WEBVTT 1 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:22.879 Hello, and welcome to Western CIV. Episode five hundred and eight. 2 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:28.039 The Jefferson Administration. When Thomas Jefferson placed his hand on 3 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:31.920 the Bible on March fourth, eighteen oh one. Yes, when 4 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:34.920 a president takes office has changed over the years. We'll 5 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.759 get to that. He became the first president to take 6 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:40.439 office in the new capital, which was Washington, d C. 7 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:44.200 The city at that point was not much more than 8 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:46.920 a swamp. Well that's not true, a swamp with a 9 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.520 construction site on top of it. It was sparsely populated. 10 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:54.000 But the moment symbolized a transfer of power. Honestly, that 11 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:56.960 was anything but small. Because we talked previously about the 12 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.640 election and the revolution of eighteen hundred and because the 13 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:04.319 first time in American history political power shifted peacefully from 14 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:08.920 one party to another, from the Federalist to Jefferson's Democratic Republicans. 15 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:13.599 In a world that was still honestly relating from revolutions 16 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:17.760 in coup from Paris to San Deman, the American experiment 17 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:22.840 had survived its first political litmus test. Jefferson acknowledged this 18 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:27.079 fragile triumph when he spoke in his inaugural address saying, 19 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:32.239 we are all Republicans. We are all federalists. He attempted 20 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:36.200 to lower the temperature of years of partisan ranker. Boy, 21 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.120 could we ever use some of that today? But for 22 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.599 all his conciliatory time, the election of eighteen hundred, like 23 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.400 I said, often called the Revolution of eighteen hundred, had 24 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:49.760 in fact been fiercely contested. Jefferson came into office with 25 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.200 a clear ideological mission, and that was to roll back 26 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:57.040 what he viewed is the creeping centralization of government power 27 00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:01.120 under Washington and Adams. His presidency would be a careful 28 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:05.760 balancing act between principle and practicality, between a vision of 29 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:10.199 minimalist government and the realities of governing a growing and 30 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:14.960 I do mean with him growing republic now. Jefferson moved 31 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.919 quickly to reshape the executive branch in line with his 32 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:22.199 belief in simplicity and republican virtue. He found the presidential 33 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:26.599 mansion sparsely furnished with and cluttered with unfinished work, an 34 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:31.680 image perfectly aligned with his political philopacy. Rejecting anything that 35 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:37.680 even smelled remotely like monarchy, he replaced formal levies with 36 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:42.400 informal dinners. He often greeted guests in simple plane clothes 37 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:48.240 and slippers, Jefferson called it republican. The federalists called it 38 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:53.759 unbecoming of the president. His first major acts targeted the 39 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:58.319 federalist legacy. He worked with Congress to repeal internal taxes, 40 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:02.439 including the infamous whisk tax, arguing that the federal government 41 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.719 could and should operate on customs duties alone. He dramatically 42 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.879 cut the size of the Army and Navy, believing standing 43 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:13.360 armies were a threat to liberty. He wrote the least 44 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:17.840 government is the best government, which was definitely an early 45 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:22.879 policy statement. Yet governing also meant confronting the legacy of 46 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:26.639 the Adams administration, most notably, as we'll talk about now, 47 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:31.400 the Midnight Judges see. In the final hours of his presidency, 48 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:35.639 John Adams had filled new judicial seats with Federalists, and 49 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:40.000 Jefferson was furious. He complained, quote, they have retired into 50 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:43.560 the judiciary as a stronghold, and from that battery all 51 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:47.120 the works of Republicanism are to be beaten down. The 52 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:51.560 Democratic Republican Congress quickly repealed the Judiciary Act of eighteen 53 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.639 oh one, eliminating some of Adam's appointments, but the real 54 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:59.319 constitutional milestone came two years later. In eighteen oh three, 55 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.960 when Chief Justice John Marshall issued the famous Marbury Versus 56 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:10.520 Madison decision. You see, the rush to appoint these midnight 57 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:16.240 judges changed everything from a constitutional perspective, because among the 58 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:20.560 men that were appointed that late evening on March third, 59 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:23.240 eighteen oh one, was a guy by the name of 60 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:27.759 William Marbury, a wealthy Federalist from Maryland, chosen to be 61 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.639 a Justice of the Peace for the District of Columbia. 62 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:34.240 This was a spoil system reward. Now, Marbury had his 63 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:39.639 commission signed and sealed, but not delivered. It didn't get 64 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.920 to him in time before the new Secretary of State, 65 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:48.920 James Madison took over in the Jefferson administration. When Madison 66 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.480 took over, he refused to deliver Marbury his commission. You see. 67 00:04:54.519 --> 00:04:58.360 Thomas Jefferson viewed the Judiciary Act of eighteen oh one 68 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:02.120 as a partisan track. He thought that they were going 69 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:05.879 to use that they being the Federalist, to entrench themselves forever. 70 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:11.160 So when he learned, actually that many of Adam's late 71 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:14.879 night commissions, including William Marbury's, had not been delivered, he 72 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:19.759 issued a very simple order, don't deliver them. Jefferson's rationale 73 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:23.759 was pragmatic and political. If the commissions remained undelivered, the 74 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.759 appointments could be treated as incomplete, and that would weaken 75 00:05:26.839 --> 00:05:31.079 federalist power. That meant that William Marbury, who by law 76 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:33.920 had actually been appointed, was going to be denied the 77 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.839 office that he believed was rightly his. And so he 78 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:41.160 decided to file a lawsuit. But interestingly, and here's his mistake, 79 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.519 he did not file a lawsuit in the lower federal court. Instead, 80 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:47.800 he decided to go straight to the US Supreme Court. 81 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:51.240 He invoked a provision of the Judiciary Act of seventeen 82 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:53.759 eighty nine, which allowed the court to issue a writ 83 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:56.600 of mandamus. A rid of men damas is a court 84 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:00.120 order that forces a government official to perform a duty. 85 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:04.199 In fact, that's all Marbury wanted. He asked the Supreme 86 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:08.279 Court clearly to issue a writ an order commanding James 87 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.800 Madison to deliver his commission. The case put the Supreme 88 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:15.319 Court in a difficult position. At its center stood Chief 89 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.759 Justice John Marshall, one of the most brilliant legal minds 90 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:22.360 of the early Republic and John Adams's former Secretary of State, 91 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.439 the very man who ironically had failed to deliver the 92 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:32.480 last of the commissions. His oversight was, honestly enough, part 93 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:35.639 of the problem in the first place. Now, the problem here, 94 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:37.759 of course, was what the heck is the Supreme Court 95 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.040 supposed to do in this new United States. If you 96 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:43.399 look at the constitutional it says that there is one. 97 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:47.360 It doesn't have any enforcement powers. If the Court ordered 98 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:50.720 Madison and Jefferson to deliver the commission, they could just 99 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:54.199 ignore the order and the Judiciary's authority would be permanently weakened. 100 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:56.680 But if the Court refused to hear the case, it 101 00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:59.680 would look weak regardless, and so Marshall had to walk 102 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:03.879 a tight rope. When oral arguments were held in February 103 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:07.319 of eighteen oh three, Jefferson did not allow Madison to 104 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:10.680 appear or file a brief. In fact, didn't acknowledge the 105 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.360 Court's power at all, And so that left Marshall with 106 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:18.360 three questions. Did Marburie have a right to the commission? 107 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.600 If he had a right, was their illegal remedy? And 108 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:25.959 could the Supreme Court issue that remedy? The decisions were simple. 109 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:29.959 Did Marbury have a right to the Commission? Yes, Adam 110 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:33.720 sign it. Marshall himself had affixed his own seal. Delivery 111 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:38.439 was just a formality. Was there a remedy? Yes, American 112 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:41.040 law promised a remedy when a legal right had been violated. 113 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:45.199 The third question, however, was the key. Could the Supreme 114 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:48.959 Court issue a writ of mandamus? Well, that, on his face, 115 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.600 should have been an easy decision, because the Judiciary Act 116 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:55.759 of seventeen eighty nine said yes. But the Constitution, Article 117 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:58.600 three did not give the Supreme Court that type of 118 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:03.519 original jurisdiction. And so here was the opening. On February 119 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.560 the twenty fourth, eighteen o three, Marshall read the Court's opinion. Yeah, 120 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:10.480 the Court worked a lot faster back then. His words 121 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:14.360 were measured, logical, and devastating. He said that Marbury had 122 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:18.480 been wronged, that Madison lack acted illegally in withholding the commission. 123 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.360 He then moved on and so the legal remedy existed. 