• Home Page
  • Why Did Thomas Jefferson Follow The Constitution?

Why Did Thomas Jefferson Follow The Constitution?

Improved Essays
Show More
I, Thomas Jefferson, am a firm believer in the Constitution and not borrowing money from others. But now I am in a predicament where I may have to violate my morals. I am able to obtain an immense tract of land for a comparatively cheap price of $15 million. The only thing is I do not have permission to buy land, declare the people living there citizens, nor do I have $15 million lying around. So to obtain this land I would have to borrow money from the British and defy the Constitution. Now back to my point of view. America at this time in history is a democracy. The constitution has been established and has the rules set in stone. Thomas Jefferson has also been a stickler for following the constitution exactly as it is written. So having this large amount of land with all of its bountiful resources for such a cheap price is extremely enticing. But it is quite the problem. It goes completely against what Jefferson believes in. But it wasn’t all bad. Even though it took a little rule breaking it was a big win for the U.S. at the time. They obtained a plethora of resources which played a role in the start of industrialization. It was the greatest land deal in history. …show more content…
But from my point of view and the way I think it would have been an easy choice. Yes it goes against the constitution and I have no power to do it but it would most definitely benefit the country. The only thing I would have trouble with is with the people who live there already. But I would try to work with them and treat them fairly. But I’m not saying I would break the rules every chance that I get. But there are those opportunities that arise every now and then that you can’t pass up. But I would consult with a few others to get their opinion and brainstorm about solutions. Listening to others and hearing what they have to say is what leadership is all about after

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Pros And Cons Of The Lousiana Purchase
    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Pros And Cons Of The Lousiana Purchase

    As all great presidents, many encounter some of the toughest decisions for our nation. Thomas Jefferson has proven this statement true, The Lousiana Purchase seemed to be an obvious dilemma that could potentially make the United States great. Although our nation would succeed, Jefferson had to exam the situation and realize the importance of the circumstances we were in concluding with the Mississippi River. For Thomas Jefferson, many pros and cons were on the line but he had to make his decision based on what benefited our nation’s economic growth, expansion, and Constitution. The Mississippi River played a large role to this negotiation.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Why Thomas Jefferson And Congress Should Buy Louisiana Territory
    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Why Thomas Jefferson And Congress Should Buy Louisiana Territory

    We would over double the size of the United States Of America! At the current moment the U.S. is not very many square miles and with the territory it's +828,000,000 square miles. It is 828,000 Square miles of land. That is pretty big and for 4 cents an acre that is a wonderful deal.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    How Did Jefferson Purchase Louisiana Repurchase
    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Did Jefferson Purchase Louisiana Repurchase

    When President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, he made a decision that would forever alter the destiny of the United States – something Jefferson was acutely aware of at the time. Although beneficial to the growth of the young nation, the deal was highly controversial within the United States when signed, as Jefferson had seemingly overstepped his executive boundaries as established by the Constitution. Neither the acquisition of such a vast tract of land nor the incorporation of the thousands of foreign citizens already inhabiting the territory were expressly permitted by the Constitution. However, Jefferson went ahead with the deal, believing it crucial to the future of the country.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of Buying The Louisiana Purchase
    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Pros And Cons Of Buying The Louisiana Purchase

    It is the year 1803, France has offered the U.S. the land of the Louisiana Purchase for 15 million dollars, but it comes with many ethical dilemmas. The 3 big dilemmas include going against the Constitution, borrowing the 15 million dollars from the hated British bankers, and granting the French people citizenship. I, Thomas Jefferson, have previously stated that I am for strict interpretation of the Constitution, but believe it is in our nation’s best interest to buy the land, even though it goes against the Constitution itself. Understand that I am aware that by buying the Louisiana Purchase I am going against what I have told this country, and what I have stood by since day one. Morals are still very important to me, but buying this land our country will double in size.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Benjamin Banneker Rhetorical Analysis
    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Benjamin Banneker Rhetorical Analysis

    The colonies rebelled for this very exact reason and it would be terrible for Jefferson to do this act…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Louisiana Purchase Research Paper
    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Louisiana Purchase Research Paper

    Would it be hard to believe that almost a one quarter of modern day United States was purchased in one large transaction? Specifically 828,000 square miles of land. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States in 1803. After signing a secret treaty to return the Louisiana territory to France, France wanted to sell the Louisiana territory because they did not believe it was worth the money or the trouble since they were having a hard time holding on to Saint Dominique in Haiti already. France and the United States already had a treaty in place allowing the United States to use the port of New Orleans; (the Treaty of San Lorenzo) and neither France nor Spain were pleased that the United States was profiting off it’s port.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On George Washington's Presidency Dbq
    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Essay On George Washington's Presidency Dbq

