Thomas Jefferson held firmly to his principles and ideals but the practical reality of leadership forced Jefferson to make decisions for the best interest of the country. When Jefferson was elected adjustments had to be made to the economy and new acts had to be composed in an effort to the United States safe. Events would take place in America where Jefferson would have to determine if should follow his principles or abandon them in domestic affairs. Jefferson was a pacifist at heart, and did his best to keep the United States out of foreign conflicts and entangling. His ideals were peaceful but at points he would have to violate these ideals. Jefferson envisioned a land of agriculture and where government would have minimal power over …show more content…
The embargo also acted as economic coercion. By buying the Louisiana Purchase it doubled the size of America and it was the biggest bargain in American history averaging 3 cents per acre.
Events would take place in America where Jefferson would have to determine if he should follow his principles or abandon them in domestic affairs. The former federalist government had passed the Sedition and Alien act which went against republican principles. The sedition act that anyone who slandered the policies of the government officials or president would be liable to imprisonment this act was geared toward the republicans. As soon as Jefferson became president he pardoned all those who were serving under the Sedition Act. The Alien Act raised the residence requirements for aliens who wanted to become citizens from five to fourteen years, this law violated the republican policy of open-door hospitality and speedy assimilation. Jefferson returned the naturalization law to 5 years instead of 14 for immigrants. Otherwise Jefferson continued to keep the old Federalist principles he dismissed few federalist officials from government. With these mild reforms Jefferson showed that a change in government did not have to be catastrophic for the departing group. Jefferson also got rid of the excise tax, which he felt put an unnecessary burden on farmers. Jefferson had a fear of large armies because
Answer: Jefferson's presidency during the 1800 was a Revolution time, the countryside started to think the Federalist way. Contrary to federalists, Jefferson believed in strict interpretation of the constitution. In addition he supported a weak federal government over the previous stronger one. He also did not believe in a government owned bank. When Jefferson was president he established his administration opposite of Federalist policies, it’s where he showed a republic simplicity, he downsized military, cut government spending and limited social gathering at Washington City. Jefferson's vision of freedom for the nation was in the identity of a farmer owning and working his own land for the people and himself.
In the year of 1800, Jefferson ran for the second time averse to former president, John Adams but unlike the previous election, John Adams wins the presidency, Jefferson was able to defeat John Adams. The Adams lost the election due to passing the Alien and Sedition Acts, Considered unconstitutional laws because the Acts took away the first amendment, freedom of speech. Jefferson was a more promising choice as he promised to have a “Republican Revolution”, Jefferson promised to help the yeoman farmer and decrease the Federal debt the United States had at the time period. Jefferson’s presidency was to a certain extent a “Republican Revolution” and to a certain extent it was a Federalist Continuation.
Jefferson was the founder of the Democratic-Republic Party and believed in an agrarian society with strong local governments (i.e. a weak central government). He thought that the states should yield most of the power so that the citizens could control what happens to them
Thomas Jefferson was credited for being the draftsman of the Declaration of Independence, and was also the nation’s first secretary of state, second vice president, and was the third president of the United States. Jefferson’s legacy resides in his outspoken views on the liberties of the people, and his role in founding America was to recognize these liberties and ensure that the government would not infringe them. Born into an elite family, Jefferson attended William and Mary College, and then went on to practice law. However, it wasn’t until Great Britain began imposing major changes to American colonies, did Jefferson’s political career
Thomas Jefferson’s domestic policy was based principally on the organization of a new, limited federal government that concerned itself solely with current affairs, leaving state governments in control of responsibilities at home. His first order of business as President was the establishment of a “wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another” but should otherwise leave them alone to handle their own matters of business (567). Jefferson “favored
Jefferson’s core beliefs were to limit the size of the Federal Government. He was a Republican whose vision for America was an Agrarian utopia. Meaning he wanted small agriculture-centered communities to govern themselves as well as the nation. He wanted to stray away from the economic life of urban manufacturing that London was known for. When Jefferson won office, he began to limit Federal power by firing tax collectors, reducing the size of the military, including the navy. Even though Jefferson wanted an Agrarian Republic, he ended up working against himself and even expanded self-manufacturing, industry, small businesses, and even went as far as greatly increasing Federal power more
