won. He privately acknowledged, quote,
Speaker 1: I have done an act beyond the Constitution, but I
Speaker 1: trust the good of my country will be my justification.
Speaker 1: He was right. The purchase was an immediate success. It
Speaker 1: doubled the size of the United States, reshaped North America,
Speaker 1: and laid the groundwork for continental expansion. Note, of course,
Speaker 1: it also laid the groundwork for future conflicts over slavery.
Speaker 1: But how to investigate the new land? Well, to make
Speaker 1: sense of it all, Jefferson organized the Core of Discovery,
Speaker 1: led by Mary Leather Lewis and William Clark. The expedition
Speaker 1: departed in eighteen oh four, tasked with scientific study, mapping geography,
Speaker 1: establishing relations with Native nations, and scouting routes to the
Speaker 1: Pacific Saka Joeyas contributions as an interpreter, guide, and cultural
Speaker 1: intermediary would become legendary now. Jefferson eagerly awaited new dispatches.
Speaker 1: When Lewis reported the first glimpses of the Rocky Mountains
Speaker 1: or sent crates of botanical specimens, Jefferson displayed them like trophies. Yet,
Speaker 1: even as the expedition deepened American knowledge, it foreshadowed tensions.
Speaker 1: Native nations knew nothing of the Louisiana purchase and had
Speaker 1: no reason to accept American sovereignty. Still, when Lewis and
Speaker 1: Clark returned in eighteen oh six, hailed as heroes, Jefferson
Speaker 1: celebrated as a triumphant Republican exploration, a peaceful counterpart, he thought,
Speaker 1: to European imperialism. Now, Jefferson's second term, which began in
Speaker 1: eighteen oh four, started under storm clouds. Chief among them
Speaker 1: was the collapse of his relationship with Vice President Aaron Burr.
Speaker 1: After killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel in eighteen oh four,
Speaker 1: Burr's political career lay in ruins, and he soon involved
Speaker 1: himself in a mysterious Western expedition that may have involved
Speaker 1: plans to seize Spanish territory or even breakaway Western states
Speaker 1: to form a new nation. Jefferson was convinced that Burr
Speaker 1: was a trader, telling Congress Burr's guilt is beyond question.
Speaker 1: But when Burr was brought to trial in eighteen oh
Speaker 1: seven for treason, Chief Justice John Marshall's stringent evidentiary standard
Speaker 1: actual levying of war against the United States resulted in
Speaker 1: an acquittal. Jefferson was livid, but the ruling narrowed the
Speaker 1: definition of treason in ways that protected American civil liberties
Speaker 1: for generations. Still, the Borough Conspiracy underscored the fragility of
Speaker 1: a new, young republic and the line between Western ambition
Speaker 1: and political rebellion. Now by Jefferson's second term, as we know,
Speaker 1: the Napoleon Wars had engulfed Europe. Britain and France both
Speaker 1: attempted to strangle each other's trade through blockades and decrees.
Speaker 1: Caught in the crossfires, the United States, now a major
Speaker 1: neutral trader, became a target. The Royal Navy, desperate for sailors,
Speaker 1: routinely impressed American seamen, claiming that they were deserters. Jefferson
Speaker 1: called it quote piracy on the highest seas end quote.
Speaker 1: The crisis came to a head in eighteen oh seven
Speaker 1: when the HMS Leopard attacked the USS Chesapeake across the
Speaker 1: coast of Virginia, killing through Americans and dragging off four sailors.
Speaker 1: Public outrage exploded. Cities held mass meetings calling for war,
Speaker 1: but Jefferson refused. He believed that war with Britain would
Speaker 1: destroy the fragile economy he had cultivated. Instead, he proposed
Speaker 1: a radical new economic weapon, the Embargo Act of eighteen
Speaker 1: oh seven, which halted all American exports. He argued that
Speaker 1: peaceful coercion would force Britain and France to respect American rights.
Speaker 1: It didn't. In fact, the embargo devastated American merchants, shipbuilders,
Speaker 1: and farmers smuggling sword. New England denounced the law's tyranny.
Speaker 1: Even supporters admitted it was an experiment that had gone wrong.
Speaker 1: One congressman wrote, the rod we have taken up has
Speaker 1: recoiled on ourselves. By the time Jefferson left office in
Speaker 1: March of eighteen oh nine, the embargo had become the
Speaker 1: least popular policy of his presidency and cost a long
Speaker 1: shadow over his second term. Jefferson left off his proclaiming
Speaker 1: relief quote, never did a prisoner released from his chains
Speaker 1: feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the
Speaker 1: shackles of power. His presidency was one of tons of
Speaker 1: achievement and also a lot of contradictions. The size of
Speaker 1: the nation had doubled, American science and exploration had flourished.
Speaker 1: He'd brought down the federal debt pretty significantly. Peace was
Speaker 1: maintained despite global conflict everywhere, and the Barbary War established
Speaker 1: American naval credibility at least. However, there were a lot
Speaker 1: of contradictions. A champion of limited government, Jefferson used expansive
Speaker 1: executive authority for the Louisiana Purchase. A defender of liberty,
Speaker 1: he signed the Embargo Act, one of the strictest federal
Speaker 1: regulations ever imposed. A believer in free trade, he ultimately
Speaker 1: turned towards economic isolation, and a president mistrustful of military
Speaker 1: power used the Navy to enforce both embargoes and oversees conflict.
Speaker 1: That being said, the vast majority of historians today still
Speaker 1: rate Thomas Jefferson as a top ten president in American history.
Speaker 1: I think the Louisiana Purchase probably gets him there with
Speaker 1: nothing else. Now, next time, we're going to pick up
Speaker 1: the story in America with his successor, James Madison, and
Speaker 1: talk about the War of eighteen twelve.