The Legacy Of The American Civil Rights During The Jeffersonian Era

Involvement in World War I, by the way), and the impressments of U.S. sailors onto British warships. (Note: You might note later how Jefferson’s policies differed from those of Woodrow Wilson over a century later during World War I over many of these same issues!) To avoid getting sucked into the European wars, Jefferson tried the Embargo Act of 1807, effectively making most U.S. foreign trade illegal. After much opposition, not only from Federalist commercial interests in the Northeast, but also from western and southern farmers who couldn’t ship their cotton and other crops, the Embargo was replaced by the milder Non-Intercourse Act of 1809. *** After reviewing the authors’ analysis, what do you think of Jefferson’s attempt to stay out of war by removing the potential flash-points of ocean commerce with the belligerents?

Also, when Jefferson passed The Embargo Act, he was going against the Republican Party beliefs. Supported by Document C, the Embargo Act was a great upset to 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 may have had the good of the country at heart, but he was following the Federalist principle of power in the central government and a loose interpretation of the powers in the Constitution. As the Jeffersonian Republicans grew together and learned a great deal more about their nation, they realized that some of their principles had to change. The country would never stay united if the country kept advancing and the government stayed in the same spot. As Jefferson once wrote, “…I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind…institutions must advance also and keep pace with the times.” (Document G). Jefferson realized in this letter to Samuel Kercheval that, sometimes, people’s ideas and beliefs must grow and change in order to make things better and stay with the times. The Jeffersonian Republicans also realized this. That is why as the nation progressed they obtained more of the ideals of the Federalists.

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,

Finally, Jefferson caved in to congressional pressure, and halted the paralyzing economic policy. Another example of Jefferson changing his point of view on economic policy is his view on free trade, which fit his libertarian use of thought. Jefferson used this vocal point in his election against John Adams, yet once in power he failed to install a free trading system with overseas nations. Jefferson realized that it was impossible to imply such a thing if the other nations would go along with it.

The passing of the Embargo Act in 1807 banned all trade with European nations during the Napoleonic Wars in an attempt for the United States to steer clear of war and to prove to the European Nations that American goods were essential to their economies. Alexander Anderson's cartoon, drawn one year after the bill was passed, shows how the American people were affected by the Embargo Act. They resorted to smuggling goods in order to make money during the economic depression caused by the act. After Jefferson's poor decision with the Embargo Act, his party members began to loose faith in him and his Federalist opponents gained a great amount of popularity. By refusing to trade, the United States experienced the bad aspects of war with none of the potential gains through the signing of treaties. After the Embargo Act, the American citizens begin to

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.

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.

Following his election as the President of the United States in March of 1801, Thomas Jefferson gradually began to diverge from his Democratic Republican philosophies. As Jefferson entered his presidency, he did so with the intent to stick with his belief of a strict interpretation of the Constitution. However, under the pressure to make crucial political decisions for a new and vulnerable country, Jefferson contradicted the principles for which he campaigned. Some of Jefferson’s actions, such as the Louisiana Purchase and the Embargo Act of 1807 contradicted his political philosophies, while others, such as the repealing of the Judiciary Act of 1801 and the impeachment of Samuel Chase followed his Democratic Republican ideas. With this in

During Jefferson’s presidency, European tensions between England and France escalated. The nations even began seizing American merchant vessels, impressing any sailors found on them despite the fact the United States was a neutral nation. Jefferson, seeing no other solution to the crisis, enacted and strictly enforced legislation prohibiting the exportation of all American products to any foreign country, the Embargo Act, as portrayed in the political cartoon by Alexander Anderson. The intended audience of this cartoon was smugglers (doc 3). Nowhere in the Constitution does it give the president the power to completely cut off America from the rest of the world in terms of commerce, but Jefferson felt the need to go through with this action because it would be for the well-being of the entire country. Throughout most of Madison’s presidency, the war of 1812 waged. The Americans had been dominating the war (for the most part) until 1814 when Napoleon was overthrown, thus terminating all turmoil between France and Great Britain. Great Britain could now concentrate all of its force against the United States. President Madison, seeing this crisis unfurl, decided to draft men into the militia, shown in Daniel Webster’s speech, to aid in the battles of the War of 1812 . The point of view of the author of this speech is that the federal

However, Jefferson passed the Embargo Act which banned American vessels from sailing to foreign ports. Unlike the Federalists who favored foreign trade, the Jeffersonian cut off trade which leads to a devastating effect on the economy of American port cities. The Jeffersonian favored reducing the size of the military but the Federalist believed a strong military was extremely important. Patrick Henry argues,"Some way or other we must be a great and mighty empire; we must have an army, and a navy.

In 1807 Jefferson passed the Embargo Act because he thought it would stop England and France from attacking the U.S ships, but it made the their profits go from $109 million dollars to $25 million dollars. Many Americans and British people were upset with the Embargo Act because they depended on the foreign trade to keep their business going. U.S citizens were relying on smuggling to get the goods they

James Madison was the secretary of state, and he supported the embargo with each equal vigor to Thomas Jefferson. Most of historians consider Jefferson’s embargo to have been ineffective, and harmful for American interests. He maintained that, there had the embargo been widely observed, it would have avoided war on 1812. On December 1807, he announced his intention not to seek a third term. A day before Madison was inaugurated for his successor, Jefferson said he felt life “a prisoner, released from hid chains.

President Jefferson was the first to pass out the rewards of the "spoils system". In his second term he became the first President to use economic sanctions against a foreign power, with the embargo act of 1807, in order to achieve a goal. With the exception of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson's administration was a negative presidency in that it rolled back federal policies. His economic policies enabled future presidents to use the foreign treaty powers as a weapon in diplomatic negotiations with other countries without interference from congress.

By the 1820’s, the Embargo Act, War of 1812 and the Panic of 1819 played a very important role in the reshaping of our countries economic development. Hamilton believed that America would flourish only if we were involved in heavy manufacturing and commerce. He believed a strong federal government could solve many of the new country’s financial problems including establishing a stable currency. He therefore established a national bank similar to the one in England to consolidate the states debt under the federal government and enacted protective tariffs to increase American manufacturing. He also knew the importance of promoting domestic manufacturing so the United States would no longer have to rely on imported manufactured goods. Jefferson was the complete opposite. He believed that it was essential that the citizens of the new country would grow their

While in theory, Jefferson's philosophy worked, he struggled with its practicality and usage, especially as he overestimated France and Britain’s reliance on American goods. Napoleonic France, with most of Europe under its influence, had enough resources to sustain itself, meanwhile Britain had access to many other regions to gain materials they needed. It was America, whose economy relied so much on trade, that suffered the most from its absence, which Jefferson could and did not foresee . Therefore, when Jefferson tried to enforce his ideal in the form of the embargo, he failed, only provoking war which could have been avoided had he chosen to continue trade at the price of potential