The American Presidency Chapter 3: Thomas Jefferson, a hetalia - axis powers fanfic

So, today my 'This Day in History' calender said that today in 1803 Jefferson asked Congress for the budget for the Lewis and Clark expedition and I figured 'hey why don't I finish this?' so I did.

I seemed to have made it more about America exploring the West than I did about Jefferson though, and I also carried away with it too much. Oops. And I apologize in advance for the fail!French accent.

I'm going to have a field day when we get to 1812...

Enjoy.

Jefferson and America went way back, after all, the guy wrote the Declaration of Independence for him and everything. He also got to know him as Vice President, so it wasn't all that shocking when his first actions as President of the United States was to attempt to get rid of everything the previous guy did.

Decreasing the military and completely scraping the Navy caused the young nation to raise an eyebrow, but Jefferson explained that it was eating up the republic's resources and besides, if they ever were attacked then citizen soldiers would be able to do the job just like they did during the revolution. He did, however create a Military Academy at West Point and the Army Corps of Engineers, because every army needs good leaders, so America figured it was fine.

Because of things like that, the Federalists were losing power, while the Republicans were starting to split, but America wasn't really paying attention to that, as he spent most of his time away from home.

"America," Jefferson had asked him one day, "I need you to go talk to France. You can take Monroe and Livingston with you if you want."

"But France is busy fighting with something. He probably won't talk to me."

"It's not about talking. Remember the Louisiana Territory?"

"You mean the giant piece of not-me out West?"

"The very same. I think it's about time you grew a little, if you know what I'm saying."

"I don't think France is just going to give me Louisiana that easily…"

"He's almost broke right now, so I'm sure we can buy it off him. Besides just picture it! The untamed west, a frontier of opportunities! Who knows what could be out there, waiting to be found!"

It did sound very appealing, and the whole doubling in size thing was always a plus, so the next day America, James Madison, and Robert Livingston boarded a ship heading for Paris.

"You want what now?" Napoleon was apparently busy with some stuff, but France and some other French guy named Talleyrand agreed to meet with them.

"The Louisiana Territory," America stated. "See I figured you're not using it and I want it and you're broke so you'd sell."

France and the representative gave each other a look that the younger nation couldn't interpret before France wrote a number on a piece of paper and slid it across the table to the Americans.

"Zat amount will suffice for us." America opened the paper with Madison and Livingston looking over his shoulder to reveal the number 15,000,000.

"Is this in dollars or francs?" America was too busying gawking at the possibility that this might actually happen to figure out who asked that, but he thought it was Livingston.

"Dollars, of course," someone with a French accent replied. "We can't trust Americans to be able to deal in any other currency."

America figured he probably should have been insulted, but right now he didn't care. "We'd like to accept the offer-"

"But," Madison interrupted, "we should check with Congress first."

The nation was disappointed, but realized the sense in what he said. He wasn't sure if Jefferson even had the constitutional power to buy land.

"Very well, you may take your time," France leaned back and took a sip of wine. "'Owever, I 'ear Angleterre iz looking for some more territory on ze American continent…"

The three Americans looked at each other and gave a slight nod before turning back to their French hosts.

"France, I believe we have a deal."

"This is so exciting!" America practically squealed when he was back in Washington.

"I know." Jefferson was as excited as he was, but he managed to keep himself better composed about it. "We just managed to double in size! There's practically nothing stopping us from going all the way to the Pacific at this rate!"

"Well, maybe a little. No one knows what's out there after all."

"Not to worry. You know Meriwether Lewis, right?"

"Um," America searched his memory (Jefferson was bringing in so many new people) before a face did pop into his mind, "Yeah kinda."

"Well he and William Clark are going to lead an expedition in order to map out the area and see who or what is there. Isn't that great?"

"Oh. Yeah. Really great." The young nation immediately turned away from his boss.

"…is something wrong?"

"No no, it's fine. We need to know what's there so we should send people. It's fine."

"Alfred," the use of his human name caused the blonde to look up, "Lewis talked to me this morning. Apparently one of the men backed out. Do you want to join the expedition?"

His blue eyes lit up instantaneously. "Can I? Really?"

Jefferson chuckled at his enthusiasm. "Yes you can go. Lewis is in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania right now, getting a boat, so you can meet him there. Clark will join you at Clarksville, Indiana, and from there you'll just keep heading west."

America pulled the man into a giant bear hug. "Thank you thank you thank you! But will it be alright? I mean, me being away for so long…"

"Well my re-election's pretty secure,"

"I wasn't talking about that…"

He chuckled while pulling away from the nation. "I know. But still, right now we need to know what's out there, so even if you're away for a bit, it should be fine."

America nodded, grinning like a maniac. "I wonder what I should pack…"

"You need to write to me though. Every day."

"But it won't get to you for like a month. And I don't think the post gets all the way out there, so you might just get like a hundred letters one day and then not hear anything for another month."

"Well I need to make sure you're not eaten by a buffalo or something."

"I'm pretty sure they only eat grass. Oh, I get it," his smile became more teasing, "you're worried about me!"

"No. Well, maybe. What will happen to this country if you drop dead out there?"

"It's going to take more than some untamed wilderness to finish me off. Don't worry Tommy, I'll be fine."

"Don't call me Tommy," he sighed, "I suppose you will be though. But you still need to write."

"Sure, I'll tell you all about the epic adventures I'll face!"

"Try to get some science and topography in there too, please…"

August 31, 1803

Dear Tommy,

Finally left Elizabeth. It shouldn't take so long to build a boat. If they let me help it could've got done faster, but for some reason they wanted to do it themselves.

Lewis seems like a nice guy. Well, I knew that before, but that was more in boring government terms. Now that we're going out to the unknown together, it's more in adventure buddy terms. I wonder what Clark's like…

We just passed Pittsburg, and I should probably mention we're on the Monongahela River now.

October 13, 1803

Dear Tommy,

Made it to Indiana and met up with Clark. He's a pretty good guy too. You've picked a good team, so congrats for that.

Would report more, but there's nothing to report.

December 12, 1803

Dear Tommy,

Last night we made a camp on someplace called Gabaret Island just north of St. Louis. The sky was clear so we were able to see all of the stars so clearly. Lewis says that we should be able to see them even clearer the farther west we go.

We're supposed to reach the eastern bank of the Mississippi bank tomorrow. I wish we could just get out there already…

May 14, 1804

Dear Tommy,

Yeah sorry about not writing, just there was nothing to write home about. We've been stuck in Camp Dubois all winter, but we finally set out today. We'll be stopping in St. Charles, Missouri in a few days.

Pacific Coast here we come!

May 25, 1804

Dear Tommy,

Passed La Charrette today. Now we enter the real unknown.

We passed by Boone's Settlement the other day, but he wasn't there and Clark said that we had to keep moving.

Lewis says we should reach the Osage River by June. I hope he's right.

June 12, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We met some trappers today. One of them, Pierre Dorion apparently knew Clark's brother, so he agreed to return to the Sioux camp with us and be our interpreter. I wonder if I should tell them who I am?

June 29, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We reached Kaw Point a few days ago, which was really awesome, but the excitement didn't last very long.

Last night Collins broke into the supplies and got drunk. Hall heard him, but ended up just having a drink instead, so we had our first trial in the new territory. Collins got 100 lashes while Hall got 50.

Hopefully there will be happier stories up ahead.

July 4, 1804

Dear Tommy,

Happy Independence Day! Although it's going to be long over by the time you get this…

We had a huge party since it's my birthday, but fireworks are hard to come by out here in Independence Creek (like the name? It was my idea) so he had to do without them.

Lewis's and Clark's birthdays are in August. I wonder if I should get them something...

July 21, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We reached the Platte River today. Lewis says that we're now about 640 miles away from St. Louis. I didn't realize we'd gotten that far, but he says we've still got a ways to go before we reach the Pacific.

We're entering the Sioux territory now. I hope they don't hate me…

August 3, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We had our first official council today! The Oto and Missouri Indians showed up and we were able to hand out medals and exchange gifts and stuff. It was so much fun!

Reed said he left his knife back at one of the camps, so he's going to go back tomorrow. He says he'll catch up with us later, but you'll probably see him again before I do.

August 20, 1804

Dear Tommy,

Floyd died today. Apparently his appendix exploded or something, Lewis was trying to explain it to me but I didn't really get it.

I hope we don't lose anyone else. I don't think I can stand it.

August 30, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We had a friendly council with the Yakton Sioux today. A baby was born too, so Lewis wrapped it in a flag and declared it 'an American.' It was so cool you should have been there*.

Field managed to kill a bison last week. It was huge, but I could've eaten it by myself. Gass was elected to Sergeant a few days ago, so we had the first election on this side of the Mississippi.

Did you get any of our stuff yet?

September 7, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We found a prairie dog! At least that's what we're calling it. It's really cool. It was hard to catch though because it kept hiding underground whenever we got close. Reminds me of Italy for some reason…

We ended up catching it by pouring water on it. You should see. Actually, you will see it. We're sending it back to you. Surprise! Did you get it yet?

I saw this weird prairie goat thing too. I'll try to send it back to you if we catch it, but Clark says it's too damn big.

September 29, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We had an eventful week. First we met up with these Lakota Sioux who demanded one of the boats as toll in order to move up the river. I was ready to fight it out, but Lewis stopped me and reminded me that this was supposed to be a peaceful mission.

Later we met with the Teton Sioux. We exchanged gifts and stuff but we had some communication problems. We invited the chiefs back on the keelboats for some whiskey but they ended up getting drunk. We actually did have two armed confrontations with the Sioux, but I promise it wasn't my fault. Mostly. No one got hurt though.

It gets cold pretty fast out here.

October 11, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We passed the Grand River where the Arikara Indians live and we met this one trader who's been living with them for 13 years! Can you believe that?

In another village we ran into this other trader from Quebec, but he doesn't know Matt. I should stop assuming all Canadians know who he is.

October 26, 1804

Dear Tommy,

We reached the Mandans and Hidatsas villages the other day. The Captains agreed to build Fort Mandan across the river and stay there for the winter. I don't really want to stop but it has been getting really cold lately.

In other news we've hired Rene Jessaume, who's lived with the Mandan for over 10 years, as our interpreter. Go us.

Time to start building that fort…

November 4, 1804

Dear Tommy,

You probably won't hear from me again until next year 'cause we're stuck here all winter.

Today we met this French-Canadian (who doesn't know Francis or Matt) trapper named Toussaint Charbonneu who's living among the Hidatsas with his two wives, Sacagawea and Little Otter. He and Sacagawea agreed to come with us, despite her pregnancy. It might not matter though, because we're not leaving until spring.

Staying here might not be so bad though.

February 11, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Sacagawea gave birth today. She let Lewis and me help with the delivery, even though I'm not sure I did much. Lewis ended up using crushed rattlesnake's rattles from his stock that he's being keeping to help speed the delivery up. Sounds crazy but it worked. We're out of rattlesnake rattles though.

The baby's name is Jean Baptiste, and he's so cute. I call him Pompy though. He and his mom are sleeping now but I'm keeping an eye on them.

April 7, 1805

Dear Tommy,

It's finally warm enough to head out again, so we left Fort Mandan with six canoes and two pirogues. Clark says we might end up visiting it on the way back though.

Pompy seems to have taken a liking to me. He spends almost as much time with me as he does his mom. Sacagawea doesn't mind at all and she lets me watch the kid as long as I'm not doing anything too dangerous. I think Clark is jealous.

Howard got a letter from his wife today. You're probably too busy to write to me though. Not that I'm implying you're my wife or anything.

April 25, 1805

Dear Tommy,

We reached the Yellowstone River finally. Field and I went up river a bit to do some scouting and we saw a big horned sheep. We brought back its horns and are sending them to you. Did you get them yet?

Lewis thinks the area might be good to build some forts, but we don't have time to build them now.

