Thomas Jefferson
1743 - 1826
Thomas
Jefferson, third president of the United States
(1801-1809) and author of the Declaration of Independence. He
was one of the most brilliant men in history. His interests
were boundless, and his accomplishments were great and varied.
He was a philosopher, educator, naturalist, politician,
scientist, architect, inventor, pioneer in scientific farming,
musician, and writer, and he was the foremost spokesman for
democracy of his day.
As
president, Jefferson strengthened the powers of the executive
branch of government. He was the first president to lead a
political party, and through it he exercised control over the
Congress of the United States. He had great faith in popular
rule, and it is this optimism that is the essence of what came
to be called Jeffersonian democracy.
Jefferson
swore his hostility, he said, to “every form of tyranny over
the mind of man.” During his lifetime he sought to develop a
government that would best assure the freedom and well-being
of the individual.
Early
Life
Thomas
Jefferson's father, Peter Jefferson, was a prosperous Virginia
planter. His mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, was a member of
the old and distinguished Randolph family of Virginia. In 1743
the Jeffersons moved to western Goochland County, where Peter
Jefferson had acquired 162 hectares (400 acres) of undeveloped
land. He named his estate Shadwell. At first the family lived
in a simple log cabin.
Thomas
Jefferson was born in this cabin in 1743. A year after his
birth, Albemarle County was formed from the western portion of
Goochland County. Peter Jefferson soon became a leader in the
new county. He was a justice of the peace, a magistrate, and
commander of the county militia. Although young Jefferson was
accepted into the Virginia aristocracy through his mother's
family, it was his father, a self-made man, whom he especially
admired.
In
1745, William Randolph, a cousin of Mrs. Jefferson and a close
friend of the family, died. His will requested that Peter
Jefferson move to his estate, manage the house and land, and
supervise the education of Randolph's four children. The
Jeffersons remained at Randolph's estate, known as Tuckahoe,
for seven years.
Education
Thomas
was five years old when he began his education under the
family tutor at Tuckahoe. In 1752 the Jeffersons returned to
Shadwell and again started work on a plantation home. Thomas,
however, spent little time at Shadwell. Almost immediately he
was sent to Dover, Virginia, where he studied Latin with the
Reverend William Douglas until 1757, when his father died. He
was then sent to the school of the Reverend James Maury at
Hanover, Virginia, and spent two years studying Greek and
Latin classics, history, literature, geography, and natural
science.
Jefferson
was a tall, slender boy with sandy hair of a reddish cast and
fair skin that freckled and sunburned easily. A serious
student, he also enjoyed the lighter aspects of the education
of a Virginia gentleman. He learned to dance and play the
violin and became an excellent horseman. Weekends and holidays
he spent either at Shadwell entertaining guests or at his
friends' plantations.
In
March 1760 Jefferson entered the College of William and Mary
in Virginia's capital city, Williamsburg, and soon came under
the influence of Dr. William Small. Jefferson became a
favorite of the doctor, who taught mathematics, natural
history, metaphysics, and moral philosophy. Jefferson also
continued his study of classical literature.
Lawyer
After
two years at William and Mary, Jefferson left to study law
with Dr. Small's friend George Wythe, the most learned lawyer
in Virginia. Jefferson was very fond of Wythe and called him
“my second father.” Even while reading law, Jefferson had
many other interests. He studied French, Italian, and English
history and literature. He was keenly interested in the new
scientific theory of inoculation and traveled to Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, to have himself inoculated against smallpox.
In
1767, after five years of work and study under Wythe,
Jefferson was admitted to the practice of law in Virginia. He
was reasonably successful as a lawyer, but he did not earn
enough to support a Virginia gentleman. Jefferson's main
source of income, like that of most other Virginia lawyers,
was his land.
Throughout
his years of law practice, Jefferson spent much time
supervising the Shadwell plantation. In this occupation, as in
his studies, he was most methodical. He observed the growth of
his plants and trees, keeping records of them in a special
garden book. A careful observer of his environment, he kept a
lifelong record of such things as temperature, weather,
expenses, recipes, and anything else that struck him as
noteworthy. “There is,” he once wrote, “not a sprig of
grass that shoots uninteresting to me.”
The
year of his admission to practice law, Jefferson began work on
his mountaintop estate, Monticello, near what is now
Charlottesville, Virginia. Jefferson designed the mansion
himself in the classical style of architecture.
Marriage
On
New Year's Day, 1772, Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton,
a 24-year-old widow. Patty, as Jefferson called her, shared
her husband's love of music and played the harpsichord and
piano. The marriage was a happy one despite Mrs. Jefferson's
ill health. Of their six children, only two, both of them
girls, lived to maturity. Martha Jefferson died in 1782. The
death of his wife had a profound effect on Jefferson and
probably influenced his return to politics, which he had
considered abandoning.
Early
Career
Virginia
Burgess
By
the time of his marriage, Jefferson had for several years been
a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. This was the
lower chamber of the Virginia legislature, which was called
the General Assembly. He was elected in 1768 and took his seat
at Williamsburg in the spring of 1769. As a burgess, Jefferson
took an active part in the events that led to the American
Revolution (1775-1783). He belonged to the so-called radical
group that was in opposition to the conservative planters of
the Tidewater region. Many of his democratic views came from
his experience as a resident of the western part of the
colony, near the frontier, where he saw the colonists carve a
civilization out of the wilderness. This strengthened his
lifelong belief that people could and should govern
themselves.
Jefferson
was a poor speaker, but his literary talents made him a highly
valued member of committees when resolutions and other public
papers were drafted. He emerged as the recognized author of
the patriot cause in Virginia and indeed in the whole of the
colonies. Jefferson's first public paper, however, was
considered too stiff and formal, and it was rewritten. The
paper was a response to the greeting of the new governor, Lord
Botetourt, to the General Assembly. Jefferson, who never took
criticism graciously, remembered the incident with annoyance
for many years.
Townshend
Acts
In
1769 Jefferson joined his fellow burgesses in opposing the
Townshend Acts. These laws passed by the British Parliament
required the colonies to pay duties on paint, lead, paper, and
tea. They also made changes in colonial administration that
disturbed the colonists. The Massachusetts legislature
appealed to the other colonies for concerted action against
the laws. Virginia responded with resolutions protesting the
acts. Governor Botetourt, learning of the resolutions,
dissolved the General Assembly. However, the burgesses moved
their meeting to the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, where
Jefferson and the others signed an association, or pledge of
action. Drafted by Burgess George Mason and introduced by
Burgess George Washington, the document went far beyond any
previous protest. It bound its signers not to buy a number of
imported goods until the Townshend duties were abolished.
Faced
with the prospect of a boycott, Great Britain lifted most of
the offensive duties. Thus the colonists were quieted so
effectively, Jefferson said, that they “seemed to fall into
a state of insensibility to our situation.” He, however, was
not deceived. He noted that the tea tax still held and that
Parliament still claimed the right “to bind us by their laws
in all cases whatsoever.”
