Thomas Jefferson Political Compromiser Essays - United States

\"Thomas Jefferson: Political Compromiser\" Morton Borden AP United States History 10/10/17 Morton Borden, \"Thomas Jefferson, Political Compromiser\" America's Eleven Greatest Presidents ed. 2 nd ed., Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, pp. 174-181 After the Constitution was signed, George Washington's leadership helped guide the newly formed United States through the 1790s. When his presidency ended, two factions began to form: the Federalists, led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. When Jefferson was elected in 1800, the Federalists feared that all the gains that the government had made when Washington and Adams were president were going to be washed away by Jefferson. Jefferson did change some laws to better fit, including erasing the public debt and reducing internal taxes. However, Jefferson saw that he needed to keep some federalist ideas in order to effectively run the country. Thomas Jefferson reaching across the partisan aisle during his time as president to forward the progress of the United States, while also incorporating his own party's ideas, allowed the country to begin their new stage of government under the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson incorporated some of his own party's ideas when he was elected president, and in doing so scared the Federalists who had built the country the way it was for the past 12 years. In 1800, when Jefferson was elected, the Federalists saw Jefferson as the man who would undo all the work they had done since the constitution was ratified in 1789. He was, \"honestly feared, by almost all Federalists.\" (174), which means that the Federalists were unsure if the policies that they made were going to be saved by Jefferson. This includes the power between the national government and state governments and the financial system created by Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton. These Federalist fears caused even more animosity between the two parties, and when Jefferson and Burr, both members of the Democratic-Republican party, tied in the 1800 presidential election, the vote in the House of Representatives kept resulting in a tie. This was because there were exactly the same amou nt of Federalists and Democratic-Republicans in the House, and all the Federalists kept voting for Burr, simply for the fact that he wasn't Jefferson. The Federalists could not accept Jefferson at all. Despite these tensions, Jefferson's inauguration speech spoke of a different tone, with him saying that \"We are all republicans-we are all federalists.\" (175). This speech was greeted with surprise and confusion. It was clear to everyone that he was trying to heal the wounds made between the two parties. However, some Federalists still distrusted Jefferson, due to the attacks made by both sides before the election. Jefferson did include a lot of the Democratic-Republican's ideology in his agenda. This included letting the Alien and Sedition Act lapse, which was a benefit for the Federalists, given that French immigrants could not vote for president. There was also reducing or even abolishing internal taxes, which would limit the amount of funds for the government: \"Frugality and ec onomy were emphasized to the extreme.\" (176). Another impact made by Jefferson was the scaling down of both the Army and the Navy. The Federalists disagreed with every single act that Jefferson made that favored his own ideology. The Federalists saw the scaling back of the military as extreme and potentially dangerous, with their vulnerability of invasion and constant European war. They also disagreed with the reduction of taxes, which would make them more reliant on tariffs, which are known to be unpredictable. Most important to the federalists, the payment of the public debt would reduce the national government's power over the states. This disagreement in Jefferson's decisions show that he was still willing to put his and his party's agenda over keeping the Federalists happy. Despite changing a significant amount of the government structure, Thomas Jefferson still sought to compromise with the federalists and his time as president showed his transformation from a radical natural law philosopher to the adoption of some federalist techniques. One of these examples are the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This purchase would double the size of the United States, and would help the United States increase their power and influence. However,