e based on thelimited central authority and protection of individual rights. The major accomplishment of Jefferson’s first term undoubtedly came in 1803,when France sold the United States the entire Louisiana region—land stretching from theMississippi Valley to the Rocky Mountains—for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase,along with the journey throughout the new territory led by Jefferson’s private secretaryMeriwether Lewis and William Clark, expanded America’s knowledge of the westernfrontier.Jefferson was reelected by a landslide in 1804, but nonetheless faced attacks onhis administration from the small but vocal groups of Federalist opponents that remained.His second term was hurt by the highly unpopular Embargo Act in 1807 which prohibitedU.S. exports in order to protest British and French violations of American neutralityfollowing the renewal of the Napoleonic Wars. The embargo stunted the younger nation’seconomy and had little effect on France or Britain. Another unpleasant happening duringJefferson’s second term was the trial for treason of ex-Vice President Aaron Burr afterBurr arranged a suspicious expedition into areas of the American Southwest in order todetach that region from the U.S. An angry Jefferson demanded Burr’s conviction, butBurr was eventually acquitted by Chief Justice John Marshall of the Supreme Court in ahighly controversial ending.Jefferson declined to seek a third term in 1808, retiring to his home in Virginia.Jefferson’s passionate love for architecture, philosophy, and education came together inthe founding of the University of Virginia (UVA) at Charlottesville, in 1819. He had greatinfluence on the school, as he designed the buildings, planned the curriculum, andselected the faculty. At the time of its opening in 1825, UVA was unique amongAmerican universities because it had no religious affiliation or requirements and nopresident or administration, exc...
