192 Chapter 6 Jeffersonian Democracy
1801 Judiciary Act of 1801 allows Adams to appoint
many Federalist judges
Jefferson is elected president
1801– U.S. wages war against Barbary pirates in
1805 North Africa
1803 Supreme Court declares part of Judiciary Act of
1789 unconstitutional (Marbury v. Madison)
Jefferson negotiates Louisiana Purchase with France
1804 Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in duel
Jefferson is reelected1804– Lewis and Clark explore West
1806
1806 Aaron Burr schemes to take land in West during
Burr Conspiracy
1806– Napoleon issues Berlin and Milan decrees in order
1807 to disrupt British shipping and economy
1807 HMSLeopardattacks USS Chesapeake
Embargo Act prohibits all exports
1809 Non-Intercourse Act forbids trade with Great
Britain and FranceMilestones
Chapter Review
Key Terms
Embargo Act A law passed by Congress in 1807
prohibiting all American exports. President
Thomas Jefferson, who proposed the law,
sought to pressure Britain and France—then at
war with each other—into recognizing neutral
rights, 189
impressment The policy whereby Britain forced
people to serve in its navy. The impressment of
sailors—even American citizens—on neutral vessels
during the Napoleonic Wars outraged Americans
and was a major cause of the War of 1812, 187
Lewis and Clark expedition An exploration of the
Louisiana Territory and the region stretching to
the Pacific, commissioned by President Jefferson.
Commanded by Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark, the enterprise (1804–1806) brought back a
wealth of information about the region, 182
Louisiana Purchase An 1803 agreement whereby
the United States purchased France’s North
American Empire, the vast region drained by the
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, for $15 million; it
doubled the size of the nation, 177
Marbury v. Madison An 1803 Supreme Court rul-
ing that declared the Judiciary Act of 1789 uncon-
stitutional and established the precedent for
judicial review of federal laws, 176Review Questions
1.The Federalist vision of the nation largely pre-
vailed during the 1790s. Why did it fade so
rapidly during the 1800s? Was its decline caused
by a failure of Federalist leadership or the suc-
cesses of Jefferson?
2.What effect did the Napoleonic wars have on
events in America? Why did Napoleon aban-
don his dreams of a French economic empire
in the Americas?
3.What chief obstacle—literally—stood in the way of
an all-water route across the United States con-
necting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?
4.The text asserts that the Embargo Act was “surely”
a mistake, yet Jefferson was a savvy politician. How
did he decide to propose it in the first place?