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    Jefferson's America: The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation
    Jefferson's America: The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation
    Jefferson's America: The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation
    Audiobook12 hours

    Jefferson's America: The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation

    Written by Julie M. Fenster

    Narrated by John Pruden

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    At the dawn of the 19th century the stakes for American expansion were incalculably high. Even after the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, Spain coveted that land and sought to retain it. With war expected at any moment, Jefferson played a game of strategy, putting on the ground the only Americans he could: a cadre of explorers who finally annexed it through courageous exploration. President Jefferson most famously recruited Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, but at the same time other teams did the same work in places where it was even more crucial. William Dunbar, George Hunter, Thomas Freeman, Peter Custis, and Zebulon Pike were all dispatched on urgent missions to map the frontier and keep a steady correspondence with Washington about their findings. They weren't always well-matched-with each other and certainly not with a Spanish army of a thousand soldiers or more. These tensions threatened to undermine Jefferson's goals for the country, leaving the United States in danger of losing its foothold in the West. Jefferson's America#160;rediscovers the robust and often harrowing action from these seminal expeditions and illuminates the president's vision for a continental America.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateMay 10, 2016
    ISBN9781681681276
    Jefferson's America: The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation
    Author

    Julie M. Fenster

    Julie M. Fenster is an award-winning author and historian, specializing in the American story. In 2006 her book Parish Priest, written with coauthor Douglas Brinkley, was a New York Times bestseller for seven weeks. She also wrote Ether Day: The Strange Tale of America's Greatest Medical Discovery and the Haunted Men Who Made It, which won the prestigious Anesthesia Foundation Award for Best Book. Fenster is the author of six other books, including Race of the Century: The Heroic True Story of the 1908 New York to Paris Auto Race and The Case of Abraham Lincoln: A Story of Adultery, Murder, and the Making of a Great President.

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    Reviews for Jefferson's America

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    • 4/5
      It ended. The book ended and I wanted it to go on. This masterfully tells the story of the age of the early explorations of the American West by Americans. We may know some of the epic Lewis and Clark expeditions but this book sets those in the context of Jefferson's wider strategy. Within the wider scope of expeditions are captivating portraits of several other explorers. Balancing the strategy with the individual stories requires a fine writer. The writing masters the complexity of the story and stories. During this period, we are so grateful that letter writing and journals are available. The author makes ample use of these primary sources.Is there a better recommendation for a book than wanting to learn much more about these remarkable people? This book would be wonderful for book discussion groups and a stimulus for students just learning about our history. The characters are real.
    • 4/5
      Thomas Jefferson took an interest in the vast territory beyond the Mississippi River as secretary of state under President George Washington. The secretary of state deals with foreign affairs, and at that time the American West belonged to foreign powers, mostly Spain, but France and England both had interests there, too. Jefferson sought to expand American interests in the West without getting involved in a war.As president a few years later, he saw exploration as a way of expanding influence into the West, The European countries were simply too far away and too preoccupied with their struggles against each other to take much interest in what was actually in the West. So Jefferson decided to explore the West even before the Louisiana Purchase gave the United States so much of it. These explorations are the topic of Julie M. Fenster's fine new book "Jefferson's America: The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation."Today we remember Lewis and Clark, but they were not the only explorers dispatched by Jefferson. While Meriwether Lewis and William Clark followed the Missouri River to the northwest and then ultimately went over the mountains to the Pacific Ocean, Zebulon Pike looked for the source of the Mississippi, William Dunbar and George Hunter explored the Ouachita River, and Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis followed the Red River for as far as they could before being stopped by Spanish soldiers ordered to keep the Americans out of Texas.If Lewis and Clark get most of the attention today, early in the 19th century the Red River expedition was considered the most important by far, Fenster writes. It was the one most likely to start a war, as well as the one furthest south, and it was the south, near the vital port of New Orleans, that was at the time most crucial to America's survival.Pike's adventures make the most interesting reading in Fenster's book, for he had far more nerve than sense and constantly put his own life and the lives of his men in jeopardy. He, for example, kept looking for the source of the Mississippi in midwinter when more rational explorers would have huddled up somewhere warm and waited for spring.The Jefferson strategy, using exploration as a weapon of war, as Fenster puts it, worked. At the time of the Louisiana Purchase, neither buyer nor seller knew what it entailed, neither the actual borders nor what the territory contained. The expeditions went far in answering those questions. They gave Americans greater interest in this vast territory, leading to settlements, which did more than anything to establish American claims even on territory that was not part of the purchase.Rival politicians criticized the purchase at the time, but history soon proved Jefferson to be a visionary who made all the right moves.
    • 4/5
      We know that Lewis and Clark explored the West for President Jefferson, but did you know they weren't the only ones?

