Thomas_Jefferson

Before becoming president, Thomas Jefferson was a strong critic of a centralized federal government and a person who believed in a strict constitution. Once in office, Jefferson changed his attitude towards these issues. Even though many of his contradictions were good for our country, Jefferson still went against the principles that helped him get elected. The most devastating of Jefferson's contradictions were those that involved the issue of slavery. This was a man who wrote in our most sacred national document "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." Yet, Jefferson is reported to have owned hundreds slaves at one time. It was also discovered that one of the female slaves he owned, Sally Hemmings, was his long standing mistress with which he fathered at least one child. Even though these facts were not hidden, it was hardly common knowledge until the past couple of decades. And in our age, where civil rights have become most important to us, finding this out about one of our most revered heroes cuts deep at our pride as a nation. Jefferson also was hypocritical in his acquisition of the Louisiana territory. In Jeffersonian principles, large expansive governments were bad and small were good. Jefferson knew that the purchase of the Louisiana territory was beneficial to the welfare of the U.S. And although he was a strong advocate for a strict interpretation of the Constitution (a view in accordance with his belief in decentralized power), he bent the federal rules to buy the Louisiana Purchase (Doc A). He favored a strict construction of the Constitution and worried about excessive presidential power, yet as President he acquired Louisiana Territory without prior congressional authorization and ruled it like a monarch (Doc C). Since the appropriation of the Louisiana territory was important for the expansion of the United States, he temporarily dismissed his principles, therefore destroying political traditions. Another hypocritical event during Jefferson’s administration was his acceptance of the National Bank. Early in Jefferson's political career, Jefferson had debated with Hamilton on whether to have the National Bank. Early in Jefferson's Administration, Jefferson had denounced the National Bank. At the end of his administration, Jefferson realized that the National Bank was important and this is hypocritical by disregarding his principles. Critically, Thomas Jefferson went against his views of having "unnecessarily" large military that would intimidate other countries. When President John Adams proposed to expand America's armed forces and create a navy, Jefferson campaigned against such a move both for reasons of expense and to avoid the precedent of a standing army. Yet in one of his first decisions as President, Jefferson dispatched American armed forces around the globe to confront the Barbary States of North Africa (Doc D). These pirates had long made a national industry of blackmailing and plundering merchant ships that ventured into the Mediterranean. Jefferson's decision to destroy these people was a blatant disregard for his previous view on this issue. Also, Jefferson did not "inform Congress until the warships had sailed far enough to be effectively beyond recall." This additionally goes against his supposed love for the constitution because of this technically illegal action. In American politics, it is illegal for the executive branch to declare war on a foreign entity, because it takes an act of congress to do so. Clearly, Jefferson had thorough knowledge of this and yet still went forward and declared war illegally. Thomas Jefferson was the type of man that legends were started about. He doubled the size of the country through the Louisiana Purchase, initiated the Lewis and Clark expedition, founded a university, and made the first laws to separate church and state. Most importantly, he penned the document that is the cornerstone of America's freedom, The Declaration of Independence. However, there is always more than one side to a story. Yet, it is with good reason that a new light is being shed on the character of our countries third president. His words and actions were often very contradictory, as if he were two separate people. He said things for the occasion, and when the occasion changed he said other things.