Blog #147 – How Jeffersonian was Jefferson?
So, in the handouts on Thomas Jefferson and his attitudes on slavery, race, the economy, society, and other things written before he became president, many of you thought that he was inconsistent in some areas (race and slavery among others) but yet consistent in other things (belief in agriculture and the need for more land).
As a man of principle, Jefferson tried to live by his beliefs, but when he became president in 1801, he had a chance to put his beliefs into action. Though he hated banks and strenuously opposed the creation of the Bank of the U.S. in 1791, he let Hamilton’s bank remain intact during his presidency. In other ways, he remained true to his principles.
As you look over the notes we collected as a class, I want you to answer the following questions:
- Before he became president (and using the quotes we looked at on Friday), in which area was he most consistent and why? And in which area was he most inconsistent and why do you think this?
- As president from 1801 – 1809 (and using the notes we compiled on Monday), in which area(s) was he most consistent? Explain why. And in which areas was he most inconsistent and why?
Blog response due by Wednesday, October 26 by class. Your total answer for both questions above should be a minimum of 400 words.
Before he became president (and using the quotes we looked at on Friday), in which area was he most consistent and why? And in which area was he most inconsistent and why do you think this?
(word count: 410+
Before Jefferson’s presidency his most consistent ideas were regarding the economy. Jefferson canonized the “laborers” of this country (which in his mind were farmers, “Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God”), and he wanted America’s economy to be based on farmers: “Agriculture … is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals & happiness.” Additionally, he wanted the economy to rely on trading with Britain: “let our work-shops remain in Europe.” Jefferson did not believe in taxing poor people, and he eliminated certain taxes when he got into office (which is unnecessary information for this specific question). Throughout all of the themes Jefferson presents in his economic beliefs, they all stay consistent with one another. The ideas of Jefferson that were the most inconsistent before his presidency involve his ideas regarding slavery and race. Jefferson had many different theories regarding race. He believed that slavery should be abolished: “it is necessary to exclude all further importations from Africa,” but he literally owned 600 slaves. He brings up multiple times in his life that he believes slavery is a horrible institution, one that needed to be abolished, but if he truly belived that, then why did he own so many slaves? He could have freed them at any point, but instead, he actively bought more throughout his life. Additionally, despite his belief that slavery should be banned, he still held race theories that Africans were inferior to Europeans: “The blacks, whether originally a distinct race or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments bith of body and mind”. If he believed this, it contributes to his inconsistencies, because inferiority was an argument used to justify slavery, so for the times he tried to ban slavery in the law, compared to his argument about black people being inferior shows contridiction within Jefferson. Another little piece of evidence that shows Jefferson’s race theories includes his ideas that were presented in a letter to some random french dude. “I believe the Indian then to be in body & mind equal to the whiteman. I have supposed the black man in his present state, might not be so; but if equally cultivated for a few generations, he might become so.” This confirms the idea Jefferson saw black people as inferiors, and in this quote, he’s basically saying that if black people are colonized, then they’ll be equals.
As president from 1801 – 1809 (and using the notes we compiled on Monday), in which area(s) was he most consistent? Explain why. And in which areas was he most inconsistent and why?
One consistent idea that Jefferson held during his presidency was his idea on the Judiciary branch. Jefferson believed in small states, and a direct result was his belief that states should hold the rights to determine whether or not a law is constitutional. He showed this consistency in his beliefs when he repealed the Judiciary Act of 1789. Before his presidency he claimed to believe in small government, and this theme is constant throughout his presidency. Jefferson also withheld commission for the midnight judges. This shows that he truly did want power to reside in the states and he feared a strong central government because he worried about a potential abuse of power taking place. One inconsistent idea that is shown by Jefferson during his presidency is his ideas regarding trade with Britain. The Embargo acts are evidence of this. Jefferson claimed to be extremely pro agriculture, and he wanted the economy to rely on trade with Britain, but when the British and the French were impressing Americans ships, Jefferson decided to stop trade with everyone in order to prevent this from happening. This hurt farmers more than anyone. This shows a contradiction of his core belief that their economy should rely on trade with Britain. When he shut off trade with the whole world, it made the contradiction even larger because of how greatly farmers suffered, and how pro-farmer he was.
