U.S. History / Unit 3: The Early Republic and Expansion
3.2 Adams, Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase
Notes
- President John Adams (Federalist) signed the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798), which made it a crime to publish "false, scandalous and malicious" writing against the government. Critics said they violated the First Amendment.
- Jefferson and Madison answered with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, arguing states could judge federal laws unconstitutional.
- The election of 1800 brought a peaceful transfer of power between rival parties, sometimes called the "Revolution of 1800."
- ***Marbury v. Madison* (1803): Chief Justice John Marshall established judicial review**, the Supreme Court's power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution.
- Louisiana Purchase (1803): Jefferson bought the huge territory from France for about $15 million, doubling the nation's size. As a strict constructionist, he worried the Constitution did not clearly allow it but went ahead.
- Lewis and Clark (1804 to 1806), guided in part by Sacagawea, explored the territory to the Pacific.
Practice
The power of the Supreme Court to declare a law unconstitutional was established in:
John Marshall's 1803 ruling established judicial review.
Why was the election of 1800 significant?
Adams's Federalists handed power to Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans without violence.
Why was the Louisiana Purchase difficult for Jefferson to justify?
Jefferson's own strict view of the Constitution made the purchase awkward, but he judged it too valuable to pass up.
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