How Did Louisiana Purchase Change Their Views Of The Republicans And Federalists

In the onset of Jefferson's presidency Jeffersonian Republicans were characterized as strict interpreters of the Constitution. Jeffersonian Republicans strictly believed and obeyed what was clearly written in the Constitution. This characterization proved to be inaccurate later throughout Jefferson's presidency as he begins to lean toward a loose interpretation. Jefferson realized that government should be flexible and change with time, based on what best suits the nation (Doc. G). The Federalists lean toward a strict interpretation of the Constitution during Madison's presidency. Originally the Federalists were very lenient with respect to the federal Constitution. This characterization was also inaccurate during the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison. The Federalist party showed strict constructionist views when they required congress ⅔ in order to pass things such as admissions of states and declarations of war (Doc. E). In regards to the construction of roads and canals, Madison acts based on what is written in the Constitution (Doc. H). Madison's vetoing of the Internal Improvement Bill in 1817 showed that he believed that Internal Improvement by the federal government was unconstitutional. This is something that he would not have done originally based on his original ideals and federalists

During the time period of 1801 to 1817, there were multiple issues in the United States ranging from wars to political boundaries. This time period saw the termination of the Federalist party. The conflicts were between two parties called the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Federalist party was officially started by John Adams. John Adams was also a loose constructionist just like all the other Federalists. Federalists were in favor of a strong central government. On the other side, was Thomas Jefferson who was in office from 1801 to 1809. Jefferson started the Jeffersonian Republican party. The Jeffersonians were strict constructionists who believed in states rights. They said that anything that is not stated in

After the colonies gained independence, the founding fathers soon found that becoming a new independent nation was going to be a difficult task. The biggest task was deciding on the division of power in the government. This issue divided the people into two groups, the federalists and the Jeffersonian republicans. Alexander Hamilton led the federalists and Thomas Jefferson led the republicans. These two important men in history would later show how the challenges of becoming a new nation. In this essay I will be analyzing the ideas of Linda K. Kerber’s “The Fears of the Federalists,” to Drew R. McCoy’s “The Fears of the Jeffersonian Republicans.” Furthermore, comparisons will be made about both essays to gain a better understanding of the struggles of government in early America.

By 1817 the great American experiment was in full swing. America was developing into an effective democratic nation. However as the democracy continued to grow, two opposing political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Federalists saw it differently. They opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. The seemingly solid divide between Federalist and Republican would begin to blur during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. For, neither Republican president was able lead

Although Republicans preferred more power to the states, as President, Jefferson should have kept the county's best idea in mind and tried to keep the national government strong. Jefferson also comes across as very hypocritical in this letter by trying to dismantle the government he created and fought for during the drafting of the Constitution. In this letter, Jefferson is guilty of trying to allow his own vision for the country to come through rather than keeping the strict constructionist ideas of his party in mind and supporting the Constitution even if it called for a strong national government.

Conflicting views and contrasting ideologies have always existed throughout the history of United States politics. Alexander Hamilton, who led Federalist Party, believed that a powerful central government was necessary while Thomas Jefferson, who led the Jeffersonian Republican Party, favored an agrarian nation with most of the power left to the states. Although Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were similar in that they both harbored good intentions and tried to keep the best interests in mind for the future of the United States, their policies were drastically different. Without doubt, both of their contrasting ideas served a vital role in forming the government.

On the other hand, as the country advanced and refined, it became known that the fixed views of the two political parties needed to be reasonable if the nation were to expand. Jefferson made the first action toward reconciliation and moderation of his political outlook with the Federalists by contributing a sense of peace in his First Inaugural Address (Doc. 3). Jefferson declared, “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists,” signifying Americans are all in this society together and collectively make the world outstanding. Jefferson and his party had to further control their thinking when the chance to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France appeared in 1803 (Doc. 4). There was a lack of preparation in the Constitution for a president to buy more territory. However, the opportunity may have not continued to be accessible for a long amount of time, and Jefferson changed his own “strict construction” aspects and doubled the size of the United States.

