supreme over that of the States had again come to the front to threaten the welfare of the Nation.

225. Death of Washington. While the country was being agitated over this serious dispute, upon which its prosperity so much depended, Washington died at Mount Vernon, December 14, 1799, when he was sixty-seven years old.

During the Revolution there were some who could not appreciate his greatness as a military leader. While he was President he was viciously attacked by his political opponents; he was accused of being an aristocrat, of not sympathizing with the common people, and even of seeking to be king. But before his death Americans of every class, rich and poor, whether they agreed with him in politics or not, had come to love and venerate the nation's leading citizen and they sincerely mourned his death.1 Congress paid special honors to his memory; and even European powers sent us glowing words of praise for the man who, as one of the orators of that day well said, was first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 2

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

1. What stand would you have taken towards the Alien and Sedition Laws? Why? Should there be any limit put upon freedom of the press and freedom of speech in this country?

2. Locate the capital of the United States. How long has it been the capital? What places in and about the city would you be specially interested in visiting? See Washington (city) in the index.

3. Why should not a State be allowed to nullify an act of Congress? 4. What means is provided by the Constitution for deciding whether an act is constitutional or not?

1 Jefferson, who at times had severely criticized Washington, wrote, "He was, indeed, in every sense of the words a wise, a good, and a great man." A little later, Jefferson said that he was "Our first and greatest Revolutionary character, whose preeminent services have entitled him to the first place in his country's love, and destined for him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history."

2 This phrase was contained in resolutions presented in the House of Representatives at Washington, December 19, 1779, by John Marshall, who in a famous eulogy announced the death of Washington; but the resolutions themselves were written by General Henry Lee. Washington's birthday, February 22, is a legal holiday in every State. The first recorded celebration of this event was at New York, in 1783.

5. Turn to the index of this history to determine what attempts have been made to nullify acts of Congress. (See "Nullification.")

6. When was there a period during which each State could nullify an act of Congress? What was the effect of such action then? 7. Make an outline of the chapter.

COMPOSITION SUBJECTS

1. Look up the life of John Adams and choose an incident to tell orally. 2. Imagine that you are a girl in Baltimore. One evening your father reads an account of the "X, Y, Z Papers" and his anger runs high. Then you play on the harpsichord while he sings a new song, "Hail, Columbia!" Describe the scene.

3. Imagine that you are a child visiting Washington, the new capital. Write a letter to a friend in the old capital describing the new town. 4. Choose successive events in the life of Washington, each member of the class taking one of the events and relate them in order - the whole forming a brief biography.

CHAPTER XXII

JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION: THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

1801-1809

226. Election of President Jefferson. President Adams was a candidate for reëlection; but largely owing to the unpopularity of the Alien and Sedition Laws he was defeated by Thomas Jefferson, leader of the Democratic-Republicans.1 Jefferson was one of the most remarkable men in our history. He was a fine scholar, and could with ease read and speak several languages. During the eight years of his presidency he helped to increase the growth and commerce of the United States and to spread popular education. He met people in a friendly, sociable way, and showed his interest in their affairs. His clothing and the fur

THOMAS JEFFERSON

1 Under Article II, section 3, of the Constitution (now superseded by the Twelfth Amendment), the presidential electors were to choose two eminent citizens as President and Vice-President. There was but one ballot, each elector naming two candidates; the man receiving the most votes was elected President and the one receiving the next highest number, Vice-President. This led, in the third election (1796), to men of opposite parties getting the two offices - President Adams and Vice-President Jefferson; whereat there was much popular discontent, for it was believed that the President and Vice-President ought to be of the same party.

In the contest about which we are now reading seventy-three electors voted for Jefferson, a like number for Aaron Burr of New York, and sixty-five for John Adams. This was a "tie" between the two highest. The House of Representatives was therefore obliged to decide, after a long and exciting contest, and chose Jefferson for President and Burr, who was very unpopular, for Vice

nishings of his house were plain, and he disliked extravagance of any kind. Ceremony and parade displeased him, and on becoming President he did away with the formalities which Washington had introduced and which Adams had kept up.1

227. Americans covet the Province of Louisiana. Spain, although she had become a weak nation, still owned the Province of Louisiana, consisting of nearly a million square miles at the mouth and westward of the Mississippi River. For many years our settlers in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio had sent their supplies, grain, and live stock in flatboats down the Mississippi to the Spanish city of New Orleans, where they were reloaded into seagoing vessels bound for Atlantic ports. Spain had frequently tried to prevent this commerce; in 1795, however, she made a satisfactory arrangement with the United States, and Americans supposed that there would be no more difficulty on that

score.

But in 1802, during Jefferson's administration, Spain suddenly revoked her agreement with us, and the West was greatly excited over this reclosing of the river. MorePresident. This result also displeased the people, who thereupon insisted on amending the Constitution (Twelfth Amendment, 1804), so that the electors must cast separate ballots for President and Vice-President. In reality, however, they now merely go through the form of voting for the men whom the people have themselves already chosen at a general election.

1 Jefferson was born in Virginia in 1743. Graduating from the College of William and Mary, he became a lawyer, and when the Revolution broke out was a prominent member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He was elected to the Continental Congress and wrote the greater part of the Declaration of Independence. After the Revolution, he was for a time governor of Virginia, five years acted as our minister to France, and served as Secretary of State until the close of 1793. After being President, he retired to private life, founded the University of Virginia, and died in 1826 at his home “Monticello," near Charlottesville in that State.

His simple tastes were shown on his first inauguration day, when he wore ordinary clothes, and with a few friends walked from his boarding-house to the unfinished Capitol in Washington, where he took the oath of office. He would often ride to the Capitol on a horse, instead of in a coach, as President Washington had done. Visitors were allowed to call on Jefferson at any time, whereas Washington held weekly reception days. Jefferson entertained all manner of people without formality; one of his visitors found him dressed in a "red waistcoat, yarn stockings, and slippers down at the heel." Washington, on the other hand, was always most carefully attired. Jefferson also endeared himself to many people by his fondness for hunting and horseback riding, popular sports of the day, in which he excelled.

over, many of our frontiersmen were saying that the United States ought now to own the trans-Mississippi region; we needed it, they claimed, for our westward expansion. As a matter of fact, hundreds of Americans, among them the great hunter Daniel Boone, were already living west of the river on land claims obtained by them from Spain; they were hoping and waiting for the time when the United States should occupy that fertile wilderness.

228. The United States purchases Louisiana. The change was nearer than any one supposed possible. It came about in this way: Napoleon had been ambitious to found another New France in America; so in 1800 he had induced Spain

Painting by Thulstrup

TAKING POSSESSION OF LOUISIANA

to hand over to him the Province of Louisiana. President Jefferson and the Westerners were much alarmed at this. They saw danger ahead of us if a European power stronger than Spain began to control the Mississippi River and to block not only our commerce over that stream but our overland progress toward the Pacific.

But, fortunately for us, it happened that, before Napoleon could place any of his soldiers in Louisiana, he was

House, New Orleans

men and money he could get together were needed at home to carry on this contest. Moreover, he now feared that, even should he colonize Louisiana, the British, who also