      Sure, Zebulon Pike comes to mind, but there were several expeditions into the wilderness, and the U.S. government used them to stretch its influence past the Mississippi, across Spanish America, to the Rocky Mountains and off to the Pacific Ocean.

      "Jefferson's America" tells the tales of several expeditions and the trials the explorers went through. From waterless rivers to sopping wet rains to mountains perpetually "15 miles away," the men (and 1 woman, Sacajawea) who went West found more than they expected.

      Some of the tales are familiar, some are new (the aforementioned Sacajawea? She was a slave - to another native tribe). All of them are interesting, too.

      Other interesting characters pepper the book too, from Aaron Burr to Napoleon to Spain's King Carlos IV. Worth the read.

      I received a free copy of this book for review.

      For more of my reviews, go to Ralphsbooks.
    • 4/5
      A detailed writeup of the multiple expeditions that explored the Louisiana Purchase. Despite the title, this is not so much about the USA at the time or world politics, but it is about the explorers of the Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Red rivers. Everyone has heard about Louis and Clark, but the other expeditions were just as important and just as difficult, just not quite as famous. A very good exploration of a very short time in American history.
    • 5/5
      Lovers of American history, particularly the wild and woolly Frontier Era, will greatly enjoy "Jefferson's America". Author Julie M. Fenster writes with gusto and a real love of subject as she tells a true-life adventure tale that is more enthralling than fiction or film. Thomas Jefferson played a master's game of chess to block Britain, France, and Spain from gaining permanent control of the vast land to the West of the Continental States. His key chess pieces were an eclectic group of explorers whose eccentricities were as notable as were their brave proclivities. Along with Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Jefferson also engaged William Dunbar, George Hunter, Thomas Freeman, Peter Custis, and Zebulon Pike to scout, map, and document the scope and range of the land to the West. The author imbues this factual account with descriptive details which bring to life the personalities and politics of the day, and a section of black and white art and photos gives a glimpse of this portion of the past. Most intriguing is the last photo--a view from Jefferson's home, Monticello, looking toward the West.Book Copy Gratis via Blogging for Books
    • 5/5
      Julie Fenster's telling of the exploration of western America is highly recommended. I was familiar with Lewis and Clark as well as Pike but not of the other explorers. I learned quite a bit that was not in high school history classes.
    • 3/5
      I've heard Julie Fenster on a couple of public radio call-in shows, and she knows her material. That's also apparent in Jefferson's America, in which she tells the stories of Lewis and Clark AND the other expeditions authorized by Thomas Jefferson to explore the lands of the Louisiana Purchase. Fenster does an admirable job of describing the different regions that her characters explored. Occasionally I would get confused about WHICH explorer she was focusing upon, but that tended to be when I had put the book down for a few days and then tried to jump back in. This is one of those books that's better read in longer sittings, rather than in 10 minute spurts before bed. I gained a much greater understanding about the rivalries between France, Spain, and the U.S., the virtual impassability of some areas, the varied relationships between different native American groups, traders and explorers, and governments, and the politics involved in acquiring and exploring the land.That's my only real complaint about the book - Fenster covers a number of different expeditions, led by a variety of people (many of whom I'd never heard of). It's a lot to keep track of! That certainly makes me appreciate the amount of research required to create this work,but it also means that I didn't feel like I got to know any of the characters very well.
    • 5/5
      Julie Fenster's Jefferson's America is an enthralling tale of how Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore the untamed wilderness of western America. It vividly retells the journey of the two men that Jefferson sent to explore and claim the rest of what would become the United States of America. I received this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program.
    • 5/5
      "Jefferson's America" by Julie Fenster was not what I expected - it was better! While I knew of the Lewis and Clark expedition and had heard of Zebulon Pike, I had not known of the other explorers (Hunter, Dunbar, Freeman) and the territory they explored. Ms. Fenster intertwines the politics and personalities of the time to make a captivating history of Jefferson's plans for western expansion. I highly recommend this well researched work to those with adventure in their hearts.
    • 3/5
      Jefferson is a hero of mine so I thought this book would give me insight into his wanting the Louisiana territory. Although I learned a bit about the Spanish and French in the region I was disappointed in the book in general. I was not aware of the expedition from New Orleans but that held little interest for me. It was painful to read of the slow progress up the river; I kept putting the book down and reading other things.Overall if you are really in to early exploration of this continent I think you will like this book, but it wasn't for me.
