Thomas Jefferson

We can only speculate about the consequences if Jefferson had not bought the Lousiana territory from France. Possibly that territory would today be a separate country from the United States, and perhaps the states west of the Louisiana territory would never have been taken away from Mexico. Mexico would therefore today be a much larger, and much more powerful nation, while the much smaller United States, existing only east of Lousiana, would be much smaller and weaker than it turned out to be as a result of the Louisiana Purchase. But alternatively, it may well be that even if the US had not bought the Louisiana Territory, the US would eventually have aborbed it anyway, either with the consent of its inhabitants, or by force, and history would have turned out much the same. Or, I could also imagine that the US would eventually seize Louisiana from France, and would wind up going to war with France, and then in WW I would not want to come to the aid of France due to lingering resentments over the Louisiana War, and perhaps would either side with Germany, or more likely remain neutral. And if the US had not entered WW I, the consequences are tremendous. So, there are all sorts of possible consequences, but there really is no way to know what would have actually resulted.

A solid argument for breaking away from British

The Election of Thomas Jefferson Consensus historians paint Thomas Jefferson as the great father of democracy, referring to his election to the presidency as the "revolution of 1800." In actuality, Thomas Jefferson was an inconsistent man, who was philosophically against the Federalists, but who did not bring about any significant political or ideological changes during his presidency. Recently, revisionist historians have begun to question the notion of Jefferson as the "representative of the common man." Many of these historians now agree that Jefferson's life was wrought with contradictions, and that his policies, as a president, actually reflected a synthesis of the Federalist and Republican ideologies. "We are all republicans, we are all federalists," Jefferson stated in his first inaugural address. Many Americans were shocked to hear those words come out of the same mouth that had supported the bloody conflicts of the French Revolution years before. Jefferson's many political theories, and personal letters, sometimes reflected an interest in the common man and democracy, while his actual practices were drastically different. Politically, the Jeffersonian party was insecure and inconsistent. After being elected president, Jefferson did nothing to increase the level of democracy in the government. Traditionally, the Jeffersonian movement and the Republican Party have been seen as anti-capitalist, promoting the interests of the common man, and favoring a strict interpretation of the constitution. The Hamiltonian movement and the Federalist Party represented the elite capitalist class, favoring a concentration of power in the State, and a loose interpretation of the constitution. Revisionist historians have argued against this view. They argue that the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian movements are not significantly different, but rather each represents different factions of elites. There are numerous examples that show the accuracy of this revisionist view. In the election of 1800, the federalists were forced to vote for one of the two Republicans running. Many of them favored Burr, as the less extreme of the two, until Hamilton convinced them of Jefferson's moderate intents. "He [Jefferson] is as likely as any man I know to temporize- to calculate what will be likely to promote his own reputation and advantage; and the probable result of such a temper is the preservation of the systems, though originally opposed, which, being once established, could not be overturned without danger to the person who did it." The revisionist perspective that Thomas Jefferson did not represent the masses, but merely a different faction of elites, has much supporting evidence. Jefferson's interests in the common farmer were second to those of the Southern landowner. Jefferson deviated even from this prospective, crossing the line on many issues into what would seem Federalist actions. One historian, Peter S. Onuf, went so far as to dub it "Jeffersonian Federalism." One example of this is the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson deviated from his strict interpretation of the constitution in order to purchase Louisiana, which would benefit land speculators and Northern capitalists, telling the Senate to ratify it "with as little debate as possible, and particularly so far as respects the constitutional difficulty." Morton Borden points out in his essay, "Thomas Jefferson: political compromiser," that Jefferson took a decisively Federalist approach to the military as well, contrary to what many Federalists thought would happen. In less than three months after being elected, Jefferson attacked the Barbary pirates without asking permission from Congress. Many of Jefferson's political compromises were reflected in his economic decisions. One of the main contradictions of the Jefferson administration was its adoption of Federalist economic policies. Jefferson had no clear economic plan; he theorized about the adoption of a laissez-faire policy, and the destruction of the Hamiltonian system, but did nothing about this as president. Jefferson, by and large, maintained the Federalist system throughout his presidency. One of the first things Jefferson did was to abolish the hated excise taxes on whiskey. In order to do this, he had to find another way to acquire funds. Thus he justified increasing protective tariffs. This rendered the abolition of the whiskey tax merely cosmetic, as the direct tax was reduced, but the prices of all commodities were raised. Jefferson also had the national bank destroyed, but re-instituted it in 1816 in order to raise national funds. His party's legislature began to issue charters freely to local banks. Jefferson made no attempts to put an end to many parts of the existing federalist system, such as land speculation on public land. In addition Jefferson developed the infrastructure, spending $20 million on a network of national roads and canals. Hoffsteter states, "Since his policies did not deviate too widely from the federalists, Jefferson hoped to win over the moderates from their ranks…soon the republican machines began flirting with the financial interests they were sworn to oppose." Through examining his personal letters and private life, we find many serious inconsistencies in Jefferson's ideologies. One issue that has been scrutinized lately is Jefferson's views on slavery and women. Many consensus historians argue that Jefferson was a benevolent slave owner, and advocated for the abolition of slavery. A revisionist historian will continue to tell you that while he wanted to abolish slavery, he stated that blacks and whites could never both live freely in the same society. As Conor Cruise O'Brien pointed out in his article, "Thomas Jefferson: Radical and Racist," "In theory Jefferson's solution to slavery consisted in "colonization": the deportation of all the freed blacks from the United States." Jefferson never considered a form of racial coexistence, and believed adamantly that blacks were inferior. "This unfortunate difference of color, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people," Jefferson wrote in his Notes on Virginia. This plan for "colonization" was extremely impractical, and was never a potential option. Jefferson acknowledged this himself later in life, and altered his plan, proposing that the government buy newborn slaves, and pay for them to be raised to an appropriate age by their parents, at which point they would start working to recompense the government until they could be sent away. O'Brien also puts emphasis on the fact that Jefferson examined blacks for characteristics of inferiority. Jefferson once stated that black males preferred white women for sex, while black females preferred orangutans. Richard Hoffsteter comments on the subject, "[Jefferson] could say that a man's rights were "unalienable" at the very moment when he owned several dozen souls." A related issue is that of his sexual relationship with his mulatto slave Sally Hemings. In her book, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Annette Gordon-Reed gives substantial evidence concerning the thirty-sever year abusive liaison between Jefferson, and his slave, Sally Hemings. She also goes on to describe his views on women in general. Jefferson did not believe that women should be educated in the same way as men. He stated that the object of their education should be to make them better company for men. In addition, many people would be surprised to learn of Jefferson's attitude towards the common people. While in some of his theories he stated that he had faith in the common farmer, he also shared the same fear of the masses as the Federalists. He did not believe that the government could rely on man's virtue. Many historians are outraged by the terms with which he referred to the masses, calling them "swinish multitudes" in one letter and "canaille" in another. Jefferson believed that the government must be able to check the people. Many Americans are shocked to learn of the complete hypocrisy of the "father of democracy's" ideologies towards slaves, women, and the masses. Thomas Jefferson is often described by revisionist historians as having "outfederalized the Federalists." This is the antithesis of the belief held by many historians that the election of Thomas Jefferson was a "revolution," In actuality there were no significant political, economic, or ideological changes made. Some of Jefferson's theories and political writings deserve merit for advocating human rights and democracy, while his actions deserve condemnation for disregarding his own philosophical beliefs in order to remain popular. Jefferson was both contradictory and inconsistent, often synthesizing Federalist and Republican policies. Word Count: 1344

