pointed, and also by countenancing an attack which was made on the Federalist judges through impeachment. (See Chase, Samuel.) He began his term of office with the extreme theories of the strict constructionists as his guide, as was shown by the steps which were promptly taken to bring about the abrogation of the system of internal revenue (April, 1802), and to reduce to five years the term of residence requisite for naturalization (April, 1802), as also by the repeal, in December, 1803, of the national bankruptcy law of 1800. Nevertheless, the force of circumstances finally led Jefferson to adopt and carry through measures that involved as liberal an interpretation of the Constitution as any that the Federalists had ever advanced. The first of these measures was the purchase from France in 1803 of Louisiana, which had recently been acquired by France from Spain. (See San Ildefonso, Treaty of; Louisiana Purchase.) The annexation of this territory determined permanently the control of the Mississippi, and accordingly was thoroughly approved in the trans-Alleghany regions; but there was immediately raised not only the question of the Government's power so to acquire territory, but also the question whether the Government had acted within its constitutional powers in concluding a treaty which guaranteed citizenship to former subjects of France, and there developed a vigorous though unavailing opposition to the purchase among the members of Congress from New England. The application of a characteristic Republican policy was, however, illustrated in the marked tendency to minimize the importance of the functions of the National Government, and to render unimportant such departments as those of war and the navy. The very material reduction of the national forces was accomplished without effective opposition in view of the improved financial condition which was supposed to be secured by such a course. Any such justification was soon overbalanced by the pressing need of an efficient navy occasioned by the war with Tripoli (1801-05), in which Preble and Decatur won laurels for the American flag. (See Barbary Powers, Wars with the.) In 1803 Ohio was admitted into the Union; and in December, 1803, Congress passed the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1804, providing that the electoral college should vote for Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates separately, (See Constitution.) In 1804 Jefferson was reëlected President, receiving all the electoral votes except those of Connecticut and Delaware and two of Maryland, which were cast for the Federalist, Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina. George Clinton (q.v.), of New York, was elected Vice-President.
Jefferson's second, administration began with overwhelming Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress. The Napoleonic wars had begun anew in 1803, and it was impossible for such a struggle not to affect materially the interests of the United States. The commerce of America was highly prosperous, her ships enjoying much of the carrying trade of Europe; but in May, 1806, England declared a blockade from Brest to the Elbe, and Bonaparte, in November, decreed the blockade of the coasts of the United Kingdom. (See Continental, System: Orders in Council.) The maritime rights of neutrals were not at that time clearly defined, and the Americans suffered at the hands of both belligerents, American vessels being seized and searched with great insolence and discourtesy for contraband of war and being searched also by the British for British subjects. The right of expatriation was not then recognized by England, and those suspected of having been born on British soil were, in accordance with the doctrine, ‘once a subject always a subject,’ impressed into the British naval service. The British frigate Leopard, meeting the American frigate Chesapeake, June 22, 1807, demanded four of her men, and on refusal fired into her, and the Chesapeake was forced to strike her flag, the incident creating intense excitement and resentment, and British ships being thenceforth forbidden to enter American harbors. See Chesapeake, The.
In December, 1807, a further step was taken in the famous Embargo Act (see Embargo), which forbade American vessels to leave for foreign ports, and foreign vessels to take cargoes into American ports. This measure, which was intended to punish England and France for their contempt of American rights upon the sea, almost destroyed the commerce of the United States, and was violently opposed by the Federalists, especially in New England and New York, where the shipping interest was strongest. During Jefferson's administration Aaron Burr attempted to carry out a filibustering scheme against Mexico, and in addition he was charged with an attempt at the dismemberment of the Union, and in 1807 was tried for treason at Richmond, Va., but was acquitted. (See Burr, Aaron.) Jefferson's administration was also marked by the Lewis and Clark expedition (q.v.) across the continent to the Pacific (1804-06); by the passage of a bill in 1806 for the construction of a national road from Cumberland, Md., to Ohio, the first important internal improvement measure (see Cumberland Road); the establishment of the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the successful introduction of steam navigation by Fulton. (See Steam Navigation.) Another important event of Jefferson's administration was the passage of an act of Congress in 1807 abolishing the slave trade from January 1, 1808.
Following the example of Washington, Jefferson declined to be a candidate for a third term, and in the election of 1808 James Madison, of Virginia, was elected President, and George Clinton, of New York, Vice-President. Charles C. Pinckney was again the Federalist candidate for President. In February, 1809, owing to the threatening attitude of the New England States, which seemed to menace the Government with secession, the Embargo was relaxed and the Non-Intercourse Act was substituted for it, repealing the provisions of the Embargo, except as against England and France.
VI. and VII. Administration of James Madison (1809-17). Cabinet.—Secretary of State, Robert Smith, Maryland, March 6, 1809; James Monroe, Virginia, April 2, 1811. Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, continued; George W. Campbell, Tennessee, February 9, 1814; A. J. Dallas, Pennsylvania, October 6, 1814; William H. Crawford, Georgia, October 22, 1810. Secretary of War, William Eustis, Massachusetts, March 7, 1809; John Armstrong, New York,
