Preface v
I Jefferson’s Administration, 1801-1809
The Election and Inauguration 1
Margaret Bayard Smith Describes the Election and Inauguration 2
Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address 4
Burr Kills Hamilton 7
David Hosack Describes Hamilton’s Last Hours 7
Marbury vs. Madison 10
Excerpts from John Marshall’s Decision 10
The Louisiana Purchase 12
Jefferson Writes to Robert Livingston 13
The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Lewis’ Journal 14
The Embargo Act 18
Washington Irving Satirizes the Embargo Act 19
II Madison’s Administration, 1809-1817
Madison’s Inauguration 22
Mrs. Smith’s Report 22
The War of 1812 24
The _Constitution_ Defeats the _Guerrière_: Isaac Hull 25
Commodore Perry Wins a Victory on Lake Erie: Oliver Perry 27
The British Burn Washington: Dolly Madison 28
The British Burn Washington: George Gleig 30
The Battle of New Orleans: George Gleig 32
The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson 35
III James Monroe’s Administration, 1817-1825
Early Days in the Mississippi Valley 37
A Husking Bee in Ohio: William Cooper Howells 38
Religion in Tennessee: Lorenzo Dow 40
Davy Crockett Runs for Office 44
Early Days in Illinois: Morris Birkbeck 47
Ominous Loomings: The Missouri Compromise, 1820 50
Representative Arthur Livermore Argues Against Extending Slavery 50
Senator James Barbour Defends Slavery 52
Representative James Stevens Argues for the Compromise 53
The Monroe Doctrine 54
Excerpts from the Monroe Doctrine 54
IV John Quincy Adams
Lighthouses in the Sky 56
Excerpts from Adams’ First Message to Congress 56
The selections by Margaret Bayard Smith, from _Forty Years of Washington
Society_, edited by Gaillard Hunt, which begin on pages 2 and 22, were
reprinted through the courtesy of Charles Scribner’s Sons.
The picture on the cover and the picture on page 1, of the Lewis and
Clark Expedition, were reprinted through the courtesy of the John
Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company of Boston, Massachusetts. The
picture on page 22, of the _Constitution_ and the _Guerrière_, was
reprinted through the courtesy of the New York Public Library. The
picture of a political speaker on the Fourth of July on page 37 and the
picture of John Quincy Adams on page 56 were reprinted through the
courtesy of the Library of Congress.