Committee
of Correspondence
In
1773, in retaliation for the burning of the British ship
Gaspee near Providence, Rhode Island, the British government
ordered a special court of inquiry and threatened to send the
perpetrators to Britain for trial. Jefferson and his
brother-in-law Dabney Carr were among the burgesses who
protested the British threats. They met secretly with
burgesses Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee and a few others
to consider a plan of action. Carr drew up a set of
resolutions proposing a committee of correspondence for
Virginia. The committee was to keep in touch with other
colonies on matters of common interest. Other resolutions
challenged the legality of the court of inquiry and protested
the threat “to transmit persons accused of offenses
committed in America to places beyond the seas to be tried.”
The resolutions were passed by the General Assembly. Although
the committee of correspondence did not include Jefferson or
other so-called radicals, the first step had been taken toward
communication and joint action on grievances by all the
colonies.
Jefferson's
Resolutions
Early
in 1774 the colonies were angered by the passage of what were
called the Intolerable Acts. One of these, the Boston Port
Act, closed Boston Harbor in retaliation for a protest
incident, the so-called Boston Tea Party, where angry
colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor. Virginia
protested the Boston Port Act, and Jefferson was one of the
burgesses who suggested that the day the act went into effect
should be declared “a day of fasting, humiliation, and
prayer.” Because of this resolution, the General Assembly
was again dismissed, this time by Lord Dunmore, who had
replaced Botetourt as governor.
Virginians
immediately elected their dismissed burgesses as delegates to
a convention to consider the grievances of the colonies. As
delegate from Albemarle County, Jefferson wrote a series of
resolutions later titled A Summary View of the Rights of
British America. In defining the grievances with Great
Britain, Jefferson denied that Parliament had any authority
over the colonies, and he attacked the restrictive acts passed
by Parliament as a deliberate plan to destroy colonial
freedom. Jefferson also accused the king of rejecting the best
laws passed by colonial legislatures, of preventing the
outlawing of slavery in the colonies, of permitting his
governors to dissolve colonial assemblies, and of sending in
armed forces without having the right to do so. Jefferson said
the colonists were “a free people claiming their rights as
derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their
Chief Magistrate.”
On
his way to Williamsburg, where the convention was to meet,
Jefferson became ill. He was unable to go on but sent his
Summary View to be presented by fellow Burgess Peyton
Randolph. The younger delegates applauded Jefferson's work,
but for the time being “tamer sentiments were preferred,”
as Jefferson put it. The Summary View was set aside in favor
of a more tactfully phrased remonstrance to Parliament.
However, Jefferson's work was published in Philadelphia and
England, and Jefferson's talents as a writer and political
thinker came to the attention of American patriots outside of
Virginia.
Richmond
Convention
In
March 1775 Jefferson was a delegate to a Virginia convention
held at Richmond to approve the decisions made at the First
Continental Congress, an assembly of representatives from the
different colonies that had met the previous fall to organize
resistance to Britain. At Richmond it was decided that the
colonies must resort to arms against England. Patrick Henry on
this occasion made his stirring “give me liberty or give me
death” speech. Jefferson supported Henry's call to arms with
his first public address. The convention then chose him as an
alternate delegate to the Second Continental Congress to serve
if the elected delegate, Peyton Randolph, should be unable to
attend.
Burgesses'
Last Session
Before
the Second Continental Congress convened, events in Virginia
reached a crisis. Lord Dunmore, the governor, had angered
Virginians by his high-handed conduct. They were further
aroused when word came of the battles of Lexington and Concord
in April 1775, when Massachusetts militias first took up arms
against the British troops. The American Revolution had begun.
(See Lexington, Battle of; Concord, Battle of.) Dunmore was
frightened and called a meeting of the General Assembly, which
both Jefferson and Randolph attended.
At
first, Dunmore tried to calm the assembly with assurances that
no more taxes would be levied. Instead, he said, they would
return to the old system whereby the colonies voluntarily
contributed money to Great Britain. However, these assurances
came too late to appease the Virginians. Dunmore felt his life
was endangered and fled to a British warship. He never
returned to Virginia.
The
assembly continued to work without him. Jefferson's written
reply to the assurances made by Dunmore stated that “the
British Parliament has no right to intermeddle with the
support of civil Government in the Colonies.” Virginia,
Jefferson declared, was now represented in the Continental
Congress and would go along with the decisions of the other
colonies. His reply, slightly amended, was adopted by the
assembly, and Jefferson left for Philadelphia and the meeting
of the Continental Congress. Randolph remained in Williamsburg
to preside over the assembly.
Declaration
of Independence
On
June 21, 1775, Jefferson took his seat in Congress. A few days
later, John Rutledge of South Carolina was appointed to write
a statement explaining the colonists' reasons for making war
on Britain. Rutledge's paper was not approved, and Jefferson,
who by now had earned wide acclaim as a writer, was asked to
write a new draft. His version contained many of the ideas
expressed in the Summary View, and it brought forth the same
cry of radicalism from the conservatives. John Dickinson of
Pennsylvania rewrote Jefferson's paper, and Congress approved
it on July 6, 1775.
The
following summer, Jefferson sat in Congress as an elected
delegate, not as an alternate. It was at this session that he
wrote his most famous document, the Declaration of
Independence.
On
June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, who was also a congressman
from Virginia, proposed a resolution stating “that these
United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and
independent States.” Jefferson was one of a committee of
five appointed to draft a declaration “to the effect of the
said … resolution.” The committee asked Jefferson to draft
the paper, and according to committee member John Adams,
Jefferson replied, “Well, if you are decided, I will do as
well as I can.” When his draft was completed, Adams,
committee member Benjamin Franklin, and Jefferson himself made
corrections.
On
July 2, 1776, Lee's resolution for independence was passed by
Congress. Technically, this was the actual day of American
independence. Then the declaration was debated, several
changes were made, and some parts were dropped entirely.
Jefferson regretted especially the deletion of a long
paragraph denouncing the slave trade and the whole institution
of slavery as a “cruel war against human nature itself.”
The
objective of the declaration, in Jefferson's own words, was to
justify American independence “in terms so plain and full as
to command their assent.” As an expression of the philosophy
of the natural rights of people in an age when absolute
monarchs ruled throughout the world, it had an immense impact
in America and in Europe as well. Jefferson did not originate
the concept of government by consent and the belief that all
people are endowed with certain rights that government cannot
infringe upon. These ideas came from European philosophers,
most notably 17th century British philosopher John Locke.
However, in the declaration they were given a practical
application for the first time. Furthermore, in Jefferson's
words they achieved their most eloquent expression.
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. That to secure these rights, governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
On
July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was formally
adopted. The bands that had connected America with Great
Britain were broken. Within a few days the declaration was
being read to people throughout the colonies, and it was
received with great rejoicing. The declaration held the
essence of Jefferson's ideals, and he spent the rest of his
life applying its principles to the new American government.
