Jefferson completely stayed true to all of his ideals during his presidency. This can be shown by his ability to stay out of war, reduce debt, and completing the Louisiana Purchase.
Jefferson reduced America’s military because he didn’t believe that America should have a large military if the US wasn’t in war. Jefferson’s belief to reduce the military correlated with George Washington’s. Jefferson reduced America’s navy to almost nothing and America’s troops were reduced to less than half of what it was. Jefferson also believed that having a military without an active war was a waste of money. This would lead to Jefferson reducing America’s debts.
Jefferson then continued to reduce America’s debt during his presidency with the help
•“She was not even listening. She had gotten tired of listening. She knew, as we all knew, what the outcome would be. A white man had been killed during a robbery, and thought two of the robbers had been killed on the spot, one had been captured, and he, too, would have to die” (4). This quote is important because it allows me to understand that Jefferson has to die because he was the only person in the liquor store and was a black man.
During his presidency, he reduced the debt by $23 million. Many years before Jefferson became president, the Barbary states had sent pirates to attack and capture European and American ships, cargo, and sailors. They would then hold the crews for ransom and demanded large sums of money for safe passage. The US and European countries would routinely give into these demands because they knew it would cost less than war. Jefferson had opposed this from the beginning, so when he was president, he made it all change.
When a president enters office, he often comes with a long list of demands and changes he plans on making for the nation that the man before him did not accomplish. The changes each president has made assisted the forever-growing nation, in hope of benefiting all of the population living within it. Thomas Jefferson, is no different when it comes to wanting to aid the United States, in fact he dedicated most of his life to fighting for what he believed in. Jefferson earned the nickname “The Apostle of Democracy” due to him introducing democracy to the nation (Inside Gov). During the early years of America, there were various different forms of the American Republic especially in between Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson.
New England’s local economy was ruined, the embargo hurt England far more than France. They opposed the law that Jefferson had to use both regular and militia to enforce it. Now Jefferson spoke about the necessity of preserving an orderly government. Western concerns were pushing the United States towards war. Many of the Americans believed the country’s option was either to fight or surrender.
During the years of 1801-1817 two separate parties had formed, the Jeffersonian Republicans (Democrats) and the Federalists, which feuded bitterly in the political world. During Jefferson’s presidency the Democratic party remained firm in their beliefs, but began to slightly conformed to the Federalists during Madison’s presidency; likewise, Federalists stubbornly held onto their views, but compromised to the stricter views of Democrats when Jefferson was in power. Jefferson became president in 1801 and began the reign of strictness of the Democratic party, forcing Federalists to conform to their stringent views. Jefferson had made attempts to unify with the Federalists stating: “We are all republicans” in order to strengthen the unity of the country
Thomas Jefferson was a pioneer on the topic of church and state and how those two things have no power over the other in any way, shape, or form. Jefferson explains this when he mentions “Almighty God hath created the mind free, and manifested his supreme will that free it shall remain by making it altogether insusceptible of restraint.” Jefferson believes that God created us to be free of everything, including religion. That is why Jefferson didn’t want to give up that freedom even to the government he was so strongly a part of. Jefferson then goes on to talk about how it is extremely wrong when a church forces a man to support or change his personal views just because of an outside source, Jefferson even calls it “tyrannical” some of the methods that the church had to gain control of people.
“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” He should believe so, as Thomas Jefferson’s actions clearly characterize his individual self, while also inducing the question, Does Thomas Jefferson deserve the honor he possesses, through these eminent actions?
Jefferson and the Separation of Church and State Thomas Jefferson was a spokesman for democracy, an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of American Independence, and the third president of the United States of America. He believed in the separation of church and state and that every man held the right to maintain his own opinion. Jefferson felt that government should only intervene when one person behaved injuriously towards another: “The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
Thomas Jefferson was a man of contradictions whose biggest one was his attitude towards slavery. He was one of the loudest abolitionists yet he never freed his own slaves. The reasoning behind this was that he was deeply in debt and could never seem to get ahead of his payments. He had plans to have his slaves freed after his death but his debts made that financial feasible for his heir (Johnson, 248).
Jefferson was determined to approach each political obstacle sensibly, as demonstrated by the Tripolitan War, and truly believed that the future of the American society depended on the integrity of the common people. Due to the emerging threat of the Napoleonic Wars and the rise of a bitter Aaron Burr, Jefferson experienced a much more difficult second term in office, and as a result saw a slight shift in the concepts of his political philosophy. Once a steadfast supporter of a strict interpretation of the Constitution, Jefferson’s second term saw a slightly more liberal approach to the analysis regarding the Constitution, as shown by his fury regarding the trial of villain Aaron
Thomas Jefferson’s legacy shaped the foundation of America today, his ideas on the limiting federal government, the separation of church and state, and the utmost importance of an individual 's personal rights. Limiting help to control potential abuses by the people in power over the citizens who elected them. His influence on limiting the federal government has prevented many crisis’ that have affected other democracies. Furthermore, his beliefs of separation of church and state helped to advance society by keeping the United States of America from becoming a theocracy. Arguably Thomas Jefferson’s biggest accomplishment comes from his incredibly strong and influential effort to further advance the personal rights of each and every citizen.
He even aimed and tried to establish a more perfect union by sending his men to fight off the Barbary pirates who were harassing the U.S commerce. ”He also sent a naval squadron to fight the Barbary pirates, who were harassing American commerce in the Mediterranean” (Frank Freidel). Purchasing the Louisiana Territory, displayed Jefferson expanding America into a better union. “At more than 820,000 square miles, the acquisition (which included lands extending between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico to present-day Canada) effectively doubled the size of the United States” (History.com - Thomas Jefferson). The only thing Jefferson lacked was being fair to all, or establishing justice.
According to James Madison 's quote, he said "A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defense against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home." This explains the idea he have to make the army 's defense better. Most of his appeals were beaten down by self-reliant delegates who feared the appearance of imposing authority after the war.
Under his leadership, The Whiskey Act was repealed, and the Alien Act along with the Sedition Act expired. When it came to the national debt, Jefferson said, “neither the representatives of a nation, nor the whole nation itself, assembled can validly engage debts beyond what they may pay in their own time....” He understood that in order to pay for war there would be the consequence of debt, but to cut down on that debt the number of federal employees could
Strong, long lasting unions are built from the determination and respect of the people; individualism takes a sole part in the United States government and has it has shaped our world today. When the United States of America was born, myriads of people migrated to this land in search of a better life- the only problem was how the country itself were to be run. People from across the world carrying different opinions, religions, memories, and backgrounds provided various outcomes for how the big picture for America would look. The people were attempting to form a government based off of their own human rights (and other aspects in balancing the federal government), but still looked for a form of structure to uphold this new form of free land.