Jefferson out-federalized the federalists

Even when the United States was still smoothing out the wrinkles in its constitution it had an incredible tendency of getting itself involved in European affairs. This involvement helped to shape the country to become the way it is today. It united and divided the people of the United States, both economically and politically. The Louisiana Purchase, the Chesapeake Affair, the Embargo Act of 1807, the Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812 were all contributing factors to the early foreign policy in America.
In 1802, Jefferson received word that the Louisiana Territory had been transferred from Spain to France due to the Treaty of San Ildefonso. Jefferson did not like having the French occupy the vast territory to the West, and in fact he proclaimed that whoever occupied New Orleans was “our natural and habitual enemy”. After the revolt in Haiti, led by Toussaint L’Overture, convinced Napoleon that an empire in North America wasn’t worth the trouble, he offered to sell...