124 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:25.279 But third, and most decisively, he ruled that the Supreme 125 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:28.199 Court could not issue the writ of mandamus because the 126 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.120 section of the Judiciary Act of seventeen eighty nine authoring 127 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:36.799 it was unconstitutional. Congress had improperly expanded the Court's original 128 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:41.720 jurisdiction beyond what the Constitution permitted. Then came the sentence 129 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:47.399 that changed American law forever. Quote. It is emphatically the 130 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:50.840 province and the duty of the judicial department to say 131 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:55.879 what the law is. End quote. With that single line, 132 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:00.399 John Marshall established the biggest and most important prince in 133 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:06.120 American law, judicial review, the idea being that the judiciary, 134 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:09.679 ie the Supreme Court, has the authority to strike down 135 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:14.960 laws that conflict with the Constitution, And brilliantly by denying 136 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:17.600 Marbury his commission, not because he lacked the right, but 137 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:20.399 because the law giving the Court the power to enforce 138 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:25.000 it was unconstitutional, Marshall avoided a direct confrontation with Jefferson 139 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:30.200 while simultaneously expanding the court's authority. Jefferson couldn't ignore a 140 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:32.080 decision that gave him what he was asking for in 141 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:36.000 the first place, and so Marshall turned a political trap 142 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:40.799 into the constitutional triumph it was now. Marbury versus Madison 143 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:46.559 wasn't celebrated immediately. Privately, we know Jefferson was furious at 144 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:50.600 its implications, but he recognized the practical difficulty of opposing it. 145 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:54.759 Now it would take decades for judicial review to become 146 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:58.600 firmly entrenched, and interestingly enough, the Court's not going to 147 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:02.759 strike down another federal law law until the infamous dread 148 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.759 Scott the Stanford Decision in eighteen fifty seven. We'll talk 149 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:10.960 about that. The principle established in Marbury that the Constitution 150 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:14.480 is superior to ordinary legislation and that courts must enforce 151 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:19.440 that superiority became the cornerstone of American constitutional law. Today. 152 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:23.559 Every major constitutional case Brown versus the Board of Education, 153 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:30.039 Rowe versus. Wade, Citizens United Overfeld b Hodges all rests 154 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:34.200 on that foundation that John Marshall led in eighteen oh three. 155 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:38.799 And interestingly enough, it all began with a forgotten judicial 156 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:48.960 commission that John Marshall himself had forgotten to deliver. While 157 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:53.000 domestic affairs were essential to Jefferson's presidency, the world had 158 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:59.080 other things in mind. Jefferson entered office hoping for peace abroad. Instead, 159 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:04.159 his first major foreign policy crisis came from the Mediterranean. 160 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:10.480 For years, the Barbary States. These were semi independent North 161 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:16.080 African entities. They're basically little petty kingdoms that cropped up 162 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:22.000 after the Old Islamic caliphates grumbled across North Africa. These 163 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:26.919 are in modern day states like Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, so on, 164 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:31.919 and so forth. And because of their strategic location. For years, 165 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:36.080 these had demanded tribute from nations to allow safe passage 166 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:39.559 of merchant ships through the Straits of Gibraltar and around 167 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:44.840 the Mediterranean. The European powers had for decades just paid 168 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:50.360 the tribute, so had Washington's and Adams administrations, but now 169 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:56.320 Jefferson refused. When the Pasha of Tripoli declared war on 170 00:11:56.360 --> 00:12:00.559 the United States in eighteen oh one, Jefferson reluctantly deployed 171 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:04.159 the navy, despite earlier objections that he had to a 172 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:11.240 strong naval establishment. The war unfolded slowly blockades, ship captures, 173 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:15.320 and then a daring eighteen o four raid led by 174 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:20.600 Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, who burned the captured USS Philadelphia in 175 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:26.039 Tripoli Harbor. Admiral Horatio Nelson reputedly called it quote the 176 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:30.440 most bold and daring act of the age end quote. 