Party: Democratic-Republican
Fact One: Louisiana Purchase. This president purchased the entire Louisiana Territory from Napoleon for $15 million (that would be about $342,630,530 today…or a little more than Bryce Harper’s contract).
Fact Two: Helped restore peace in the Mediterranean by bombing Tripoli. However, this president continued to pay Barbary States to not attack American ships.
Fact Three: Founded the United States Military Academy at West Point. Believed this would help establish a successful engineer corps and end reliance on foreign engineers.
Fact Four: Believed that all white men should be able to vote and pushed states to abolish property ownership requirements. Saw voter participation rise from 20% to 80%.
Fact Five: Stayed neutral during the Haitian Revolution. This president did not want Napoleon to gain a foothold in the Americas, so he did not allow loans and requests for aid. He also allowed merchants to work with the revolutionaries. Our president refused to recognize Haiti as the second independent republic in the Americas (he was pressured by southern Congressmen who feared the idea of slave revolts spreading to their areas).
Quotes:
“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”
“Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”
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