    By framing the land purchase as a treaty, he avoided any constitutional issues and integrated the land; however, this was against his earlier beliefs about a strict interpretation of the constitution. He abandoned his earlier beliefs about strict constitutional interpretation but he did so to advance the country. Later on in his presidency, Jefferson again contradicts himself through the Barbary wars. The map of the Barbary States and battle locations in document D shows how Jefferson orchestrated the invasion of a foreign country in order to protect trade. Before he became president, he argued that the states should largely governor themselves, but without the strong central power Jefferson used, the crisis in the Mediterranean would never have been resolved.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Moral Dilemmas Of The Louisiana Purchase
    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Moral Dilemmas Of The Louisiana Purchase

    After the purchase, most of the United States was very rapturous over the purchase, Thomas Jefferson however felt that he had gone behind the Constitution since it nowhere permitted the federal government to purchase new land, even if the purchase went behind the Constitution it still had no significant moral dilemma because first off it benefited the nation by doubling in size, which meant that the nation would grow in a vastly manner and even make…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Thomas Jefferson And Barbary
    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Thomas Jefferson And Barbary

    Thomas Jefferson was, for worse or for better, a man of the peace. Known for his somewhat radical idea that “If there be one principle more deeply rooted than any other in the mind of every American, it is, that we should have nothing to do with conquest.” In 1823, President Jefferson condemned “the atrocious violations of the rights of nations, by the interference of any-one in the internal affairs of another.” This was a new concept of thinking for the time. For example, when war with the British seemed inevitable near the end of Jefferson’s tour as secretary of state, he proposed what would today be termed “economic sanctions” as an alternative to military force.…

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Main Differences Between Alexander Hamilton And Thomas Jefferson
    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Main Differences Between Alexander Hamilton And Thomas Jefferson

    He also believed a national bank would be corrupt and should be avoided. Jefferson thought a strong national government would be dangerous to the people’s protection and security. He thought government needed to be watched closely and cut in its…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Thomas Jefferson Hypocrisy In The Constitution
    • 1033 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Thomas Jefferson Hypocrisy In The Constitution

    Thomas Jefferson was a strict constructionist which means that every word in the constitution is to be taken at face value and nothing is to be assumed, or more simply put, if it is not in the constitution than the government cannot do it. He attests this in a letter he sent to a senator in 1820 on the matter of the Missouri compromise. His answer to the question can be summarized by the last sentence of the second paragraph of this letter, "This certainly is the exclusive right of every state, which nothing in the Constitution has taken from them and given to the general government." Although seventeen years prior in the midst of his first term as president of the United States he made the biggest purchase of land in American history the Louisiana purchase. When he knew well that there was nothing in the constitution that gave him the right to buy new territory, explore it, and even go beyond the borders of the land.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Why Did Thomas Jefferson Make White Men?
    • 99 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Why Did Thomas Jefferson Make White Men?

    I honestly don’t feel his intention when he created the Declaration was to make white men look superior to any other gender and race. I feel that Jefferson used the word “Men” as a generalized term for people. I don’t think he would be mad at the fact that women and people of color are creating movement, but at the fact that government is giving us less power and freedom to voice our opinions. The whole point of a new country was to let the people have a voice, and in this time government has most of the power.…

    • 99 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Cherokee Removal
    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Cherokee Removal

    “Congress’s approach to the problem rested on the same theories that had governed the diplomats in Paris. According to the international law, England had owned the American colonies by right of discovery, a concept that gave Christian European governments the right to claim and occupy the lands of non-Christian and ‘uncivilized’ peoples, and by right of conquest, by which England had acquired France’s right of discovery claims at the conclusion of the French and Indian War. ”1 This creates the complexity of land ownership in the United…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Thomas Jefferson's Letter To James Madison
    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Essay On Thomas Jefferson's Letter To James Madison

    The beliefs and values embraced by Thomas Jefferson in his Letter to James Madison can be seen by some as archaic and insensible to a growing society. Although America’s values on the basis of economy and society have shifted somewhat, a few of his ideas can still be interwoven into how America regards itself. Another writing of Jefferson’s will be referenced in the course of this essay, since it has a clearer sense of why Jefferson felt the way he did about agrarian societies. This writing is Query XIX from his Notes on the State of Virginia, the final edition published in 1785. The points maintained in this writing support those contained within his Letter to James Madison, even if he is speaking specifically of the state of Virginia instead of the country as a whole.…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Thomas Jefferson Strict Constructionists
    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Thomas Jefferson Strict Constructionists

    For example, in 1800 Jefferson was faced with the decision on purchasing Louisiana. This would be considered loose interpretation of the Constitution because the Constitution doesn't state whether or not the national government is authorized to purchase territory for the United States. However, Jefferson and his administration felt that it was implied that the national government was permitted to buy land. Jefferson completely ignored his strict constitutional constructionist view when it came to the Louisiana purchase, which doubled the size of the United States. The “democratic visionary” in Jefferson used to this acquired territory to create his agrarian republic.…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2025 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  Cookie Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings