During the Revolutionary period of the 19th century, there were two dominating political parties that had conflicting beliefs: the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists. The Democratic-Republicans were strict-constructionists and believed that the constitution should be taken as literally as possible. The Federalists on the other hand, were broad constructionists and believed that just because the constitution did not explicitly state something it didn't mean there wasn't an implied meaning. The characterization of these two political parties were shown to be inaccurate during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, because both men found themselves straying from their beliefs in certain circumstances in order to insure the best for their country.
First off, Jefferson was challenged with many circumstances during his presidency that required him to go against his strict constructionist beliefs. Some of these included the Louisiana Purchase and the british impressment of US
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He explains that although he went against his beliefs, his actions were all done for the betterment of the country. Different circumstances call to different measures, and it is the responsibility of a good president to take into account the entire country, not just his own ideologies, in order to lead the country into prosperity. In a letter to a Presbyterian minister, Jefferson claims that “everyone must act according to the dictates of his own reason” (Document B). His presidency might have entirely been a contradiction but generally, Jefferson helped significantly double the size of the country and expand
Jefferson also said that different opinions about one subject do not change what the subject is, so that subject will always stay the same, but the opinions about that subject may change. He probably talked about this because there was a big political difference between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans and he wanted to unify everybody together. During that time the Federalists had a bitter rivalry with the Democratic-Republicans. Even though most people expressed nationalism there were still differences between many of the citizens in America. Some citizens supported the Federalists and others supported the Democratic-Republicans. These differences between the citizens eventually developed into
During the time period of 1801 to 1817, there were multiple issues in the United States ranging from wars to political boundaries. This time period saw the termination of the Federalist party. The conflicts were between two parties called the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Federalist party was officially started by John Adams. John Adams was also a loose constructionist just like all the other Federalists. Federalists were in favor of a strong central government. On the other side, was Thomas Jefferson who was in office from 1801 to 1809. Jefferson started the Jeffersonian Republican party. The Jeffersonians were strict constructionists who believed in states rights. They said that anything that is not stated in
As the young colonies of America broke away from their mother country and began to grow and develop into an effective democratic nation, many changes occurred. As the democracy began to grow, two main political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. Each party had different views on how the government should be run. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict construction of the Constitution. The Federalists opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. Throughout the years, the political parties have grown, developed, and even dispersed into
By 1817 the great American experiment was in full swing. America was developing into an effective democratic nation. However as the democracy continued to grow, two opposing political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Federalists saw it differently. They opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. The seemingly solid divide between Federalist and Republican would begin to blur during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. For, neither Republican president was able lead
Most importantly, Thomas Jefferson deeply contradicted his views on land expansion and violated his policy on following the constitution completely. A prime example of this was the Louisiana Purchase, in which Napoleon offered Jefferson the opportunity to purchase all of France's American territory for only $15 million, doubling the physical size of the nation. The French needed the money to fight a war with the British, and Jefferson wanted the mouth of the Mississippi River for America. So, Jefferson "gave the Constitution a close reading" to seek authorization for such a move. Failing to find any, he decided to unconstitutionally take the offer anyway (Doc C). This clearly violated his previous views on such an issue. However, it is obvious that Jefferson made the right decision in the matter, and the American people should be very grateful for Jefferson's
Although Republicans preferred more power to the states, as President, Jefferson should have kept the county's best idea in mind and tried to keep the national government strong. Jefferson also comes across as very hypocritical in this letter by trying to dismantle the government he created and fought for during the drafting of the Constitution. In this letter, Jefferson is guilty of trying to allow his own vision for the country to come through rather than keeping the strict constructionist ideas of his party in mind and supporting the Constitution even if it called for a strong national government.
To take a single step beyond the boundaries specially drawn around powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any decision." By using the necessary and proper clause, Jefferson managed to avoid having to go through Congress to get approval, and also managed to avoid the state governments, just as Hamilton did. This was the exact opposite of what a typical Republican would do, as they believed that the states should have much more power than the federal government. Given that he appears to go against many of the Republican main ideals, he was considered by several as a neo-Federalist. However, even amongst all of this, it is still clear that he didn’t throw away his political ideals as many said he did, which can be seen in the ways that he did all of this to help the people who he was
In the letter he states, "laws and institutions must go hand and hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also and keep pace with the times." (Doc. G) Jefferson is saying that the laws must change as society changes, and he too, as President, also must change with the times. Perhaps Jefferson’s greatest use of loose construction is evidenced by the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France. He knew that such a massive purchase required a constitutional Amendment; however, he also understood the importance of acquiring this land for the growth of the United States; thus, he overlooked his lofty ideals of strict construction and allowed the purchase of this territory without the approval of Congress.
By 1817 the great American experiment was in full swing. America was developing into an effective democratic nation. However as the democracy continued to grow, two opposing political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The Federalists saw it differently. They opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. The seemingly solid divide between Federalist and Republican would begin to blur during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Loose constructionism was everywhere in Jefferson’s group with the keeping of Hamilton’s financial planning. Jefferson wrote a letter to Samuel kercheval that said society has to adapt to changing of the constitution. (DOC G) Jefferson allowed for the ending of the Alien and Sediction acts and also the Excise tax. Jefferson
After America broke away from England national unity in the United States has been threatened by many problems, economic, social, and political developments. Federalist and Jeffersonians had different views of how the government should be run. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments with a weak central government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution while the Federalists saw it differently. Federalist emphasized a powerful central government with weaker state governments and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. These two factions would soon form the two political parties which are still in effect today.
Jefferson was the founder of the Democratic-Republic Party and believed in an agrarian society with strong local governments (i.e. a weak central government). He thought that the states should yield most of the power so that the citizens could control what happens to them
Jefferson believed in protecting the people. By protecting their natural rights to life, liberty and property. He felt that the states should hold more power than the federal government, since the states were closer to the people and were less likely to abuse their natural rights. He wanted a democratic government. In the Kentucky and Virginia Resolution, was written by James
He was afraid that the constitution gave too much power to the central government. Jefferson didn’t trust the government, saying “Experience hath shown that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into Tyranny” (Doc. C). Alexander Hamilton saw that the power belonged to the government and wealthy men. He thought that in order for the nation to prosper there had to be a strong government. Hamilton didn’t trust the people to make decisions, saying “The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right...can a democratic assembly who annually revolve in the mass of the people be supposed steadily to pursue the public good”? and “Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike” (Doc. F).!!Agriculture and the people meant a lot to Jefferson when it came to the economy. He had the Democratic-Republican view that our future was in the farmers. Based on the past experiences with Britain, Jefferson learned to not trust the federal government all the way.
From early times in his public career, Jefferson was the subject of attacks on religious grounds. Although he kept his opinions regarding religion very much to himself, and considered this a very private concern his insistence of the complete separation of church and state was well-known. In a now famous letter to Danbury Baptists, Thomas Jefferson wrote “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his god...their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; thus building a wall of separation between church and state.” This letter affirmed Jefferson’s belief that church and state should be separated and includes the celebrated phrase, “a wall of eternal separation” (Maier, 2000). His views on religion are also expressed in Document B******, Jefferson states, “I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines,