Woolly mammoths, Peruvian llamas, blue-eyed, Welsh-speaking Indians. In 1803, such myths defined the uncharted West. The Lewis and Clark expedition later dispelled such speculations, including the most widely held myth and hope: the existence of a “northwest passage.”
Such a passage -- a river or series of connected rivers that would cross the western mountains and reach the Pacific Ocean -- would have allowed more direct commerce with the Orient. Thomas Jefferson believed the discovery of the northwest passage would break open the wealth of North America.
When Jefferson took the Oath of Office as the third President of the United States on March 4, 1801, the nation had 5,308,483 people within its boundaries, which reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Mississippi River in the west, from the Great Lakes in the north nearly to the Gulf of Mexico in the south (roughly 1,000 miles by 1,000 miles). Only a comparably small area was occupied, however, and two-thirds of the population lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic.
Jefferson and many of his contemporaries were plantation owners. He and other “Virginia gentlemen” ascribed to a distinct lifestyle. On their vast estates, they led lives of refinement and enlightenment, hosting balls and dinners or discussing politics, philosophy and religion.
A party at Jefferson's plantation, for example, often followed a day of riding and hunting. Guests feasted on sweet potatoes, peas, corn, breads, nuts, quail, ham, venison, bear, duck, milk and beer. Jefferson personally selected the best wines from France. For entertainment, he often played the violin while guests danced the Virginia reel and other favorites. Choice guests were men of the Enlightenment who conversed in French, Italian and German. They were well-educated and well-read, raptly curious about many topics, especially natural history, geography and the rights of man.
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