Thomas Jefferson Essay Research Paper Jefferson was — страница 4

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Democratic societies, which were identified with his party, and by what he regarded as the surrender to the British in Jay’s Treaty, but at this stage he was playing little part in politics. Nonetheless, he was supported by the Republicans for president in 1796, and, running second to John Adams by three Electoral Votes, he became Vice President. His Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1801) was a result of his experience as the presiding officer over the Senate. His papers on the extinct megalonyx and on the moldboard of a plow invented by him attested to his scientific interests and attainments. These papers were presented to the American Philosophical Society, of which he became president in 1797. A private letter of his to his friend Philip Mazzei, published that year,

severely criticized Federalist leaders and was interpreted as an attack on Washington. Jefferson’s partisan activities increased during his vice presidency. He deplored the Federalist exploitation of a dangerous quarrel with France, although Jefferson’s own sympathy with France had declined. The notorious Alien and Sedition Acts were the principal cause of Jefferson’s disapproval of the Adams administration. Jefferson’s grounds were both philosophical and partisan. The historic Republican protest against laws that attempted to suppress freedom of speech and destroy political opposition was made in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions (1798). Jefferson wrote the former, as James Madison did the latter. Jefferson’s authorship was not known at the time. In the Kentucky

Resolutions he carried his states’-rights doctrines to their most extreme point in his career. In invoking the authority of the states against laws that he regarded as unconstitutional, his resolutions were in the tradition that finally led to nullification and secession. But they were also in the best tradition of civil liberties and human rights. President: First Term Jefferson’s victory over John Adams in the presidential election of 1800 can be partially explained by the dissension among the Federalists, but the policies of the government were unpopular, and as a party the Federalists were now much less representative of the country than were the Republicans. Jefferson’s own title to the presidency was not established for some weeks, because he was accidentally tied

with his running mate, Aaron Burr, under the workings of the original electoral system. The election was thrown into the House Of Representatives, where the Federalists voted for Burr through many indecisive ballots. Finally, enough of them abstained to permit the obvious will of the majority to be carried out. Jefferson later said that the ousting of the Federalists and the accession of his own party constituted a “revolution,” but that statement was hyperbole. He was speaking of the principles of the government rather than of its form, and his major concern was to restore the spirit of 1776. He regarded himself as more loyal to the U. S. Constitution than his loose-constructionist foes were, though in fact he was less a strict constructionist in practice than in theory.

Although he had objected to features of Hamilton’s financial system, he had no intention of upsetting it now that it was firmly established. Instead, the purpose he had in mind, and was to be highly successful in carrying out, was to obviate some of the grave dangers he saw in the system by reducing the national debt. Jefferson’s accession to the presidency is notable in American history because it marked the first transfer of national authority from one political group to another, and it is especially significant that, despite Federalist obstructionism for a time, the transition was effected by peaceful and strictly constitutional means. Jefferson himself emphasized this in his conciliatory inaugural address. These events set a precedent of acquiescence in the will of the

majority. The new president described this as a “sacred principle” that must prevail, but he added that, to be rightful, it must be reasonable and that the rights of minorities must be protected. His accession removed the threat of counterrevolution from his country. The government he conducted, in its spirit of tolerance and humanity, was without parallel in his world. His first term, most of it in a period of relative international calm, was distinctly successful. He was the undisputed leader of a party that had acquired cohesion during its years in opposition. In James Madison as secretary of state and Albert Gallatin as secretary of the treasury, he had lieutenants of high competence whom he treated as peers but whose loyalty to him bordered on reverence. By virtually