    • 5/5
      A writer comfortable with eclecticism, Julie Fenster's latest work, Jefferson's America, is a foray into the American frontier of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Zebulon Pike, John James Audubon, and the shaping of beginnings of American idealism and culture.
    • 5/5
      Julie Fenster has a gift for making history come alive. In Jefferson's America, she looks at the way in which Jefferson used the exploration of America as a tool for establishing an American presence in the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and reminds the reader of what an important role this played in the creation of the nation. She follows Lewis and Clark's journey to the Pacific, Dunbar and Hunter's mapping of the Ouichita River, Freeman's trip up the Red River, and Zebulon Pike's mapping of the Missouri. She describes the physical demands, the native populations and the many colorful characters living in the area. She moves back and forth from one expedition to another and then to Washington to describe the political reaction there as well as the reactions of the Spanish who were determined to hold their territory. This technique gives the story more immediacy and excitement. I highly recommend this book.
    • 3/5
      A book that worked better for me in the design than in the execution. Chronicling the western expeditions commissioned after the completion of the Louisiana Purchase is an excellent notion, but this book didn't do all that much for me; the writing is rather clunky and in some long sections there was far too much skipping about for my taste; it was hard to keep focused when the narrative kept bouncing around. Pretty skippable, unfortunately.
    • 4/5
      This non-fiction look at the Louisiana Purchase and the subsequent explorations directed by then U. S. President Thomas Jefferson has as its subject one of the most fascinating periods of American history. While it does not contain the detail of other works on the subject, most specifically Stephen Ambrose’s magnificent Undaunted Courage, it is broader in scope, including both political machinations involving both Spanish territorial claims and French intervention, as well as explorations of the Mississippi, Ouachita and Red Rivers in addition to the more famous Lewis and Clark expedition.While this pre-publication version contains maps, I suspect that the final version will better locate and expand on these. After all, any book involving exploration can only be greatly enhanced by well-drawn and located maps. Also, while expanding the scope may necessarily require somewhat less detail, this is not a terribly long book and I felt that some of the expeditions could have been fleshed out to a greater extent. Those interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition can certainly find more detailed accounts, however, I could have used more information on the Zebulon Pike explorations. Nevertheless, this was a quite enjoyable read, on a fascinating subject.
    • 4/5
      Jeffersonian exploration and the men who made it possible is the overriding theme of this work. Thomas Jefferson's vision of what America could become ( landmass expansion for the country ) was the grand idea, but, it took great explorers to make it possible. We all know about Lewis and Clark and their adventures for Jefferson, but, there were others that were just as important. Individual adventurers/explorers, such as, Pike, Dunbar, Hunter, Friedman etc. were extremely important. They not only went to unknown places, they also measured, drew maps/pictures and documented their experiences. Great book to learn more about the other founding fathers we weren't taught at school. I would recommend this book to readers as an exciting story about our early history.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating book. Though most American school kids know that Pres. Jefferson made the Louisianna Purchase, few are aware that this was not a benign transaction. Indeed, there was a lot of opposition from the former owner, the Spanish, who felt cheated when Napoleon made a very easy bargain with the USA to sell it. The necessity for trips of geographical facts was clearly recognized by Jefferson, That he was so well served by his explorers is the essence of this book. These men just didn't go up a river and come back down, they recorded and investigated and measured.
    • 4/5
      I would probably feel better about this book if I had not just read one about the totally disreputable way in which Jefferson disdained and instructed his agents on how to cheat the Choctaws (and other tribes) out of their land. This is a great testimonial to the explorers and surveyors who trekked under the direction of an expansionist president. Lots of detail given, sometimes in a less than cohesive and rather pedantic manner. Appears to be very well researched.I received this book for free through The Reading Room.
    • 4/5
