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Justin Snyder APUSH February 10, 2010 

**__Thomas Jefferson __**  //April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826 Political Party - Republican Terms in Office - 1801-1809 (Served 2 Terms) Vice President - 1801-1805 was Aaron Burr // //Vice President - 1805-1809 was George Clinton //  Thomas Jefferson is one of the most famous presidents in the history of the United States, not only for his presidency but also for his many accomplishments before and after his presidency. Most people will recognize him for being the author of the Declaration of Independence, but he had many more notable accomplishments. During his presidency he purchased the territory of Louisiana from France which enabled Lewis and Clark to explore the new land. For all of these astounding accomplishments, President Jefferson will receive a B.

While Jefferson was in office, there were several things that he hoped to accomplish. Since Jefferson was Republican, he favored the idea of more state power. To achieve this he reduced the size of the U.S. military. This gave more power to the states because the nation now relied on the state militias for protection instead of a government controlled army. Another thing that Jefferson hoped to accomplish was to stay neutral in the ongoing war between Britain and France. America traded with both of these nations which caused both France and England to attack American merchant ships that were headed for the others ports. As a result of this, Jefferson signed the Embargo Act which forbade American ships from sailing to foreign ports and also forbade foreign ships from unloading any cargo in American ports. This law was not popular among the Americans because it didn’t work. Neither country, England or France, were hurt in any way, shape, or form. The only thing it did do was to cause the American economy to suffer greatly.

Jefferson’s relationship with congress was fairly well in his first term because most of the delegates in congress were Republican and favored his ideas. With the favor of congress directed towards him, he was able to pass many laws that reflected the ideals of the Republican Party which valued a weaker central government and more power to the people and the states. Later in his second term in office, though, his relationship with congress weakened as members of the Republican Party began to squabble among themselves. Jefferson’s relations with congress were strained even more when his former vice president, Aaron Burr, and the former republican leader, John Randolph, started an uprising in the west. Jefferson crushed this revolt and managed to retain his hold on congress.

Jefferson had many great accomplishments, but the one that had the most positive outcome would be the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory from France at an extremely cheap price of about 3 cents per acre. This purchase extended the boundaries of the U.S. all the way to the Rock Mountains. Napoleon Bonaparte was hard pressed for cash when American negotiators came asking for only a small part of land, but Bonaparte surprised them with an offer of all of Louisiana. Jefferson was worried that such a large purchase would be against the constitution, but he accepted for fear that Napoleon would change his mind.  Although Jefferson had many great achievements to his name, he also has a few mistakes that have been documented. Jefferson wanted America to stay neutral in this war, but was hard pressed to do so because both England and France kept attacking American merchant ships. As mentioned above, Jefferson signed the Embargo Act to keep foreign ships from unloading in American harbors and also to keep American ships from sailing to foreign harbors to trade. This was not popular at all, causing many people in the trading business to lose their jobs and causing the American economy to suffer tremendously.

In March of 1807, President Jefferson signed into law a bill that banned the importation of slaves into the United States. This didn’t stop the slave trade completely because there were still hundreds of slaves being imported illegally, but it did drastically decrease the number of slaves in the U.S. The slave trade didn’t stop completely until the Civil War, but Jefferson started the movement ended with the abolitionist movement. This law affected the people of today greatly because if Jefferson hadn’t stopped slavery now, it might still be around today.

At the end of Jefferson’s presidency, the United States were better off than before he was president. The boundaries of our country were almost doubled and slavery was abolished by law, eventhough it didn’t completely stop. Both of these extraordinary accomplishments set an example for future presidents to follow. Even though Jefferson did an overall good job, he left our country in an economic crisis due to the Embargo Act. But compared to his other achievements, this was relatively minor. If not for the Embargo Act, Jefferson would have received and A, but he made a poor decision, so he will receive a B. Bibliography **: DeGregorio, William A.. "Thomas Jefferson." //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. Fourth Edition ed. New York: Barricade Books Inc., 1984. 37-53. Print. "Thomas Jefferson | The White House." //The White House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2010. . <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">"Thomas Jefferson Biography - life, family, death, history, wife, young, son, old, information, born, college, house, time." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2010. <http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ho-Jo/Jefferson-Thomas.html>.
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