Ben+R.+-+TJ+-+FA11

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826) Democratic- Republican Party March 4, 1801 - March 4 1809 ( 2 terms) Vice Presidents - Aaron Burr (1st term) and George Clinton (2nd term)

As president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson had a lot of pressure on his hands, not to mention that he had to follow and uphold the standards set by Washington and Adams before him. Despite passing the Embargo Acts and stopping trade with Europe, Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase, banned slavery in the new area and came up with some big victories in wars and successful relations with other countries. Due to these events, Jefferson deserves a B+ for his job as president.

In Jefferson’s inaugural address to the nation, he strongly suggested that the colonies and the people in them need to unite and come together and share all of their opinions and beliefs to the common good. In the process of this, people are going to have different opinions but everyone has to be treated fairly and be accepted into the society. No matter how different we are or what religion we follow, everyone has to be united as one nation. “We are all Republicans. We are all Federalists.”This quote came directly from the address and sums up the overall idea of national unity and acceptance. Also, Jefferson says that as a country we need to be independent and focus on ourselves not the rest of the world and stay on the path that leads to peace, liberty and safety. Finally, to wrap up his inaugural address, Jefferson states that he and others around him are going to make mistakes or decisions that some people may not agree with, but everyone is in this journey together and we can all work towards a better way of life, peace and freedom and happiness for all of the people. Jefferson knew that he was never going to be perfect, but he would do everything in his power to make the United States the best it can be.

When Jefferson took charge, he had the power to remove all Federalists from Congress and replace them all with his Republicans. However, he thought it was right to only replace some of the top government officials and not all of the Federalists. Instead, he only replaced a few of the positions with his Republicans. This was very unselfish because he could have had the whole Congress on his side and there would not be as much controversy over the laws being passed. By choosing not to change the whole Congress, Jefferson set a standard and pattern of presidents not changing the whole cabinet for many years to come. Inside Congress, there began to be a lot of political fighting because the federalists refused to accept Republican ideas. Jefferson's way of running Congress was more appealing to the voters than it was to Federalists who had ideas similar to the British such as a strong government and taxation. In the Judiciary, Jefferson argued that the Federalist idea of having court justices in for life should be changed. He believed that there was no real use for the court if they would be in service for so long and held on to the loose Constitution interpretation idea. However, the law was reversed. Thomas Jefferson had an interesting relation with his Congress and Cabinet, but showed that he would not take full control of his power by refusing to replace all of Congress’s members.

During Jefferson’s presidency, the best decision he made was purchasing the area known as the Louisiana Territory. By doing this, he more than doubled the size of the United States and added more land to the growing nation. This was his most important move because it took a lot of the land away from the Spanish and French who were looking to settle in the area and expand their empires. In addition, Jefferson passed the Louisiana Government Bill which created a government that would run the Louisiana Territory and take care of the foreign groups who were settled there already. This government would also collect taxes from the people settled there. Although he didn’t know it at the time, Jefferson bought a very fertile land area that would help the economy in years to come. As for its affect on the globalization, the new land helped create a new place for people to start a business and encouraged a movement of people to the new land. This also helped businesses and farmers make a profit. Also, right after he bought the territory, Jefferson conducted the Lewis and Clark expedition. These two men went west and explored the whole new area and collected scientific information such as where there were water sources and what animals lived there. This proved to be very important because Jefferson gained the valuable information Lewis and Clark collected and they found a way to the Pacific Ocean which helped them expand their boundaries. By purchasing the Louisiana Territory and sending Lewis and Clark west, America expanded their borders, had new places to live and colonize in and helped their economy grow. Jefferson made a great decision in conducting these events.

On the other hand, Jefferson had a few bad decisions that affected his popularity as a president. His main negative decision was becoming involved with European powers and passing the Embargo Act in 1807. At this time, many colonists were not very happy with Jefferson because he cut of all trade with France and England from this Act. This hurt the New England colonies because they relied on trading and their ports as a main money maker in their economy. As a result, many colonists began to smuggle goods in and out of the colonies to make their profit. When Jefferson got word of this, he stationed the military along the Atlantic Coast to make sure nothing was going in or out. This act Jefferson passed severely hurt his popularity and his reputation. Instead of blocking off all trade because of prior fighting and tensions, Jefferson could have just restricted the trading to only a few main ports were everything could be regulated. Instead, Jefferson banned all of the trade and was not very popular among the people. This was not very smart of him because this was one of his last acts as president and now he will be remembered for not ending his term as strongly as the colonists would have liked. This was a big negative in Jefferson’s presidency.

Some other events that shaped Jefferson’s presidency were the Barbary Wars with North Africa. This began because Washington agreed to pay tribute to this area because he wanted to keep a balance and protection of American trade in the Mediterranean Sea. Jefferson however, thought this would hurt their economy so he sent troops to the area and fighting broke out. After sea and ship fighting, the United States emerged victorious and Jefferson gained respect from other colonies in the European area. This would be important because he would gain the power to connect with other countries and potentially do some business with them. This was a positive for him. Another important event that helped Jefferson achieve greatness was his ban on slavery in the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. In his opinion, slavery was a violation of human rights that had been going on in Africa for too long now and there needed to be a restriction on it. Although there was still a good deal of smuggling slaves, the abolition of slave trade was a major achievement for Thomas Jefferson.

When it comes to the future, one move in particular that influenced the lives of the people was Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana territory. This was so important for the colonists because they had so much more land to expand on and live how they wanted. Farmers were very happy with this because the land there was fertile and perfect for growing crops. This also helped the security problem with other nations because France had to move out of the Louisiana area which therefore eliminated a threat. Having the French out of the way in America really helped future presidents focus on more inter-colonial problems and worry less on foreign affairs. Also, future administration would have the advantage of a prospering economy because of the great land and opportunity the territory gave the United States to grow. By purchasing the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson paved the way for future presidents to expand and help the economy prosper.

In the end, Thomas Jefferson created a great place for people to live. He stayed with the standards that the two presidents had before him and he more than doubled the size of the United States. That alone is something to make the people happy. At the end of his term, the country was definitely better off because of Jefferson being in charge. Despite a few laws passed that were unpopular among the citizens and may have cost him some respect, Thomas Jefferson helped unite the colonies together by his leadership, expand the borders to make room for growth and make the colonies a successful business and trading industry. Due to his brilliant purchase of the Louisiana Territory and his abolishing of slavery in the new area, Thomas Jefferson deserves a B+ for his work as president.

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