One of Jefferson's acts doubled the area of the country.
At the end of the Seven Years' War, France had ceded to Spain the territory
west of the Mississippi River, with the port of New Orleans near its
mouth -- a port indispensable for the shipment of American products
from the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Shortly after Jefferson became
president, Napoleon forced a weak Spanish government to cede the great
tract called Louisiana back to France. The move filled Americans with
apprehension and indignation. Napoleon's plans for a huge colonial empire
just west of the United States threatened the trading rights and the
safety of all American interior settlements. Jefferson asserted that
if France took possession of Louisiana, "from that moment we must marry
ourselves to the British fleet and nation."
Napoleon, knowing that another war with Great Britain
was impending, resolved to fill his treasury and put
Louisiana beyond the reach of the British by selling
it to the United States. This put Jefferson in a constitutional quandary:
the Constitution gave no office the power to purchase territory. At
first Jefferson wanted to amend the Constitution, but his advisers told
him that delay might lead Napoleon to change his mind -- and that the
power to purchase territory was inherent in the power to make treaties.
Jefferson relented, saying that "the good sense of our country will
correct the evil of loose construction when it shall produce ill effects."
For $15 million, the United States obtained the "Louisiana
Purchase" in 1803. It contained more than 2,600,000 square kilometers
as well as the port of New Orleans. The nation had gained a sweep of
rich plains, mountains, forests and river systems that within 80 years
would become the nation's heartland -- and one of the world's great
granaries.
As Jefferson began his second term in 1805, he declared
American neutrality during the struggle between Great Britain and France.
Although both sides sought to restrict neutral shipping to the other,
British control of the seas made its interdiction and seizure much more
serious than any actions by Napoleonic France.
By 1807 the British had built their navy to more than
700 warships manned by nearly 150,000 sailors and marines. The massive
force controlled the sea lanes: blockading French ports, protecting
British commerce and maintaining the crucial links to Britain's colonies.
Yet the men of the British fleet lived under such harsh conditions that
it was impossible to obtain crews by free enlistment. Many sailors deserted
and found refuge on U.S. vessels. In these circumstances, British officers
regarded it as their right to search American ships and take off British
subjects, to the great humiliation of the Americans. Moreover, British
officers frequently impressed American seamen into their service.
When Jefferson issued a proclamation ordering British
warships to leave U.S. territorial waters, the British reacted by impressing
more sailors. Jefferson decided to rely on economic pressure to force
the British to back down. In December 1807 Congress passed the Embargo
Act, forbidding all foreign commerce. Ironically, the Republicans, the
champions of limited government, had passed a law that vastly increased
the powers of the national government. In a single year American exports
fell to one-fifth of their former volume. Shipping interests were almost
ruined by the measure, and discontent rose in New England and New York.
Agricultural interests found that they too were suffering heavily, for
prices dropped drastically when the Southern and Western farmers could
not export their surplus grain, cotton, meat and tobacco.
The hope that the embargo would starve Great Britain
into a change of policy failed. As the grumbling at home increased,
Jefferson turned to a milder measure, which conciliated domestic shipping
interests. In early 1809 he signed the Non-Intercourse Act permitting
commerce with all countries except Britain or France and their dependencies.
James Madison succeeded Jefferson as president in 1809.
Relations with Great Britain grew worse, and the two countries moved
rapidly toward war. The president laid before Congress a detailed report,
showing several thousand instances in which the British had impressed
American citizens. In addition, northwestern settlers had suffered from
attacks by Indians whom they believed had been incited by British agents
in Canada. This led many Americans to favor conquest of Canada. Success
in such an endeavor would eliminate British influence among the Indians
and open up new lands for colonization. The desire to conquer Canada,
coupled with deep resentment over impressment of sailors, generated
war fervor, and in 1812 the United States declared war on Britain.