Virtue Magazine

While his presidency is well known for the Louisiana Purchase, few understand how Jefferson’s role in early American politics impacted the way our government functions. Today, it is important that we understand the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson and how it shaped the United States. Three phases in his life illustrate the basis for his political doctrine: first Jefferson’s role as an Anti-Federalist; second, his position as a minister in France; and finally, his election to the Presidency.

Background

Thomas Jefferson was born and raised in Virginia. His parents were Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph. In his late teens, he entered the College of William and Mary. Shortly after college, Jefferson studied law under Virginia’s most distinguished lawyer, George Wythe. Following five years of studying law, he began practicing the trade in 1767.

Jefferson’s life as a lawyer would be short-lived. Politics became central in his life when he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1769. As a part of the Continental Congress in 1776, he drafted the Declaration of Independence with John Adams. Later, he became an emissary to France on behalf of the United States. In 1796, Jefferson lost his first bid for the Presidency by only 3 votes to John Adams. However, he managed to defeat his rival in 1800, to become the second Vice-President elected President.

Jefferson and the Constitution

Although he was abroad in France during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Thomas Jefferson involved himself in the writing and ratification of the new Constitution. In fact, Thomas Jefferson identified with the position of the Anti-Federalists, a group of individuals who opposed a new political document giving the federal government more power over the state (Kelly). This group wanted to keep the Articles of Confederation which only required voluntary taxation and little cooperation from the member states. The Anti-Federalists also opposed the policies of Alexander Hamilton, who fought for a single executive with many powers. Jefferson essentially became the leader of the Anti-Federalist movement because of the polarizing effects of Hamilton’s policies. The clash between the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist movements was the beginning of party politics in America.

While Jefferson agreed on the need for a single executive, he refused to support a leader that resembled a monarch. He wrote in a letter to Admantios Coray in 1823, “If experience has ever taught a truth, it is that a plurality in the Supreme Executive will forever split in discordant factions, distract the nation, annihilate its energies and force the nation to rally under a single head, generally an usurper” (Coates). Jefferson realized that France’s experiment with three leaders vested with executive powers proved insolvent, and that another version of this in the United States would prove a disaster. Although executive communications were not a hot-button issue in his day, Jefferson’s writings clearly say he believed the President deserved secrecy in his office (Coates).

Jefferson also held specific views on the role of the judiciary in government. Joy Hakim argues in her book The New Nation that Jefferson disagreed with the Supreme Court’s self-ordained power of judicial review because “it made the court too powerful” (Coates). Throughout his letters, Thomas Jefferson repeatedly argues that each branch of government should decide for itself the meaning of the Constitution. He also admired Spain’s Constitution because it allowed, “that when the three coordinate branches differ in their construction of the Constitution, the opinion of two branches shall overrule the third” (Coates). Jefferson also disagreed that Supreme Court justices should be impeached when they make unpopular decisions.

Although Jefferson saw each individual branch of the government as unique and independent of each other, he wanted a check on the Legislative Branch of government. Jefferson thought that legislation should be carefully considered. Firstly, he supported the creation of a two-body legislative system with both a House and a Senate (Coates). However, he also supported a measure that would have delayed legislation for months to prevent sudden changes in law. While this idea was never adopted, it represents Jefferson’s belief that government should remain limited, and that without a restraint on how quickly new laws could be made, Congress could quickly broaden the power of the federal system.

While Jefferson believed the Constitution should be narrowly defined, he sometimes laid his beliefs aside to further the position of the U.S. For example, when Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, he questioned the validity of his own action and whether the Constitution allowed him to add to the size of the United States (Kelly). Nonetheless, Jefferson stood on principle when the Constitution was first written by refusing to back it unless a bill of rights was added to it as soon as it was ratified. During the first meeting of the new Congress, ten amendments to the Constitution were adopted which protected, among other things, freedom of speech, religion, press and the right to bear arms. While his actions did not always reflect his idealistic beliefs, Jefferson also opposed a loose interpretation of the Constitution. When Hamilton pushed a system of banks run by the federal government, Jefferson vehemently opposed it and promptly resigned from his cabinet position as Washington’s Secretary of State (World 4000).

Jefferson on Foreign Policy

As Secretary of State, Ambassador to France, and President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson played an enormous role in shaping the United States’ foreign policy in the years after the ratification of the Constitution. Only a little over a year after his inauguration as President, Jefferson made a bold statement when he refused to continue the European tradition of paying tribute to the barbarian pirates who demanded payment to remain at peace. Jefferson blockaded the port at Tripoli with the United States’ small navy, forcing the pirates into submission (World 4004).

Overall, Jefferson held an idealistic vision for foreign policy. However, as with other issues, pragmatism trumped all when the actual decision-making occured. Jefferson’s foreign policy was not without its flaws. In 1807, Congress passed the Non-Importation Act. This legislation mandated that all exports from the U.S. end. This odd policy was intended to make Britain lift trade regulations on American goods (World 4006). Eventually the act was repealed in 1809. However, this story remains a lesson for future generations that economic isolationism is self-destructive.

