This action was a clear flip-flop from his previous policy of requiring any action to have constitutional authorization. Although strict constructionism was important to Jefferson, he did abandon that principle in the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, believing the ends would justify the means. To him, the Republican dream of a long-term agrarian society was more important and feasible and he continued to do, what he thought, was in the best interest of the nation. All that Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans wanted, in the end was an agrarian society and economy throughout the nation, by whatever means necessary. As Barry J. Balleck rights, “After all, what was the ultimate end of government?
The Embargo Act of 1807 is perhaps the most contradictory decision Jefferson has made in his presidency. Due to impressments of America sailors into the British Army, as well as Great Britain and France both trying to hinder American trade with the other side, Jefferson passed the act which prohibited all foreign trade, to and from the United States. This obliterated any views he was believed to have of a weak central government. The
While the sale of the territory by Spain back to France in 1800 went largely unnoticed, fear of an eventual French invasion spread nationwide when, in 1801, Napoleon sent a military force to secure New Orleans. Southerners feared that Napoleon would free all the slaves in Louisiana, which could trigger slave uprisings elsewhere. [8] Though Jefferson urged moderation, Federalists sought to use this against Jefferson and called for hostilities against France. Undercutting them, Jefferson took up the banner and threatened an alliance with Britain, although relations were uneasy in that direction. [8] In 1801 Jefferson supported France in its plan to take back Saint-Domingue, then under control of Toussaint Louverture after a slave rebellion.
Their main reason for that was that the creation of new states would decrease their power in congress. The Louisiana Purchase was not the only time Jefferson adopted the ideas of federalists about loose construction of the constitution. After he was reelected, war soon broke out in Europe between English and French. British needed more manpower and financial aid for the war soon began impressing American sailors and stealing their cargo. This made trade between the United States and Europe unsafe.
Eventually leading to the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861. This all began with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1847, providing new land in the south-western territories. However, the main problem was what to do with this new found land. Free Sollers and Northern Whigs heavily opposed the spread of slavery, but the southerners wanted more land for agriculture and increase their political power. Henry Clay’s proposition was accepted in 1850, however, this did not fix all issues.
The South could win by literally just outlasting the North’s advantages. Even though the North had soldiers in greater numbers, they had to leave more soldiers behind to secure their already owned land. Which became a weakness for them. The South thought slavery would be good for them. While the white men were fighting, the slaves had to continue laboring on farms or supporting the South’s war efforts.
The Articles of Confederation were created as a new central government form after the American Revolution. The Articles still consisted of problems, specifically financial ones. Hamilton proposed a plan that would put U.S. finances on a stable foundation. He planned to lower national debt and strengthen the national credit because he believed that "a national debt was a national blessing". However, some people, such as Jefferson and small farmers opposed his ideas, because they believed in states' rights and a strict interpretation of the constitution, which led to the split of two different political parties.
That is why he wanted the slaves to be freed and removed from the United States all together. He feared of a revolt by them for all the cruel things that were done to them. Thomas Jefferson didn’t hold the views he felt for one group for the other. The African Americans who were brought to America to be slaves that they forced to live how they wanted them to could not coexist with them but the Native Americans who had their own society and their own way of life they could be civil with. I thought that they wanted to preserve the republican society by molding republican machines.
The whole point of America becoming its own sovereign country was Britain’s overbearing control on the colonies. Many early Americans had concerns and feared a government in which, by design, could become too strong. Consequentially, the Democratic – Republican party (later known to historians simply as the Republican Party) was formed with ideas of smaller government and thusly, less control. A semblance of the rivalry between the parties in the United States could be seen in the French Revolution. The Republicans supported the popular forces in the French Revolt and wanted America to assist.
After president Abraham Lincoln died and the failure of President Johnson, Congress tried to take responsibility of the plans to reconstruct the divided nation that they had before. The main point of reconstructing was to start and protect the citizenship rights of the freedmen. The Southerners were not happy about loosing their slaves and having rights equal to the slaves they used to own as property because of the freedmen’s. They did not want to receive the fact that the freedmen were now men, not just property and that their property was now their equal. The Southerners got up and were angry about the freedmen Congress that had to find a way to protect their rights.