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03 - Thomas Jefferson Episodes

The intro and outro music for the first four Thomas Jefferson episodes is from “Yankee Doodle Variations” as performed by Carrie Rehkopf. The full recording can be found at Wikipedia. Subsequent episodes feature selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band. Check out their website for information on upcoming appearances and to purchase CDs or digital downloads of their music.

Feb. 27, 2021

3.27 – Second Term, Same as the Worst

Year(s) Discussed: 1803-1805 Jefferson’s second inauguration may have been a non-event, but on numerous fronts, various tensions were building in early 1805 that threatened to make his second term one to remember. Cabinet members plotted to further their own ambitions while Aaron Burr schemed w…

Feb. 14, 2021

3.235 – A Western Interlude

Year(s) Discussed: 1804-1805 With the Lewis and Clark expedition underway to explore the upper reaches of the Missouri River, President Jefferson at the end of his first term turned his attention to gathering support and talent for expeditions in the southern portions of the Louisiana Purchase.…

Feb. 1, 2021

3.26 – Present but Absent: The Hemings Family of Monticello

Year(s) Discussed: 1735-1873 Throughout Jefferson’s life and career, he was surrounded and served by various enslaved individuals of three generations of the same family. In this episode, we examine the lives of the Hemings family as some worked to attain their freedom, other Hemingses disappear…

Dec. 6, 2020

3.25 – What’s Next

Year(s) Discussed: 1801-1805 As James Monroe set off for his new special mission to Spain, a new congressional session began with Democratic-Republicans aiming to settle a long-standing issue as well as put their mark on the judiciary branch. However, they would find that their plans quickly wen…

Nov. 15, 2020

3.24 – Truth and Consequences

Year(s) Discussed: 1803-1805 With a presidential election looming, the Jefferson administration had to consider how to wrap up the first term and transition to the second. For some, that meant moving into new positions. For others, retirement was in their future. As the campaign worked to rally …

Sept. 27, 2020

3.23 – One Man Left Standing

Year(s) Discussed: 1803-1804 While diplomatic disagreements occupied the attention of the Jefferson administration, Vice President Aaron Burr was occupied with a dispute of a more personal matter in the aftermath of his failed gubernatorial bid. Alexander Hamilton’s opposition to his campaign d…

Sept. 13, 2020

3.22 – A Death in the Family

Year(s) Discussed: 1803-1804 While Vice President Burr worked to secure his political future in his bid for the New York governorship and New England Federalists plotted to separate from the Union, the Jefferson family suffered the untimely loss of one of its members in the early months of 1804…

Aug. 30, 2020

3.21 – A Plotting We Will Go

Year(s) Discussed: 1803-1804 In the wake of multiple political losses in the first few years of the 19th century, as the election of 1804 neared, numerous Federalist leaders from New England began to consider the possibility of whether their prospects and those of their home region would be bet…

July 19, 2020

3.20 – Action and Reaction

Year(s) Discussed: 1801-1804 As Jefferson’s first term entered its final year, numerous developments at home and abroad would start chains of reactions with long-reaching consequences. In the Caribbean, a nation declared its independence that would prove to be of particular concern to white Ame…

July 3, 2020

3.19 – The Not So Merry Merry

Year(s) Discussed: 1802-1803 The new British Minister to the US, Anthony Merry, arrived in Washington, DC in late 1803, and though his arrival was initially seen as a strengthening of British-American relations, it would soon prove to be quite the opposite. Meanwhile, the end of the year saw re…

June 1, 2020

3.18 – The Boys Are Back in Town

Year(s) Discussed: 1801-1803 Though the Louisiana Purchase Treaty had been concluded, President Jefferson understood that didn’t mean it was a done deal, and he and his administration got to work in the latter half of 1803 on getting the treaty ratified by the Senate and in pushing through legi…

May 24, 2020

3.17 – Sailing in New Waters

Year(s) Discussed: 1802-1803 Despite some early successes, the US naval efforts against Tripoli languished in 1802 and early 1803, and with the cost of maintaining a squadron in the Mediterranean climbing, President Jefferson and his administration had to consider alternates in both leadership …

April 26, 2020

3.16 – Up River, Down River

Content Note: This episode mentions the topic of suicide. Year(s) Discussed: 1802-1803 As the Jefferson administration awaited word on the outcome of Monroe’s mission to France, the territorial governors and government agents in the western US dealt with various issues including labor short…

April 5, 2020

3.15 – Of Wars and Pieces: The Indigenous Nations Up to 1803

Content Note: This episode discusses the epidemics that spread through indigenous populations in the Americas upon the increased and sustained contact with Europeans starting at the end of the 15th century. Year(s) Discussed: approx. 9000 BCE-1803 Over the course of millennia, the peoples of…

March 8, 2020

3.14 – Can I Make a Purchase?

Year(s) Discussed: 1803 Despite US Minister to France Robert R Livingston’s best efforts to conclude a treaty with France on his own, the arrival of Special Envoy James Monroe in Paris marked the beginning of a new phase of negotiations which soon led to the acquisition of a large swath of terr…