In the election of 1796, Thomas Jefferson represented the Democratic-Republican party against John Adams, who was a Federalist. John Adams won, and since Jefferson came in second, he became the vice president. Having a specific vice presidential candidate did not occur until some years later.

The name of his bird was Dick and is the only one mentioned by him in his diary in 1806. [I too, remember Dick being written about. Dick was famous for saying, "wanna towel, wanna bath, and more 'oap?" Dick was a Mockingbird; a constant companion, even when ambassador to France, Dick traveled with T. Jefferson. When President, Dick was well known to visitors.]

Nebraska is one of the most solid Republican states in the US.

He wrote it to send to King George III requesting independence from England.

Jefferson wanted a strict interpretation to give more power to the states, while hamilton favored a broad interpretation to streengthen the central government. Also, Jefferson wanted to give the common people more opportunities to participate in government while hamilton believed commoners were ignorant and not capable of self-government

where did Thomas Jefferson go to elementary

people and,or citizens

It was the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. The Constitution has no giant signatures-

The Declaration of Independence does --

and that would be John Hancock -- whose signature is so large in comparison to all the other signatures, that he earned the phrase

"Can I have your John Hancock?"

which is said in reference to asking someone for their signature!

The expression paraphrases one that had been published about a hundred years before. For about 1,000 years, most Europeans lived under the presumption of the Divine Right of Kings, which said that only God could judge the acts of a king - and therefore the people had no right to oppose or overthrow him. By the 1600s this had also become known in England as the Natural Rights of Kings. Englishman John Locke is credited among the first to reject this idea, publishing works espousing the Natural Rights of Man. ("Man" in this sense referred to all of humanity, and collectively to every individual member thereof. It did not refer to males exclusively of females.) In his view, God bestowed certain independent rights on every human being, including life, liberty, and estate - or property - by which he meant the sum total of that person's labor.

These ideas would influence the thinkers of the Enlightenment for more than a century, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the rest of the American Founding Fathers.

The "pursuit of Happiness" is similar to and derived from Locke's right of estate but avoids the pitfall of seeming to promise every citizen a certain acreage of land. As Locke's "estate" meant the result of an individual's labor, Jefferson defined the pursuit of Happiness as any labor that person chooses to undertake. The days of the father's occupation determining the son's were over.

What were the characteristics of the presidency of Thomas Jefferson?

A method formed to help ratify (approve) constitutional amendments.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and Zebulon Pike

West point, for one.

Thomas Jefferson applied john Locke's philosophy of natural rights by putting the three inalienable rights of humans which were (at first) life, liberty, and the right to property. later they changed it to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It was written by a committee consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman. Jefferson did the actual writing, it his language.

strict versus loose interpretation of the government as well as the hamiltonian economics that in the beginning Jefferson didnt agree with.

strict versus loose interpretation of the government as well as the hamiltonian economics that in the beginning Jefferson didnt agree with.

strict versus loose interpretation of the government as well as the hamiltonian economics that in the beginning Jefferson didnt agree with.

Thomas Jefferson was remembered for three achievements in his public life. He had served as governor of Virginia, as U.S. minister to France, as secretary of state under George Washington, as vice-president in the administration of John Adams, and as president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. On his tombstone, however, which he designed and for which he wrote the inscription, there is no mention of these offices. Rather, it reads that Thomas Jefferson was "author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia" and, as he requested, "not a word more." Historians might want to add other accomplishments--for example, his distinction as an architect, naturalist, and linguist--but in the main they would concur with his own assessment.

he worked as a lawyer and a planter before becoming the president and then died in 1826 a hero

Each and every point discussed within the Declaration of Independence was intended to clarify the intent of the Colonies to break free from British rule completely and become a self sufficient governing nation.

He meant exactly what was wrote. Power that doesn't belong to the Federal Government belongs to the individual states, and the people that inhabit them.

George Mason

No taxation without representation.

Personal property rights.

Free speech and assembly.

Freedom to worship as they saw fit.