Jefferson was only Jeffersonian when it benefited him and his point of view. He was the most consistent with sticking with his beliefs about the economy and agriculture and how important it is. “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” He defend the farmer and supported the movements and rebellions started by the farmers. He backed the laws that would be able to help the farmers be able to flourish in every way. He was consistent on his way of thinking when it came to the bill of rights and the protection of the citizens of the nation,
he strived for the safety of the citizens’ rights and liberties. He was very anti-federalist and was opposed to the thought of a limited government. Jefferson felt that the commonwealth should be the body in charge of the government and that it should be supported by the people of the country. Because of this constituency of his beliefs, as a president the people believed in him and that he was worried about the people’s rights being stomped over. He was mostly inconsistent with his points of view on slavery seeing that they were the most contradictory with his actions. Jefferson had the opinion that black, white, and enslaved are all their own sort of people and deserved to share the same rights. But on the other hand, Jefferson owned hundreds of black slaves approximated at around 600 that lived on his plantation and within his home. He had the view that both the mixed-race population and the enslaved should be set free and given their rights. He had relationships with many of his slaves and some of them had children.
During the time period of his presidency from 1801- 1809, his point of view on the judiciary branch and the supreme court were unwavering for the most part. He refused to give up the commissions for their services during the midnight judges event, he was also extremely upset during the Marbury vs madison when it was decided and the judicial review started and it resulted in a more powerful supreme court. He didn’t like the thought of their being such a strong government and wanted a very strict interpretation considering he was a strong anti-federalist and didn’t like for any of the courts to be loosely interpreted. He was most consistent with the thought that the rebellion and revolutions are a good thing. He disagreed with the haiti revolution and dropped it, but got mad when people dropped the french revolution.
1.) Jefferson was both inconsistent and consistent on some of his ideals. An example of him being inconsistent was his views on race and slavery. On one hand, he stated that natives were equal to white people. He also stated that slaves were inferior but with time could grow to be equal. Yet while stating this, he owned hundreds of slaves aswell as actively trying to recapture them when they escaped. An example of him being consistent was his views on the economy. He states that America should stay agricultural and keep industry in Europe, as well as lots of land would be needed for farming. He states that congress should not enforce taxes unless it’s for the good of the country.
2.) When Jefferson became president, he didn’t exactly stick with his original beliefs in some scenarios. Before becoming president he stated that banks were evil and Hamiltons bank was unconstitutional and should be abolished. But when he became president and had the power to do so, he never did abolish hamiltons bank despite his previous statements. He also stated that a standing army was dangerous to liberty and the people but a navy was better as it could not harm the public or liberty. But when he became president he cut the navy down to only 6 ships, aswell as keeping some of the standing army. He stuck with some of his beliefs though, such as his policy with the natives. He tried to remain peaceful with the natives, and tried to keep them from allying with the british. he allied with them and assisted them. He also stayed consistent with his love of agriculture, as he tried to guide the natives to thrive in agriculture aswell as Americans.
Before Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, he was most consistent regarding his belief that both boys and girls should be educated. He believed girls should be educated so they could raise good, law-abiding citizens. He believed only educated people could be trusted with the government. If women could raise men to be educated, they could then be trusted to run the government. He even believed all soon-to-be free slaves should be educated presumably for the same reason. They would be good and law-abiding citizens if they were educated. One area where he was extremely inconsistent before his presidency was if black people were equal to white people or not. He constantly claimed he denounced and wanted to abolish slavery, yet he owned slaves. He said that he believed that within a few generations they could be equal to the white man, indicating that he believed they had the same cognitive ability, yet he owned slaves. It doesn’t make any sense to me that if he believed that black people were relatively equal, why did he still own them? It’s like he knew they were equal but just didn’t care. He was most consistent during his presidency when he was dealing with the Native Americans. He said that we should bribe them with a bunch of tributes to get their land. He didn’t want to go to war and actually said that it would be more civilized to deal with them this way. He believed Native Americans to be equal to white people so that probably had something to do with it. What he ended up doing is telling the westward explorers Lewis and Clark to offer them gifts and try and establish a relationship with them. He told them to offer smallpox medicine and he told them to tell them that they could raise some of their young people so that they learn things that could be useful to them. He also told Lewis and Clark to ask them if they wanted to meet up and discus deals they could make. One area where he was extremely inconsistent during his presidency was the Embargo Act. He was a big supporter of free trade, but then banned literally all trade. On top of that he used the U.S. army on the people who were trying to smuggle stuff. Basically the people who were, I’ll be it illegally, trading freely were subject to the forces of the U.S. ary and navy.