      When I went to school in the 50's and 60's we had American History every year in grade school and at least once in high school. I'm not sure todays kids get much American History at all. Jefferson's America is a pretty concise view of the Louisiana Purchase and the explorers Lewis and Clark and Pike and some others I'd never heard of. When this was presented in grade school it was pretty basic information. I didn't realize that the purchase was not a simple "Do you want to sell this land?....Sure, how much will you pay for it?" In fact it could very well not have happened and even after the purchase, it wasn't a sure thing. America could have permanently ended at the Mississippi River. Julie M. Fenster gives a basic view of the subject. For more detail one would have to read more books. The book is fairly readable, but not up to the standards of Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of "Team of Rivals," a book about Abraham Lincoln.
    • 4/5
      Most folks who have studied any American history know about the Louisiana Purchase - where Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the nation over night. And most know about Lewis and Clarke's exploration of the upper Louisiana Territory, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. What most don't realize is that their expedition was one in a group of explorations sponsored by Jefferson and funded by Congress to stake our claim on the land, especially as thecSpanish were looking for any excuse to take over again. Fenster's book is a nice exposition on the expeditions, the politics of exploration, and the international considerations involved. Plus, she's pretty good at making the people - especially an odd lot of explorers - come alive.
    • 3/5
      I have to say I'm really confused about the glowing praise I've seen for this book. While the topic is interesting, the text bored the hell out of me. At certain points there would be an interesting story for a few pages and then it would slow to a crawl once again with boring minutiae. Rather dissapointing to me overall. I'd recommend this only to hard core Jefferson fans who are seeking to fill in whatever cracks may be left on this subject.
    • 4/5
      Writing in a historical narrative style, Ms. Fenster successfully relates the broader story of Thomas Jefferson's push for exploration of "The West". Whether motivated by foresight, manifest destiny, or his own innate scientific curiosity, Jefferson managed to find the right individuals to navigate the geographic, sociologic (i.e. Native American), and natural perils -- and political intrigues, that existed at the beginning of the nineteenth century.Many are familiar with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, but Ms. Fenster also sheds light on significant expeditions by other individuals who contributed similarly. Men like Dunbar, Hunter, Pike, and Friedman should also be remembered as contributors to our American Heritage. This book is a good start, but seems to leave the reader wanting more; maybe that's a good thing. There is a lot of information in the volume, but in some cases, as in the case of Aaron Burr, the information is sketchy and perhaps superfluous. Overall the book is a good read, with interesting subject matter.The maps are a bit disappointing, unfortunately. There are some landmarks referred to in the text that are not noted at all on the maps. It may have also been helpful to indicate present state boundaries, as point of reference. My biggest criticism is that the maps are poorly placed within the body of the text; the maps are not generally near the corresponding part of the narrative, and there is no map page index, so oftentimes one must leaf back through the pages in search of the appropriate map. Lastly, the dust jacket is of poor quality, not likely to wear well.Still a worthwhile volume, and obviously well researched.
    • 5/5
      This new book by Julie Fenster is a fine addition to the library of any history buff of the Thomas Jefferson era. At the same time that Lewis and Clark were making their well-known journey up the Missouri River and then down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean there were also other important expeditions taking place to 'lay claim' to the entire Louisiana Purchase for the United States. Known as "Jefferson's men" these several explorers' stories comprise this fascinating read... laid out, side by side in time. Some you may recognize, others I'm sure will be new to most readers - or, new activities of men whose names you many know in other contexts! I knew of PIke's expedition across Kansas to Colorado with a detour into old Mexico - but I was not familiar with his search for the source of the Mississippi River. Fenster nicely includes the roles of James Wilkinson and Aaron Burr, without allowing them to overpower the narrative. I was probably most fascinated by the Natchez-based explorations of the Quachita River (to the Hot Springs) and the Red River... and the circumstances of each. Again, laying these events out, side-by-side time-wise, with the other explorations, was very meaningful to me. I heartily recommend this book, especially for those with interest in the Jefferson era of our nation's growth.
    • 4/5
