The committee chose Jefferson to author the Declaration’s first draft, and it “Became the most beautiful and powerful indication to liberty and equality in world history” (Thomas Jefferson Biography). July 4, 1776, became Independence Day as delegates not only approved the Declaration, but with this document, defined basic principles of American government and society. On 1786, the Statute for Religious Freedom became one of the most important documents in American history on the subject of religious freedom written by Jefferson. “The Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, Jefferson’s other achievement, became an inspiration for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and it prohibited government involvement or support for religion” (Digital History). It became a statement about both freedom of conscience and the principle of separation of church and state. Jefferson originally drafted the statute in 1777, but Patrick Henry and many Virginia’s larger religious movement feared that churches would decline without tax support. James Madison also helped support Thomas …show more content…
Napoleon wanted to create a new French Empire in the Americas. When he wanted to crush a rebellion on the French Island, he wanted to sell all of French claims to Louisiana. Monroe and Napoleon offered Napoleon $15 million for the Louisiana Purchase and hoped that Congress and the President would support their decision. When Jefferson heard about the French, he took the opportunity and doubled the size of the US with a swift stroke of foresight and diplomacy. Jefferson appoints James Monroe envoy extraordinaire to France and Congress authorizes 10 million to buy New Orleans. Jefferson eventually got Congress to approve, and the Louisiana Purchase dramatically increased both the national debt, and the size of the United States with 820,000 square miles of land that stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. The Lewis and Clark expedition began in the spring of 1804 and carried on the Louisiana Purchase. Congress agreed to finance Jefferson’s call for an expedition to explore the area that included in the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson chose his private secretary, Meriwether Lewis to lead the expedition, and Lewis chose William Clark as his companion officer. The goal for the expedition was too search for river routes to the western ocean, make contact with the Native Americans living in the territory, and gather