Jefferson moved from his homestate Virginia,
and across the globe to Paris, France in 1784.
His writings had influenced multiple European
countries, especially France, to rebel against
their tyrannous government, which led to the
French Revolution. He was aware of his position
as a national icon but was hesitant to get
too tangled in national matters. It wasn’t
until the storming of Bastille in July 14
1789 that Jefferson was actively involved
in the revolutionary efforts. When Jefferson
arrived back to America, he was chosen to
be the first Secretary of State. As Secretary
of State he opposed the Secretary of the Treasury,
Alexander Hamilton in various topics such
as where the capitol should be located and
how to pay off the country’s debt. After
much debating amongst Cabinet they had made
several compromises to please both sides of
the issue.
In 1796 he ran for President of the United
States but fell short 3 votes in the electoral
college causing him to become Vice President,
with John Adams as President. The ELECTION
OF 1800 between the current President, John
Adams, and the current Vice President, Thomas
Jefferson, was one of the most dramatic elections
in American History. Both sides were from
opposing parties and people believed that
the decision would most likely destroy the
nation. Overall, the Federalists’ platform
was to strengthen the central government,
while the Democratic-Republicans wanted more
public input and participation. The election's
outcome brought a dramatic victory for Democratic-Republicans
who swept both houses of Congress, including
a decisive 65 to 39 majority in the House
of Representatives. However, Jefferson and
his running mate, Aaron Burr, received the
same amount of votes. The tie thus had to
be resolved by the House of Representatives,
with each state casting one vote. After numerous
blocked ballots, in which lawmakers were said
to have collapsed to the floor of fatigue,
Hamilton helped to secure the presidency for
Jefferson, the man he felt was the lesser
of two evils. As the first peaceful transition
of political power between opposing parties
in U.S. history, the election of 1800 had
great significance. Jefferson appreciated
the momentous change and in his inaugural
address he called for reconciliation by declaring
that, "We are all Republicans, we are all
Federalists." mendment 12 refined the way
the Vice President and President were elected.
It replaced Article II, Section 1, Clause
3, which provided the original procedure by
which the Electoral College functioned. Under
the original procedure for the Electoral College,
as provided in Article II, Section 1, Clause
3, each elector could vote for two persons.
The two people chosen by the elector could
not both inhabit the same state as that elector.
The Twelfth Amendment enforces that each elector
must cast distinct votes for President and
Vice President, instead of two votes for President.
Additionally, electors may not vote for presidential
and vice-presidential candidates who both
reside in the elector's state—at least one
of them must be an inhabitant of another state.
Federalists such as Alexander Hamilton despised
-- and feared -- Jefferson. Since he was the
first Democratic-Republican to be elected
president, the federalists thought that he
was going to weaken the national government
and destroy Hamilton’s economic plan for
a national bank, which was meant to decrease
federal dept. Traditionally, laissez faire
is coined from a French phrase meaning, “allow
to do”. It is known to represent a strain
of economic and political thought that calls
for minimal government intervention in the
private sector, characterized by a ‘hands
off’ approach by the government, in hopes
of having private sector solutions for private
sector problems. Thomas Jefferson had a Laissez-faire
economic policy where people followed their
own pursuits to produce a living based on
their own goals and objectives. He believed
that America should be totally self-sufficient.
Gallatin’s mastery of public finance, an
ability rare among members of the Jeffersonian
party, led to his automatic choice as Secretary
of the Treasury by Thomas Jefferson, despite
Federalist attacks that he was a "foreigner"
with a French accent. He was secretary from
1801 to 1813 under presidents Thomas Jefferson
and James Madison, the longest tenure of this
office in American history. The Whiskey Rebellion,
also known as the Whiskey Insurrection, was
a tax protest in the United States beginning
in 1791, during the presidency of George Washington.
