Connie Chen

December 3, 2010

Mrs. Sidenbender P. 3

AP U.S. History Research Project

Thomas Jefferson once said, “An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of
power over his fellow citizens.” This one sentence statement could not sum up Jefferson’s
character any better. Jefferson was a simple and remarkable leading figure who came from a
high social status and wealthy background. Although some may argue that Jefferson’s
presidency was not seen as beneficial to the United States due to the effects of the Embargo Act
of 1807 and how it lead to the War of 1812, the majority can overlook these events and see the
bigger picture of Jefferson’s accomplishments during his two terms of presidency. Jefferson’s
presidency was seen as revolution because he was able to expand the territory of America
westward with the Louisiana Purchase, abolish the Slave Trade, and most importantly, he wrote
the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.

The Louisiana Purchase was one of the largest land compromises in the history of the
United States. This land purchase doubled the size of America and led to the access of
Mississippi ports. Even though Jefferson was pleased with the terms of the bargain over the land,
he wasn’t sure if the United States had the authority to acquire new land since it wasn’t stated in
the Constitution. Quoted from a letter that Jefferson wrote to James Monroe on January 10, 1803,
“I have but a moment to inform you that the fever into which the western mind is thrown by the
affair at N. Orleans stimulated by the mercantile, and generally the federal interest threatens to
overbear our peace.” (Library of Congress) Jefferson is stating his uncertainty of whether or not
to sign this land treaty because he always insisted that federal authorities can only exhort those
powers that were assigned to them. After much persuasion amongst Jefferson’s advisors, he
finally made the decisions to purchase the territory and take control of Louisiana from France. It
turns out that even before Napoleon offered to sell Louisiana, Jefferson was already planning an
expedition to explore the west after Congress had consent. Quoted from a letter Jefferson wrote
to Congress on January 18, 1803, “The interests of commerce place the principal object within
the constitutional powers and care of Congress, and that it should incidentally advance the
geographical knowledge of our own continent, cannot be but an additional gratification. The
nation claiming the territory, regarding this as a literary pursuit, which is in the habit of
permitting within its dominions, would not be disposed to view it with jealousy, even if the
expiring state of its interests there did not render it a matter of indifference.” (Library of
Congress) The Louisiana Purchase was later on admitted to the Union as the state of Louisiana in
1812 and it was also seen as one of the greatest achievements by Thomas Jefferson.

Many founding fathers have spoken out against slavery but none of their actions took
effect in abolishing slavery for good. Jefferson believed that the laws of nature decreed that
everyone had a right to their personal liberty. He constantly took part in actions that would
attempt to abolish slavery. For example, Jefferson drafted the Virginia Law of 1778; this law
prohibited importing slaves. He also advocated other laws and ordinances in attempt of ending
this moral depravity of man. In 1807, Jefferson signed the bill abolishing the slave trade. Quoted
from Thomas Jefferson’s Autobiography Draft on July 27, 1821, “He has waged cruel war
against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a
distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another
hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither.”(Library of Congress)
Although Jefferson himself owned numerous slaves, he constantly spoke out against it. Quoted
from a letter he wrote to James Monroe on May 20, 1782, “ It were contrary to feeling and
indeed ridiculous to suppose a man had less right in himself than one of his neighbors or all of
them put together. This would be slavery and not that liberty which the bill of rights has made
inviolable and for the preservation of which our government has been changed. Nothing could so
completely divest us of that liberty as the establishment of the opinion that the state has
a perpetual right to the services of all it's members. This to men of certain ways of thinking
would be to annihilate the blessing of existence; to contradict the giver of life who gave it for
happiness, & not for wretchedness, and certainly to such it were better that they had never been
born.”(Library of Congress) This quote shows Jefferson’s strong belief even though his actions
of owning slaves contradict his words.

On June 11, 1776 Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman,
and Robert R. Livingston were appointed to the committee to draft the declaration of
Independence but it was primarily written by Jefferson. The purpose of the document was not
only to declare independence from Great Britain, but to state the natural rights of the people.
Quoted from the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”(Library of Congress) is the
statement regarding our human rights. Without Jefferson the fate of our country today would be
unpredictable. Everything we have known to be our rights would not have been possible without
this document. The Declaration of Independence does for us what is quoted from a letter from
Jefferson to John Adams on October 28, 1813, “. A government adapted to such men would be
one thing; but a very different one, that for the man of these States. Here every one may have
land to labor for himself, if he chooses; or, preferring the exercise of any other industry, may
exact for it such compensation as not only to afford a comfortable subsistence, but wherewith to
provide for a cessation from labor in old age. Every one, by his property, or by his satisfactory
situation, is interested in the support of law and order. And such men may safely and
advantageously reserve to themselves a wholesome control over their public affairs, and a
degree of freedom” (Library of Congress) The Declaration of Independence was the beginning
of what we call the United States of America today.
 The Jeffersonian Era has proven to be one of the most revolutionary times in the history
of the United States. Thomas Jefferson’s presidency allowed America to become what it is today.
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the abolishment of foreign slave trade in 1808, and the
Declaration of Independence are only several of the prolific, benevolent actions Jefferson
performed. Jefferson is arguably one of the most influential founding fathers of America whose
actions still affect Americans today.