Thomas Jefferson

He wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence, which basically started the American Revolution.

It was based on a loose interpretation of the Constitution because he wasn't really allowed to by the land, and he had to justify his actions by his hopes for the nation

Decienl

jeffersonian republicanism was used to describe the poloitical party that Thomas Jefferson created when running for president agains James Madison. Later the poloitical parties became three different ones. First, Jeffersonians, second, Madisonians, and finally, democrats.

constitution

It would allow farm ownership to continue.

America was too big to be a direct democracy

PRO

Jefferson was one of the most brilliant men ever to serve as president. His interest in geography and natural science helped him to understand the true significance of the Louisiana Territory, and when Napoleon made his fateful offer, Jefferson acted swiftly and decisively to accept it, thereby doubling the land area of the U.S. He then dispatched his personal secretary, Meriwether Lewis, along with William Clark, on a scientific expedition to explore the new territory. (See: "In the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark," Chap. 13.)

CON

While undoubtedly a great mind, and perhaps a great man, Jefferson was certainly not a great--or even a particularly effective--president. In purchasing Louisiana from France, he did no more than any other reasonable man might have done in the same situation. Historians have praised him for showing flexibility in his principles of strict constitutional construction and limited presidential authority. What his actions on Louisiana really demonstrate is that these often-enunciated principles were only matters of convenience with Jefferson, used to justify certain ends but then abandoned when they stood in his way. The pronouncements of Jefferson, like those of any other politician, must be taken with a grain of salt.

PRO

Jefferson corrected many of the authoritarian excesses of the Adams administration-ending the celebrated "reign of terror" and returning to the people their rights of free speech and free press.

CON

Here is another prime example of Jeffersonian hypocrisy. The President took a civil libertarian position only when it was convenient for him to do so. His interference in the Aaron Burr treason trial makes even Richard Nixon's much-publicized meddling in the Ellsberg case seem like child's play by comparison. Jefferson was determined to see his former rival hanged as a traitor, and he was ready to abandon all constitutional restraints in the process. He not only announced his opinion that Burr was guilty before the jury could consider the case, but he attempted to bribe witnesses with promises of presidential pardons if only they would testify against Burr. Concerning this case, Jefferson was the author of this incredible statement: "There are extreme cases when the laws become inadequate even to their own preservation, and where the universal resource is a dictator, or martial law."

PRO

Jefferson's cool leadership helped avoid American involvement in the Napoleonic wars that were raging in Europe. At his insistence, an embargo was placed on all American foreign trade, in hopes of forcing the European powers into respecting American maritime rights. Though this policy created considerable economic hardship, it was certainly preferable to a war for which America was woefully unprepared.

CON

Jefferson himself must take responsibility for the difficult position in which he found himself as president. He had cut back the army and navy to such a pitiful level that the European powers could afford to ignore all American threats and requests. Even given this unnecessary situation, the embargo was a hopelessly misguided idea. It forced no concessions from the European powers, while creating widespread unemployment and considerable economic hardship for hundreds of thousands of Americans. Moreover, Jefferson's wholesale arrest of individuals and seizure of cargoes on the merest suspicion of intent to export, once more demonstrates his total disregard for civil liberties. According to Leonard Levy, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning expert on the Constitution: "To this day, the Embargo Act remains the most repressive and unconstitutional legislation ever enacted by Congress in time of peace."

John Locke believed that all people had the natural right to life, liberty, and property. He believed that men are naturally free and equal from the time they are born, and that the government should not have absolute power.

Some of Thomas Jefferson's accomplishments were some of the best ever made in the world. Thomas was the founder of the University of Virginia, and the president of the American Philosophical Society. In 1776, he wrote the Declaration of Independence, which freed the colonies from British rule. Then, in 1801-1804, he was elected the third president of the United States of America, and, after his first term, he was reelected in 1804-1809.

Thomas Jefferson's father was named Peter Jefferson

A failure in his second term was his weak attack on slavery. He made it illegal to bring any more slaves in. But his attack was very weak because more slaves were smuggled in, and the slaves that were already in America had children which increased the slavery population. :) thnx

theyre willing to listen to reasonable argument presented with evidence.

His longtime companion was Sally Hemings, who may have actually been a half-sister to his late wife. She bore him six children; he freed them all when they became adults. Jefferson didn't treat Sally as a slave, but rather as a helpmeet. He could not have married her, because of the customs (and laws) of the time. In the modern age, he may well have.

Jefferson did not want to raise taxes and did not want a large navy.

Jefferson is noted as founding father, the author of the declaration of independence , the founder of the University of Virginia and the third President of the United States. However, he was also a man of science. For half a century in public office and in private life, he led the growth of American optimism about science, technology, and the future. Jefferson wished he could be a scientist all the time. When he was leaving the presidency in early 1809, he wrote, "Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight." In fact, do you know what Jefferson did during the week in 1797 when he became vice president of the United States? He presented a formal research paper on paleontology to his scientific colleagues in the American Philosophical Society! Paleontology is the study of fossils. It helps us understand all the Earth's forms of life.

Jefferson also helped invent modern agricultural science and technology. He believed agriculture was the most important science. By himself, he re-engineered the plow according to scientific principles that came from Sir Isaac Newton, the inventor of mathematical physics. Re-inventing the plow may sound boring. But ask yourself: In Jefferson's time, what technological devices were more important than the plow?

Jefferson also invented methods for excavating archeological sites. If you go to Jamestown today to watch researchers dig to discover how things really looked in the time of Pocahontas, you'll see them using methods first devised by Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson also recognized good scientific work by others, and he made sure that the world knew about it. When he received some excellent mathematical work from Benjamin Banneker, America's first black man of science, he sent it to Europe's greatest scientists.Bedini. You might also want to visit the University of Virginia mathematics department's web site on Jefferson and mathematics.

Yes but this submission is paraphrased... Link to actual quote in the Jeffersonian Cyclopedia http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-foley?specfile=/texts/english/jefferson/foley/public/JefCycl.o2w&act=surround&offset=2976537&tag=2358.+ECONOMY,+Happiness+and.+--+&query=labors&id=JCE2358

No. Adams and Jefferson did not share political views. They ran against each other and were supported by different groups of people.

Five states were added to the Union during Washington's presidency - North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792), and Tennessee (1796).

No, he crated a weak navy. He was hypocritic b/c he wanted to get rid of the army b/c it was a huge cost. Ended up paying the barbary pirates $60,000. & the Louisiana Purchase was unnecessary at the time, waste of $15 million. Even though he did promote agriculture.

ETC..!

He was against having a nation bank because he believed that the power was left for the states to decide and not the fed government like hamilton did. He also referred back to the 10th amendment of the constitution which states that if power is not given to the federal government or restricted to the states, the soverignty always goes back to the states.

That was the Louisiana Territory -- a huge tract of land in the U.S., beginning at New Orleans, moving north along the Mississippi River and westward to the Rocky Mountains.

John Quincy Adams went to

• Harvard University (AB, AM)
• Leiden University