      Anyone who has studied U.S. history in school is well aware of the significance of the Louisiana Purchase, but most history courses are short on detail. Jefferson’s America brings this era to life with much of the narrative centered on the explorers of this era. Everyone knows the story of Lewis and Clark, but they were only the most prominent of the explorations that Jefferson instigated. The author, historian Julie Fenster, brings this era to life with the stories of courageous and foolhardy explorers who braved the wilderness to investigate not only the Missouri and it’s hoped-for pathway to the northwest, but the Red River, led by surveyor Thomas Friedman, the upper Mississippi, explored by Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, and other lands of the southwest explored by William Dunbar, George Hunter, and many others. The bounds of the Louisiana Purchase were nebulous, bordering lands claimed by the Spanish, who also coveted the vast country west of the Mississippi. Jefferson was motivated not only by a desire to know in more detail just what he had purchased from the French, but to establish sovereignty over lands that were also populated by numerous Indian tribes.Lieutenant Pike was one of the interesting characters in this book, a man about whom I knew nothing before reading this account. He had an uncommon degree of internal ambition to complete any mission he was given, sometimes carrying his explorations beyond the limits of good sense while enduring hardships that would kill lesser men. After the Mississippi exploration, and intent on finding the headwaters of the Red River, he led his men into the foothills of the Rockies in November with only summer clothing. Setting his sights on a blue-tinted peak that seemed to be within an easy ride, he had reached the limits of his endurance and was preparing to die, when he had the good fortune to shoot a buffalo that fed his entourage for a time. He was unable to reach the blue-tinted peak, but his name is immortalized in Pike’s Peak. Ultimately, he was captured by the Spanish, and spirited off to prison in Mexico. He could easily have triggered a war between America and Spain, but in the end was released.Another of the central characters in this story was General James Wilkinson, who became governor of the Louisiana territory despite being suspected of treacherous collaboration with the Spanish, and later with alliance with Aaron Burr, who had fallen into disrepute after the Alexander Hamilton assassination. This is a fascinating book, and illuminates for me an era that I knew little about.
    • 4/5
      Early in history of the United States, the new nation found itself in a cold war not against a nation across the ocean but across the Mississippi river and the Floridian border. In Jefferson’s America, Julie M. Fenster relates how Thomas Jefferson first as Secretary of State and later as President battled with Spain to define the borders of the United States before establishing a claim on the West which would define the future of the country.Almost a century before the United States and Spain actually fought a war; the two nations could have fought a war over Louisiana which could have been the legacy of Thomas Jefferson’s administration instead of the territory’s purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was not the event that stopped this war; it only made the likelihood more probable as the southern boundary of the territory was undefined and both nations claiming different demarcations of their respective territories. Jefferson’s solution to both keep peace and stake a claim on the West for the United States was exploration.The journey up the Missouri, over the Rockies, and to the Pacific Ocean by the Corps of Discovery led by Lewis and Clark is thought today to be the expedition that claimed the West for the United States. While that much heralded journey is chronicled in this book, Fenster also brings forth the effects by other explorers to study the geography of the Mississippi and southern rivers like the Red and the Arkansas. Men like Thomas Freeman, William Dunbar, Zebulon Pike, George Hunter, and Andrew Ellicott brought their own talents and personalities in exploring the frontiers of the United States and helping Jefferson make a political claim to those frontiers.The book as a whole is well researched and overall Fenster does give the reader an view of the little known history behind the first great expansion of the United States, however there are issues that do not make this an easy read. Firstly, the first quarter of the book is rather dry and could discourage some readers who would be impressed with the later three-quarters of the book. Fenster took a chronological approach to her writing and detailed several expeditions simultaneously when they overlapped, while I didn’t have a problem with this particular set up and approach there was a drawback in that Fenster did not transition from one to the other that well which at times forced the reader to stop for a few seconds to stop and reread a sentence or two to denote when Fenster was switching from one expedition to another.Upon completing Jefferson’s America, I found it instructive on this period of the Early Republic in not only the national and international situation but also the experiences that the explorers faced as they traveled around various points in the West.
    • 4/5
