Jefferson Presidency Gk

JEFFERSON’S PRESIDENCY 1

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, and died on July 4, 1826. He was among the

founding fathers of the United States and also took part in the writing of the declaration of

independence, serving as its principal author. Perhaps most famously, he became the third

president of the United States and served the country from 1801 to 1809. His presidency involved

many complex and interesting factors and events. To describe Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, one

must explain the 1800Presidential election, Jefferson’s vision for America, the Louisiana

Purchase, and the Burr-Hamilton Duel.

First, to describe Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, one must explain the 1800 presidential election.

This election was like a repeat of 1776 election where the three contesting candidates were Thomas

Jefferson, John Adams, and Aaron Burr. During the election period, the federalist attacked the

Democratic-Republican Party by reminding the country of the democratic republican support of

the French war. The Federalists said the radicals would cause terror in the United States similar to

what happened in Revolutionary France and therefore would murder their political opponents and

outlaw religion. The Democratic-Republicans, in turn, reacted to these allegations by attacking the

Federalists. They reminded the country of Federalists' passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. In

this, they accused Federalists of destroying Republican values, said federalists violated state rights

and the constitution and added that federalist wanted aristocratic, class rule similar to Great Britain.

Furthermore, during the election, both parties attacked the incumbent John Adams. Hamilton led

the federalists in attacking John Adams because they resented Adams' ending the quasi-war with

France. The Democratic-Republicans linked Adams to the alien and sedition acts which Adams

had signed into law. In the end, the 1800 election results created a tie in the electoral college where

Jefferson and Burr received 73 electoral votes both while Adams came third with 65 electoral

votes. The final determination of the winner was then directed to the House of Representatives.

House federalist split their votes between Jefferson and Burr. The house as equally deadlocked as

the Electoral College took 37 ballots over the course of 6 days. Finally, Alexander Hamilton

supported Jefferson even though Hamilton disliked Jefferson but Hamilton considered Burr to be

far more dangerous. The irony is that Hamilton supported his greatest political archenemy.

Hamilton gave Jefferson enough support to win the presidency. The 1800 election exposed a flaw

in the original constitution; members of the Electoral College could only vote for president, the

vice president was the person who finished with the 2

largest number of votes, a situation that

resulted in an electoral tie between Jefferson and Burr. This problem led to call for the 12

amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1804 which provided for electors to vote for both

president and vice president.

Moreover, in order to explain Jefferson presidency, one need to explain an important aspect of the

Presidential election of 1800 which was the peaceful transition of power from one political party

to another. George Washington warned the people of the formation of political parties, but they

proceed to form by the end of 18

century. The two political parties were the Federalists and the

Republicans. The most prominent people in the different political parties were Washington being

a member of federalist while Jefferson was the Republican Party. James Madison joined Jefferson

in the opposition party; the Republican. These political parties have different manifestos; the

federalist notion didn’t include the voting lot to take part in government business while the

Republican Party required citizen involvement. In the election of 1800, there was a transition of

power from federalists to Republican Party when results came with two Republican candidates

tying while the federalist came third. The tie was then decided in the house where Hamilton

surprisingly sides with Jefferson and Jefferson won the election of 1800. This peaceful transition

of power from federalist to Republican Party shows one of the most important aspects of the

presidential election of 1800.

Secondly, to describe Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, one must explain the Jefferson vision for

America. Jefferson said federalists had strayed from the principals of revolution and he was

committed to pulling the nation back on track. He believed the “Yeoman Farmer” as the backbone

of US. To him, widespread land ownership was the key to freedom. His vision was the US to be

100 self-sufficient. Additionally, Jefferson vision for America included non-industrialization, no

international shipping, and that war wasn't an option. He said, "Given time, diplomacy always

prevail." Jefferson canceled many federalist programs, especially those of Alexander Hamilton

while emphasizing simplicity and informality. He cut military spending, eliminated all federal

internal taxes, and reduced by half, the number of employees of the executive branch.