May 14, 1805

Dear Tommy,

There was a storm today and it tipped one of the pirogues that were carrying our supplies, including Lewis's and Clark's journals. They would have been lost forever, but Sacagawea and I managed to jump in and save most of it.

The water out here is surprisingly cold. I should probably go out by the fire.

April 29, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Lewis and I went out hunting today and we managed to kill a grizzly bear. It's the first one we've managed to kill so far, but we can't send it to you because we are going to eat it.

A few days ago we entered a new space of land that I wanted to call Montana, but Clark says I shouldn't just randomly name spaces of land. Even if it's technically mine now.

May 8, 1805

Dear Tommy,

We found a river made of milk! Well, it's not really made of milk, but it looks like it is, so we called it Milk River. The natives call it "a river which scolds all others."

Pompy and I went out exploring the woods when we stopped the other day. We found a baby bear and where playing with it for a bit until it's mom showed up and chased us away. Sacagawea wasn't too happy about that. Mom's can be so touchy.

June 3, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Made it to the Marias River and set up Camp Deposit. The Missouri forks here, but since no one told us about the Marias, we don't know which one is the Missouri so some of us went up the north fork while the others tried the south one. Most of us thought the Missouri went north, but the Captain's thought it went south, so that's where we went.

June 14, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Yesterday Lewis and I went scouting ahead for a bit and found the Great Falls. They were huge so we're positive that they couldn't be anything else. This means we're on the right track.

Lewis hasn't been having a very good day. While we were out exploring the north side of the river, he got attacked by a bear, a tigercat, and some bison. I'm still not sure what he did to upset them, as they didn't seem to mind me petting them so much…

And now he just got attacked by a rattlesnake. I didn't know he could scream like a girl.

June 20, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Arrived at the Falls today. Clark took me to survey the route and we found this giant fountain. Seriously, it was huge. Clark named it Giant Springs, but I probably could have come up with something better.

We'll probably have to stop here to repair the boats, but I don't want to when we're this close.

July 14, 1805

Dear Tommy,

We spent the end of last month building this iron framed boat, but it leaked after one tiny rain storm, so we've spent most of this month trying to build some boats that actually work. It's ridiculous how long this is taking. I swear I'm going to master boat-building until I can build a battleship in a day.

Since they won't let me help, Pompy and I have been exploring the area around the Falls. We mostly just found some animals (none tried to eat us) but there were some pretty neat rocks too.

They finished the boats now. We'll be leaving tomorrow.

August 12, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Yesterday Lewis saw the first Indians since leaving Fort Mandan, so we should be meeting the Shoshones any day now.

Lewis and I did some scouting and we ended up crossing the Continental Divide. He also says we're about 2,464 miles away from the mouth of the Missouri River, to give you some perspective on where I am.

August 17, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Been at Camp Fortunate for a few days. We had a council meeting with the Shoshone today. Apparently the tribal leader, Cameahwait, is Sacagawea's brother. Who knew?

We'll need horses to get of the Rocky Mountains, so Lewis and Clark have been negotiating for them. You should see these mountains, they're so huge! They're like twice the size of the Appalachians. Probably more.

I was feeding this one horse earlier with Pompy. I hope I can get that one.

August 26, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Officially crossed the Continental Divide today at some place called Lehmi Pass. Now in Oregon Territory.

I hope I don't run into England…

September 4, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Met the Flatheads today at Ross's Hole. They sold us some more horses and seemed like pretty nice people. They didn't attack us anyway.

It's getting colder and we're starting to run low on food, but maybe that's just because we're crossing the mountains.

September 13, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Finally crossed the Lolo trail. Ran out of food. Had to eat some of the horses, among other things.

So hungry…

October 9, 1805

Dear Tommy,

Met the Nez Perce Indians on Clearwater the other day. We have to leave the horses behind now and build some more canoes, but we're almost there. I can taste the ocean air we're that close.

Sacagawea says that just after the Clearwater and Snake River we'll get on the Columbia River and that will take us straight to the Pacific. I don't know where these rivers are, so I just smile and nod.

We'll definitely be there before the year is out though.

