Elected president
117. Jefferson President. In 1800 the people elected Jefferson president. He was very popular because he was a friend of the poor as well as of the rich people. He declared that the new national government should in every way be plain and simple, instead of showy like the governments of Europe.
Presidents Washington and Adams had had fine receptions, where people wore wigs, silver shoe buckles, and fine lace. When Jefferson became president he did away with all this show and style.
Reduces expenses
Jefferson also pleased the people by reducing the expenses of the government. He cut down the number of government clerks, soldiers in the army, and sailors in the navy. He spent just as little money as possible in running the government.
One of Jefferson's most important acts while president was the purchase of Louisiana. Thanks to George Rogers Clark and his brave men, England had been forced to give the United States the Mississippi as our western boundary.
Napoleon forces Spain to give France Louisiana
In 1800 Napoleon, the great French general, forced Spain to give France all the region then known as Louisiana, which extended from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Spain, a weak country, had already refused to permit American boats to use the mouth of the Mississippi. What if Napoleon should send his victorious army to Louisiana and close the Mississippi entirely? Jefferson saw the danger at once, and sent James Monroe to Paris to help our minister, Robert R. Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, buy New Orleans and a strip of land on the east side of the Mississippi River near its mouth.
Sells Louisiana to America
Napoleon was about to enter on a terrible war with England, and needed money badly. He was only too glad to sell all of Louisiana for fifteen million dollars (1803). This was more than Livingston was told to buy, but he and Monroe accepted his offer.