194 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
paid very little attention to the Embargo, and it was soon found
that we needed the trade with England quite as much as Eng-
land needed ours. Upon the whole, the Embargo did more
harm than good, and in 1809 the act was repealed and commerce
was again free.
142. The Treason of Aaron Burr.— In 1801, when Jefferson
was elected President, Aaron Burr of New York was elected
Vice-President. Burr was an able man, but he was a restless
and an ambitious schemer. In 1804 he killed Alexander Hamil-
ton in a duel, and this act made him so unpopular that he left
New York and went to the Southwest, where he entered into a
plot to separate the country west of the Alleghanies from the
older States and to found a new nation with himself as Presi-
dent. Jefferson kept himself informed as to what Burr was
trying to do, and in good time he caused the schemer to be ar-
rested and brought to trial on the charge of treason against his
country (1807). The government failed to convict him of
treason, and he was reieased.
In 1809 Jefferson’s second term expired. He could have been
elected for a third term, but refused the honor. Washington
had refused a third term, and Jefferson thought that the ex-
ample set by Washington should be followed by all future
Presidents.
QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT
1. Give an account of the election of Jefferson. Describe the city of
Washington as it appeared in 1800. Give an account of Jefferson’s
inauguration. What principles of government were laid down by Jeffer-
son? (See quotation, p. 186.)
2. Why was it necessary that the United States should own Louisiana?
Give an account of the Louisiana Purchase.
3. Describe the explorations of Lewis and Clark; of Pike.
4. Why did Jefferson wage war upon Tripoli? What was the result
of the war?
s. What outrages were committed on American vessels by England
and France during Jefferson’s administration? Give an account of the
impressment of seamen by England, .
6. What was the Embargo of 1807? What were the results of this
Embargo?
7. Give an account of the treason and the trial of Aaron Burr.
