Presidential Policies of Thoman Jefferson Essay

Thomas Jefferson encountered many obstacles during his presidency, in which one of the issues was the First Barbary War, in which the United States and Sweden fought against the Barbary States. One of Jefferson's first actions as president was to reduce military establishments, in hope of transcending wars and peaceful era. The First Barbary War or Tripolitanian War lasted from 1801 to 1805 in the United States. The reason for waging the war was that pirates of the North Barbary States were intercepting American merchant ships and retaining the sailors for ransom, demanding the U.S. to pay tribute to the Barbary rulers. Jefferson declined to pay the price and ordered the American Navy to attack the Barbary Pirates. Even though Congress never

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

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,

Thomas Jefferson once said, “When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty.” Thomas Jefferson believed the best government was the one that governs the least . Jefferson stressed how a small government with limited powers is most likely to leave the people alone and have them enjoy the Blessings of Liberty. Furthermore, Thomas Jefferson was a man who had numerous accomplishments in his life. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence, author of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, founder of the University of Virginia, and the third President of the United States. His strict interpretation of the Constitution was due to his belief that the charter was designed to provide the people with a say in governmental affairs. Mr. Jefferson won the approval from the working class because he fought for them and not the powerful interests of the wealthy. Although Jefferson was a vocal and active leader in the rights of states, his recommendation of the Embargo Act and his support of the Non-Intercourse act resulted in his failure as the Commander In Chief.

A Vision Achieved      Jefferson envisioned a government that allowed its citizens to exercise inalienable rights. In exact words, he states, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” To be more evident, how can we define these “inalienable rights” of “life”, “liberty”, and the “pursuit of happiness?” Have these inalienable rights, achieved Jefferson’s goal? I am convinced, Jefferson’s revolutionary vision of life, liberty, and happiness has at last been achieved in America.

The Louisiana Purchase was not the only time Jefferson adopted the ideas of federalists about loose construction of the constitution. After he was reelected, war soon broke out in Europe between English and French. British needed more manpower and financial aid for the war soon began impressing American sailors and stealing their cargo. This made trade between the United States and Europe unsafe. Jefferson did not wish to go to war, so he decided to cut off al the export of goods from the United States. With the passing of this Embargo Act, Jefferson again switched to the loose construction of the Federalists.

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.

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’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

Thomas Jefferson believed in the ?strict interpretation'; of the constitution, especially the Tenth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment states,'; the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'; Jefferson argued that since the Constitution did not specifically empower the federal government to establish a national bank, thus it could not do so. Hamilton argued for a loose interpretation. He relied on the implied powers clause which states that Congress can make all laws ?necessary and proper'; for the execution of its power.

Before his inauguration, Thomas Jefferson was ambitious to implement his Republican views into the U.S. government. However, During his terms as president, he turned out rather contradictory to his original views. Jefferson was forced to go against his views for the nation’s benefit when presented with difficult situations. Thomas Jefferson faced many issues including barbaric pirates invading U.S. ships, economic policies, and domestic issues.

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

The pirates from the Barbary States went to war with the United States.These wars are called the Barbary War.The Barbary Wars were caused by the issue that the Barbary pirates' demand for tribute from American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. If ships of a given country failed to pay, pirates would attack the ship and take their goods, and often enslave crew members or hold them for ransom. When Thomas Jefferson became President

“From 1786 to 1815, the United States made tribute payments to the North African Barbary states to protect its shipping from pirate raids”(Kearney F, "Barbary pirates"). This ended when Jefferson was elected into presidency. He had been against the tribute of the Barbary States his whole life in office, and so when he was elected, he stopped paying tribute and refused to pay a ransom for many goods and men that the pirates had rummaged. This angered the pirates, and so war was unofficially declared, and Jefferson had a blockade

Thomas Jefferson was a people's man, on the day of his inauguration, he dressed in everyday clothing and walked to to the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony. His vision was that the source of true liberty was the farmer that worked for himself, and for the market. Private business, in other words, is what would’ve been best for the economy, and the peoples happiness in Jeffersons point of view. So, while in office, Jefferson began to undo Federalist innovations. He reduced the size of the army to half a dozen naval ships, and he abolished taxes on whisky. There was a lot of debt from the Revolutionary war, and Hamilton wanted to refund the debt, take up all the notes, and sell bonds. Jefferson was against that, he, along with James Madison, didn’t want the speculators getting more than what they put in.