      History buffs, rejoice. A great history book for those interested in learning about the great Thomas Jefferson. Seriously, history books are not the easiest to communicate to the reader, unless you're of course a die-hard history lover. Then by all means.Fenster offers a lot of detail about Jefferson's time period, during a time when westward expansion was all the rage. You'll find interesting stories that you would never have learned in grade school. Lewis being chased by a bear? What is the source of the Mississippi River, and who were the men the searched? Who were some of the lesser known groups of Native Americans living on the land that became known as the Louisiana Purchase? So much to learn!There is a lot of material in the book, and it can be a little overwhelming at times. I found myself skimming certain sections and speed reading others. Perhaps if I had been more in the mood for a historical text, I would have taken my time. Regardless, it is a great read that's there for any lover of American history.
    • 4/5
      As a fan of narrative non-fiction, Julie Fenster’s book on the early explorers of America’s western territories did not disappoint. The book goes well beyond a discussion of the story with which we are most familiar, that of Jefferson’s decision to send Lewis and Clark to explore the portion of the Louisiana Purchase that would lead to a water route to the Pacific Ocean. She relates that part of the story with excellent storytelling and enriching detail—describing Lewis being chased into a river by a grizzly bear, or the affection Clark developed for “Pompie,” Sacagawea’s child—however, she gives equal time to the lesser-known explorations of Dunbar and Hunter on the Ouachita River, Freeman’s dangerous venture on the Red River, and Zebulon Pike’s exploration to the source of the Mississippi, and then a second expedition to the west by Pike to find the source of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. Pike’s unbending determination to keep going in the face of any hardship or adversity is particularly fascinating reading. Fenster does a good job of tying together the various expeditions and Jefferson’s intended political or diplomatic use of them in the days when the French, Spanish, and British still had an influential role to play in the Americas. There is a great deal of switching back and forth between the various stories in Fenster’s text which can make timelines or other elements of context a bit blurred. Some may find this distracting or confusing, but others may find it aids understanding of the “big picture” vision Jefferson had as disparate factors were at play to threaten American expansion into the region. Each of the expeditions covered could be a book by itself, but for someone wishing to have an overall understanding of Jefferson’s goals for exploration and settlement of the lands of the Louisiana Purchase, this title is an excellent source.
    • 4/5
      I have always been fascinated by the Lewis and Clark expedition and have read many books on the topic. This is the first time I have read information about Jefferson's other expeditions. It was fascinating. Jefferson was a complex man with many ambitions and he certainly changed the course of our history as a nation. While it does not read like a novel , it also did not get bogged down in details like a text book. I thought the author did a great job of keeping the story moving. This is a must read for any history buff that enjoys this period of our nations past. It seems to me that our students should be learning more about these early explorers.
    • 3/5
      Julie M. Fenster, who last profiled Knights of Columbus founder Father Michael McGivney here broadens her focus to the cast of adventurers, speculators and rogues that were sent by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the vast Louisiana Purchase.In doing so she considerably widens and deepens the general pool of knowledge about the Purchase, the four different nations (not counting Indian nations) making a claim to the land, their intrigues and how, eventually, the boundaries were drawn.Fenster is a good writer, conjuring up long dead and obscure characters like John Evans and sketching them with deft phrasing like "He was not the only explorer ... trying to hold the long reach of the Western horizon in the pocket of a city suit.''Or the people of Natchez, Miss., who under various flags including Spain's did their best to ignore the people supposedly in power and just carry on with their lives.An interesting topic, well-written.
    • 5/5
      I was sent an uncorrected proof copy of JEFFERSON’S AMERICA: THE PRESIDENT, THE PURCHASE AND THE EXPLORERS WHO TRANSFORMED A NATION by Julie M. Fenster, in exchange for an unbiased review. Ms. Fenster has written several works of American history and her attention to detail and exhaustive research is impressive.The book is fascinating - a living history experience. It is a very readable narrative and is enhanced by its access points: a map (Jefferson’s America, 1803-1804); introduction; table of contents (listing 22 chapters); acknowledgements; notes and bibliography. (I especially liked the notes/explanations of certain terms in the various chapters to be very helpful.)The ‘star’ of this book is the vast territory of the North American continent, specifically the area of the Louisiana Purchase. The geographical knowledge to be gained from this book is incredible. I often referred to the map and several North American atlases. I learned so much. The geographical information reinforced my knowledge that all early movement of peoples, travel, transportation, exploration