FREE ESSAY ON JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICANISM

JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICANISM

After the extreme partisanship of 1800, it was expected by supporters and foes alike that
the presidential administration of Thomas Jefferson would pioneer substantial and even
radical changes. The federal government was now in the hands of a relentless man and a
persistent party that planned to diminish its size and influence. But although he
overturned the principal Federalist domestic and foreign policies, Thomas Jefferson
generally pursued the course as a chief executive, quoting his inaugural address "We are
all Republicans, we are all Federalists." With true republicans warming most of the seats
of power throughout the branches, except in the Judiciary, he saw the tools of government
as less of a potential instrument of oppression and more of a means to achieve republican
goals. 
Jefferson assumed the presidency in the hopes that his election would represent the
triumph of the true republican principles of the American Revolution; "......the defeat
of those who had reverted in varying degrees to policies derived from monarchism." His
first acts were to reduce the size of the government and to cut spending. He believed the
strongest government was that which placed the lightest burden on its citizens. Such is
meant in his inaugural address by "Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with
the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or
have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this
question." 
Although recognized as an intellectual and scholar, Jefferson was also undoubtedly the
first president to become the leader of a political party. He skillfully made use of
party politics in making assignations to office pursuing his legislative aims by
entertaining members of Congress at the White House as a means of keeping himself in
touch and them in line. Jefferson used the powers of his presidential office with an
authority that Presidents Washington and John Adams would not have been permitted. His
political moderation and enthusiasm to compromise land had won over many of the Adam's
Federalists. At the same time those Republicans who had rallied behind him in hopes of a
radical exodus from previous administrations grew increasingly frustrated. Led by the
vibrant and unconventional John Randolph, a group of Republicans in the House, who called
themselves the Quids, meaning others, objected to what they interpreted as "federalism in
the administration's policies". Relying on the Virginia and Kentucky decisions, they
advocated a strict construction of the Constitution and state rights. They became the
most troublesome of the president's opponents.
After Republicans won majorities in both the House and the Senate, and the Federalist
ticket was defeated for the presidency in 1800, the Federalists in Congress passed the
Judiciary Act of 1801. Since appointments to the Federal bench came with a life time
guarantee, they projected to extend their control of that branch of government. The
Judiciary Act of 1801 created ten new positions on the Federal District Courts and a new
category of appellate court, the circuit court of appeals, between the Supreme Court and
the district courts. The act also reduced the size of the highest court by one justice.
Before leaving office, President John Adams had appointed as many federalists to these
new positions as he could. These appointments were known as the "midnight appointments".
Faced with a decidedly hostile Judicial branch, the Republicans quickly took steps to
defy the Federalist moves. In March of 1802, Congress repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801,
which eliminated the new judgeships and designated one Supreme Court justice and one
district court judge to sit on the traveling appellate courts. Republicans in Congress,
with Jefferson's support, then proceeded to impeach two federal justices who had openly
attacked the administration from the bench. The first federal justice, John Pickering of
New Hampshire, was mentally deranged presenting a constitutional predicament - "His
incompetence fell short of the requirement for removal (high crimes and misdemeanors)".
He was nevertheless convicted by the Senate and removed in 1804.
Complaining that few died and none resigned, Jefferson removed some Federalists who had
been assigned to high offices by George Washington and John Adams. He appointed no
Federalists to high office and when there was a vacancy to fill, he instinctively named a
trustworthy Republican. However, he resisted the demands of the more radical members of
his party for wholesale removals and rarely discarded the competent moderate Federalists.
Of course those were the type that he largely succeeded in converting to the Republican
cause. In the four years of his first term he was able to replace about half of the
Federalist leftovers with Republican appointees. Although the Federalists party made some
inroads bye approaching popular appeals to the electorate, their gains were limited to a
few states and posed no national threat to Jefferson's leadership. 
Soon after taking office, Jefferson took steps to repeal Alexander Hamilton's financial
program and to reduce and eliminate the national debt. At this time the national debt.
was "$83,038,051". He gained congressional repeal of internal or domestic taxes,
including the infamous excise tax. The federal government was to be solely funded from
duties on imported goods and from the sale of western land. To reduce government
expenditures, Secretary Albert Gallatin proposed sharp cuts in spending by means of "( 1
) reductions in military and diplomatic expenditures; ( 2 ) strict accounting in the
expenditure of all appropriations ; ( 3 ) and a rapid reduction on the principal of the
national debt."
The number of diplomatic missions overseas was reduced from seven to three (Paris,
London, and Madrid). The United States army was cut by about a third and was deprived of
a general staff. In total left as an authorized force of 3,312. Jefferson backed his
actions by bringing to light the dangers posed by standing armies and showing off the
civilian militia in the states. The Navy also had is share of drastic reductions. A mere
six active ships after a cutting of nineteen captains leaving only nine in active
service. A large Navy, Jefferson stated, would give unnecessary weight to the demands of
commerce and increase the chances of war by posing a threat to the European powers. By
1802, naval expenditures dropped by more than a half to a total of $915,000. However in
response to following international dealings, the budget for the navy increased
subsequently.