The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first
tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly
formed federal government. It became law in
1791, and was intended to generate revenue
to help reduce the national debt. Although
the tax applied to all distilled spirits,
whiskey was by far the most popular distilled
beverage in the 18th-century U.S. Because
of this, the excise became widely known as
a "whiskey tax". The new excise was a part
of U.S. treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton's
program to fund war debt accumulated during
the Revolutionary War. Jefferson was against
the whiskey tax, as everything else to do
with Hamilton, and repealed the act once he
was elected president. In foreign affairs,
the Federalists detested the French Revolution
of 1789 because it led to mob rule and confiscation
of property. Shortly after becoming president,
Adams sent diplomats to France to smooth over
the bad feelings. But three French representatives--dubbed
X, Y, and Z--met secretly with the U.S. diplomats
and demanded $10 million in bribes to the
French government to begin negotiations. When
the Americans refused, Mr. X threatened the
United States with the "power and violence
of France." News of the "XYZ Affair" enraged
most Americans. Many Federalists immediately
called for war against France. President Adams,
however, only proposed war preparations and
a land tax to pay for them. On the defensive,
Republicans spoke out against the "war fever."
The Federalists increasingly accused Jefferson
and the Republicans of being a traitorous
"French Party." A leading Federalist newspaper
proclaimed to the nation, "He that is not
for us, is against us." The Federalists believed
that once the people had elected their political
leaders, no one should publicly criticize
them.The Federalist Party, led by Alexander
Hamilton, aimed to create a stable and secure
country, safe for business and wealthy men
of property. Rumors of a French invasion and
enemy spies frightened many Americans. President
Adams warned that foreign influence within
the United States was dangerous and must be
"exterminated."In general, sedition means
inciting others to resist or rebel against
lawful authority. The U.S. Sedition Act first
outlawed conspiracies "to oppose any measure
or measures of the government." Going further,
the act made it illegal for anyone to express
"any false, scandalous and malicious writing"
against Congress or the president. However,
the act did not specifically protect the vice-president
who, of course, was Jefferson. Additional
language punished any spoken or published
words that had "bad intent" to "defame" the
government or to cause the "hatred" of the
people toward it. One Republican was convicted
of sedition for publishing a pro-Jefferson
campaign pamphlet that accused President Adams
of appointing corrupt judges and ambassadors.
a drunk man was also fined $150 for insulting
President Adams. In the end, the people decided
that they had had enough and 1800 they elected
Thomas Jefferson as president. In his inaugural
address, Jefferson confirmed the new definition
of free speech and press as the right of Americans
"to think freely and to speak and write what
they think." Jefferson abolished the previous
acts, however the Alien Friends act, authorizing
the president to deport resident aliens if
their home countries were at war with the
United States, is still in effect today. On
March 3, just before his term was about to
end, Adams appointed 16 Federalist circuit
judges and 42 Federalist justices of the peace
to offices created by the Judiciary Act of
1801. These appointees, the infamous "Midnight
Judges", included William Marbury, a prosperous
financier in Maryland.. As soon as Jefferson
was in office, he ordered the acting Secretary
of State not to deliver the remaining commissions
that Adams had not been able to deliver. Without
the commissions, the appointees were unable
to assume the offices and duties to which
they had been appointed. In Jefferson's opinion,
the undelivered commissions, not having been
delivered on time, were void.
The people that were let off eventually signed
a petition because they thought they were
legally appointed by the previous President
therefor they had the right to stay in their
position. The petition was sent to the supreme
court. As a result, Marbury sued, saying that
the President couldn’t take his job away.
However, although the Supreme court found
that Marbury had a point, they weren’t able
to do anything because article 3 of the constitution
didn’t allow it. Still Marbury said that
Section 13 of the Judiciary Act gave the court
power to make a decision. The Supreme court
refuted that whenever a law were to contradict
the Constitution in any way, the Supreme court
had the right to rule it unconstitutional,
and if such a law exists, it would be voided.
This extended the court’s power and Marbury
was no longer Justice of the Peace. The Haitian
Revolution was an Anti Slavery movement in
Haiti, which at the time was ruled by france.
It has been the most successful anti slavery
movement in all recorded history. During the
revolution, Haiti was one of the richest countries
in the world, mostly due to the fact that
there was massive slave labor to harvest cash
crops. The revolution started in 1791, when
the slaves used whatever tools they could
find and rioted. They were lead by Toussiant
L’Ouverture, who was a former slave with
no prior military experience. One of the main
points of the revolution was that it was happening
during the french revolution so there wasn’t
much input from the french government to stop
the rebelling slaves. It wasn’t until napoleon
took power that he decided to make a peace
treaty with Haiti, which became the second
free country in the new world. the french
invited Toussiant to france with a safe conduct,
which was abolished when he arrived. The french
imprisoned him and he died in jail. At the
end of the revolution, not only was slavery
abolished but also
french rule.
