Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase
[1743-1826]
[Illustration: Thomas Jefferson.]
Through the achievements of early pioneers and settlers, of whom Daniel
Boone is the type, the region lying between the Alleghany Mountains and
the Mississippi River came into the possession of the United States. In
a very different way did the territory lying between the Mississippi
River and the Rocky Mountains become a part of the national domain. It
was acquired not by exploration or settlement, but by purchase, and the
man most intimately associated with this purchase was Thomas Jefferson.
He was born in 1743 near Charlottesville, Va., on a plantation of nearly
2,000 acres. From his father, a man of great physical strength and
energy, Thomas inherited a hardy constitution. As a boy he lived an
out-of-door life, sometimes hunting for deer, wild turkeys, and other
game, sometimes swimming or paddling his boat in the river near his
home, and sometimes riding one of his father's horses. A skilful and a
daring rider, he remained to the end of his long life fond of a fine
horse.
When he was five years of age he entered school, and thus early began
his life-long habit of reading and study. Even in his younger boyhood
days he was known among his playmates for industry and thoroughness.
At seventeen he entered William and Mary College, at Williamsburg, Va.
Although Williamsburg was a village of only 1,000 people, it was the
State capital, and represented the most aristocratic and refined social
life of the colony. As a young college student Jefferson received the
full advantage of this good society, and at the same time studied very
hard, sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day. But for his strong body
and sound health he must have broken down under such a severe strain.
Being simple, refined, and gentle in manner, with a cheerful disposition
and rare intelligence, he easily won and kept warm friends. One of these
was the rollicking, fun-loving Patrick Henry, who with his jokes and
stories kept everyone about him in good humor. He and Jefferson were, in
their youth, the best of friends, and spent many an hour in playing
their violins together.
While in college at Williamsburg Jefferson, according to a description
left of him as he appeared at that time, was six feet two and one-half
inches tall, with a slender frame, a freckled face, sandy hair,
hazel-gray eyes, and large feet and hands. He stood erect, straight as
an arrow, a perfect picture of health and vigorous young manhood.
It was during the last of his five-year stay at Williamsburg that
Jefferson, then twenty-two-years old, stood one day at the door of the
court-house earnestly listening to his friend Patrick Henry as he
delivered his famous speech. The impassioned words of the great orator,
bitterly denouncing the Stamp Act, made a deep impression upon young
Jefferson's fervid nature. They fell as seed in good soil, and a few
years later yielded harvest in the cause of liberty.
These two men, devoted friends as they were, had many traits in common.
Both were earnest patriots and fought in the same cause. But unlike
Patrick Henry Thomas Jefferson was a poor speaker. His power expressed
itself rather through his writing, and with such grace and strength that
he has rightly been called "The Pen of the Revolution."
At twenty-nine years of age he married a beautiful young widow of
twenty-three. After the wedding festivities, he and his bride started
out in a four-horse carriage to drive to his home, Monticello, more than
100 miles away. It was in the month of January, and a heavy snow-storm
overtook them, compelling them to abandon the carriage and continue the
journey over the rough mountain roads on horseback.
When at last they reached Monticello, tired and hungry, it was so late
that the slaves had gone to their quarters for the night. The house was
dark and the fires all out, but the bride and groom quickly kindled a
fire, hunted up refreshments, and made the empty rooms ring with their
songs and merriment. Thus with joyous hearts did they begin a
long-continued and happy married life in their beautiful home,
Monticello.
Both Jefferson and his wife inherited wealth. When he was married, he
owned 5,000 acres of land and fifty-two slaves, and a year later his
wife's father died and left her 40,000 acres of land and 135 slaves.
[Illustration: Monticello.]
He became strongly attached to his mountain home and his life there as a
planter, taking great interest in laying out and cultivating the
grounds, and in introducing many new varieties of plants and trees.
But he was too public-spirited to be lost in his private interest. In
the year following his marriage, the famous "Boston Tea Party" emptied
the chests of taxed tea into Boston Harbor. Then followed such stirring
events as the Boston Port Bill, the first meeting of the Continental
Congress, and the battles of Lexington and Concord; and finally the
crisis, when the brave men of the Continental Congress, having decided
that the time had come for the American people to declare themselves
free and independent of England, appointed a committee of five to draw
up the Declaration of Independence.
[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON AT WORK UPON THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.]
Jefferson was one of this committee and, as he had distinguished himself
for literary ability, it fell to him to write the first draft of this
great state paper. Congress spent a few days in making some unimportant
changes in Jefferson's draft, but left it practically as he had written
it. On July 4, 1776, all the members of the Continental Congress signed
the Declaration of Independence in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, a
hall which is yet standing.
One of the striking things that Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of
Independence was that "all men are created equal." He was always
democratic in feeling, trying to do what he could for the interest of
rich and poor alike. There was a law in Virginia requiring that the
owner of land should hand it down to his eldest son. In its place he got
a law passed which would permit all the children of a family to share in
the land owned by their father. Another law in Virginia required that
people should pay taxes for the support of the religious denomination,
or church, known as the Established Church. As Jefferson believed this
law unfair, he secured the passage of one which provided that nobody
should be compelled to pay taxes for the support of any church.