Jefferson was known and still is known as one of the most influential presidents of the us. He served from 1801 to 1809. Jefferson was consistent, but not all the time. Before being president he was consistent in his opinion on the people and the government. Be believed that people’s rights should not be altered or changed due to the government in any way. Jefferson founded the democratic republican party in 1792 before his presidency. Instead of a nationwide government, his party focused on more regional/local aspects. Something jefferson wasnt consistent with is slavery. Jefferson made it clear that he wanted to abolish slavery and establish a nation of freedom, but he owned about 600 slaves during his lifetime. It has also been proven that he stated in many letters that he believed that black people were inferior to white people. I find Jefferson’s inconsistence on his views on slavery annoying because its very hypocritical to own hundreds of slaves then push for abolishment. I think this would just aggravate other people that owned slaves or people fighting for abolishment.
During Jefferson’s presidency he was also very inconsistent and consistent. Lots of his beliefs were tested. Jefferson was especially consistent when it came to his thoughts on finances. Jefferson carried out his urge to cut taxes because he thought that people should have been taxed depending on how much their income was (taxing the rich). Another thing Jefferson did was reduce his standing army. Jefferson later realized that having strong federal and military aspects of the government would help make it stronger and more secure. Even though Jefferson knew how to make a stronger government he also had a fear of having his government become too powerful which could possibly take away rights, which is something he had always been against. To make a comparison to the facts I stated, Jefferson was willing to increase parts of the constitution, to purchase the French Louisiana territory. Jefferson wanted to amend the constitution because it didn’t give the federal government the right to gain territory. Jefferson was inconsistent with the economy during his presidency. Jefferson supported trade, taxes, and farming and he thought it would make the economy more efficient. He believed that trading would be one of the best ways to support the USA. The embargo acts shows major inconsistency with Jefferson. It went against basically all I just stated and the acts cut off trade with France and Britain, and also not allow American ships to either of those nations to sell goods. Even though the embargo acts benefited the federal government it still showed major inconsistencies with his presidency.
Jefferson, before he became president, was mostly Jeffersonian prior to his presidency. He did not follow his ideas regarding slavery. Jefferson stated that slavery should be abolished. He wanted to put that in this idea in the original constitution. But it was scrapped. Ironically, he owned slaves himself and even had an affair with one of his slave women having multiple kids. Jefferson was most consistent with being a strict interpreter of the constitution. He believed that anything that was not explicitly written on the constitution was unconstitutional. Take Hamilton’s bank. Hamilton wanted to create a national bank. Jefferson’s argument, we must follow the constitution now. If we do not do what it explicitly tells us to do than what the hell is the point of having in the first place.
During his presidency, Jefferson was most inconsistent with his regards to being fair to the minority. Though it was not exactly discussed in class, Jefferson hardly did anything to help the manufactures. He only tried helping the farmers. Jeffersonian beliefs state that the majority’s should be treated just as equally as the minority’s. The banning of importing goods not only hurt the manufacturers, it also hurt the economy as well. To add icing to the cake, Jefferson also added a standing army. Jeffersonian beliefs are against standing army’s. Yet as a result of the embargo acts Jefferson called for a standing army. He then imposed a tax to fund his standing army to defend against British impressment. Taxing the people was yet again, also against Jeffersonian belief’s. All in all I think that it is safe to say that Jefferson is a hypocrite. From all of the things that he said before his presidency in arguments with Hamilton it is ironic in so many ways just how hypocritical he is of him self.