177 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.960 Though the treaty in eighteen oh five that resulted didn't 178 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:40.039 end piratesly completely, it did boost American prestige and demonstrated 179 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:45.840 an important evolution in Jefferson's philosophy. Principle mattered, but sometimes 180 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:50.840 the world required force. Now, of course, nothing defined Jefferson's 181 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:57.120 presidency more than Louisiana purchase. In eighteen o two, word 182 00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:01.600 reached Washington that France under Napoleon had secretly great gained 183 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:05.879 control of Louisiana from Spain and now restricted American access 184 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:10.360 to New Orleans for Western farmers dependent on the Mississippi 185 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:15.039 River for trade. This was a crisis, Jefferson warned. In fact, 186 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:19.240 the day that France takes possession of New Orleans, we 187 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:24.039 must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation. And 188 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:28.759 so Jefferson instructed James Monroe and Robert Livingston to try 189 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:34.840 to purchase New Orleans and, if possible, West Florida from Napoleon. Instead, 190 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:39.840 in a stunning reversal, motivated by military setbacks in Haiti 191 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:44.600 and looming war with Britain, Napoleon wanted to sell the 192 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:49.519 entire Louisiana territory. Now you see, there's a story here. 193 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:53.120 So let's back up a moment, because Napoleon had intended 194 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:58.279 to make Louisiana a cornerstone of his worldwide emperor but 195 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:02.399 that plan all all dependent on holding on to the 196 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:07.879 sugar powerhouse that was Haiti. After years of civil war, 197 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:12.840 racial conflict, war among European powers, the fate of that 198 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:17.320 colony still hung in the balance. By eighteen oh two, 199 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:21.279 Toussaint louve Tour, the brilliant former slave we talked about before, 200 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:27.120 who had outmaneuvered European and internal enemies alike, now governed 201 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:32.080 the colony with relatively broad autonomy. Even though France had 202 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:36.600 abolished slavery in seventeen ninety four, Napoleon viewed louvy Toour's 203 00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:42.840 independence as intolerable. He envisioned a revived plantation economy, profitable 204 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:47.919 sugar exports, and ultimately a restored French empire in the Americas, 205 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:53.440 and so to accomplish this, Napoleon decided to bring Louvitour down, 206 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:57.399 and to do this he sent a massive expedition under 207 00:14:57.440 --> 00:15:01.840 his brother in law, General Charles Leclair. His mission was 208 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:06.320 clear removed tous Saint louvis Tour, restored direct French rule 209 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:12.879 and unofficially prepared to re establish slavery. The Cleric's army 210 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:17.639 landed in early eighteen oh two a force of more 211 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:21.879 than thirty thousand men, one of the largest overseas expeditions 212 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:27.279 ever dispatched by European power. At first, they gained the 213 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.600 upper hand, Toussaint was actually captured, and eventually he was 214 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:34.360 shipped to France, where he died in a cold mountain 215 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:38.679 prison in April of eighteen oh three. Napoleon believed the 216 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:43.759 rebellion would collapse without its most famous leader. He was mistaken. 217 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:49.639 Leadership then passed to Jean Jacques Dessaline's, one of Dussint's 218 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:54.080 most formidable generals. By now it was evident to everyone 219 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:59.120 that Napoleon intended to restore slavery, already being reinstated in 220 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:04.039 other French coluge. That single fear flipped a light switch. 221 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:10.159 It united formerly divided factions amongst the Haitian peoples. People 222 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:12.919 who had once fought each other now rallied around a 223 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:17.320 single non negotiable principle. Liberty had been won on Haiti 224 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:22.120 once before, it would not be surrendered again. And then, 225 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:27.200 of course, nature intervened to doom the Lacleric expedition. Yellow 226 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:31.399 fevers swept through the French army with devastating speed. As 227 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.960 many as two thirds of soldiers died tens of thousands 228 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:38.879 in a matter of months. Fresh reinforcements only added fuel 229 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:42.840 for the disease. The French expeditionary force was not simply 230 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:47.759 losing battles. It was dissolving before everyone's eyes. By mid 231 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:52.279 eighteen oh three, the French position had become hopeless. Dessalines 232 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:56.279 launched a series of fierce attacks, including the pivotal Battle 233 00:16:56.399 --> 00:17:00.600 of Vertaes on November the eighteenth, eighteen oh three, forcing 234 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:05.160 the remaining French troops to withdraw. On January the first, 235 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:09.599 eighteen oh four, Dessilein's proclaimed the independence of Haiti, the 236 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:13.279 world's first black republic and the first nation born directly 237 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:18.440 from a successful slave uprising. It was a geopolitical earthquake. 238 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:24.519 France's richest colony was effectively gone, France's army destroyed, and 239 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:28.359 its dream of an American empire had been severely wounded. 