The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson
By: Hayden Osborne
The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson- Written by Forrest McDonald, published by the University Press of Kansas in 1976, 169 pages excluding the appendix, 201 pages including the appendix. The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson outlines our third President’s youth, his time as Secretary of State under George Washington, as well as his time in office. However, due to the length of this book, my focus will lie on section two, titled The Republican Tack: At Home, 1801-1803. In this section, McDonald mainly focuses on the rise of Jefferson’s party and the influences that gave him his ideas.
In section two, McDonald remarks that ‘Thomas Jefferson referred to the ascent of his party as the Revolution of 1800- a claim that scholars have..regarded as exaggerated.’ He goes on to say that this was exaggerated because it was a leisurely ascent. There were no executions nor was there a Reign of Terror, nothing done was particularly amazing and it was not dramatic, yet Jefferson called it this.
Jeffersonians were, according to McDonald, Americans of Celtic descent, Protestants, or slaveholders from the south. In his own time, Jefferson was regarded by his peers as a champion of liberty, although he never thought it through as a concept. To him, it 's meaning was a conventional one, and since he was a slaveholder, Jefferson never could truly understand liberty. Even his father gained their estate by slaughtering or conning the natives,
Jefferson placing the nations needs above all is what kept him in office. He believed in homeschooling rather than European schools so the future of America could absorb ideas and traits. Jefferson’s nature was always more practical then theoretical, based, more on common sense then upon philosophy. Jefferson always preferred precision to “metaphysical subtleties”. Jefferson placed his faith in free election of a virtuous and talented natural aristocracy. Avoiding war, quiet factionalism, preserving republican government were essentials Jefferson believed in. The place in which Jefferson stood gave him no option but to exhibit more federalist ways than his strict constructionist ways. Although this was so he stayed true to the importance of
Thomas Jefferson wrote the First Inaugural Address in 1801. He was a caucasian male that lived to be eighty-three (1743-1826). Jefferson was the first secretary of state, and was elected as the second Vice President in 1797-1801 under John Adams as the President. He was then inaugurated as the third President of the United States on March 4, 1801. His presidency then lasted until March 4, 1809. During his presidency Thomas Jefferson made a big, significant impact on the United States by doubling the size, called the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Which was a $15 million deal between the United States and France. Besides being a President, Thomas Jefferson did a lot of other things too. During the time that the Declaration of Independence was being
The relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson was one of the most iconic and symbolic relationships in American history not only for its many ups and downs, but also for its great effects on the founding and governing of America.
The American Declaration of Independence has affected the foundation of the United States more than any other event or document in American history. The Declaration of Independence was the basis for what the country was established on. The document was a way for the colonists to emancipate themselves from the cruelty of King George. This document had such an impacting effect because it was such a new way of bringing up concerns. It was the first of its kind in the history of America in the aspect of liberation of a group of people.
Thomas Jefferson was an early American politician, who was well-known for his actions during his presidency. He was labeled as a Democratic-Republican, meaning he favored stronger rights of individual states, rather than a central government with a lot of power. That is, at least in the years prior to his presidency. After he was elected, however, his convictions totally changed. During his presidency, three major events; his war with the Barbary Pirates, his restrictive economic policies, and the Louisiana Purchase, all directly contradicted the beliefs of himself and other Democratic-Republicans.
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.
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.
Thomas Jefferson was the author of The Declaration of Independence, and according to Bellis, Jefferson was also a jurist, a diplomat, a writer, an inventor, a philosopher, an architect, a gardener, a negotiator of Louisiana Purchase, but he only requested three of his many accomplishments to be noted on his tomb. (2005). Thomas Jefferson was a very smart politician and he knew what to say to whom in order to enhance their support. This essay will be an analytical paper discussing Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence. It will also clarify the basic ideas contained in The Declaration of Independence; the influence of the Declaration upon American War of Independence,
Different people have different outlooks on how the nation should be ran and how our economy should produce our money. For instance two great presidents have two different outlooks on how our economy and our politics should work. Thomas Jefferson wanted an economy based on small family owned farms, while Hamilton on the other hand wanted to manufacturer and produce as much as possible in factories. Both of their plans for the economy have many strong points, but they also have some weak points.
As Christopher Hitchens said,“We make no saint of Thomas Jefferson—we leave the mindless business of canonization and the worship of humans to the fanatics—but aware as we are of his many crimes and contradictions we say with confidence that his memory and example will endure long after the moral pygmies who try to blot out his name have been forgotten.” Jefferson was a great politician, and “beacon of liberty” for the early Americans, but he was also flawed. Sure he’s well known for the aspiring Declaration of Independence, but these flaws, also led him make some choices, that would leave a mark on his impressionable record, and lead to the problems with his presidency.
Before Thomas Jefferson ever entered the presidency, he believed in the “Empire of Liberty.” He wrote in a letter to a friend that “Our confederacy must be viewed as the nest from which all America, North or South, is to be peopled.” His motives for the intense eye on American expansion were greatness for his country, as well as for himself. He was disgusted with the idea of North America being divided into nation-states like Europe. His goal was for the ideals of the American Revolution to spread over the whole continent. He passed and helped pass some of the legislation that helped early America expand. He co-authored the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which allowed for states to be made from the territory east of the Mississippi and
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
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States of America who had strong beliefs about what was right and what was wrong. He himself not only upheld his beliefs, but he did betray his beliefs by doing certain things that directly went against his beliefs and his wrongful doings are noticed. Thomas Jefferson lived up to a high yet low extent regarding his ideals and beliefs for the United States of America.
The American Declaration of Independence has affected the foundation of the United States more than any other event or document in American history. The Declaration of Independence was the basis for what the country was established on. The document was a way for the colonists to emancipate themselves from the cruelty of King George. This document had such an impacting effect because it was such a new way of bringing up concerns. It was the first of its kind in the history of America in the aspect of liberation of a group of people.
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Thomas Jefferson is arguably one of the most influential people to Virginia and the United States before and during the American Revolution. Jefferson had been a governor for Virginia during the American Revolution, he had wrote the Declaration of Independence along with four other notable American politicians, and served as a minister to France in 1785-1789. Without Jefferson the American Revolution most likely would have played out completely different and we could possibly be living a different life today.