Thomas Jefferson
Looking back on the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson described it as being "as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of 1776 was in its form; not effected indeed by the sword, as that, but by the rational and peaceable instrument of reform, the suffrage of the people." Jefferson saw his election as reversing an earlier trend away from republicanism. The departure from true republican principles, as he judged it, had begun with the economic policies of Alexander Hamilton favoring financial and manufacturing interests and the strengthening of the national government at the expense of the states. During John Adams's presidency, Jefferson was further alarmed by the threats to civil liberties posed by the Alien and Sedition Laws restricting freedom of speech, assembly, and the press. Under the administrations of both George Washington and Adams, Jefferson was also concerned that the rituals of the presidency resembled too closely the monarchical models of !By 1800 Jefferson was convinced that the government must be put on a more republican tack if the new Republic were to succeed, and he directed his efforts in the election of 1800 toward that end. In a nation of farmers, Jefferso
But the embargo was repealed before Jefferson left office, and when he retired from political life, he left a legacy of faith in the people and a widening popular participation that continued to shape the development of American democracy. President Jefferson promptly initiated simplicity and frugality in government. " In responding to Federalists' efforts to suppress minority opinions, Jefferson more clearly defined a basic tenet of American democracy. He also vowed to protect the rights of states while preserving the general government in its whole constitutional vigor. He also eliminated formal presidential receptions, or levees, which his predecessors had held, and he ignored the formal European rules of diplomatic etiquette by receiving foreign diplomats informally and offering no seating by rank at diplomatic dinners. He wished to keep the government close to the people. n's belief in the virtues of an agrarian republic of independent farmers won wide support. In an address in 1790, he reiterated his faith in "the sufficiency of human reason for the care of human affairs" and stressed that "the will of the majority, the Natural law of every society, is the only sure guardian of the rights of man. Altered circumstances, however, led to the modification of many of these policies before the end of his second term. "I am not for transferring all the powers of the States to the general government, and all those of that government to the Executive branch," he wrote at a time when a Federalist Congress had given the president extraordinary power over aliens. " Though an agrarian republic was Jefferson's ideal, he recognized the necessity of commerce, and as president he was committed to its protection. Despite earlier expressions of concern about executive power, Jefferson exerted strong presidential leadership, and with the enactment of an embargo in 1807 the federal government became more intrusive than Jeffersonian principles envisioned. The Jeffersonian Republicans found little support among the banking, manufacturing, and commercial interests attracted to Hamilton's vision of an industrial America. " This faith in the people was basic to the creed he enunciated in the election of 1800 and implemented as president. Initially inclined to push for a constitutional amendment, he yielded to the opinion of advisers that the treaty-making power provided adequate constitutional grounds.
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