Jefferson was most Jeffersonian before he was president. And yet even then he was probably one of the most inconsistent person we have discussed so far (at least in my opinion). His most consistent belief was regarding agricultural superiority. He also had a pretty firm belief that gaining more land should be a priority. His main inconsistent belief however was his view on slavery and slave trade. In my opinion he only ever opposed slavery when it was in his best interest to do so. Beside that Jefferson has owned a massive amount of slaver and has even gone as far to sell a/slave(s). So in that regard I find Jefferson rather hypocritical.
As for during his serving as president of the country, his beliefs on agricultural superiority and the need for land held strong. However, pretty much all of his other beliefs fell into shambles. Examples being despising banks, standing armies, spending money on behalf of the country, keeping industry in Europe, the list goes on. For example the Embargo Acts, when going toe to toe with Britain through rivalries at seas (like impressment) Jefferson had to take action. So in return he made probably one of his dumbest series of choices, he formed an army and he closed of trade with not only Europe but also the rest of the world (Remember how America should be agriculture based and we keep the manufacturing to Europe, well that bit us in the ass.). So that had pretty much trashed the economy of America for a bit, and especially killed off profit of the farmers Jefferson cares so much about. And as for the army, remember when he said “banks are more dangerous than a standing army”, well guess what, he keeps banks, makes a naval army, and guess what, a navel army. And even then he got off lucky with that one as the army definitely helped later on in 1812, but still, some of his strongest oppositions was against banks (which he kept) and armies (which he didn’t only allow, but he made).
So all in all, Jefferson still remains in my opinion, one of the most inconsistent and hypocritical people we have discussed in history so far. Some of his strongest beliefs like free trade are no only violated, but also violated for the worst of the country (yet again look at how the embargo acts impacted the economy) and he was too scared of war to take action against wrongdoers (like the pirates).
Now, Jefferson was an interesting man. His Ideals included: Make agriculture the at the top of everything, Tomas Jefferson was an anti federalist, he really liked the navy, and he was agaisnt slavery. So, how Jeffersonian was Jefferson? Well, Starting off with the agriculutre part. Especially with the lousiannna purchase of 1803. The main reason he bought Louisiana was for the farmers. Quoting him from the letter he wrote to George Washington in 1787 “Agriculture… is our wiset pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.” That is a direct quote from Jefferson saying that farming will lead to great success in the upcoming years. He believed that farming was the root of building a strong loyal trustworthy nation. He never was non-Jeffersoian when it came to farming. Above all else he was a farming man. When it came to being an anti-ferearlist he was well an anti-federalist. He believed that the banks were bad, he had a strict representation of the constitution. Quoting Jefferson on financial institutions of 1791 “I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dnagoures than a standing army”. That ties into his beife in a strong navy instead of a standing army. Jefferson really liked the navy, it was one of his issues to fix because of what happened off the coast of vrigina that started the war of 1812. With one of the battles of the revolutionary war we cornered the British on an island with our naval forces. He was not Jeffersonian on this point with the embargo act. He hired a standing army and naval army to stop the different countries from trading with the U.S. Jefferson was completley un-Jeffersonian when i came to slavery. At first he owned slaves, and then his veiwpoints changed on slavery and he wrote books, articles and panphlitd on why slavery was bad for our new nation. In the process he owned slaves as he wrote those. He also has 6 kids with a slave woman and had romantic relations with her. His ideals with slavery started to change later on in his carrer and he realsed some of his slaves but made other slaves into chefs and servants. No white folks, but just black folks.
Jefferson, before he became president, was mostly Jeffersonian prior to his presidency. He did not follow his ideas regarding slavery. Jefferson stated that slavery should be abolished. He wanted to put that idea in the original constitution. But it was scrapped. Ironically, he owned slaves himself and even had an affair with one of his slave women having multiple kids. Jefferson was most consistent with being a strict interpreter of the constitution. He believed that anything that was not explicitly written in the constitution was unconstitutional. Take Hamilton’s bank. Hamilton wanted to create a national bank. Jefferson’s argument, we must follow the constitution now. If we do not do what it explicitly tells us to do then what the hell is the point of having it in the first place.