and trade - all was due to the vast North American waterway system.Recurring themes and events of this book are:surveying; navigation, exploration; presidential politics; farming; the Louisiana Territory; diseases (smallpox, typhoid and malaria); the Lewis and Clark Expedition (based on the soundest navigational and scientific principles of the time); the Vincennes Tract (surveyed by Thomas Freeman); the Ouachita Expedition led by W. Dunbar and G. Hunter (the 1st government sponsored expedition/science project in the U.S. to get and present results and was the first of Jefferson’s expeditions to be completed - a victory in controlling territory west of the Mississippi); the Red River expedition; the great rivers - Missouri, Mississippi, Red, Columbia, Ouachita; Indian guidance and relationships c. early 1800s.The following personages appear throughout the book:Thomas Jefferson (as Secretary of State, Vice-President, President and member of the American Philosophical Society); William Dunbar; Meriwether Lewis; Thomas Freeman; Andrew Ellicott; Philip Nolan; William Clark and George Rogers Clark; Zebulon Pike; George Hunter; General James Wilkinson; Sacajawea; Peter Custis; Dehahuit (Caddo chief); John Evans; Aaron Burr.Facts that I found particularly interesting:Jefferson’s absolute belief that the Louisiana Territory should be open to development and commerce. His dedication to scientific discovery is admirable. His concept of the geopolitical use of exploration was very important. see page 126The Caddo chief, Dehahuit, who was positioned as an arbiter between his warring neighbors: Spain and America.The many Native American groups that I was not familiar with.Natchitoches - the last outpost of American protection.Huge logjams on the Red River called rafts.In 1801, Spain ceded the Louisiana Territory to France. Under Spain, African Americans, slave or not, had certain rights. Under French control, they did not.The constant ‘change of mind’ of the court of Spain on its territory.The different attitude and treatment of Native Americans and their culture - the Spanish, the French, the British, Americans - all different.The Lemhi Pass across the Continental Divide.The Lewis and Clark expedition (May 1804 - 1806).Chapter 22 - Men of Jefferson. One remark on page 367 was an emotionally accurate one. “The explorers gave the first generation born after the Revolution its own reflection: new heroes, many of them only in their twenties taking charge.” There was an outpouring of patriotism which propelled the new country forward.I gained so much knowledge from this book - geographical, political, and scientific. I would heartily recommend it.
    • 5/5
      Julie Fenster's new book 'Jefferson's America' fills very interesting niche in early American history. Everyone with even a smattering of American history education knows of the Louisiana Purchase and the exploits of Lewis & Clark.What Fenster does in her book, is to fill in this era with details largely lost in a typical American history survey course. For example, with the first mention of the Louisiana Purchase there is usually a map shown of the geography of the Purchase. However, when Jefferson paid $15M he and no one else knew the extent of the purchase. There simply was no knowledge or established boundaries. The establishment of the boundary between America and Spanish claims is the result of diplomatic maneuvers and gifted foresight of Jefferson to avoid a shooting war with Spain. The foresight that Jefferson had was to see a path for establishing American claims not by occupation with armed troops but rather through exploration. Fenster does an excellent job of illuminating this vision.It would have been easy to go over the well traveled ground of the Lewis & Clark expedition to excess. But, in 'Jefferson's America' the Lewis & Clark expedition is described in just enough detail to illustrate its position in the context of Jefferson's vision and diplomatic efforts.In addition, however, we also learn about several other expeditions equally as important but much lesser known. For example there is the expedition of William Dunbar and Dr. George Hunter up the Ouachita River. This less expansive and lesser known, never the less, provided Americans with their first scientific data and interaction with Native Americans in the territory.Jefferson also commissioned Lt. Zebulon Pike to explore the head waters of the Mississippi River (remember Lewis & Clark explored the Missouri River). During the same 3 year period, he also commissioned Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis to navigate the Red River with the expected direct confrontation with armed Spanish troops. The result of Freeman's trip was the establishment of the Red River as the boundary with Spanish territory.Swirling in the background of these expeditions of Jefferson is the intrigues of another character lesser known to most, General James Wilkinson. Wilkinson becomes a player because of his intrigues as a paid confident of the Spanish government at the same time as an American government official. 'Jefferson's America' doesn't do just to the complex Gen. Wilkinson. The reader is directed to the biography, 'An Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson' by Andro Linklater.Overall 'Jefferson's America' is an excellent book to fill in a short but important period in our history.