What Is A Jeffersonian Ideology

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

You give a good break down anaylsis of the Thomas Jefferson's discussion. Jefferson also enlightened people through the Declaration of Independence through his philosphy of stressing human equality and natural human rights. He also set the tone and goals for us to have as a nation. which is why you have very good points when you said he set the the foundation for our nation is absoultely accurate. Overall, it was to revolt against a government that no longer guareenteed us natural rights. It was a way to tell colonist that they too had equal right to be happy and entitlement to certain things. Which is why this such a revoluntionary document and great anaysis.

Throughout Jefferson’s notes, Jefferson goes on to explain that he understands that the very concept of slavery goes against his philosophy in which he instilled into the Declaration of Independence. As one of the father of our nation, we the people should expect our leaders to uphold certain standards when it comes to human rights of their vary nation. To quote our fathering document, the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…” This however, brings up the point on whether or not Jefferson viewed the African slaves as “all men.” In the excerpt from his notes, Jefferson discusses that he believes that slavery should not exist but he also believed that once a slave is free, he or she can no longer live in the same society as one who which they have slaved for.

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).

Its states that a good government does not take the earnings of laborers. The Federalists did not support an economy based farming, so Jefferson was about to prevent Federalists from taking from local farmers by denying William Marbury into the Supreme Court. Also, his support of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions helped against the Alien and Sedition Acts. A number of immigrants became farmers, so by opposing the Acts, Jefferson supported agriculture.

Thomas Jefferson did not believe in racial equality, and thought that blacks were intellectually inferior. However in one of the most important documents in American history is the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson himself, he says ”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by there creator...” Jefferson knew that his ownership of slaves contradicted his principles. What Jefferson wanted most was for slaves to one day be free, he wanted them to go back to Africa. He refused to grant freedom to his own slaves because of their significances to his wealth, but overall he condemned slavery.

Thomas Jefferson pictured an agrarian republic which is a nation of small family farms clustered together in rural communities. He envisioned a nation of roughly equal yeoman farmers, each secure of his own possessions as the perfect inhabitants for his agrarian republic. As it states on top of the painting on page 330, “The goal of the yeoman families was economic independence. Their mixed farming and grazing enterprises, supported by kinship and community ties, afforded them a self-sufficiency.” These are the characteristics that Jefferson wants in his perfect

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.

“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

Many small towns and families make their living off of their family farms. Yes, this may be a great way of living for these families, but would it really be able to support a nation? Thomas Jefferson's idea of how a nation should be ran

Jefferson felt very strongly about the freedom of an individual. His idea of freedom was that the individual was independent, and not under the control of a government for example. There were two main things that Jefferson was concerned with, debt and distrust of men who were landless workers (124). With the first he felt that while under debt a man had very limited freedom of action. The landless workers he felt were very dependent. They had to work because there was no land for backup. In these times owning property was an important part of being a free man. Perhaps this led to slavery for those who did not own land. Many think slavery was always race based, but Jefferson?s position shows a different view.

Consider first Jefferson’s own diction in the text, when he claims on behalf of the founders, that the emerging government would be based on the self-evidence of some concepts to the American people. According to Jefferson this would include “that all men are created equal” and “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” Under the Declaration of Independence, these rights were to include “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” yet were not limited to just these three. As well as not being limited, these rights are not explained in great depth. Is a man’s right to life his physical existence or is it a right to his lifestyle? Is liberty the freedom of all men or just all white men? Is the pursuit of happiness still a man’s unalienable right if it derails another man’s liberty (Lawler and Schaefer, 7)?

Thomas Jefferson was an agrarian soul who favored popular rule. He placed his trust in the land and the people who farmed it and desired that America would remain a nation of farmers. He emphasized liberty, democracy, and social welfare and believed that

Jefferson believed the nation's quality lay in its agricultural roots. He bolstered an agrarian nation

The social philosophies were not as complicated, since they would be a direct product of the economy. It's evident that Jefferson's society would be small and simple, where all people would be