During his presidency, Jefferson was most inconsistent with his regards to being fair to the minority. Though it was not exactly discussed in class, Jefferson hardly did anything to help the manufacturers. He only tried helping the farmers. Jeffersonian beliefs state that the majority’s should be treated just as equally as the minority’s. The banning of importing goods not only hurt the manufacturers, it also hurt the economy as well. To add icing to the cake, Jefferson also added a standing army. Jeffersonian beliefs are against standing army’s. Yet as a result of the embargo acts Jefferson called for a standing army. He then imposed a tax to fund his standing army to defend against British impressment. Taxing the people was yet again, also against Jeffersonian belief’s. All in all I think that it is safe to say that Jefferson is a hypocrite. From all of the things that he said before his presidency in arguments with Hamilton it is ironic in so many ways just how hypocritical he is of himself. Jefferson’s inconsistency is also evident in his decision to embargo all goods. Jeffersonian beliefs stated that one should treat the minority just as equal as the majority. When Jefferson taxed goods he hurt both the majority and the minority. Now the people could not ship goods. Yeah, the embargo acts were one of the worst decisions in Jefferson’s career as president. Jefferson then afterwards created the one thing that he argued against Hamilton for, the B.U.S. Jefferson went against his Jeffersonian beliefs by creating the B.U.S. 2.0 after the miserably failed war of 1812. He finally decided that Hamilton was right.
Before Presidency:
Jefferson fought for mixed children to be free. Yet he had his own mixed slave named sandy. Sandy ran away from the plantation and Thomas made an ad in 1769 in the hopes that someone would find him. When he was found he sold him. This is non- Jeffersonian because He fought for the freedom of mixed children but couldn’t free this one. He also had his own mixed children by one of his slaves who he didn’t free until he was dead…
In 1791 Jefferson said “I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.” This is Jeffersonian because he opposed Hamilton’s BUS proposal.
Midnight Judges, During Jefferson’s Presidency: Jeffersonian Example
We know that Jefferson wanted a weak Judiciary branch and to weaken the federalists control of the judiciary. Because he was a strict interpreter of the constitution and was strict of what the constitution had in the third branch he believed the federalists had too much power over the judiciary branch. Adams when defeated in the election of 1800 he appointed a lot of federalist judges in district courts. Marbury, one of the judges, wanted his commission. This was during Jefferson’s Presidency. Marbury goes to the secretary of state to get his commission and Madison says no because he doesn’t want or need another federalist on the court. Marbury sues for his position in the supreme court. The federalist judge Marshall acknowledges that Marbury has a right to the commission but the supreme court does not have the jurisdiction to give it to him because it is unconstitutional. Marshall established a concept of judicial review. This gave the judicial branch power to interpret the laws that congress makes. Jefferson and Madison made it possible for the judiciary branch to rule things unconstitutional. Was Jefferson Jeffersonian? Yes. Why? He kept his ideals by not giving Marbury his commission. What happened with the supreme court expanding their powers was not his fault.
Louisiana Purchase, During Jefferson’s Presidency: Non-Jeffersonian and Jeffersonian Example
Napoleon wants to sell the Louisiana territory because there is a Haitian revolution going on. The US bought it for a great deal of $15 million. The Louisiana purchase doubled the size of the United states. Jefferson was happy about the purchase because he could expand his agrarian society. The federalists made it clear that there was nothing in the constitution that said the president had power to regulate land purchases. The federalists also did not like this because they didn’t like the idea of expansion of the anti-federalist parties. Jefferson tried to make this purchase seem like it was a treaty because he did have the power in the constitution for treaties. The United States did not have fifteen-million dollars so the only way they could finance it was Hamilton’s bank plan that Jefferson was opposed to. Was this Jeffersonian? Yes and No Jefferson did not stick with his ideals of a strict interpretation of the constitution after he agreed to the purchase of the bank and was called out about not having the power to purchase land; he tried to make it seem like a treaty. His initial plan was not Jeffersonian and he noticed he was being non-Jeffersonian because the federalist called him out. But his intent was to expand his agrarian society so by making the purchase of the land he was able to do so.