November 24, 1805

Dear Tommy,

We did it! We're here! The Pacific Ocean! Actually we got here on the 20th, but I've been too busy playing in the ocean with Pompy and the others to write to you about it. Sorry about that.

We've been debating where to set up camp for the winter and it ended up going to a vote. Everyone was allowed to vote, well, not Pompy, he doesn't even know what's going on yet, but everyone else was. We ended up deciding on the south side of the Columbia River.

We'll probably start building Fort Clatsop soon.

March 23, 1806

Dear Tommy,

Leaving the Ocean and heading East.

See you soon.

May 14, 1806

Dear Tommy,

Stopped at Camp Chopunnish to get ready to cross back over the mountains, but they're still covered in snow. No kidding. It probably won't be gone until June.

The Captains are taking this time to prepare for the journey home, and it looks like they're planning on splitting up at some point. I don't know who I'll be going with though.

I miss the ocean, though I wonder what's going on in Washington. You're not in too much trouble without me right?

June 20, 1806

Dear Tommy,

Mountains still cold, even in June. Much easier time going east.

July 3, 1806

Dear Tommy,

Well, today we split into two groups. Lewis is taking one group up the Blackfoot River and back to the Great Falls while Clark's group will go up the Bitterroot River and explore Yellowstone. They let me chose which way I would go so I'm going with Clark because I've already seen the Falls. Sacagawea and Pompy are coming with us too, but it's mostly for the adventure.

I'm sure Lewis's group will be fine, but I can't help but worry about them.

July 6, 1806

Dear Tommy,

We crossed the Continental Divide again, this time at a place called Gibbons Pass.

Pompy and I are happy to be back home.

July 8, 1806

Dear Tommy,

We made it back to Camp Fortunate today and dug up a cache that we left there last year which was pretty cool. I don't smoke, but everyone else was excited about the tobacco.

In a few days Ordway is planning on going up the Missouri to meet up with Lewis's group. I hope they haven't gotten into too much trouble...

July 25, 1806

Dear Tommy,

Since I'm heading back east, these letters should be taking less time to reach you right?

Anyway, today Clark and I discovered this pillar made of sandstone above the Yellowstone River. It had all of these petroglyphs on it and now I guess Clark's signature too cause he felt the need to sign it. We climbed up it to get a better view of the area.

I decided to call it 'Pompy's Tower' because he face just lit up when we found it.

August 8, 1806

Dear Tommy,

We're back at the meeting of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Can't go any further cause our horses were stolen. Making boats now.

Probably meeting with the others soon.

August 12, 1806

Dear Tommy,

Met up with Lewis's group today. Apparently the Blackfeet Indians tried to steal some of their weapons and they had a shoot out. None of our guys got hit, but two Indians were killed. Somebody also shot Lewis yesterday. It was an accident and he's fine, but still.

Sacagawea says we'll be back at Mandan Village in a few days. I'll spend as much time with her and Pompy as I can before they have to go home.

August 14, 1806

Dear Tommy,

Back at Mandan. Saying goodbye to Sacagawea and Pompy before heading back to St. Louis tomorrow. She said she knew who I was the whole time, despite the fact that I didn't tell her, and wished me luck and said I could come and visit them whenever I wanted.

I'll take them up on that offer.

September 23, 1806

Dear Tommy,

Back in St. Louis. See you in a few days.

"Sounds like you had a fun trip," Jefferson stated as the young nation walked in the office.

"Did you get my letters?"

"Yes, but I remember telling you to put some analysis into them…"

"Everyone else was already doing that, so what's the point? Anyway, what did I miss?"

"Not much. Hamilton lost a duel with Burr, so he's dead now. You no longer have to pay the Barbary States. Oh, and England is seizing our ships and impressing our sailors, but really, not much."

"Oh that's…wait what?"

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States. He was also the first Secretary of State and the second Vice President. His terms are mostly noted for the Marbury vs. Madison Supreme Court case, which established Judicial Review, and the Louisiana Purchase. He left office on a sour note with the Embargo Act, which cut off all trade with Britain and France and ended up promoted smuggling.

*This was actually just a legend.

And Angleterre is French for England.