Jefferson's Presidency

How have Thomas Jefferson’s political beliefs influenced the development of the U.S. government?

Selected Political Beliefs of Thomas Jefferson

• supported strong state governments

• opposed formation of a national bank

• favored policies that promoted farming and agriculture

• He supported policies that limited federal power.

• He favored a government that would encourage commerce.

• He proposed the system of checks and balances.

• He devised the system of collecting taxes on income.

Which event showed that Thomas Jefferson accepted a broader interpretation of the Constitution than he had before?

• the elections of 1800

• the Embargo of 1807

• the War of 1812

• the Louisiana Purchase

But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names [fellow believers in] the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.

—President Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

Which change in the U.S. government led Thomas Jefferson to make these remarks in his address?

• the revision of the Articles of Confederation

• the extension of voting rights to women

• the purchase of the Louisiana Territory

• the growth of political parties

What was one benefit that the Louisiana Purchase provided for the United States?

• control of the Great Lakes

• a port on the Gulf of Mexico

• less chance of conflict with Spain

• protection against a British invasion

This excerpt demonstrates Thomas Jefferson’s support for which feature of the U.S. Constitution?

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, . . . I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people . . . building a wall of separation between Church & State.

—President Thomas Jefferson, 1802

• the establishment clause of the First Amendment

• the principle of popular sovereignty

• the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment

• the principle of checks and balances