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Timeline of the Thomas Jefferson presidency

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Timeline of the Thomas Jefferson presidency (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

Nominator(s): Thebiguglyalien (talk) 03:07, 14 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Major events from his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase, the First Barbary War, and the Burr conspiracy. This list follows the same format of my previous FL, Timeline of the John Adams presidency. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 03:07, 14 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from Bgsu98 (5/17/26)

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I enjoyed reading this article! I have following comments:

  • Unless something noteworthy happened en route, the repetitive entries about Jefferson traveling to and from Monticello seem very unnecessary.
May 1801
  • "Jefferson appoints William C. C. Claiborne as governor of the Mississippi Territory."
June 1801
  • You mention Jefferson traveling to Mount Vernon to express his condolences to Martha Washington. I assume this is after the death of George Washington. That is a noteable enough event to include in the timeline on its own. I just looked, and it appears Washington died while Adams was still in office. Therefore, I would add a note to this entry about visiting Martha Washington mentioning when and under what circumstances George Washington died.
  • Is there an appropriate wikilink for "collector of customs"?
  • Is there an appropriate wikilink for "USS Enterprise" (that is not a spaceship 😉)?
July 1801
  • Ditto for these other ships.
  • A brief explanation as to what the Convention of 1800 is would be useful, even if offset with en-dashes.
August 1801
  • You have the USS Enterprise wikilinked here, when it should be linked at its first mention above.
September 1801
  • Jefferson's arrival in Washington does not seem to be noteworthy.
November 1801
  • There has to be a wikilink for postmaster general.
January 1802
  • "a commission rules that the United States owes ÂŁ600,000 equivalent to $66,720,000 in 2024)" --> I think there is an open parenthesis missing.
  • Same as above, I would include a brief mention as to why establishing the Library of Congress is significant (ie. it is the national library of the United States).
March 1802
  • What is the Midnight Judges Act? Readers shouldn't have to navigate away from the article in order to understand the full context. Even something like "The Midnight Judges Act – an act passed in 1801 that blah, blah, blah... – is repealed. Also, how? Repealed by Congress? By the Supreme Court?
April 1802
  • You shift from present to past tense in the entry for April 14.
  • The image caption is written in past tense, whereas the prose mostly uses the present.
  • Is there a wikilink for the USS Constellation?
May 1802
  • You have "its mayor" in the wikilink, when I would just go with "mayor" (ie. leave the "its" outside the wikilink).
July 1802
  • There have to be wikilinks for the U.S. Military Academy and West Point.
  • Ditto for the USS Adams.
October 1802
  • What is the "intendent of New Orleans"?
November 1802
  • Wikilink Northwest Territory
July 1803
  • "Congress will reject the amendment in October but authorize the purchase." When?
August 1803
  • "Jefferson receives news that France was expressing reluctance in the Louisiana Purchase." --> What does this mean?
  • The phrase is "en route".
October 1803
  • Wikilink USS Philadelphia.
November 1803
  • How is Spanish transferring Louisiana to France if France already sold it to the U.S.?
December 1803
  • What is the Bankruptcy Act of 1800?
  • "...is appointed governor of the Orleans Territory."
January 1804
  • "The Senate ratifies a treaty with Spain to resolve financial disputes. The convention had was originally been signed in August 1802 and it would will not be ratified by Spain until July 1818." --> Since the base of this sentence is the present tense, the resultant verbs should be in the past and future tenses, as indicated.
February 1804
  • You have USS Philadelphia wikilinked here, when it should have been wikilinked earlier at its first mention.
April 1805
  • The Red River Expedition is missing a date.
  • "He ends his cordial relationship with Burr in the following week when he learns Burr is challenging the legitimacy of Jefferson's election in 1801."
May 1805
  • "May – Jefferson appoints Robert Williams as governor of the Mississippi Territory." --> This is also missing a date.
  • "Commodore James Barron informs Hamet Karamanli that the United States will stop supplying him outside of naval support." --> What does this mean? Supplying him what?
July 1805
  • "Jefferson appoints James Wilkinson as governor of the Louisiana Territory."
December 1805
  • "He delivers a second message to Congress secretly to inform them he is negotiating additional territorial acquisitions with France and needs funding."
  • "James Wilkinson is confirmed as governor of the Louisiana Territory."
March 1806
  • "Congress authorizes a commission to plan the Cumberland Road from Cumberland, Maryland, to Weeling, Virginia (present-day West Virginia) to assist with transportation to and from the Ohio River."
April 1806
  • Non-importation Act --> Importation should also be capitalized.
  • "The HMS Leander fires a warning shot at American shipping vessels..." --> I don't think the "The" is needed.
August 1806
  • "James Wilkinson leaves the Louisiana Territory on Jefferson's orders."
November 1806
  • "The Pike Expedition reaches the mountain that will eventually be named Pikes Peak in Pike's honor." --> That part seems unnecessary.
  • "Worrying that Burr is going to invade and annex Spanish territory, Jefferson issues a proclamation warning the American people not to participate."
January 1807
  • "Jefferson receives a message from Wilkinson. It includes what are ostensibly incriminating writings by Burr. It is never determined whether they were genuine or fraudulent."
March 1807
  • I have seen different spellings of Meriwether on this timeline.
September 1807
  • What is Burr's misdemeanor charge for?
November 1807
  • "Baltimore sees protests against Burr." --> What does this mean?