I identify with Jefferson because he works for the people. He focused on states’ rights because what may benefit New York might hurt Georgia. Our country has many different industries with the southern states being predominately agriculture and the northern states primarily manufacturing. An example of economic division would be the tariff of 1789. The tariff supported high duties on trade which protected the northern states manufacturing economy but cost the southern planters. The cargo that transported agricultural goods was taxed which became a burden on southern planters. Hamilton pushed for this tariff because he wanted to jump start the small industry in the north. Jefferson disagreed with Hamilton pointing out that tariffs should only be used to raise money for the government and not to create a private sector such as manufacturing. This relates to Jefferson believing in the “invisible hand” theory. That a free
Jefferson, as a Republican, believed in a society that distrusted the rich and that was run by farmer-citizens. He was a strong supported of not the upper class but, "the people". A defender of human liberty, Jefferson believed in a minimum of government and favored power at the local level. Jefferson also believed that if people were given the opportunity, they would be decent and reasonable. Jeffersons supporting party disagreed with many of the things that Hamilton and the Federalists proposed and passed as laws, including the idea of the national bank. Madison, in fact, argued on behalf of the Republicans that the federal government had no righ to establish a federal bank because it was not among the enumerated powers of Congress found in the Constitution. The Republicans also ignored the Naturalization Act, nor
As his presidency continued Jefferson began drifting further away from the original ideals of the Republican Party. His decisions no longer reflected a strict interpretation of the Constitution, but resembled the loose construction of the Constitution employed by the Federalists. When he made the decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory in 1803, effectively doubling the territory of the USA, he loosely interpreted the Constitution like that of a federalist by working around the Constitution. No where did the Constitution state that the president had the power to make such a purchase, but by using the “necessary and proper” clause as a loop pole he made the purchase. He went against his party doctrine of strict interpretation in order to expand American domain and to protect the US from the threat of a resurgent France. Another show of Republican movement away from being strict constructionist was when Jefferson passed The Embargo Act of 1807, which banned all foreign exports. Supported by Document C, the Embargo Act was extremely unpopular with the American public. No where in the listing of the presidential powers did it state that a law such as the Embargo Act could be passed. When Jefferson passed this Act,
He then believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution, and thought a federal bank was unconstitutional as well, although the Federalists wanted to interpret it loosely. Jefferson believed that the Constitution “delegated to the federal government certain definite powers, reserving, each state to itself…the right to their own self-government” (Doc. B). He did a total reversal on his beliefs on states’ rights, and thought the federal government should be more powerful, which distanced himself from his party. He enacted the Embargo Act of 1807 during his presidency. This is thought of as one of his worst decisions ever. Instead of declaring war, as he would have done during the 1790’s, Jefferson had the Embargo Act passed, which prevented the U.S. from trading with any foreign nation. However his stubbornness did not succeed however, the Embargo Act really hurt the American economy and American merchants more than either Britain or France. The hatred for this stubborn act of neutrality was so bad that the Federalist Circular claimed that the Embargo Act would “wrest the inestimable germ of…Independence from you” (Doc. E). The Embargo Act held a stricter grip on states than previously done by Jefferson. His change in policies also affected many of his people.
Even though Jefferson was very opposed to loose interpretation of the constitution and judicial expansion under John Marshal, he did discard his strict principles from time to time when it became necessary. “Self-preservation—the first law of nature and nations—took precedence over the constitutional limitations that he scrupulously observed in peacetime.” This is especially true in the case of the Louisiana Purchase. Americans were expanding westward and needed a port for transport on the Mississippi, so Spain allowed them to use New Orleans. In 1801 Louisiana was ceded to France by Spain. France was not as cooperative as Spain and closed the port of New Orleans to the U.S. Therefore, a sudden disruption in trade was a legitimate cause for tension between the U.S. and France, and many people believed that a war would break out if the Americans did not buy New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson himself thought troubles were
“Jefferson’s ideals came from a hypothetical yeoman farmer, whose hard labour on the land will offer the best judgment on the rights of people.” (Sturgis, pg 7) At times, Jefferson had made uncomfortable decisions that opposed his ideals and beliefs, such as the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon. This forced a removal of the
Upon reading and reviewing the text, I began to understand the Jeffersonian Era, and how it was different from the Early Republic Period. Also, why Jefferson was an important president during this era, and some of his problems. This highlights the troubles and triumphs the young country had as it began to shape its identity and place as a nation.
Thomas Jefferson, who led from 1801-1809, was an avid enthusiast of the common man and self government. He believed that the sole purpose of the government was to look out for and support the interests of
Thomas Jefferson was an agrarian soul who favored popular rule. He placed his trust in the land and the people who farmed it and desired that America would remain a nation of farmers. He emphasized liberty, democracy, and social welfare and believed that