Ever since declaring its independence from Britain, America has developed on the foundation of compromise. Upon the drafting of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers were succumbed to compromise in order to incorporate the needs of the different parts of the nation. During the early eighteenth century, Americans achieved reconciliation of political disputes, predominately between the North and the South, through compromise. By 1860 this was no longer feasible and the nation was faced with disheartening threats to its unity. Sectionalism in the Union was further increased. Tariffs were commonly accepted by one part of the nation and debated by the other. The economy of the North and South was becoming increasingly divergent- the North

President Thomas Jefferson faced many moral dilemmas during the process of deciding to purchase the territory, the moral predicaments that president Thomas Jefferson faced was going against the constitution, going in major debt to pay for the territory, and also faced many issues with foreign policy almost exclusively between the countries Spain and France. President Jefferson was put in a situation that no other leader of our young country had ever been in, and he stressed about breaking his own moral code to make the correct decision for his nation.

The early years of the Constitution of the United States were full of political strife. The two prominent political ideals were complete opposites. The Jeffersonian Republicans were focused on giving power to the people and maintaining a pastoral economy, while the Federalists supported the control of the government by the elite class, and maintaining “positive” democracy. Both parties feared the influence and effect the other party would have on the public. In Linda K. Kerber's article, “The Fears of the Federalists”, the major concerns Federalists held in the early 19th century are described. Ever since the war with and separation from England, the citizens of America were seen to be continually drive to “patriotic rebellion” as a way to

During the presidencies of Jefferson and Madison Jeffersonian republicans opted for a posse interpretation of the constitution and the Federalists believed in a more strict interpretation of the constitution. The reasons why Jeffersonian republicans have been seen as being so strict is because during the 1800′s, Jeffersonian Republicans believed that the authority of the Federal government was based on a strict constitution. This means that they believed what was stated in the constitution was to be strictly followed and there was little to no room for interpretations. The Federalists believed in a loose and broader interpretation of the constitution. They easily made decision that were not supported by the constitution which granted the government

The election of 1800 was a major event in the history of the United States of America. This elections marks the end of the Federalists as the leaders of this great newly independent small power. The Federalists had always wanted a strongly unified government and opposed having two political parties whereas the Republicans opposed giving too much power to the national government. Having for leader the great and venerated George Washington, the Federalists had a lot of influence; after all he is the first President of the United States and also became the commander of the U.S. Army under John Adams' presidency. The issue started when a cold war was happening with the French, the Federalists wanted a war against the French while the Republicans were against it.

Whose side would you have been on in the 1790s, Thomas Jefferson’s or Alexander Hamilton’s? Both of these men served under George Washington in the first presidential cabinet, yet they had very different views of what government should be (Davis 86). My objective in this research essay is to inform the reader of why there was so much controversy between these two founding fathers, and to determine which side had the better views for our newly forming country.

Though both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson served as members of President Washington’s cabinet, the two held very different views on the newly founded U.S. government, interpretation of its constitution, and the role of the “masses” in that government. These conflicting views would develop in two political parties, the Federalists led by Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson. Although both political parties presented enticing aspects, Hamilton’s views were much more reasonable and fruitful when compared Jefferson’s views; idealistic and too strict in reference to the constitution.

In 1801, Thomas Jefferson won the presidential election against his Federalist opponent John Adams and served the first of several terms dominated by Republicans in an era that became known as Jeffersonian Democracy. Before Jefferson took office, Republicans were considered as strict constructionists of the Constitution, following the founding document word by word in their leadership. The development of this Republican mindset, however, changed during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison as they discovered that they had to adopt some Federalist ideas to successfully run the United States. Throughout their administrations, Jefferson and Madison exercised their executive authority in both strict and loose interpretations of the Constitution to deal with economic issues, expansion of western lands, foreign relations, and distribution of power among the federal government and state governments. Although Jeffersonian Republicans were strict constructionists in aspects of states’ rights as Jefferson ended internal taxes placed by the federal government, Madison vetoed the Bonus Bill in 1817, and both opposed Adams’s Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, the two presidents were loose constructionists to a greater extent in terms of how they dealt with economic conditions through the acceptance the National Bank, western expansion through the Louisiana Purchase, and foreign affairs by the Embargo Act of 1807 in Jefferson’s