Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born in Albemarle County, Virginia in 1743. His father owned a 5,000 acre plantation. After graduating from the William and Mary College, Williamsburg, he became a lawyer.

A member of the Revolutionary Party, Jefferson was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, in 1769. Five years later he was a delegate at the Continental Congress and in 1776 he was the chairman of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson served as Governor of Virginia (1779-81) and as a member of the Continental Congress (1783-84). In 1785 he was appointed as Minister of France, a post he held for three years. His sympathy for the French Revolution brought him into conflict with Alexander Hamilton of the Federalist Party.

George Washington was unanimously elected as the first President of the United States and was inaugurated on 30th April, 1789, in New York City. Washington appointed Jefferson as his Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton as Treasury Secretary.

Washington was unanimously reelected in 1792 but by this time the government was not so united and there were serious disagreements between Jefferson's Democratic Republicans and Hamilton's Federalists. Washington tended to favour the Federalists and with the Democratic Republicans gaining increasing support, he decided not to seek a third term and retired from office on 3rd March, 1797. John Adams now became president and Jefferson defeated Aaron Burr to become Vice President.

Although Adams was the leader of the Federalists, he rejected the suggestions of Alexander Hamilton to declare war on France. He did however support the Aliens and Sedition Acts, that intended to frighten foreign agents out of the country. However, his decision to send a peace mission to France made him unpopular and united his opponents against him.

In the 1800 presidential election Jefferson defeated John Adams. Jefferson appointed his long-term friend, Meriwether Lewis, as his personal secretary. At this time Jefferson read about the adventures of Alexander Mackenzie. In his book, Voyages from Montreal, Mackenzie had described his two expeditions where he had tried to find a navigable route to the Pacific Ocean. For the next few months Jefferson and Lewis discussed the possibility of exploring these unknown lands.

As part of his preparation, Lewis was sent to the University of Pennsylvania to study botany, natural history, medicine, mineralogy and celestial navigation. One of his tutors was Benjamin Rush, who asked Lewis to find out from the Native Americans about their burial customs, diet, medicines, breast feeding, bathing, crime and religious practices.

On 18th January, 1803, President Jefferson requested permission from Congress to explore the vast lands to the west of the Mississippi. Jefferson claimed that there were "great supplies of fur and peltry" to be obtained from the Native