Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, won the presidency in 1800 in a peaceful transfer of power between rival parties. He sought to limit federal authority and reduce the national debt.

His defining act was the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, which bought roughly 828,000 square miles from France and doubled the size of the United States. He dispatched the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore it. His second term was troubled by the Embargo Act of 1807, a self-imposed halt to foreign trade meant to pressure Britain and France that instead devastated American commerce.

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