Virginia
Legislator
While
Jefferson was writing the declaration, a convention of the
General Assembly in Virginia was drafting laws suitable for
the state's new republican form of government. Eager to take
part in this enterprise, Jefferson resigned from Congress and,
in September 1776, returned to Virginia. A congressional
appointment as minister to France followed him home. However,
he declined the appointment in order to serve in the Virginia
convention.
Legislation
Jefferson
was opposed to all forms of tyranny. He also had great faith
in the ability to rule by reason. Therefore, in helping to
make laws for Virginia, his guiding principle was to place as
few restrictions as possible upon the people of the state.
Jefferson was a strong advocate of land reform. A few families
owned most of the land in Virginia and, because ownership of
land was a prerequisite for voting, these same families also
controlled the government. By his efforts the old hereditary
property laws were modified to enable more people to own land,
which led to greater democracy in the state.
Jefferson's
most noteworthy achievement at the convention was his bill to
establish religious freedom and to ensure the separation of
church and state. The bill guaranteed, in Jefferson's own
words, “that no man shall be compelled to frequent or
support any religious worship, place or ministry
whatsoever.” It guaranteed, too, that no one should suffer
in any way for his “religious opinions or belief.”
Introduced in 1779, the bill did not become law until 1786,
when, through the leadership of Legislator James Madison, it
was enacted by the General Assembly.
Jefferson
was less successful with his educational program. His “bill
for the more general diffusion of knowledge” would have
provided schooling for children whose parents could not afford
private schools. The bill as written never passed the General
Assembly. However, it set forth a philosophy that was
eventually embodied in the national institution of the free
public school.
Monticello
During
this period, Jefferson managed to spend considerable time with
his family. Even in leisure he was never idle. He once more
took up building projects at Monticello and continued to
develop his land, attempting such exotic plantings as olive
and orange trees. Jefferson was a philosopher and at the same
time an architect and an inventor. He invented the dumbwaiter,
a swivel chair, a lamp-heater, and an improved plow for which
the French gave him a medal. He tinkered with clocks, steam
engines, and metronomes. He collected plans of large cities
and later helped in the planning of Washington, D.C.
Scientific subjects always interested him. He entered into a
transatlantic correspondence with Giovanni Fabbroni, an
Italian naturalist, in order to compare climate and plant life
in Virginia and southern Europe. Jefferson also added to his
valuable collection of books and bought instruments for making
astronomical observations.
By
1779, most Virginians believed that the war was near its end.
British General John Burgoyne had surrendered, and 4000
British and German prisoners of war from Burgoyne's command
were sent to Virginia. However, General George Washington, the
Virginian who commanded the Continental Army, knew that much
fighting lay ahead and that the country needed the efforts of
its able people. He deplored the retirement to private life of
such people as Jefferson. Edmund Pendleton, a Virginia
patriot, was more specific. He told Jefferson, “You are too
young to ask that happy quietus from the public, and should
… at least postpone it til you have taught the rising
Generation the forms as well as the substantial principles of
legislation.” Jefferson therefore returned to politics, and
in 1779 he was elected governor of Virginia, succeeding
Patrick Henry.
Governor
of Virginia
The
Virginia constitution strictly limited the power of the
executive branch of government in order to deny that branch
the dictatorial powers previously held by the colonial
governors. Jefferson had agreed that the executive office
should be merely a tool for carrying out the mandates of the
legislature. As governor, however, he found that
constitutional restrictions of his power prevented his taking
action, and in time of war quick action was needed.
Furthermore,
Jefferson was temperamentally unsuited to deal with military
matters. He wished only for the immediate end of the war,
declaring, “It would surely be better to carry on a ten
years' war some time hence than to continue the present [one]
an unnecessary moment.” He found it hard to give orders.
When generals Nathanael Greene and Horatio Gates urgently
begged him for reinforcements to beat back a British attack in
the Carolinas, Jefferson agreed to send some soldiers only if
they would go “willingly.” He felt that their previous
service gave them a right to be consulted.
Invasion
of Virginia
During
Jefferson's administration the war was fought almost entirely
in the South. Although Jefferson was warned by Washington that
the British were sending a large force to Virginia, he did not
take measures to meet the invasion.
In
early January 1781 the British attacked Richmond, the new
capital of Virginia, and Jefferson, his council, and the
General Assembly fled the city.
On
June 2, 1781, Jefferson quit the governorship. It was the end
of his term, but because of chaotic wartime circumstances no
successor had been named. Later in the year, Jefferson was
reelected governor by the General Assembly. He declined,
recommending instead the election of someone with military
experience. Jefferson's administration had not been a success.
A committee of the legislature investigated his conduct in
office during the British invasion. Although he was
exonerated, his reputation was badly tarnished in his home
state.
Two
days after Jefferson resigned his office, Colonel Banastre
Tarleton and his British dragoons made a surprise raid on
Monticello and very nearly captured Jefferson, his entire
family, and several guests. Although Jefferson's escape was
orderly and dignified, his opponents spread a story that he
fled on horseback just as the dragoons came into sight. To
Jefferson's indignation, the story was told and retold,
embroidered in such a way as to make him appear a coward.
Notes
on Virginia
Jefferson
spent the next two years in retirement at Monticello,
concerning himself with agricultural matters and with building
his estate. As usual, he continued to make notes on his
surroundings. One winter, he put in book form all the
information on Virginia that he had been collecting for many
years. The work was published in 1785 as Notes
on the State of Virginia. It became one of the most famous and
respected scientific books of its time and was acclaimed in
Europe and America. Jefferson had described and reflected on
the natural history, geography, climate, economics, Native
Americans, religion, manners, agriculture, politics, and many
other aspects of his native state. He discussed also many
other subjects. A chapter on politics and government fervently
defended the concepts of freedom and equality. Favoring a
balance of power among all branches of government, Jefferson
criticized the excessive power given the Virginia legislature.
He wrote, “173 despots would surely be as oppressive as
one.” He also condemned the institution of slavery,
describing it as “this great political and moral evil.”
Jefferson's
retirement from public life was marred by tragedy. On
September 6, 1782, he noted in his account book that “my
dear wife died this day at 11-45 AM.” After spending the
next few months in almost total seclusion, he returned to
politics.
Confederation
Congressman
In
November 1782 Jefferson accepted a congressional appointment
as a diplomat with broad authority to Europe. He was to sail
to France to take part in peace negotiations with Great
Britain. However, his sailing was delayed, and by April 1783
the peace settlement was so nearly concluded that Congress
decided not to send him at all. In June, Jefferson was elected
as a Virginia delegate to Congress. His skill in drafting
public papers was called on again and again, and he
contributed to the work of many committees.
Among
his most important actions was a proposal for the political
organization of the Northwest Territory. This proposal was
adopted by Congress in 1784 but was never put into effect.
However, the governmental plan called the Northwest Ordinance
of 1787 was based in large part on his proposal. The Land
Ordinance of 1785 was also Jefferson's work. It established
the public land policy of the United States for more than 75
years. Jefferson suggested that the United States adopt the
decimal system of currency, based on the silver Spanish
dollar, using the silver dime and copper cent.
