Jefferson or Hamilton?
ON POPULAR RULE:
A.) “All communities divide themselves into the few and the many.
The first are the rich and well born, the other, the mass of people,
The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of god…it is
not true in fact. The people are turbulent and changing… they seldom
judge or determine right. The “betters” must get the permanent share
of the government. They (the “betters”) will check unsteadiness and
keep good order; they will maintain good government.
Take mankind in general, they are vicious, their passions may be
influenced and managed. The people are governed by their passions.
One great error is that we suppose mankind more honest than they
are. Government must control people’s passions. A wise government
must make passions subservient to the public good.”
Jefferson or Hamilton?
ON POPULAR RULE:
B.) Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God. Their breasts
he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue.
Men…are naturally divided into two parties. Those who fear and distrust
the people…(and) those who identify themselves with the people, have
confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and
safe…depository of the public interest.
The mass of mankind have not been born with saddles on their backs,
nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the
grace of God.
Every government degenerates when trusted to rulers alone. The people
themselves are its only safe depositories.
Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their
own government; whenever things go wrong…they can be relied on to set
them to rights.
Thomas Jefferson
“If you hope to be ignorant and free,
you hope for something that never
was and never will be”
TJ’S Political mindset
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Child of the Enlightenment
Democracy was not ideal, but practical
Government is a “necessary evil.”
Wished the U.S.A. to be country of small farms
Feared the growth of cities, as they would
commercialize the country
• LOVED the French Revolution
Jefferson and the Judicial Branch:
• Major distrust of judicial power led to repeal of
the Judiciary Act of 1801.
-this was an intended attempt to
eliminate new judges and attorneys
whose positions were filled by
Federalist appointees.
-Adams appointed these “midnight
judges” up until the last hours of his
presidency.
Judicial Branch continued…
• Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
-midnight appointee William Marbury
petitioned, ordering Sec. of State James
Madison to commission his seat as a
justice which he had not yet officially
received.
-Chief Justice John Marshall had to make a
decision, (mandamus or no mandamus?)
Marbury vs. Madison results
• Marshall sided with Madison, but also
established the principle of “Judicial Review”
to re-enforce the Supreme Court’s ability to
check congressional laws.
• This preserved his credibility as a Federalist
judge.
Other issues of Jefferson’s presidency
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War with the Barbary Pirates
The Louisiana Purchase
The Burr-Hamilton Duel
Lewis and Clark expedition