240 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:33.079 And for Napoleon, this disaster forced a fundamental rethinking of 241 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:38.960 his overall strategy. Napoleon's plan for Louisiana was not primarily 242 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:44.359 about settlement or American frontier politics. Louisiana was good to 243 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:47.960 be a granary that fed and supplied San Deman, the 244 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:52.160 heart of the restored franch sugar Empire. Without San Deman, 245 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:56.799 the economic purpose of Louisiana evaporated. There was no plantation 246 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:01.039 engine for it to support. Louisiana became a burden rather 247 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:04.640 than an asset, a vast territory that France could not 248 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:10.359 easily defend. The catastrophe in San de Man cost Napoleon 249 00:18:10.359 --> 00:18:15.279 more than forty thousand soldiers, including many experienced officers. This 250 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:20.920 loss severely weakened French military capacity overseas. If Napoleon could 251 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:23.920 not hold a Caribbean island, how on earth could he 252 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:27.799 hope to defend millions of acres along the Mississippi River 253 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:31.480 from the British or the expanding United States. And so 254 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:35.039 the lesson to Napoleon was pretty clear. France could not 255 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:38.680 maintain a North American empire without the naval and military 256 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:43.200 strength that frankly, it no longer possessed. Now there's another 257 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:46.680 factor here, because by eighteen oh three Britain and France, 258 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:48.559 as we know, were once again on the brink of war. 259 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:53.440 Napoleon expected the Royal Navy to strike French outposts as 260 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:58.400 soon as hostilities resumed. Louisiana, lightly defended and far away 261 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:02.279 from France's reach, would be an easy target. Better to 262 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:04.759 sell it to the United States than lose it to 263 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:09.039 Britain for nothing. The defeat in Haiti and the coming 264 00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:13.160 war in Europe required enormous funds. Selling Louisiana would bring 265 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:18.000 in immediate cash fifteen million dollars and allow Napoleon to 266 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:23.960 focus more on his continental ambitions. As Napoleon later reportedly said, 267 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:28.880 quote I have given England a rival who, sooner or 268 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:34.319 later will humble her pride end quote, referencing obviously the 269 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:40.839 United States. The Haitian Revolution convinced Napoleon that colonial ventures 270 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:44.960 outside Europe were unreliable, They were expensive, and they were vulnerable, 271 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:49.920 and so his ambitions shifted. Instead of a global empire, 272 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:53.519 he doubled down on building a European one, And so 273 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:58.079 Napoleon offered to sell when doctor Livingston showed up the 274 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:03.759 entire Louisiana territory, eight one hundred twenty eight thousand square 275 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:10.720 miles for fifteen million, the real estate deal of the millennium. 276 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:15.000 But now Jefferson faced a philosophical dilemma of his own. 277 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:21.240 The Constitution nowhere explicitly authorized the acquisition of new territory. 278 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:27.799 His strict constructionalist instincts urged a constitutional amendment. His pragmatic 279 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:33.559 political instincts urged immediate acceptance. Before Napoleon changed his mind 280 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:40.119 in the end, the pragmatism won. He privately acknowledged, quote, 281 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:43.240 I have done an act beyond the Constitution, but I 282 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:46.119 trust the good of my country will be my justification. 283 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:52.319 He was right. The purchase was an immediate success. It 284 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:56.480 doubled the size of the United States, reshaped North America, 285 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:00.680 and laid the groundwork for continental expansion. Note, of course, 286 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:04.359 it also laid the groundwork for future conflicts over slavery. 287 00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:08.680 But how to investigate the new land? Well, to make 288 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.000 sense of it all, Jefferson organized the Core of Discovery, 289 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:16.279 led by Mary Leather Lewis and William Clark. The expedition 290 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:21.279 departed in eighteen oh four, tasked with scientific study, mapping geography, 291 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:24.680 establishing relations with Native nations, and scouting routes to the 292 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:29.960 Pacific Saka Joeyas contributions as an interpreter, guide, and cultural 293 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:35.799 intermediary would become legendary now. Jefferson eagerly awaited new dispatches. 294 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:39.480 When Lewis reported the first glimpses of the Rocky Mountains 295 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:44.839 or sent crates of botanical specimens, Jefferson displayed them like trophies. Yet, 296 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:49.960 even as the expedition deepened American knowledge, it foreshadowed tensions. 