Third, to describe Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, one must explain the Louisiana Purchase. At

the end of the French war, Britain had given Spain the Louisiana territory, but in 1800, France

reacquired Louisiana territory from Spain. Jefferson was deeply concerned about this transfer of

ownership since he feared a new French empire in North America. Attempting the block or

minimize the transfer of land from Spain to France, Jefferson instructed Robert R. Livingston, the

US minister to France from 1801 to 1804, to negotiate the US purchase of the port of New Orleans.

Emperor Napoleon surprised Livingston by offering to sell to the US the entire Louisiana territory

(over 828, 000sq.miles) for $ 15million ($186 million in 2012 dollars which works out to $260.00

per acre in 2012 dollars). Jefferson and Congress quickly agreed to the deal. The following

circumstances led to the purchase of Louisiana: French leader Napoleon plans to rebuild France’s

empire in North America, Napoleon, therefore, convinces Spain to give the land back to France,

Jefferson sends Livingston to block the deal. Napoleon wanted to conquer Europe but had no funds

to carry out his plans, Jefferson thereby agrees to purchase the land, and Napoleon agrees to sell

it. On February 28, 1803, Congress granted Jefferson's request for $2,500 to fund a visionary

project Jefferson called the Corps of Discovery. It created an expeditionary group sent to explore

uncharted Louisiana territory. The expedition spent next 2.25 years exploring the west which

became one of the America’s greatest adventure stories. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led

the Corps of Discovery, from 1804 to 1806. It was the American overland expedition to the Pacific

coast and back. Travelled from St. Louis to Oregon and back on September 23, 1806, the corps of

discovery gained valuable knowledge of western geography. They discovered 178 new plants and

122 new species of animals. It also opened US diplomatic relations with Native Americans,

strengthened US claims to Oregon territory. Additionally, it focused media and public attention on

the west. Few realized the US government commissioned two other expeditions to explore the

Louisiana Purchase. Zebulon Pike explored the Colorado territory while Thomas Freeman

followed the red river from Mississippi river into Texas.

Lastly, to describe Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, one must explain the Burr-Hamilton duel. This

was the most famous duel in US history. It had long-term effects on the US history. It arose from

long-standing political and personal rivalries such as Hamilton’s support of Jefferson during the

1800 presidential election, Hamilton’s repeated defamation of Burr in New York society, and

Hamilton’s published remarks during 1804 New York gubernatorial race. On July 11, 1804, near

Weehawken, NJ, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, the sitting Vice-president of the United

States, conducted their famous duel – the same site where Hamilton's son had died in a duel three

years earlier. During the duel, Burr shot and mortally wounded Hamilton, who was carried to a

nearby house where he died at 2:00 PM the next day, 36 hours later. To this day, one can still visit

the house and view a large bloodstain left by Hamilton as he died. The state governments of NY

& NJ indicted Burr for murder. However, the charges were eventually dismissed. The duel had

immense political ramifications: it ended Burr’s political career as well as Hamilton’s. Hamilton’s

death fatally weakened federalist leading to their survival in the next ten years before Hamilton’s

leadership absence doomed the party.

ON the same note, to describe Jefferson presidency, one needs to explain the qualities and death

of Hamilton. Hamilton was one of the greatest and powerful men under the government of George

Washington. To America, he can be described as a hero of American Revolution. One of

Hamilton’s closest friends Governors Morris is called upon to give funeral oration to Hamilton

after wounded and bled to death. Alexander had done more to shape the county (US) than any

other man. He was against dueling, but he was killed in a duel. Hamilton was unique among the

founding father due to its orphanage parenthood, immigrant, and college drop-out among others.

His downfall also offers a unique direction. His ambition is restlessness and unconvinced

abundances of secretions. He had a lot of enemies during his political reign.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the greatest and founding fathers of the United States. He helped in

some things aiming at shaping the United States such as principal author in the declaration of

independence. He service to the nation also culminates in his serving as the third president of the

United States between 1801 and 1809 after winning the 1800 presidential election. To describe

Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, one must explain the 1800Presidential election, Jefferson’s vision

for America, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Burr-Hamilton Duel. To finalize on Jefferson

presidency, one can say that he was one of the greatest people Americans will live to remember.

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Jefferson Presidency gk

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