To What Extent Was The Embargo Act Of 2003 Apush Dbq

In the 1800’s, Thomas Jefferson campaigned on the ethics of the Republican belief of a weak central government, and to ensure these beliefs are kept one must rely on the principles of lower taxes, justice, and a lack of strongly enforced governmental restrictions. However, Thomas Jefferson failed to follow the very principles he promised to emanate as he created a government trading restriction known as the Embargo Acts, increased taxes due to the Louisiana Purchase, and followed John Adams ideology in the Alien and Sedition act and tried to have Samuel Chase impeached and removed from office on false charges due to his anti-Jefferson mindset. Thus, Thomas Jefferson failed to keep the philosophy of the Republican party and contradicted his

To enforce the Embargo Act, Jefferson sent secret agents aboard ships to prevent any black market trading amongst the people. This undermined the people’s rights and took away the livelihood and freedom of many Americans, which is represented in the image in Document D. In Document B, Jefferson says, “the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”, Jefferson contradicts his Inaugural Address in Document B when he created the Embargo Act. The Embargo Act, keeping neutrality, ruined the nation’s economy and affected the majority of the US as a whole. Not only did Jefferson disrupt the minority through the use of secret agents hidden aboard ships for citizen surveillance, but he also caused major trouble for the American Economy. According to Document F, just before the Embargo Act was created, a ship by the name of the U. S. S. Chesapeake was

However, the Louisiana Purchase created an additional 15 million dollars to the US National Debt, and this debt was one that the United States could not afford. To fix the problem of the National Debt, Jefferson, who had previously said in Document C that “The incorporation of a bank, and the powers assumed by this bill, have not, in my opinion, been delegated to the United States, by the Constitution”, used Alexander Hamilton’s idea of using the National Bank to pay of the debt. Jefferson, going against the very opinion he stated of the National Bank not being Constitutional, used the National Bank to pay off most of the debt, which went against Republican belief on the lessening of taxes the people and also the prevention of a creation of a National Bank. In Document J, Jefferson asks permission from congress to send an expedition group to explore the Louisiana territory that he bought extra-constitutionally. Congress now had no choice but to deal with a matter that they had no decision in prior to it. Jefferson was now able to get Congress’s approval of the Louisiana Purchase, at least through the eyes of the people.