297 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:53.599 Native nations knew nothing of the Louisiana purchase and had 298 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:58.519 no reason to accept American sovereignty. Still, when Lewis and 299 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:02.079 Clark returned in eighteen oh six, hailed as heroes, Jefferson 300 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:07.160 celebrated as a triumphant Republican exploration, a peaceful counterpart, he thought, 301 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:13.079 to European imperialism. Now, Jefferson's second term, which began in 302 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:17.440 eighteen oh four, started under storm clouds. Chief among them 303 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.359 was the collapse of his relationship with Vice President Aaron Burr. 304 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:25.960 After killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel in eighteen oh four, 305 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:30.200 Burr's political career lay in ruins, and he soon involved 306 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:34.119 himself in a mysterious Western expedition that may have involved 307 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:38.680 plans to seize Spanish territory or even breakaway Western states 308 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:43.640 to form a new nation. Jefferson was convinced that Burr 309 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:47.839 was a trader, telling Congress Burr's guilt is beyond question. 310 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:51.279 But when Burr was brought to trial in eighteen oh 311 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:56.680 seven for treason, Chief Justice John Marshall's stringent evidentiary standard 312 00:22:57.079 --> 00:23:00.640 actual levying of war against the United States resulted in 313 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:05.039 an acquittal. Jefferson was livid, but the ruling narrowed the 314 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:09.079 definition of treason in ways that protected American civil liberties 315 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:14.440 for generations. Still, the Borough Conspiracy underscored the fragility of 316 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:17.839 a new, young republic and the line between Western ambition 317 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:22.519 and political rebellion. Now by Jefferson's second term, as we know, 318 00:23:22.920 --> 00:23:26.440 the Napoleon Wars had engulfed Europe. Britain and France both 319 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:30.160 attempted to strangle each other's trade through blockades and decrees. 320 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:34.640 Caught in the crossfires, the United States, now a major 321 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:39.960 neutral trader, became a target. The Royal Navy, desperate for sailors, 322 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:45.599 routinely impressed American seamen, claiming that they were deserters. Jefferson 323 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:48.440 called it quote piracy on the highest seas end quote. 324 00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:51.839 The crisis came to a head in eighteen oh seven 325 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:56.400 when the HMS Leopard attacked the USS Chesapeake across the 326 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:00.880 coast of Virginia, killing through Americans and dragging off four sailors. 327 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:06.640 Public outrage exploded. Cities held mass meetings calling for war, 328 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:11.640 but Jefferson refused. He believed that war with Britain would 329 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:16.519 destroy the fragile economy he had cultivated. Instead, he proposed 330 00:24:16.680 --> 00:24:20.920 a radical new economic weapon, the Embargo Act of eighteen 331 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:25.519 oh seven, which halted all American exports. He argued that 332 00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:29.640 peaceful coercion would force Britain and France to respect American rights. 333 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:35.559 It didn't. In fact, the embargo devastated American merchants, shipbuilders, 334 00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:41.279 and farmers smuggling sword. New England denounced the law's tyranny. 335 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:45.000 Even supporters admitted it was an experiment that had gone wrong. 336 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:49.359 One congressman wrote, the rod we have taken up has 337 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:54.640 recoiled on ourselves. By the time Jefferson left office in 338 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:57.920 March of eighteen oh nine, the embargo had become the 339 00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:02.240 least popular policy of his presidency and cost a long 340 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:07.079 shadow over his second term. Jefferson left off his proclaiming 341 00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:11.680 relief quote, never did a prisoner released from his chains 342 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:15.640 feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the 343 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:20.839 shackles of power. His presidency was one of tons of 344 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:24.519 achievement and also a lot of contradictions. The size of 345 00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:28.079 the nation had doubled, American science and exploration had flourished. 346 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:32.200 He'd brought down the federal debt pretty significantly. Peace was 347 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:37.039 maintained despite global conflict everywhere, and the Barbary War established 348 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:41.079 American naval credibility at least. However, there were a lot 349 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:46.079 of contradictions. A champion of limited government, Jefferson used expansive 350 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:50.279 executive authority for the Louisiana Purchase. A defender of liberty, 351 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.920 he signed the Embargo Act, one of the strictest federal 352 00:25:53.960 --> 00:25:58.920 regulations ever imposed. A believer in free trade, he ultimately 353 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:03.680 turned towards economic isolation, and a president mistrustful of military 354 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:08.799 power used the Navy to enforce both embargoes and oversees conflict. 355 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:13.880 That being said, the vast majority of historians today still 356 00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:18.519 rate Thomas Jefferson as a top ten president in American history. 357 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.960 I think the Louisiana Purchase probably gets him there with 358 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:25.039 nothing else. Now, next time, we're going to pick up 359 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:28.359 the story in America with his successor, James Madison, and 360 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:30.640 talk about the War of eighteen twelve.