4.The New Government and the Louisiana Purchase

When the Constitution came into effect in 1788，the first election followed precisely the letter of the Constitution.George Washington，the esteemed war hero，was elected unanimously as the first President of the United States.John Admas was the Vice-President，Alexander Hamilton，Secretary of Treasury，and Thomas Jefferson，Secretary of State.At this time the total population of the US was less than 4，000，000of which about 800，000were blacks.The greatest number of the people lived in the northern and middle states，and only about a million people lived in the south.The west territories were still mainly inhabited by the American Indians，but a steady stream of immigration continued to pour westward across the Appalachian Mountains.In the 1780s，the American government passed some laws to encourage people to move to the frontier region between the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers.When a part of this territory had 60，000people，it could become a state.The pioneers would then govern themselves.

First Cabinet

Louisiana Purchase，1803

The western frontier was moving farther west when Thomas Jefferson was elected as the third US president in 1800.The most glorious achievement of Jefferson as President was the Louisiana Purchase.The territory of Louisiana was a very large area that formed the western part of the Mississippi valley.When Jefferson was the President，France just got this large territory from Spain and possessed the port city of New Orleans.New Orleans，lying at the mouth of the Mississippi River，was very important to American farmers settling west of the Appalachians.They wanted to send their goods down the Mississippi and ship them from New Orleans.This was easier than sending them over the mountain roads.So Jefferson was eager to get New Orleans.Early in 1803，Jefferson sent James Monroe² to Paris to join forces with the regular minister there，Robert R.Livingston.The two envoys were instructed to buy New Orleans and as much land to the east as they could get for a maximum of＄10，000，000.Before Monroe arrived the French ruler，Napoleon Bonaparte³，had informed the American minister at Paris that he would sell not only New Orleans but the entire territory of Louisiana for＄15，000，000，immediately the land-hungry Americans accepted it.On May 2，1803，they signed the treaty transferring Louisiana to the United States.This purchase doubled the area of the country and was the largest real estate deal in US history，828，000square miles at about three cents an acre.