Sammi+-+TJ

Thomas Jefferson (4/13/1743- 7/4/1826) Party: Democratic-Republican In Office: March 4,1801- March 4, 1809 Vice Presidents: First Term- Aaron Burr Second Term- George Clinton

Thomas Jefferson was a great third president for the newly established United States of America. To rate him you would have to look at his accomplishments and his ability to run the country with the new form of government, the constitution. Thomas Jefferson would get a B+ because his accomplishments during the term were great, but his problem with following the constitution got him on the bad side of many federalists who had just worked hard to make the constitution. One of Jefferson’s goals going into office was to create a purely democratic, agricultural nation. He did not accomplish this goal. His dream of agricultural living for America didn’t happen; in fact things went the other was as more amendments were added to the constitution. Another goal of his was to reverse the actions federalists had taken to create a stronger central government. He and many other anti-federalists believed this was only to take power away from the common folk. He called this action the Revolution of 1800. More specifically he wanted to lapse the Alien and sedition acts and repeal the unwanted whiskey tax. Repealing the whiskey tax gave him much needed “brownie points” from the people of the west. Thomas Jefferson didn’t have the odds on his side when he became president. Both of groups in congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives) had federalists as the majority party. Seeing that his first move was to reverse most of the actions the federalists had taken it can be assumed he didn’t have a great relationship with his congress. Evidence for this assumption is also in some of the actions he made. He went against the constitution twice, once even neglecting to get the permission he needed from congress to send troops out. Although he didn’t have a great relationship with congress he did with many of his people. The president and his administration got a positive result from the people of America when they decided to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France for 15 million dollars. He did anger the congress with this purchase because he didn’t consult with them about the huge purchase. This was his other offence against the constitution. One of the reasons he wasn’t impeached, was because although he didn’t follow the constitution he was great with making decisions. The Louisiana purchase added many valuable resources, more coast and doubled the size of America, adding an amazing 828,000 square miles to America. The action Thomas Jefferson made that upset many people was mostly going against the constitution twice. The people had voted and agreed to follow it, he took an oath that he would guide the country underneath it’s law, yet he neglected to follow it’s rules twice. Thomas Jefferson’s term changed America as far a geography the most. He doubled the size of America! This changed future presidents job, because now they controlled twice the amount of land. He also created the Revolution of 1800 which reversed some of the actions of federalists. This didn’t effect the next two presidents greatly because they were from the same party as Jefferson. The next president this would effect was the first federalist president since Thomas Jefferson. In conclusion, the country was much better off after the term of Thomas Jefferson. He was the first democratic-republican to run for office. After him a huge amount of democratic-republican people ran. This got new ideas in office about how to amend the constitution. He was well liked by many of the US citizens because he got rid of the Whiskey tax. He found other ways to get money, to pay off their debts. He cut back on military and cut America’s debt down by one-third. He also sent a squad over to stop the pirates from messing with American commerce on the east coast. Another reason we know he was well liked was because he served two terms. He accomplished many great things, although he didn’t fully abide by the constitution giving him a B+ as a president.

Works Cited:
"Thomas Jefferson." __The Duel__. 2008. 17 Sept. 2008 . "Thomas Jefferson." __The White House__. 17 Sept. 2008 . "Thomas Jefferson." __Wikipedia__. 17 Sept. 2008. 17 Sept. 2008 .