country. "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists," ThomasJefferson proclaimed. Furthermore, his program was moderate enough to win the supportof both parties.In January, 1803, half a year before the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson proposed hisidea to Congress. In order to conceal its expansionist aims from England, France, andSpain, Thomas Jefferson suggested that the journey be presented as a "literary pursuit."Congress gave its approval. Jefferson chose his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead theexpedition, and Lewis selected William Clark, a frontiersman, as his Partner. Jeffersoninstructed them to observe and note down the physical features, terrain, soil, climate, andwildlife of the land and the language and customs of its inhabitants. In 1806 Lewis andClark returned with their valuable journals. They had successfully breached the mountainbarrier of the West, built a fort on the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River,and mapped and explored much of the American Northwest. Moreover, they had securedthe friendship of a number of Native American peoples and given the United States a claimto the Oregon country.At the age of 65, Jefferson was at last free to return to his beloved mountaintopestate in Virginia. Thomas Jefferson devoted much of his energy to repairing andrebuilding his estate, but Thomas Jefferson yet found time to design houses for hisfriends. Thomas Jefferson furnished Monticello with rare and beautiful objects and withhis own remarkable inventions, so that the estate was much talked about and frequentlyvisited. Thomas Jefferson also worked to advance agricultural science, and ThomasJefferson filled his account books with observations of all kinds.Jefferson's leisure time was spent in reading. Ancient history especially interestedhim, but Thomas Jefferson also continued his study of philosophy, religion, and law. In1815 Thomas Jefferson sold his 6500-volume collection to the federal government as thenuc...