User:Thebiguglyalien: I have examined the entire article. My biggest suggestions are:

  1. Removal of any non-consequential mentions of Jefferson's travel to and from Monticello.
  2. Brief explanations (like, one sentence each) for certain pieces of legislation, treaties, or court cases that are mentioned, so that a reader does not have to navigate elsewhere to figure out the gist of what is goine on.

Please let me know once you have had a chance to examine my comments! Bgsu98 (Talk) 00:20, 18 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Bgsu98:
    • I've made all of the suggested grammar fixes, added the explanatory notes, and linked each item on its first appearance.
  • I think it's good to have the timeline show when Jefferson and Congress were in Washington, since it explains when they are and aren't active. I've removed the duplication though where it gives his departure and arrival each time.
  • None of the overview sources provide an exact start date for the Red River Expedition. Do you think this means it's just undue?
  • I've removed "misdemeanor" so it just says treason, that's the part that actually matters.
Thebiguglyalien (talk) 22:03, 20 May 2026 (UTC)[reply]

This is a very long article – he was a two-term president; of course it's going to be – so I'm going to read through it again to see if anything else stands out.

March 1801
  • You could consider wikilinking [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]]. Also, Cabinet appears to be capitalized.
  • "lifting the requirement that houses by made of brick or stone" --> should be "house be made"
May 1801
June 1801
  • I would clarify that Martha Washington's husband was George Washington, the first U.S. president.
  • "Reportedly, she later describes her interaction with Jefferson as painful." --> This seems unnecessary and out of place, and seems to be more about Martha Washington than Thomas Jefferson.
November 1801
  • Recommend wikilinking postmaster general unless it has already been linked previously (which is possible).
December 1801
  • You might clarify what year Wilson delivered his SOU in person, just to emphasize the vast amount of time that the SOU had been delivered in writing.
April 1802
  • "It also allows citizenship for anyone under 21 when their parents became naturalized citizenship." --> This phrasing is a little unclear. Is it retroactive? If so, perhaps "It also allows citizenship for anyone who was under 21 when their parents became naturalized citizens". If it is not retroactive, then it would be "It also allows citizenship for anyone under 21 when their parents become naturalized citizens". --> Also note the incorrect use of citizenship v. citizen.
February 1803
  • Prosecuted for what?
March 1803
  • What is significant about Stuart v. Laird?
August 1803
  • "Meriwether Lewis begins traveling from Pittsburgh en route to join William Clark as co-leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition." --> The "en route" is out of place and unneeded.
March 1804
  • "The Land Act of 1804 reduced the lower limit..." --> That should be "reduces".
June 1804
  • "Former consul Richard Henry O'Brien is sent to negotiate with Tripoli and offer $60,000..." --> That should be either "to offer" or "offers".
July 1805
  • "amid rumors that he intents to form his own country" --> That should be "intends".
  • " John Rodgers and demands that Tunisian leader Hammuda ibn Ali declare Tunis will not seek war with the United States." --> Something about the wording in italics is off. Perhaps "confirm that"?

User:Thebiguglyalien: Please let me know when you've had a chance to examine my comments. Bgsu98 (Talk) 16:11, 10 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Bgsu98, everything should be fixed now. I removed a couple of the minor items where the source simply mentioned they happened as part of a timeline without any explanation of the significance. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 05:23, 16 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Just make sure that "Cabinet" is capitalized at every use. Bgsu98 (Talk) 07:16, 16 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]

Comments

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  • "and the resulting dispute led to the landmark Supreme Court ruling" - I think "and the resulting dispute led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling" would be better
  • "the requirement that houses by made of brick or stone" - "by" should be "be"
  • "express condolences to Martha Washington after the earlier death of her husband" - I am going to guess that her husband was George Washington, but I don't think you can assume that readers, especially non-US readers, will know this without context
  • "It determines that Judiciary Act of 1789" => "It determines that the Judiciary Act of 1789"
  • "Jefferson avoid making public comment" => "Jefferson avoids making public comment"
  • That's what I got as far as the end of 1804. I'll come back and look at the rest later..... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 07:25, 3 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]
More comments
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  • "John Rodgers and demands that" - there seems to be at least one word missing there
  • "Francisco de Miranda arrives in Washington." - maybe give some context as to who this guy was
  • That's what I got up to the end of 1806 -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 07:59, 9 June 2026 (UTC)[reply]
Even more comments
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