On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Burr went on trial in 1807 for a secret plot to seize Mexico from Spain. The plan could have divided the Union. But was he guilty as charged?

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Samuel Chase used the courtroom as a place to attack President Jefferson's policies. Vice President Aaron Burr led the trial as chief officer of the Senate.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: The French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte needed money for his war with Britain. He sold all the land drained by the Mississippi River and all its many streams for 80 million francs.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: The opposition Federalist Party warned that Thomas Jefferson’s financial program would crush the nation.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Thomas Jefferson offered the hand of peace and friendship to the Federalists in his inaugural address. Yet not one Federalist was in his government.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Thomas Jefferson became America's third president in 1801. He called for equal justice for all men no matter their religion, political beliefs or social class.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Thomas Jefferson defeated Aaron Burr. But it took three days of voting in the House of Representatives to settle on a winner.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Two major issues marked John Adams' presidency: foreign policy and the rights of citizens. At the same time, his Federalist Party was losing the support of the public.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: The election of 1796. Secret activities by Adams' top advisers helped destroy the Federalist Party -- and produce one of the most important periods in U.S. political history.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton disagreed about how the U.S. should be led. At times, their attacks in newspapers were personal.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: The Federalist Party supported policies that helped bankers and wealthy businessmen. The Republicans supported policies that helped farmers and small businessmen.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Alexander Hamilton believed a central bank would increase the flow of money and help the government negotiate loans and collect taxes. Not all agreed.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Hamilton wanted to make the United States a strong and important nation. He wanted it to become the equal of the powerful nations of Europe.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Many historians believe there would never have been a United States without George Washington.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: When the Constitution was written, a majority of the states already had their own bills of rights. So some delegates questioned the need for a national one.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: The long struggle to give the United States a strong central government was over. It took four months to write the Constitution. It took ten more months to ratify it.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: Many of the delegates at the convention in 1787 did not like all parts of the new document. Several even refused to sign it.

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: The constitutional convention agreed that states with bigger populations would have more members of Congress. But would slaves be counted in that population?

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: "Why," asked Benjamin Franklin, "do the small states think they will be swallowed if the big states have more representatives in the national legislature?"

On THE MAKING OF A NATION: For weeks, delegates at the constitutional convention in 1787 debated how states would be represented in a national government. In time, the "Great Compromise" was reached.