Diplomatic
Representative to France
In
May 1784 Congress again appointed Jefferson a diplomat. His
duties were to take him to France. There he was to help the
other ministers, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, in
arranging commercial treaties with various European countries.
When Franklin retired in 1785, Jefferson replaced him as the
U.S. diplomatic representative to France.
One
of Jefferson's most important functions in France was to
report home how “the vaunted scene of Europe … struck a
savage of the mountains of America.” He was not well
impressed. He urged his friend, Congressman James Monroe, to
come and see for himself what France was like. “It will make
you adore your own country,” he said. “How little do my
countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession
of, and which no other people enjoy.”
French
Revolution
The
France to which Jefferson referred was on the threshold of
revolution. Jefferson hailed the idea of revolution in France
but hoped it would be peaceful and orderly. When King Louis
XVI agreed to convene a national representative body, the
Estates-General, Jefferson thought the revolution had
accomplished its end. From the opening of the Estates-General
on May 5, 1789, he attended every day to observe its
deliberations. He suggested to the Marquis de Lafayette,
French military leader who fought in the American Revolution,
that the king should give the people a charter of rights, and
he even drafted a sample ten-point charter. The violence and
cruelty of later developments in France distressed him
greatly, but he never lost faith in the principles of the
French Revolution.
Bill
of Rights
During
Jefferson's stay abroad he was frequently consulted on
significant developments at home. The most important of these
was the Constitution of the United States,drawn up in 1787. To
James Madison, who sent him a copy of the proposed
Constitution, Jefferson wrote, “A bill of rights is what the
people are entitled to against every government on earth.”
Such a bill would clearly state the right of the people to
“freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection
against standing armies, restriction of monopolies, the
eternal and unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and
trial by jury ….” Based on Jefferson's suggestions,
Madison proposed a Bill of Rights, consisting of the first ten
amendments, which was added to the Constitution in 1791.
While
abroad, Jefferson toured much of Europe, taking note of its
architecture and studying its scientific achievements.
However, he longed to return to the United States, and
permission finally came in September 1789.
Secretary
of State
When
Jefferson returned to the United States, President Washington
asked him to become secretary of state. Although Jefferson was
anxious to return to private life, he accepted at the
president's urging.
Quarrels
with Hamilton
What
was to be Jefferson's chief problem for many years soon became
apparent. He and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton
were completely at odds in their thinking. Jefferson, with his
faith in the rational mind and his optimistic view of popular
government, placed his trust in the land and the people who
farmed it. He believed that the purpose of government was to
assure the freedom of its individual citizens. With his fear
of tyranny, he distrusted centralization of power and favored
instead the spread of power among the federal, state, and
local levels of government.
Hamilton,
on the other hand, distrusted popular rule. “The people!”
he once exclaimed, “the people is a great beast!” Whereas
Jefferson favored an economy based on agriculture that
stressed individual freedom, Hamilton worked to promote
commerce, industry, and a strong central government, under
which, he believed, the economy would flourish. He believed
that to preserve order and the alliance between business and
government, the moneyed class and the wealthy aristocracy
should hold all political power. Jefferson retorted, “I have
never observed men's honesty to increase with their riches.”
The conflict between Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian thought has
continued down to the present day. Generally, the American
capitalist economy has grown along Hamiltonian lines, while
American political institutions and social aims are
Jeffersonian in nature.
Soon
after Jefferson became secretary of state, he and Hamilton had
a disagreement over the debts incurred by the states during
the revolution. Hamilton, a New Yorker, wanted the federal
government to pay these debts. He believed that this would
greatly strengthen the central government. Jefferson objected.
Virginia and most of the Southern states had already paid a
considerable portion of their war debts and had no wish to pay
those of the North. A political compromise resolved the issue.
To satisfy Southerners, it was agreed to move the future
national capital from Philadelphia to a Southern location on
the Potomac River at what is now Washington, D.C. In exchange,
Jefferson influenced Southern legislators to vote in favor of
Hamilton's proposal that the federal government assume the war
debts of the states.
Strict
Construction
Another
matter on which the two men disagreed intensely was the
establishment of a national bank. Hamilton advocated such a
bank as a means of forging a bond of common interest between
business and the federal government. Jefferson felt that a
national bank would encourage people to desert agriculture for
speculation and give the commercial interests too much power
in the federal government.
Jefferson
supported his views by a “strict construction” of the
Tenth Amendment of the Constitution, which specified that
“the powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved
to the States respectively, or to the people.” Jefferson
argued that since the Constitution did not specifically
empower the federal government to establish a national bank,
it could not do so. Hamilton, however, argued for a “loose
construction” of the Constitution. Relying on the
implied-powers clause, which states that Congress can make all
laws “necessary and proper” for the execution of its
powers, Hamilton argued that the federal government could
establish a bank. Jefferson's views were rejected when
President Washington signed a bill establishing a national
bank.
Political
Parties
Out
of the divergent political philosophies of Jefferson and
Hamilton emerged the first clearly defined political parties
in the United States. Hamilton's followers called themselves
Federalists, later known as the Federalist Party, and
Jefferson's were Republicans, later known as the
Democratic-Republican Party. Feelings ran high between the two
parties. Jefferson was assailed as an atheist and a demagogue.
The Federalists were accused of planning to establish a
monarchy along British lines.
Foreign
Affairs
Since
its defeat in the revolution, Great Britain had refused to
sign a trade treaty with the United States. To force Britain
to give the United States favorable commercial terms,
Jefferson advocated an embargo (suspension of trade) against
that country. He also wanted Britain to relinquish the forts
in the Northwest Territory, which were held in violation of
the peace treaty of 1783. Hamilton opposed an embargo,
claiming that the United States would lose so much in customs
duties that its finances would crumble. Jefferson did not get
his embargo until much later, when he was president.
Citizen
Genêt
In
1793 England and France were at war. Jefferson favored France,
while Hamilton and the Federalists were committed to England.
Both agreed, however, that the United States should stay out
of the European war. Hamilton pressed President Washington to
make an open declaration of neutrality. Jefferson felt that it
would be neither wise nor constitutional for the president to
make such a proclamation. However, Jefferson yielded to
Hamilton in order to attain a goal he considered more
important: the recognition of the republican government of
France. This was achieved by accrediting the French diplomatic
representative to the United States, Citizen Genêt (see Genêt,
Edmond Charles Édouard).
Unfortunately,
Genêt repeatedly violated the neutrality of the United States
and finally threatened to make a direct appeal for the support
of the American people. Jefferson eventually was forced to
agree that Genêt should be recalled.
The
Genêt incident was one of many frustrations that Jefferson
encountered as secretary of state. Late in 1793, despite
President Washington's pleas, he resigned. In January 1794 he
returned to his beloved Monticello, believing that he was
leaving public life for good.
Break
With Washington
Even
in retirement, Jefferson kept a close watch on political
affairs. Federalist victories were a source of great concern
to him, and his Republican allies in Congress looked to him
for leadership. Jefferson was greatly distressed with Jay's
Treaty, negotiated with Great Britain in 1794 by John Jay,
chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The
treaty was intended to resolve remaining differences with
Britain, including trade restrictions in the West Indies.
However, the treaty had failed to win all the desired
concessions for the United States, and the section dealing
with West Indian trade was humiliating. Angry with Washington
for having supported the treaty, Jefferson wrote his friend
Philip Mazzei:
In
place of that noble love of liberty, and republican government
which carried
us
triumphantly thro' the war, an Anglican, monarchical, and
aristocratical party has sprung up, whose avowed object is to
draw over us the substance as they have already done the forms
of the British government.
He
added a barely concealed indictment of President Washington,
calling him a Samson who let his head be shorn by England.
Mazzei was so indiscreet as to publish the letter, and
Washington never again regarded Jefferson as his friend.
Election
of 1796
In
the election year of 1796, Washington announced that he would
not seek a third term. Jefferson was prevailed upon to accept
the Republican nomination for president. John Adams, nominated
by the Federalists, polled three more electoral votes than
Jefferson. According to the system of election then
prevailing, Adams became president of the United States and
Jefferson vice president.
Vice
President of the United States
Jefferson
was 54 years old when he became vice president. His duties
were not clearly set forth in the Constitution, and to
Jefferson it appeared that he had only to preside over the
Senate. This he did ably. He also wrote the Manual of
Parliamentary Practice, a book of parliamentary rules
(published in 1801), many of which still apply to both houses
of Congress. In other matters, Jefferson had little to do with
the Federalist administration of President Adams.
XYZ
Affair
Party
friction was increased by the XYZ Affair in 1797 and 1798.
Jay's Treaty, so unpopular at home, had also had repercussions
abroad. The French government considered it a sellout to the
British, despite the American declaration of neutrality, and
therefore felt justified in interfering with United
States-British trade. By the summer of 1797, France had seized
300 American ships and broken off diplomatic relations. There
was talk of war, especially among the pro-British Federalists.
President
Adams sent a three-man diplomatic team to France in an effort
to negotiate a solution. The French government did not receive
the diplomats. Instead they were approached by agents of
Charles Talleyrand, the French foreign minister. The agents
proposed that the United States could make reparations for its
alleged injuries to France by paying Talleyrand a huge bribe
and financing a large loan to the French government. These
terms were so exorbitant and dishonorable that the American
diplomats rejected them. When Adams, who had been waiting
anxiously for news, got their report, he tried to keep it
secret. But Jefferson's pro-French Republicans raised a great
outcry. They accused Adams of suppressing information that was
favorable to France and thereby driving America into war with
that country.
Adams
finally let the report be published. The names of the French
agents were changed to X, Y, and Z, but the details were left
unchanged. Jefferson now found himself on the defensive as
anti-French feeling rose over the corrupt proposal. He argued
that there was no reason to believe that the agents were
actually speaking for the French government. But the
antagonism toward France continued to grow and was exploited
by the Federalists to the damage of the Republican Party.
Through
his control of the Federalist Party, Hamilton rallied the
United States to take action against France. Congress
renounced all the treaties it had made with France during the
American Revolution. It ordered an expansion of the army,
created the Department of the Navy, and commissioned the
building of naval fighting ships. George Washington was called
out of retirement to lead the army, with Hamilton as his
second in command. By the end of 1798 more than a dozen
American men-of-war had been put to sea and an undeclared
naval war with France had begun.
Alien
and Sedition Acts
During
this period of war fever in the United States, the Federalists
passed a number of bills for national defense and for the
suspension of trade between the United States and France. They
also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. These acts placed
many restrictions on noncitizens and prohibited criticism of
the president or the government of the United States. They
effectively muzzled the Republican press, which had been
critical of President Adams and the Federalist-dominated
Congress. Even Hamilton thought the provisions of these bills
excessive. Republicans were enraged. Indeed, Republican
leaders Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe believed that the XYZ
Affair had been invented by the Federalists to whip up
anti-French feeling and to assure the passage of the Alien and
Sedition Acts.
Kentucky
Resolutions
In
June 1798, while the Alien and Sedition Acts were still being
considered by Congress, Jefferson left Philadelphia. He felt
that there was no effective action he could take in Adams's
Federalist administration.
At
Monticello, Jefferson secretly drafted what were to be called
the Kentucky Resolutions, in which he declared that the
federal government was not “the exclusive or final judge of
the extent of the powers delegated to itself.” On the
contrary, Congress was merely a creation of the states and was
subject to the “final judgement” of the states. He
concluded that “whensoever the general government assumes
undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of
no force.” Here was the first statement of the doctrine of
nullification. Jefferson's primary purpose was to defend human
rights and civil liberties, which he believed were violated by
the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Kentucky legislature adopted
the Kentucky Resolutions, and similar resolutions were passed
in Virginia. They were not acted upon, the Alien and Sedition
Acts expired in 1801, and the furor died away. Later, however,
the nullification doctrine was used by supporters of states'
rights to deny what the Federalists thought the Constitution
had settled: that the federal government was the primary
government of the land. Opponents of nullification argued that
it would break up the federal Union. Southern politicians
invoked nullification in their 19th-century rivalry with the
Northern states, an antagonism that finally reached its climax
in the American Civil War (1861-1865).
Election
of 1800
The
Republicans again nominated Jefferson for president in 1800.
For vice president they nominated Aaron Burr, who had built up
a strong Republican following in New York state. President
Adams and Charles C. Pinckney of South Carolina were the
Federalist candidates.
The
Federalists campaigned against Jefferson as an infidel who
would destroy religion and set up the Goddess of Reason in its
place, as extremists in the French Revolution had attempted to
do. However, the political tide in the United States was
swinging away from the aristocratic Federalists to those
advocating a more democratic form of government, and the
Republicans won a clear victory. Jefferson and Burr each
polled 73 electoral votes. Adams, hampered by the opposition
of Hamilton, came next with 65 votes.
The
tie in the electoral vote caused one of the gravest crises in
American constitutional history. The electors, in voting for
Jefferson or Burr, had not specified whether their vote was
for president or vice president. Therefore, despite his being
his party's vice presidential candidate, Burr had as many
votes for the office of president as Jefferson had.
The
Constitution provides that in case no candidate in a
presidential election wins a majority of the electoral votes,
the election must go to the House of Representatives, where
each state has one vote. To win, Jefferson or Burr had to have
the support of a majority of the 16 states. To further
complicate matters, this was a lame-duck Congress, meaning
that many of its members had been defeated in the recent
election and were in office only because their terms had not
expired. Congress was dominated by Federalists who had to
choose between two Republican candidates. From February 11,
when the voting began, to February 16, neither Jefferson nor
Burr could win the required nine states. Because he disliked
Burr even more than he did Jefferson, Hamilton favored
Jefferson, but most Federalists abhorred Jefferson. The crisis
was resolved when a group of Federalists, led by James A.
Bayard of Delaware, came to the realization that if an orderly
transfer of government power was to be achieved, the majority
party must have its choice as president. Therefore, on
February 17 the deadlock was broken. On the 36th ballot,
Jefferson won the support of ten states and was elected
president. Burr, who had the support of only four states,
became vice president.
As
a result of this election, the 12th Amendment was added to the
Constitution. This amendment specified that electors were to
“name in their ballots the person voted for as president,
and in distinct ballots the person voted for as vice
president.”
President
of the United States
Jefferson
was inaugurated on March 4, 1801, the first president to be
inaugurated in Washington, D.C. Dressed in plain, dark
clothes, he walked from his boarding house to the chambers of
the Senate of the United States in the still-uncompleted
Capitol building, where he was to give his inaugural address.
Jefferson was accompanied by a small crowd of people and a
company of artillery. The outgoing president, John Adams,
considered Jefferson a dangerous radical and did not attend
the inauguration.
Jefferson's
inaugural address, one of a small number of truly memorable
addresses by presidents of the United States, attempted to
dispel the notion held by many conservatives that democracy
would lead to mob rule and anarchy. “The will of the
majority in all cases is to prevail,” Jefferson said.
However, “the minority possess their equal rights which
equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”
Jefferson sought also to unite the country. “We are all
Republicans, we are all Federalists,” he proclaimed.
Furthermore, his program was moderate enough to win the
support of both parties.
New
Domestic Policies
Nevertheless,
President Jefferson did reverse some Federalist programs. Both
he and his secretary of the treasury, Albert Gallatin, felt
that a national debt was undesirable. By cutting certain
appropriations, especially for the army and navy, they
balanced the budget and reduced the debt. Jefferson also made
good a Republican campaign promise to repeal internal duties.
This was greeted with approval in the West, where in 1794,
Washington had had to use force to collect a hated excise tax
on whiskey.
Marbury
v. Madison
During
his last days in office President John Adams was determined to
ensure Federalist control of the judiciary. The lame-duck
Congress had obliged by creating 16 new circuit courts and
permitting Adams to appoint as many justices of the peace for
the District of Columbia as he felt necessary. In all, about
200 offices were created and filled by loyal Federalists. In
addition, Adams appointed his secretary of state, John
Marshall, a Federalist from Virginia, to be chief justice of
the Supreme Court of the United States.
Jefferson,
terming these “midnight appointments” an “outrage in
decency,” succeeded in having the circuit judgeships
abolished. He also reduced the number of justices of the peace
from 42 to 30. Furthermore, Jefferson ordered his secretary of
state, James Madison, to withhold those commissions that had
not yet been delivered. One of Adams's appointees, William
Marbury, brought a suit in the Supreme Court for a writ to
compel Madison to deliver his commission. In 1803 Chief
Justice Marshall ruled that the section of the Judiciary Act
of 1789 that authorized the Court to issue such a writ was
unconstitutional and that, although Marbury was entitled to
his commission, the Supreme Court could not force Madison to
give it to him. Thus Marshall established the doctrine of
judicial review, whereby the Supreme Court has the power to
declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
Assault
on Judiciary
During
his first term as president, Jefferson attempted to replace
Federalist officeholders with Republicans. He especially
wanted to end the Federalists' control of the judiciary. In
1804 John Pickering, a district judge from New Hampshire, was
impeached and removed from office because of insanity. A more
formidable opponent was Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase. An
outspoken Federalist, Chase often made scathing attacks from
the bench on Jefferson and the Republican Party. In 1805 he
was impeached and tried before the Senate. Just before
Jefferson began his second term, Chase was acquitted.
Thereafter, Jefferson resigned himself to an unelected and
independent judiciary controlled by the Federalists.
War
with Tripoli
Jefferson
had long opposed paying tribute to protect American shipping
from the pirates who operated from the Barbary states on the
coast of northern Africa. As diplomatic representative to
France he had tried but failed to persuade European countries
to join with the United States in an attack on the pirate
bases.
In
1801 the pasha (ruler) of Tripoli, one of the Barbary states
(in what is now Libya), demanded tribute money beyond the
amount fixed by treaty. When Jefferson refused the demand, war
ensued. Jefferson sent warships to blockade Tripoli, and
Stephen Decatur, a young naval officer, distinguished himself
in several daring actions. However, the war with Tripoli did
not end until 1805, when Captain William Eaton captured the
Tripolitan town of Darnah and the pasha agreed to make peace.
The payment of tribute to Tripoli came to an end. However, the
United States continued to have trouble with pirates from
other Barbary states.
Louisiana
Purchase
Jefferson's
chief accomplishment as president was the Louisiana Purchase.
The huge territory of Louisiane (in English, Louisiana),
stretching from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico and
from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, was claimed
as a possession by France in 1682. Because Louisiana was so
large, its resources—although as yet mostly
undiscovered—were thought to be of great value.
In
the early years of the United States, Louisiana was of concern
chiefly because it bordered the Mississippi River, which was
vital to U.S. trade. In 1762 France had ceded Louisiana to
Spain, which was too weak to offer a serious threat to
American commerce. In 1800, however, rumors spread that Spain
was about to cede Louisiana back to France. Jefferson was
alarmed. Relations between the United States and France were
still unfriendly, and France had the power to cut off American
shipping at Louisiana's capital, New Orleans, at the mouth of
the Mississippi. There was, said Jefferson, “one single
spot” on the globe, “the possessor of which is our natural
and habitual enemy. It is New Orleans through which the
produce of three-eighths of our territory must pass to
market.”
In
1802 the rumored cession was confirmed. Jefferson called the
resulting crisis “the most important the United States have
ever met since independence.” He sent James Monroe to help
Robert R. Livingston, the American diplomatic representative
to France, negotiate the purchase of New Orleans. Congress
appropriated $2 million for the purchase.
In
April 1803, one day before Monroe arrived in Paris, Talleyrand
made Livingston a startling offer. The French emperor,
Napoleon I, was willing to sell not only New Orleans, he said,
but the whole of Louisiana as well. A treaty dated April 30,
1803, set the terms of the purchase: $15 million, which
included $3.75 million to pay for American claims against
France.
At
the end of June, news of the treaty reached the United States.
Jefferson was very eager to acquire the entire territory, but,
viewing it from his strict-construction point of view, he
questioned whether the Constitution permitted such a purchase.
He wanted to amend the Constitution to make the transaction
clearly legal.
Very
soon, however, Jefferson changed his mind about waiting for an
amendment. His envoys in France wrote that Napoleon already
regretted his offer and might back out if given time.
Furthermore, many Federalists opposed the purchase and were
ready to seize on Jefferson's own doubts about its
constitutionality to prevent its ratification. Jefferson
therefore asked the Senate to ratify the treaty at once. The
Senate did so on October 20, although every Federalist voted
against it.
It
then appeared that Spain, which had not yet actually turned
over Louisiana to France, might challenge the purchase.
Jefferson proceeded swiftly and firmly to establish American
rights. He ordered out troops from the Mississippi Territory,
Tennessee, and Kentucky. This show of force discouraged
Spanish resistance, and Spain formally ceded Louisiana to
France. On December 20, 1803, the flag of the United States
flew over New Orleans.
Lewis
and Clark Expedition
Jefferson
had dreamed of the exploration of the West from the time he
was secretary of state. As a scientist he wanted to know about
the land and its inhabitants. He realized the importance of
such exploration for the future expansion of the United
States.
In
January 1803, half a year before the Louisiana Purchase,
Jefferson proposed his idea to Congress. In order to conceal
its expansionist aims from England, France, and Spain, he
suggested that the journey be presented as a “literary
pursuit.” Congress gave its approval. Jefferson chose his
secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead the expedition, and Lewis
selected William Clark, a frontiersman, as his coleader.
Jefferson instructed them to observe and note down the
physical features, topography, soil, climate, and wildlife of
the land and the language and customs of its inhabitants. In
1806 Lewis and Clark returned with their valuable journals.
They had successfully breached the mountain barrier of the
West, built a fort on the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the
Columbia River, and mapped and explored much of the American
Northwest. Moreover, they had secured the friendship of a
number of Native American peoples and given the United States
a claim to the Oregon country.
Jefferson's
interest in the new Western territory did not end with the
Lewis and Clark Expedition. In 1804 and 1806 he sent out
expeditions to explore the Red River to its source. When these
met with Spanish resistance, he shifted his interest to the
north. In 1805 he sent Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike to discover
the source of the Mississippi River, and in 1806, Pike was
sent out to explore the Arkansas River to its source.
Merry
Affair
Jefferson
believed that the president's dress and manners should reflect
the republican simplicity and informality of the country. Pomp
and show reminded him too much of the European courts. In
fact, Jefferson worked so hard to avoid ostentation that he
began to dress not merely plainly, but sloppily. As for
manners, he refused to observe the rules of protocol in
seating his dinner guests. First come, first served was the
rule in the presidential mansion, the White House. Jefferson
explained:
In
social circles, all are equal, whether in, or out, of office,
foreign or domestic; and the same equality exists among ladies
and gentlemen … “pell mell” and “next the door” form
the basis of etiquette in the societies of this country.
The
new British diplomatic representative to the United States,
Anthony Merry, and his wife were shocked and insulted when the
president received them in worn clothing and slippers. In
December 1803 at a formal dinner in the White House, no one
offered to escort Mrs. Merry to dinner. In the dining room,
Merry and his wife had to scramble for places at the table in
competition with the other guests. The Marquis d'Yrujo, the
Spanish diplomat, had the same experience. He and Merry agreed
that this treatment was an insult to them and to their
countries. The two diplomats and their wives sought to
retaliate. At their parties, for instance, no one escorted the
wives of the Cabinet members to the dinner table. This social
war greatly enlivened Washington. The president refused to
retreat from his pell mell rule, and Merry and Yrujo became
increasingly angry and receptive to the plottings of
Jefferson's opponents, the Federalists and Aaron Burr.
Native
American Policy
Jefferson's
policy toward Native Americans reflected less his humanitarian
instincts than it did his understanding of the needs of the
settlers on the expanding western frontier. When, in 1803, the
Choctaw nation was persuaded to sell its lands on the
Mississippi, Jefferson wrote to General Henry Dearborn, his
secretary of war, that the Choctaw “are poor and will
probably sell … so as to be entitled to an annual pension,
which is one of the best holds we can have on them.” Through
Jefferson's efforts, 20 million hectares (50 million acres) of
land were bought from the Native Americans for $142,000. As a
result of this land grabbing, the Native Americans who
remained east of the Mississippi River began to rally behind
the Shawnee chief Tecumseh. Tecumseh, with his brother
Tenskwatawa, who was known as the Shawnee Prophet, promised to
rid the Native Americans of the white people forever.
Election
of 1804
Jefferson
was renominated for the presidency by a caucus (political
meeting) of Republican senators and congressmen. However, Vice
President Burr was dropped from the ticket in favor of George
Clinton, who had served a record six terms as governor of New
York. The Federalists chose Charles C. Pinckney to oppose
Jefferson. This election was very different from the election
of 1800, when many Federalists were convinced that Jefferson
was the candidate of anarchy, atheism, and revolution. In the
landslide of 1804, Jefferson polled 162 electoral votes to
Pinckney's 14 and won every state but Connecticut and
Delaware.
Second
Term as President
On
March 4, 1805, Jefferson again walked to the yet unfinished
Capitol building for his second inaugural address, which was
to be far different from his first. As he himself noted in the
margin of the text:
The
former one was an exposition of the principles on which I
thought it my duty to administer the government. The second
then should naturally be … a statement of facts showing that
I have conformed to those principles. The former was promise:
this is performance.
Randolph's
Rebellion
The
accomplishments of Jefferson's first term in office and the
resounding Republican victory in the election of 1804 greatly
weakened the Federalist Party. During his second term,
opposition within his own party, led by Congressman John
Randolph of Roanoke, proved to be Jefferson's major problem.
Randolph
first split with the administration over its handling of the
Yazoo fraud. In 1795 a group of land speculators, many of them
from the North, bribed the Georgia legislature into selling
them the greater part of its western land claims, in what is
now Alabama and Mississippi, for only $500,000. The area was
called the Yazoo tract because the Yazoo River runs through
it. The next year the citizens of Georgia elected a new
legislature, which promptly invalidated the sale. In 1802
Georgia relinquished its western land claims to the federal
government. In 1804 and again in 1805 Jefferson recommended
that Congress pass a law to reimburse the original speculators
out of receipts from land sales on the Yazoo tract. Both
times, Randolph, who felt Jefferson was unduly considerate of
the corrupt land speculators, successfully led the opposition
against the bill.
Randolph's
complete break with the administration came in the winter of
1805 and 1806, when Jefferson asked Congress to appropriate $2
million for an unspecified diplomatic purpose. This purpose,
as Randolph construed it from a private conversation with
Jefferson, was to bribe Napoleon into forcing Spain to sell
Florida to the United States. Randolph did not approve of
secret diplomacy and denounced these “backstairs”
negotiations to acquire Florida. Randolph was unable to block
the appropriation, although nothing ever came of the proposed
deal with Napoleon. However, Randolph gathered around him a
group of Federalists and dissident Republicans, called Quids.
This group was able to prevent Jefferson from accomplishing
much of his legislative program during his second term.
Burr
Conspiracy
In
1804 Aaron Burr was defeated for the governorship of New York.
His failure was due primarily to the opposition of Alexander
Hamilton. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, killed him, and
was forced to flee to the frontier. His political career was
ruined.
