After the United States gained its independence from Britain, and was just beginning to become a republic nation, partisan conflicts arose, creating different schools of thought regarding the Constitution. One party was the Jeffersonian Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, they followed the principle of strict constructionism of the Constitution. Jefferson’s policy making usually cohered with this strict constructionism, but on several occasions Jefferson utilized a loose interpretation of the Constitution, while Madison did a much better job of adhering to the principle of strict constructionism. As the founder of the Jeffersonian Republicans, Thomas Jefferson’s main ideology was a strict interpretation of the Constitution, …show more content…
Jefferson’s purpose in writing to Samuel Miller was to express the limited power of the national government as dictated by the Constitution, because he discussed how the Constitution gives the national government no power to determine religious exercises (doc. 2). However, Jefferson continued by saying that the state governments had some power to determine religion, which contradicts his belief of strict constructionism because the Constitution gives the state governments no right to do so. Another example of Jefferson’s intended adherence to the Constitution is his letter to Gideon Granger (doc. 1). In this letter, Jefferson may have been writing to Granger, but his intended audience was the American people as a whole. Jefferson stressed that in order for the country to live in harmony, the American people must support the Constitution and not attempt to amend it. Jefferson also showed his support of the Constitution by mentioning that its theory is wise and a sure guide to success of the country. Yet, Jefferson continued to misinterpret the Constitution once again by over exaggerating the power of the states. He wrote that according to the Constitution, states are independent in all of their affairs, except in dealing with foreign nations. …show more content…
For example, regarding internal improvements and his relationship to Congress, Madison interpreted the Constitution very stringently. When Congress proposed the subject of internal improvements to Madison, he mentioned that the Constitution does not expressly give the national government the power to build roads and canals, and therefore Madison vetoed the bill (doc. 7). Madison’s purpose in vetoing the bill was to convince Congress to legislate in a stricter constructionist manner. Furthermore, Madison took a slightly subordinate role to Congress during his presidency, but he was not a weak president because he was simply operating by the theory of the Constitution, which clearly establishes the legislative branch as the most powerful (318). Additionally, Madison’s adherence to strict constructionism encouraged other Democratic Republican leaders to remain strict constructionists. John Randolph, a Democratic Republican congressmen, pointed out the inadequacies of the tariff of 1816 by mentioning that the Constitution gives the government the power to lay equal taxes, while the tariff of 1816 favors manufacturers and is not equal (doc. 6). Randolph’s intended audience is Congress, and he is attempting to prevent Congress from falling away from Jefferson’s principles. Still, Madison did occasionally adapt a loose interpretation of the Constitution. For example, Daniel