Not before long, Jefferson learned that Spain had ceded the vast province of Louisiana
back to France. Going so far as to suggest to the French that the United States might be
willing to join them in overturning Toussaint L'Ouverture, Jefferson promptly shifted his
course. New Orleans was so connected to American interests that if the French gained
control of that port, "we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation." When the
news that the Spanish had suspended the right o Americans to deposit goods in New Orleans
reached Washington, Jefferson asked Congress to appropriate a $2 million dollar fund to
purchase the port. In company of this, he also requested funds in to increase the army
and to build riverboats suitable for a war in the west. Jefferson's determination was
given emphasis when he instructed the American negotiators in Paris to open discussions
with the British government just in case the French refused to sell New Orleans. 
The attack and seizure of the U.S. frigate Chesapeake by the British warship Leopard in
June 1807 just outside of Norfolk gave dramatic emphasis to the British impressments.
Although the British government agreed to return the sailors abducted from the Chesapeake
and to pay damages, it persisted in claiming the right to board and search foreign
vessels to apprehend traitors. Although President Jefferson recognized that the
Chesapeake incident had aroused Americans to "a state of exasperation" such which had not
been seen since the Battle of Lexington , he knew that the success of his domestic
program depended on the maintenance of peace. Having long believed that economic measures
could be produced to serve as an effective alternative to war, he was now determined to
make the experiment with The Embargo of 1807.
Jefferson and Secretary of State Madison believed that the British, as well as the
French, were dependent on American foodstuffs, the principal products carried by American
ships. In this light, they also believed that the nation was willing to make sacrifices
to gain recompense. So they designed an economic boycott to force the loud-mouths to
recognize American neutrality and to observe the neutral right of American sea merchants.
In late December of 1807, Congress ratified the administration's embargo, which
prohibited all foreign commerce. 
The embargo resulted in a serious economic reduction, which severely disrupted the
business of the merchants and ship owners of New England primarily and other states.
Those whose livelihood and work depended on foreign commerce unsurprisingly perceived in
this policy an obvious bias against the interests of merchants and their accomplices, the
farmers. Due to the nation's vast eastern coastline and extended border with Canada, the
embargo proved to be difficult to enforce and relatively easy to evade. And due to this,
Congress passed several force acts, some resembling of previous British imperial
regulations, to empower customs officials to seize ships and cargoes on the suspicion of
the mere intent to sail for Europe. The administration found itself deep in the
monitoring of the coastal trade so much that even Jefferson felt it necessary to send
troops to upstate New York in order to prevent violations. 
With no evidence what so ever to suggest that the boycott was having desired effect on
Britain or France the Republican Congress repealed the embargo legislation at the end of
Jefferson's second term. Much was owing to the fact that the Federalist were reaping
political gains from the whole ordeal. Commerce with the world was once again permitted,
if it was once considered to be impossible. 
The Nonintercourse Act of 1809, which replaced the embargo, prohibited all trade with the
nation's principal trading partners, Great Britain and France, until they recognized the
maritime rights of neutrals. 
James Madison, who succeeded Thomas Jefferson in the presidency of 1809, continued to
guide American relations with Europe by the policy of "peaceable coercion." During his
administration, the challenges posed by the Napoleonic Wars became more frequent and
menacing.
Jefferson's election of the presidency put an end to the ideological struggle that had
brought the nation to the brink of civil war. In office he fulfilled his promise to
reduce government expenditures, taxes, and the national debt ( $83,038,051-$53,173,218
from 1800 to 1809 ). He also expanded his consensus and moved it to the moderate center,
gaining the support from Adams Federalists and further eradicating the high Federalists.
Faced with challenges to his leadership and opportunities of national import, he
demonstrated flexibility, making full use of the tools provided to him by government to
establish control and achieve what he regarded to be worthy republican ends. 
Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison after him, believed they could alter hostile British
policies toward the United Stated by using American commerce and trade as a peaceable
weapon, an "alternative to war." The efforts they took to resolve America's dependency on
and vulnerability to British commercial supremacy were ultimately defeated by events in
Europe and the uncertainties of history. Their failed policy did have a positive,
although unlikely intended, effect of allowing the new nation time to grow, sparking off
the Industrial Revolution, and generating a new spirit of nationalism. 
Bibliography
Primary Resources
Ellis, Richard E. The Jeffersonian Crisis: Courts and Politics in the Young Republic. New
York: Norton, Ww, 1974.
Jefferson, Thomas. "Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address." Indiana University
Bloomington Campus [Online] Available FTP:
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/statecraft/jeff.inaug.html
Jefferson Thomas. "Thomas Jefferson's Second Inaugural Address" Saint Cloud State
University [Online] Available FTP:
http://www.stcloudstate.edu/~brixr01/Inauguraljeffersonsecond.html
National Debt. 1789-2011 [Online] Available FTP: http://www.budget.org/NationalDebt/GDP/
Peterson, Merill D. ed The Portable Thomas Jefferson. New York: Viking Penguin, 1977.
Secondary Resources
DeConde, Alexander. This Affair of Louisiana. Los Angeles: Pocket, 1976.
Horsman, Reginald. The Frontier in the Formative Years, 1783-1815. Ohio: Warner, 1976.
Perkins, Bradford. Prologue to War: England and the United States, 1805-1812. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1961.
Stagg, J.C.A. Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy and Warfare in the Early American
Republic 1783-1830. New York: Princeton University Press, 1983.
Sheehan, Bernard W. Seeds of Extinction: Jeffersonian Philanthropy and the American
Indian. New York: Norton, Ww, 1974.