We Are All Federalist Thomas Jefferson

The American Revolution, perhaps the most momentous war-related milestone in American history, would not have been possible without the strenuous efforts of the courageous men we call Patriots or otherwise known as the Founding Fathers of America, who gave their all in the fight for freedom against the British. Many names of great men come to mind when we think “founding fathers,” such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, or Samuel Adams. Yet there is still one great patriot and founding father who seems to stand out above the rest, and that man is Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson is widely known as being the author of the Declaration of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase that bought more than 20% of the U.S. However, what most

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.

In the years prior to Thomas Jefferson's presidency, he was a very vocal critic of a centralized federal government and he was an avid follower of the constitution, yet once he became Commander in Chief he changed his tune towards these issues. The three largest contradictions that stand out amongst his actions were his war with the Barbary pirates, using restrictive economic policies to achieve his goals, and his acquiring of Louisiana. Although these contradictions were for the good of the country, he still went against the convictions that got him elected.

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.

To take a single step beyond the boundaries specially drawn around powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any decision." By using the necessary and proper clause, Jefferson managed to avoid having to go through Congress to get approval, and also managed to avoid the state governments, just as Hamilton did. This was the exact opposite of what a typical Republican would do, as they believed that the states should have much more power than the federal government. Given that he appears to go against many of the Republican main ideals, he was considered by several as a neo-Federalist. However, even amongst all of this, it is still clear that he didn’t throw away his political ideals as many said he did, which can be seen in the ways that he did all of this to help the people who he was

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most influential expansionist in American history. He firmly believed that in order for America’s republic to succeed, democracy must expand its region and obtain new land. The United States began to idolize the Mississippi River as Americans spread west towards the Appalachians. Jefferson had many decisions to make regarding the Louisiana Purchase, and was careful to please citizens. The Louisiana Purchase is crucial to our nation’s history, and it impacts Americans today.

Given the nature of the presidential duties, Jefferson was intended to be all for the people and thus the majority’s decision. In perhaps the most hypocritical example of how a world leader was meant to act within a democratic society, he frequently went “under the table,” in order to support his own beliefs despite what the people thought. Opposition was no match to Jefferson; he was constantly attacking his conflicting forces, through examples such as The National Gazette (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/is-thomas-jefferson-to-blame-for-todays-partisan-politics/264376/).

On the other hand, as the country advanced and refined, it became known that the fixed views of the two political parties needed to be reasonable if the nation were to expand. Jefferson made the first action toward reconciliation and moderation of his political outlook with the Federalists by contributing a sense of peace in his First Inaugural Address (Doc. 3). Jefferson declared, “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists,” signifying Americans are all in this society together and collectively make the world outstanding. Jefferson and his party had to further control their thinking when the chance to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France appeared in 1803 (Doc. 4). There was a lack of preparation in the Constitution for a president to buy more territory. However, the opportunity may have not continued to be accessible for a long amount of time, and Jefferson changed his own “strict construction” aspects and doubled the size of the United States.

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’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 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.

Eugene R. Sheridan is a member of the Princeton University Department of History and Senior Associate Editor of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson. He has written books and articles on a number of subjects in early American History. To begin with, the author cites specific achievements that Thomas Jefferson made, starting with the contributions he did when he was part of the Continental Congress. “As a member of the Continental Congress, he proclaimed in the imperishable prose of the Declaration of Independence the values of liberty, equality, and natural rights that always have been at the heart of the American experiment in self-government” (Sheridan 64). He specifically speaks about his participation as the main author of the Declaration of Independence.

Of course, as history can tell us, Jefferson, an Antifederalist, or a Republican as they called them back then, favored little federal government control and more say for the small farmers and states (Davis 86-7). He believed that all Americans should be educated enough to read and understand the issues that were being voted on so that they could choose their own leaders and run for office themselves. In fact, he proposed a bill, which would guarantee some public education for all children, excluding slaves. He felt that this would allow people to have an opportunity to better themselves based on “talent and virtue” instead of “wealth and birth.” Even though his bill was voted on three times, it didn’t pass due to the fact that the majority of the Virginia Assembly thought that it was “too radical, too expensive, and too unnecessary (Davis 52-3).” Antifederalists were also anti-British, but friendly to France, their ally at the time (Davis 87).

“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

Jefferson trusted in an exceptionally strict and unbending translation towards the Constitution. Reliable with Republican standards, Jefferson trusted that legislature must act inside the expressed limits of the Constitution. It is not an archive intended to be freely deciphered. All together for the govern of the Constitution to be regarded and not vitiated, Jefferson trusted that it must be entirely deciphered. In the event that the Constitution did not state that the President can make a settlement of comprehension with another country or make a Purchase of land that would twofold the span of the Unified States, both without counseling Congress, than a strict translation of the Constitution would imply that it wasn't possible. There was never a talk or authoritative verbal confrontation about the President's activities. This tried the limits of Established balanced governance, guaranteeing that all branches demonstration working together with each other. Jefferson's own strict perusing of the Constitution, something that he esteemed as a Republican, would not have fundamentally allowed the Purchase of the Louisiana Region: "Jefferson's philosophical consistency was being referred to as a result of his strict translation of the Constitution. Many individuals trusted he, and different Jeffersonian, for example, James Madison, were being deceptive by accomplishing something