Essay on Jefferson's Actions During His Presidency

Though the Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, the President had incorporated a great deal of territory into the Union. Jefferson was not expecting this territory, though he authorized its purchase. As a result, this purchase was unconstitutional because Jefferson did not have the right to ratify the purchase, the House and the Senate did. Even though the House and Senate could not resist this opportunity for such land gain, Jefferson had exemplified Federalist ideals by giving great power to the

Thomas Jefferson once wrote that all men were created equal; however, he owned and sold slaves for profit. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, ran for election in 1800 and started the Jeffersonian Revolution with his election. Jefferson was a Republican who won the office from the previous Federalist president, John Adams. With his fresh presidency, Jefferson sought out to further limit the Federal Governments power and to give more democracy to the people. Jefferson believed in many things as a Republican and as a human, but his life-time and presidency oftentimes portrayed the opposite of his founding beliefs. These contradictions that Jefferson illustrated during his years showed a representation of not only American history, but even what it means to be human.

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

Thomas Jefferson was the third American President. Due to the fact that he was such an early President, he influenced our political system greatly, both in the short and long term with his seemingly quiet approach to congressional matters. During his presidency, many things happened that changed the United States as we know it. He coordinated the Louisiana Purchase, assisted in implementing the twelfth amendment, formed the character of the modern American President, and cut the U.S.’s war debt by a third.

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

Most importantly, Thomas Jefferson deeply contradicted his views on land expansion and violated his policy on following the constitution completely. A prime example of this was the Louisiana Purchase, in which Napoleon offered Jefferson the opportunity to purchase all of France's American territory for only $15 million, doubling the physical size of the nation. The French needed the money to fight a war with the British, and Jefferson wanted the mouth of the Mississippi River for America. So, Jefferson "gave the Constitution a close reading" to seek authorization for such a move. Failing to find any, he decided to unconstitutionally take the offer anyway (Doc C). This clearly violated his previous views on such an issue. However, it is obvious that Jefferson made the right decision in the matter, and the American people should be very grateful for Jefferson's

He is best remembered as a great president and as the author of the Declaration of Independence. He also won lasting fame as a diplomat, a political thinker, and a founder of the Democratic Party. Jefferson's interests and talents covered an amazing range. He became one of the leading American architects of his time and designed the Virginia Capitol, the University of Virginia, and his own home, Monticello. He greatly appreciated art and music and tried to encourage their advancement in the United States. He arranged for the famous French sculptor Jean Houdon to come to America to make a statue of George Washington. Jefferson also posed for Houdon and for the famous American portrait painter Gilbert Stuart.

During the last decade of the eighteenth century, the Federalists were in control of the country and its policies. They passed laws to make a strong central government and some of them even desired for there to be a kind of landowner aristocracy. Their power soon began to erode from within as different factions headed by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton greatly weakened the party's effectiveness and power. They alienated themselves in the eyes of the population by passing the Alien and Sedition acts. This led to the election of Thomas Jefferson as president in 1800, who described his election as a second revolution. Jefferson and his supporters were now able to try to bring about their dream of making America an agrarian republic of small

     Joseph J. Ellis, a historian who was educated at the College of William and Mary and Yale, is a Ford Foundation Professor of History at Mount Holyoke University. He has written four books on historical topics, centered on the time Jefferson was alive, dealing with issues and personalities Jefferson dealt with firsthand. After authoring a book on a politician such as John Adams, Ellis seems to have felt a need or want to focus on Jefferson, presumably because of his status as founding father and main contributor to the constitution.

Thomas Jefferson's ideals and beliefs were derived from a deep regard for life, liberty, and freedom. His concept of individual freedoms strongly disagreed with the notion of a "guided republic" which he believed concentrated a great deal unchecked power among a few people. This could have the potential of tyrannical government that might suppress personal freedoms of any kind especially those of religion, which Jefferson feels very strongly felt should be protected. After fighting hard to rid America of British domination, Jefferson was determined to create a government that was responsible to, and derived its powers from, a free people. As the writer of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for

across 6 states, allowing the nation to be tied together and to be utilized for internal commerce. Later in Jefferson’s term he set a law that potentially was one of the worst notions during his presidency. In 1807 the Embargo Act was placed with the purpose of attempting to prevent foreign tension with France and Britain by not allowing American ships to any foreign ports and eliminated international trade. “The embargo, however, backfired and brought greater economic hardship to the United States than Britain” (Newman and Schmalbach. 136). While Jefferson’s attempt to preserve the economy failed once he passed the Embargo Act, he later at least recognized his doings during his presidency that it must be repealed. The embargo eventually got repealed in 1809, during James Madison’s term.

One area where Jefferson and Jackson can be compared similarly is in politics. Jefferson believed that eligibility for people of office should be among egalitarian citizens, or people who are not of high social status (property owners). Rather, a person who is charismatic, talented, and honest should be considered for office as a leader. Similarly, Jackson, “a man of the people”, shared this belief with Jefferson that the egalitarian point of view among citizens of the United States helped empower a democracy. Instead of being a hard-edged, uncompassionate leader who lacks regard for the opinions of the American people, a governing leader should be personable, and more importantly accepting of the views of the American people. This in turn

The Embargo Act was a passed by Congress to stop trading with other nations. Britain and France had been taking U.S. ship's and men. President Jefferson wanted to weaken their economies by ceasing trade other nations. The Embargo Act ended up worsening the American more than the economies of the other nations. The Embargo Act helped to revive the Federalist Party and was repealed in 1809. The Embargo Act was one reason that led to the War of 1812. The downfall of this Act was that it was had to enforce and was opposed by many, merchants and those whose monetary value was based on international trade. The Act overall was blamed for hurting the national economy, and it was replaced by the Non-Intercourse Act. Overall this was essentially embargo

After his first term, Thomas Jefferson ran for a second term and worn the presidency. During his second term he passed a few policy’s the embargo acts being one of them. The embargo act was a result of the feud between France and Great Britain, the United States was an ally to both countries and that became an issue, because France wanted the United States to stop trade with Great Britain, and Great Britain wanted the U.S to stop its trade with France . Due to this Issue the United States with the approval of Thomas Jefferson Passed the embargo acts, which stated that all ports of the United States where closed to other countries, this caused a few issues because farmers and merchants often traded with other countries. Closer to the end of

Thomas Jefferson in the 1800 election campaign was hard- fought campaign. Because each side believed that victory by the other would ruin the country. Federalist attacked Jefferson whose sympathy for the French Revolution in the United States will lead to confusion and bloodshed. On the other side, the Democratic-Republicans criticized the strong concentration of federal power under President Adams. The Republicans' specific support expanding the US Army and Navy, foreigners and attacks, new tax measures of the Federal Government and the opposition to the expansion of individual rights to use deficit spending on the sedition act.Overall, the federal wanted the authority of the powerful Federal Government