did not end it completely. In 1803 Commodore Edward Preble was sent to the Mediterranean with additional vessels and ordered to take command. He directed the "Philadelphia" and the sloop "Vixen" to blockade Tripoli. In chasing a blockade runner the "Philadelphia" struck an unknown rock and was captured by the Tripolitans. Her commander, Captain Bainbridge, and his crew of more than. three hundred Americans were made prisoners.

Decatur's Exploit.-It stung the American officers to the quick, as they lay off Tripoli, to see the "Philadelphia ” lying in the harbor with the flag of Tripoli floating over her. A young officer named Stephen Decatur had command of a little ship which he had captured from the enemy and had named the “Intrepid." In this little ship he sailed into the harbor, carrying with him a Maltese pilot, whose speech would not betray the fact that the " Intrepid" had an American crew. The pilot hailed the men on the “ Philadelphia and reported that he had lost both his anchors. He asked permission to tie up his little ship by the side of the big one for the night. No sooner had Decatur made his ship fast to the "Philadelphia's" side than with his seventy-five officers and men he boarded her, drove her piratical crew overboard, set fire to her, and returned to the "Intrepid." As he sailed away to the sea the shore batteries pounded his little ship, while his men gave cheer after cheer of triumph. Decatur had not lost a man.

Peace with Tripoli.-After two years more of blockading and fighting, a large American fleet appeared before Tripoli in 1805, and the Pasha quickly came to terms. He accepted a moderate sum as a ransom for his prisoners, and consented to a treaty of peace.

The Purchase of Louisiana.—In the year 1800 Spain agreed with Napoleon to cede Louisiana back again to France. The agreement was kept secret for a time, Napoleon not being ready to take possession. The Spanish officer who was in control at New Orleans during this waiting time issued an order in 1802 forbidding Americans to ship their produce

to New Orleans, as they had a right to do under the treaty made seven years before. The people who lived in the valley of the Mississippi were greatly excited over this order, which deprived them of a market for their goods.

Not wishing to go to war in order to keep the French out of Louisiana, Jefferson got leave from Congress to buy New Orleans and the region round about, together with West Florida. James Monroe was sent over to help the American minister at Paris in making the purchase. Napoleon at that time was on the eve of another war with England, and in view of that he offered to sell not only New Orleans, but the whole vast region then called Louisiana. This offer was so good that the American commissioners accepted it without waiting for orders, and within less than three weeks the whole matter was completed. The United States paid fifteen million dollars for the territory thus gained. It was larger in area than the whole of the United States had been before. It included nearly all the region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. This region was soon divided into the two Territories of Orleans and Louisiana.

The Oregon Country.—A good many years before this time a certain Captain Gray* sailed from Boston to trade in the Oregon country on the Pacific coast, after which he went to China and on around the world, reaching home in 1790. Two years later he went to Oregon again, and entered the great river which the Indians called by that name. He named it after his own ship, the "Columbia." His discovery gave the United States a claim to all the territory drained by the Columbia River.

Lewis and Clark's Expedition. In 1804 Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on a most daring and romantic expedition up the Missouri River and across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia. The great region included in the Louisiana purchase was in large part an unknown land. Lewis and Clark were sent to explore both *For biography, see Appendix.

14-Egg. Hist.

its source.

that and the Oregon country. After two years and four months spent in the wilderness, during which time they had wintered on the Columbia River, the explorers returned to civilization. Their expedition, added to Gray's discovery, strengthened the claim of the United States to that far northwestern region.

Pike's Exploration.-In 1805 and 1806 Governor Wilkinson, of Louisiana, sent Lieutenant Zebulon Pike to explore the Western country. Pike went up the Mississippi nearly to

In the next year he reached the neighborhood of the mountain which we now call Pikes Peak.

Summary.-1. John Adams was defeated in 1800 for reëlection to the Presidency. A tie vote between Jefferson and Burr threw the election into the House of Representative, where Jefferson was chosen President. He was inaugurated in Washington city, which had become the capital during the year of his election.

2. After much trouble with the piratical states of North Africa Jefferson refused to pay them the tribute they demanded as the price of letting our ships and sailors alone. Instead of paying tribute he sent war vessels to the Mediterranean.

3. Spain having ceded Louisiana back to France, Jefferson purchased the whole of that region from Napoleon in 1803, thus securing for the United States nearly all the vast region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.

4. Some years earlier an American ship captain had discovered the mouth of the Columbia River, and in 1804 an expedition under Lewis and Clark, sent out by Jefferson, went over the Rocky Mountains and wintered on the Columbia. This gave to the United States a claim to all the Oregon country. Another expedition under Pike explored the sources of the Mississippi in 1805.

Collateral Reading.-Schouler's "History of the United States," II., 16-18, 43-48; Walker's The Making of the Nation," 168, 169, 177-180; McMaster's "History of the People of the United States," IV., 470473, 478.

CHAPTER XXXIII

JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION-Continued

The Election of 1804.-The election of 1804 was the first one held under our present method of choosing a President and Vice President. Thomas Jefferson, who was again the candidate of the Republicans for President, was reëlected, with George Clinton, of New York, for Vice President. Burr, having become unpopular, was dropped. The Federal party had by this time become very weak.

British Interference with Our Commerce.-War between England and France was declared again in 1803, and again the United States became involved in difficulties with both nations. Each tried to prevent American ships from trading with the other. During the previous war England had allowed American vessels to carry goods between France and her colonies, provided the ships did not sail directly from one French port to another, but stopped somewhere in the United States on the voyage. In 1805, however, England decided that American vessels must not carry French cargoes at all between that country and her colonies. Under this decision more than one hundred American ships were seized near our ports in that year, and a large part of their crews were forced into the British service.

The Non-importation Act.-In April, 1806, Congress passed an act forbidding the importation from England to America of certain articles which could be made in this country. The object of this was to teach England the importance of the American market for her goods, and thus