But Jefferson showed his sympathy for the rights of others quite as much
in his private as in his public life, and won the personal attachment of
his numerous household. His letters to his little daughters were full
of loving advice, and their letters to him breathed the spirit of
genuine affection. When, after the close of the Revolution, Franklin
returned from his mission as minister to France, Jefferson was sent to
take his place. On his return to Monticello at the end of five years,
his slaves went miles to meet him and give him a hearty welcome home.
They wished to take the horses from the carriage, that they might draw
it themselves; and when, arriving at the house, Jefferson alighted, they
bore him proudly upon their shoulders, while they laughed and cried for
joy because "Massa" had come home again.
Jefferson was truly polite, because he had warm sympathy for others,
especially for the poor and the needy. Once when he and his grandson
were out riding together they met a negro who bowed to them. The young
man paid no attention to the negro, but Jefferson politely returned the
bow, saying, "Do you permit a negro to be more of a gentleman than
yourself?" thus teaching the young man a useful lesson.
After filling many of the highest offices in the country, Thomas
Jefferson became the third President of the United States in 1801. He
had looked on with serious misgivings at some of the ceremonies and
formalities in the executive mansion while Washington was President. He
loved Washington, but he did not think that the President of the United
States should be coldly formal and hold himself aloof from the people
quite as much as Washington did. He believed in "republican
simplicity," which he began to practise on the very day he was
inaugurated.
On that occasion he went on foot to the capitol, clothed in his
every-day dress, and attended by some of his political friends. It
became his custom later when going up to the capitol on official
business to ride on a horse, which he tied with his own hands to a fence
near by, before entering. He declined to hold weekly levees, as had been
the custom, but instead opened his house to all on the fourth of July
and the first of January. In these ways he was carrying out his
convictions that the President should be simple in dress and manner, or,
in other words, should live in "republican simplicity."
Many acts of Jefferson prove that he was an able statesman; but one of
the greatest things he did, while President in the years 1801-1809, was
the purchase of Louisiana. Do not think of this territory as the State
of Louisiana. It was far more than this, for it included all the country
lying between the Mississippi River on the east and the Rocky Mountains
on the west, and extending from Canada on the north to Texas on the
south.
In 1763, at the close of the Last French War, France gave up all this
vast region to Spain. But in 1800, Napoleon forced Spain to give it up
to France. When the Americans learned that Louisiana had again become
French territory they were alarmed, as the country that held Louisiana
could control the mouth of the Mississippi, and stop all American goods
passing down through the river. As a consequence, American settlers
living west of the Alleghanies would not be able to find a ready outlet
to the world for their products. Then, too, France might plant a strong
colony in Louisiana and thus give the American people untold trouble.
[Illustration: Map of Louisiana Purchase; also United States in 1803.]
Accordingly, President Jefferson sent Monroe to France to aid in
securing New Orleans and a stretch of territory in Louisiana lying on
the east bank of the Mississippi. By getting that territory, the
Americans would own the entire east bank of the river, and could
therefore control their own trade.
The Americans approached Napoleon at a fortunate time; for he was
greatly in need of money to aid him in his war with England. Besides, he
feared that England might seize Louisiana with her fleet. He therefore
gladly sold us for $15,000,000 all the immense territory of Louisiana.
By carefully looking at your map you will get some idea of its vast
extent. It was much larger than all the rest of the territory which we
held before this purchase was made. Jefferson himself, perhaps, hardly
realized how great a thing he was doing for his country when he made the
purchase.
At the end of his term of office as President, Jefferson retired to
private life in his much-loved home of Monticello. Famous not only for
his statesmanship, but for his learning, he was called the "Sage of
Monticello," and was visited by people from far and near. The number of
his guests was enormous, his housekeepers sometimes finding it
necessary to provide fifty beds for them.
Of course all this entertaining was a great burden, and the expense of
it almost ruined him financially. But his life moved happily on. Always
busy with some useful work, he took a deep interest in education, and
was the founder of the University of Virginia, in which he felt a just
pride.
On July 4, 1826, just fifty years after the signing of the Declaration
of Independence, this great man breathed his last, at the ripe age of
eighty-three. On the tombstone which marks his grave at Monticello is
this inscription, written by his own hand: "Here was buried Thomas
Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statutes of
Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of
Virginia." It was such things as these--things that touched the freedom
of all men--that he sought to further, and in so doing found his
greatest satisfaction.
REVIEW OUTLINE
THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY.
THE OUT-DOOR LIFE OF YOUNG THOMAS JEFFERSON.
SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LIFE.
JEFFERSON'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
"THE PEN OF THE REVOLUTION."
JEFFERSON'S HAPPY HOME LIFE.
A WEALTHY PLANTER AT MONTICELLO.
JEFFERSON WRITES THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
HIS "REPUBLICAN SIMPLICITY."
NAPOLEON SELLS US LOUISIANA; ITS VAST EXTENT.
THE "SAGE OF MONTICELLO."
TO THE PUPIL
1. Tell about Jefferson's youthful friendship for Patrick Henry.
2. How did Jefferson look when he was in college?
3. Describe Jefferson's happy home life. How did he show his
interest in the people? How did his slaves regard him?
4. What is meant by his "republican simplicity"?
5. When and why did Jefferson purchase Louisiana?
6. Draw a map of Louisiana.
7. What do you admire in Jefferson's character?