Burr
next became involved in a plot, the purpose of which is still
unclear. He seems to have intended either to separate the
Louisiana Territory from the United States or to seize Mexico
from Spain. Indeed, his story seems to have varied with his
audience. However, his plan was betrayed by his accomplice,
General James Wilkinson. In a letter to Jefferson, Wilkinson
revealed Burr's “deep, dark, wicked” plot to seize
Louisiana. Burr was captured and brought to Richmond for trial
in 1807. Jefferson, who had long distrusted his former vice
president, was anxious to see him convicted of treason.
However, he was again thwarted by Chief Justice Marshall, who
presided at the trial. Marshall, intent on establishing the
independence of the judiciary, excluded much of the evidence
that did not meet the constitutional definition of treason,
and to Jefferson's disgust Burr was acquitted.
Chesapeake
Affair
As
the European war continued, the United States found it
increasingly difficult to maintain its neutrality. Napoleon
blockaded Great Britain, trying to stop its sea trade, and
Britain issued orders that prohibited trade with the rest of
Europe. Also, the British, badly in need of sailors, stopped
American vessels and removed sailors they claimed were British
deserters. Often the sailors were British, but occasionally
Americans were also forcibly enlisted, or impressed, into the
British service (see Impressment).
In
June 1807 the United States frigate Chesapeake was stopped by
the British ship Leopard. When the Chesapeake refused to
permit a search, the Leopard fired upon it. The helpless
American ship was thereupon forced to surrender four of its
men. One was a British deserter, but three were Americans.
Many Americans wanted to go to war against Britain over this
incident. However, Jefferson was determined to avoid war,
feeling he could bring Britain to terms by applying economic
pressure.
Embargo
In
December 1807 the Embargo Act was put into effect. American
ships were forbidden to sail from American ports to any
European port. Jefferson believed that England and France
could not survive without American trade. However, he had
greatly underestimated the effect of the embargo on the United
States itself. All parts of the country were affected,
especially the industrial and commercial North. Shipbuilders,
sailors, manufacturers, and merchants denounced the embargo.
The Southern planters also suffered financially. Exports
stopped, and produce prices fell. U.S. revenue at the time was
derived almost entirely from customs duties. With the stoppage
of international trade the national income dropped from $16
million in 1807 to a little more than $7 million in 1809.
Indeed, the embargo did more damage to the American economy
than to England's or France's.
Americans
did their best to evade the embargo. Smuggling flourished
along the Atlantic coast and over the Canadian border in the
Northeast. The harassed president wrote to Secretary of the
Treasury Gallatin:
This
embargo law is certainly the most embarrassing one we have
ever had to execute. I did not expect a crop of so sudden and
rank growth of fraud and open opposition by force could have
grown up in the United States.
The
Federalists assailed the Embargo Act as not only ruinous, but
unconstitutional as well. According to Jefferson's own strict
interpretation of the Constitution, the federal government did
not have the power to impose such a restriction on commerce
during peacetime. However, Jefferson ignored the
constitutional aspects of the embargo and sought, instead,
means to enforce it. Opposition continued to grow, even in his
own Cabinet. Therefore, in March 1809, a few days before he
left office, Jefferson had the Embargo Act repealed. The less
stringent Non-Intercourse Act, pertaining only to England and
France, was adopted in its place.
Election
of 1808
Jefferson
was again offered the Republican presidential nomination in
1808. Unwilling to see the presidency become “an
inheritance,” he declined. He wanted, he said, to follow
“the sound precedent set by an illustrious predecessor,”
George Washington. The Republicans thereupon chose Jefferson's
political protégé James Madison, who went on to win the
presidential election of 1808. As Jefferson's term drew near
its end, he wrote his old friend, French economist Pierre du
Pont de Nemours:
Never
did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as
I shall on shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended
me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my
supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I
have lived, have forced me to … commit myself on the
boisterous ocean of political passions. I thank God for the
opportunity of retiring from them without censure, and
carrying with me the most consoling proofs of public
approbation.
Later
Life
At
the age of 65, Jefferson was at last free to return to his
beloved mountaintop estate in Virginia. He devoted much of his
energy to repairing and rebuilding his estate, but he yet
found time to design houses for his friends. He furnished
Monticello with rare and beautiful objects and with his own
remarkable inventions, so that the estate was much talked
about and frequently visited. He also worked to advance
agricultural science, and he filled his account books with
observations of all kinds.
Jefferson's
leisure time was spent in reading. Ancient history especially
interested him, but he also continued his study of philosophy,
religion, and law. In 1815 he sold his 6500-volume collection
to the federal government as the nucleus of the restored
Library of Congress, which was being built up again after its
destruction in the British burning of Washington in the War of
1812. However, immediately afterward, Jefferson set about
buying a new collection.
Political
differences had long ago broken up the friendship between
Jefferson and John Adams. Now, a mutual friend, Dr. Benjamin
Rush, brought about a reconciliation. Jefferson and Adams
began a lively correspondence that touched on many subjects.
“I cannot write volumes on a single sheet,” Adams wrote
plaintively, “but these letters of yours require volumes
from me.”
University
of Virginia
The
founding of the University of Virginia was probably the most
important work of Jefferson's later years. Architecturally
designed by Jefferson and based on his plans and
recommendations, the university opened its doors in 1825. It
accepted not only wealthy students, but also capable students
too poor to pay. Free public education had always been one of
Jefferson's dreams, and he managed to accomplish it on the
university level, although not on lower levels.
Missouri
Compromise
Occupied
as he was with private projects, Jefferson always remained
interested in national affairs. Many years before, as a
congressman, he had tried to outlaw slavery in new states. He
failed, as did others who came after him, and the issue
eventually became the main grievance between the slaveholding
South and the antislavery North. In 1820 Congress tried to
reconcile the opposing sides with the Missouri Compromise,
which allowed slavery only in new states created south of a
line at 36°30' north latitude. Jefferson clearly foresaw,
during the debate in Congress, that a terrible struggle over
slavery still lay ahead:
This
momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened
and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the
knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But
this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical
line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political,
once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will
never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it
deeper and deeper. My only comfort and confidence is, that I
shall not live to see this; and I envy not the present
generation the glory of throwing away the fruits of their
father's sacrifices of life and fortune, and of rendering
desperate the experiment which was to decide ultimately
whether man is capable of self-government. This treason
against human hope will signalize their epoch in future
history.
Death
of Jefferson
Jefferson
and his friend Adams, both of whom had played such great parts
in the winning of independence, died on Independence Day, July
4, 1826. Jefferson left detailed instructions for his burial
in the graveyard of his estate. A simple monument was to mark
his resting place. It specified that the monument was to be
made of coarse stone so that “no one might be tempted
hereafter to destroy it for the value of the materials.” He
wrote his own epitaph:
Here
was buried
Thomas
Jefferson
Author
of the Declaration of American Independence
Of
the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom
And
Father of the University of Virginia
This
was to be inscribed on the monument, and “not a word more
… because by these, as testimonials that I have lived, I
wish most to be remembered.”
Jefferson's wishes were carried out, but vandals later overturned and broke the stone. A careful reproduction now marks Jefferson's grave.