What kind of government did Thomas Jefferson favor?

Answer 1

Jefferson believed the country was far too big to be controlled under one federal government. He also did not want to create a government that would form at the expense of the states' rights. Jefferson favored a weaker, decentralized government with most of the power residing in the states.

Answer 2

Jefferson favored state government over federal government primarily due to his direct experience with the insensitivity and unfairness of the federal governing power of Great Britain. In addition to this reason, Jefferson's political education and insight led him to be wary of granting absolute power to flawed human beings no matter how well-intentioned they might appear to be.

Answer 3

Well, he didn't, really. He was the Ambassador to France during much of the time that the Constitution was being put together in Philly, (the big Federalists like A. Hamilton wanted him out of town) and he only supported it after the Bill of Rights was added. He was concerned that too much power was being allocated to the central government. Remember, Jefferson was a 'farmer' from the agricultural state of Virginia, and as such was in favor of localized, small government, whereas Hamilton and many of the framers of the Constitution were merchants or bankers or other 'captains of industry', as we'd call them today, and wanted a powerful banking system, very rigid laws governing commerce and such, and were not all that concerned with things like freedom of the press, freedom from false imprisonment, illegal search and seizure, privacy, and all those kinds of things which are enumerated for the people, in the Bill of Rights. Jefferson was very concerned that too much power was being given to the central government, and not enough rights and freedoms were being spelled out for the common man. Of course, the Patriot Act and other recent laws like the NDAA have proven him right, by pretty much negating the Bill of Rights. The US Government now has the right to have the Army (not the police, the ARMY) come into your house, arrest you, and put in in jail for as long as they like, without charging you with any crime. They can even ship you off to any other country in the world that wants to take you. You could spend the next thirty years in jail in Turkey, for example, if someone in the government suspects you of having 'terrorist tendancies'.

Answer 4

Without government there is anarchy, and our observation of the human race shows that without some form of guidance, human beings can't really be trusted.

Answer 5

He was in favor of strict construction