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The student of political rather than of literary history is interested in
the administrations of John Adams (1797-1801), Thomas Jefferson
(1801-1809), and James Madison (1809-1817). The acquisition in 1803 of the
vast central territory, known as the Louisiana Purchase, affected the
entire subsequent development of the country and its literature. Thomas
Jefferson still exerts an influence on our literature and institutions; for
he championed the democratic, as opposed to the aristocratic, principle of
government. His belief in the capacity of the common people for progress
and self-government still helps to mold public opinion.
Next in importance to the victorious struggle of the Revolution and the
adoption of the Constitution, is the wonderful pioneer movement toward the
West. Francis A. Walker, in his _Making of the Nation, 1783-1817_, says:--
"During the period of thirty-four years covered by this narrative, a
movement had been in continuous progress for the westward extension of
population, which far transcended the limits of any of the great
migrations of mankind upon the older continents.... From 1790 to 1800,
the mean population of the period being about four and a half millions,
sixty-five thousand square miles were brought within the limits of
settlement; crossed with rude roads and bridges; built up with rude
houses and barns; much of it, also, cleared of primeval forests.
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