Monday, October 5, 2009

The Jeffersonian Era

Let's start with the basics. Jefferson had a few goals he wanted to accomplish when he and his followers took power in the US in 1801. These included a system of universal education (public education), an independent and argricultural society with less of a European influence, and limited government supremacy giving most of the power to the people. This is a rather radical view of how America should be, and in it's own right, very unrealistic.
During the Jeffersonia Era, some things did not exactly go exactly as Jefferson would have liked. When it came to keeping the central government's power limited, Jefferson was unable to do this for very long. When Napoleon agreed to sell the French territory in America to the Americans, Jefferson was doubtful about claiming the territory because claiming territory is a lot of power. Luckily, Jefferson decided to purchase the terriory anyway without the consent the People.
The Jeffersonian Era did not go along with his beliefs at all.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with your response fully. But just to add to what you said, not only was Jefferson doubtful about claiming the Louisiana land because of the amount of power it gave him, but also because he was a strict constructionist to the Constitution and did not know if purchasing that huge swatch of land was allowed in the Constitution.

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