Jefferson Administrations - Foreign Issues
Foreign Issues
Jefferson's foreign policy objective was to protect U.S. independence by maintaining peace, but avoiding alliances with foreign nations. To this end Jefferson initially set out to recall all U.S. diplomats from their foreign posts. He also hoped to acquire the port city of New Orleans at the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, ensuring farmers west of the Appalachian Mountains a place to launch their goods into international trade. These objectives were part of Jefferson's overall plan to see the United States develop into a self-sufficient nation of farmers.
During the George Washington and John Adams administrations, the United States had been caught in the middle of a power struggle between Great Britain, France, and Spain for world domination. U.S. commercial interests at the time depended heavily on carrying goods to and from the West Indies, Great Britain, and continental Europe. When Great...
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