Generally, Jefferson supported free trade with any nation that would return the favor. Jefferson once stated, “Our interest [is] to throw open the doors of commerce and to knock off all its shackles, giving perfect freedom to all persons for the vent of whatever they may choose to bring into our ports, and asking the same in theirs” (Coates). In Jefferson’s mind, free trade was “both a right and a duty under the moral law” (Coates) Jefferson also strove to avoid entangling treaties with any nations. A 1796 letter to James Madison reads, “I see… not much harm in annihilating the whole treaty-making power except as to making peace” (Coates).

Many have labeled early American foreign policy as “isolationist” (McDougall 39). While this seems true on the surface, Jefferson never tried to shelter the nation from foreign affairs, but rather tried not to “entangle ourselves at all with the affairs of Europe” (Coates). As these examples illustrate, unilateralism rather than isolationism better describes Jefferson’s foreign policy.

Jefferson on Domestic Policy

A myriad of issues arose during Jefferson’s term as President. Jefferson’s opinion on one specific policy has always fascinated his critics. Slavery was a controversial issue even during the 1700s. Theoretically, Thomas Jefferson opposed the institution of slavery, but he made no move to free his own slaves during his lifetime. While Jefferson desired the eventual release of slaves, he considered slavery essential to the Southern economy. Some of his writings indicate that he considered blacks to be mentally inferior to whites (Johnson 243). While Jefferson did little about abolishing slavery of blacks, his writings were ahead of cultural trends.

Jefferson also held liberal opinions on the issue of immigration. Jefferson agreed that, “America is now, I think, the only country of tranquility and should be the asylum of all those who wish to avoid the scenes which have crushed our friends in [other lands]” (Coates). He believed that America should be a refuge for those in Europe who wished to escape the oppressive monarchies of old Europe. During his presidency, Congress passed legislation which mitigated the work of John Adam’s Alien and Sedition Acts which restricted immigration. This new law allowed foreigners to obtain citizenship in 5 years. Overall, this made naturalization easier for new immigrants.

Finally, throughout his life, Jefferson promoted the disestablishment of state churches and the protection of religious freedoms. Jefferson’s oft quoted letter to the Danbury Baptists reads:

Believing… that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State (Coates).

Even though Jefferson regarded the separation of these two institutions as essential in America, he in no way advocated the restriction of religious freedoms. He admitted that, “The constitutional freedom of religion [is] the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights” (Coates). So while Jefferson was a staunch defender of religious freedom, he vigorously worked to keep religion and politics separate. This is evidenced by his delight when in 1779, Virginia disestablished the Anglican Church. Jefferson commemorated this accomplishment on his tombstone alongside his achievement of writing the Declaration of Independence (World 3999).

Conclusion

After virtually retiring from politics, Jefferson turned his mind to other matters. He maintained correspondence with many people, including John Adams. In 1825, he founded the University of Virginia. Earlier, in 1814, he donated his library of 10,000 books to start what would become the Library of Congress. On July 4th, 1826 Thomas Jefferson passed away, the exact day John Adams died. A year later to the day, James Madison would also meet his Lord.

Thomas Jefferson led a long life that accomplished many things. As the father of what would eventually become the modern Democratic party, he laid the grounds for the party’s platform over the years. While many of the party’s tenets no longer find their basis in the Anti-Federalist papers, Democrats still work to protect individual freedoms. However, it seems that Jefferson’s goal of small government has been thrown by the wayside. It is highly unlikely Jefferson would consider Social Security and Medicare programs as an essential functions of the federal government. Democrats have also abandoned Jefferson’s goal of unilateralism in foreign policy. This has most been recently evidenced in the call for a coalition of forces in the invasion of Iraq.

In conclusion, Thomas Jefferson remains one of the great founding fathers who espoused idealistic policy and worked towards pragmatic solutions. He accomplished many things through his policies of a small government and a unilateral foreign policy. Jefferson will continue to be be known as an individual who favored states rights, despised entangling treaties, and worked rigorously to protect freedoms. Jefferson remains a seminal figure in American history who’s work has had lasting impact on American government.

Works Cited

Coates, Eyler Robert, Sr. “Thomas Jefferson On Politics & Government: Quotations from the Writings of Thomas Jefferson”, Copyright 1995-1999, University of Virginia, < http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/>

Hakim, Joy A History of US: The New Nation, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993

Johnson, Paul A History of the American People, Great Britain: Harper Perennial, 1997

Kelly, Martin “Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase”, About, a part of The New York Times Company, Copyright 2006, < http://americanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa030902a.htm>

McDougall, Walter A., Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter with the World Since 1776, Boston: Mariner Books, Copyright 1997

World Book Encyclopedia, “Thomas Jefferson”, Chicago: Field Enterprises, Inc., Copyright 1956