...Purchase posed several significant moral dilemmas for President Thomas Jefferson; among these were his republican ideals, the unconstitutionality of the acquisition of foreign land, and the nation’s growth and economic prosperity. Thomas Jefferson challenged his own political ideology with the purchase of the Louisiana territory. This was an internal moral dilemma that Jefferson would have to sacrifice for the advancement of the young country. Thomas Jefferson was a republicans republican; he was a true antifederalist to the bone who was a strict interpreter of the United States Constitution. What really ripped him in two was that he was about to regurgitate the same argument Alexander Hamilton used to justify the establishment...
Words: 941 - Pages: 4
...What Is Equality? Martin Luther King and Thomas Jefferson were two important individuals in American history that focused their beliefs and efforts on obtaining equality. Comparing similarities between these men show that they battled through oppression, desired the abolishment of unjust laws, and were successful in their missions for equality. According to Dictionary.com (“equality”) is: “the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability.” In this paper I will compare how different the meanings of equality sought after by both men were in, “The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King by identifying their different tactics, methods, and outcomes. Thomas Jefferson penned “The Declaration of Independence” with intent to demand equality. His tactics behind this writing was to require the British government to grant the colonies their independence without option. He ensured the British government, “that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy war.”(207). This measure of intent indicated that Jefferson was declaring the willingness of the colonies to fight for their beliefs of equality. The colonies wanted to be treated fairly. They wanted to be treated with fairness. The British government was preventing the people of the colonies...
Words: 916 - Pages: 4
...Louisiana for King Louis the XIV. He was born on November 21, 1643. One of the places he traveled was the New World. He went there because he wanted to set up trading routes with the Native American population. Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was another important man in the Louisiana Purchase. He was born on April 13, 1743. He was...
Words: 456 - Pages: 2
...Most People see Thomas Jefferson as just a former president, or the person to draft the Declaration of Independents. Yes those things are true but he was influential in a substantial amount of ways in the nineteenth century. He played a crucial member of philosophers and covered various topics such as the American economy and even religious quarrels. First off, the childhood of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was born April 13, 1743 in what is now Albemarle Virginia. Ever since he was a little kid, he was listening to countrymen who were always talking about government and democratic views. Since then, he has showed an interest in that field and studied law after graduating college. He studied with George Wythe who was an American lawyer and a member of the House of Burgesses (Academic Search Complete Database). This was a huge part in Jefferson pursuing what he wanted to accomplish. He attended the debates about the Stamp Act which was a tax on all legal and commercial documents. As time went on and he attended more debates, his interest in politics was growing. Arguably his most important work was the Declaration of Independents. The declaration was a document proclaiming...
Words: 584 - Pages: 3
...today because the lessons it taught us continue to be just as important today as they were in the 17th century. Prior to the War, War Hawks believed Britain was occupied by France’s tactics and would be unable to fight against the United States. Madison was also led into office right after the Embargo Act was put into effect by Thomas Jefferson; which led to costly failure. Pressure to abandon the Embargo Act was made clear, just 3 days after Jefferson left office. Congress then passed the Non-Intercourse Act, which opened trade with everyone except...
Words: 606 - Pages: 3
...eighteenth century significantly affected American culture and how individuals think prior and then afterward these events. The Enlightenment changed individuals' view on national issues, religion, and human instinct, and The Great Awakening acknowledged religious resilience. As a matter of first importance, the Age of Enlightenment primarily impacted taught individuals in the American states. Despite the fact that Enlightenment initially started in Europe, it spread to America. The German word for Edification is "Aufklaerung"- it intends to "clearing up." It is a valuable word since it clarifies what the Enlightenment truly is, and what they attempted to accomplish. Likewise, the American Insurgency was affected significantly by the Enlightenment. The most renowned Enlightenment scholars in America were Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Due to Enlightenment, individuals began trusting that understanding must exist amongst individuals and pioneer. Individuals began contemplating enhancing their parcel and to concoct valuable gadgets to help the general public. Before the time of Enlightenment, individuals' learning on legislative issues depended on God, however, after Enlightenment, Americans began trusting that thinking is critical, and you can't merely acknowledge things. Second, the Great Awakening brought assorted variety; it was caused by reestablishment of religion after many individuals in the provinces moved in the opposite direction of religion. It conveyed...
Words: 446 - Pages: 2
...and justify Burr. But when looking at all of the facts, Aaron Burr was not justified in killing Alexander Hamilton because while Hamilton did do things to hurt Burr’s political career, Burr wronged Hamilton as well. Additionally, there are factors that paint Burr as a villain and fail to justify his actions. There is no question that Hamilton harmed Burr’s political career on multiple occasions. One of these instances was during the Election of 1800. In this election, Burr and Thomas Jefferson were both running for president and both had received the same number of electoral votes. Because the two were tied, the election had to be decided by the House of Representatives. Hamilton used his influence to support Jefferson instead of Burr. Even though Hamilton was against everything Jefferson stood for politically, Hamilton saw Burr as dangerous and ambitious. Hamilton’s vote gave Jefferson the majority, which meant he won the election and the presidency (Gannon, Facts on File). Hamilton’s support of Jefferson is the reason Burr lost the election. Hamilton hurt Burr’s political career further in 1804. During this election, Burr was seeking renomination for Vice President and the governorship of New York. However, Burr’s attempts were ruined after Hamilton issued a series of verbal attacks on Burr’s political and private character (“Duel at Dawn, 1804”). One of these attacks included Hamilton calling Burr “‘a dangerous man and one who ought not be trusted with the reins of government’”...
Words: 1440 - Pages: 6
...Sedition, rebellion, and uprisings: historically, the most volatile threats to establishment. Because a nation's Achilles’ heel lies within itself rather than in the hands of its adversaries, our founding fathers emphasized the significance of a consolidation of power between a government and its people. In order to accomplish this mission, America's forebear's assembled the constitution along with the Bill of Rights in order to not only protect the masses from despotism, but also to protect the government from insurrection. And yet, what becomes of a nation in the event that its leaders threaten the common good and safety of its people and fail to uphold certain inalienable rights? While American citizens rely on nothing more than principles established by a two-century-old document for protection, their governing body can employ brute force as its personal insurance at will. Faced with ultimatums that pit civic duty against political dissent, courageous figures throughout our nation's history have elected to speak...
Words: 698 - Pages: 3
...Timeline 1 1) Describe three different American Indian cultures prior to colonization. Pre-history to 1600s The Hopewell tribe was mound builders that were located in the Midwest and even today their mounds can be seen in the states where they resided, such as Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and more. They could be considered some of the first traders in the region as they had a very large trade route, with materials coming from across other portions of the United States and Canada. The climate was the reason for this tribe’s decline rather than the colonists that arrived to the New World. The Iroquois were located in what is now the state of New York. This was actually a group of tribes that were united under a league that had been established by a political alliance after tribal warring. Their system of government with chosen leaders called sachems is considered the model for which the American government is currently built upon. The Haidas was a tribe that was located in the Northwest Pacific Coast across the country far from where the colonists first landed. This tribe being so close to the ocean, centered more of tribal life around the waters. They were fishermen and artists. This is one of the tribes that created totem poles that many individuals associate with Native American culture today. 2) The effects of British colonization on the Native Americans. 1600’s The British colonization on the Native Americans had a...
Words: 2703 - Pages: 11
...In 1801, Thomas Jefferson wanted to expand the United States, so he made the Louisiana Purchase and sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore. After eighteen months in the wilderness, Lewis and Clark believed a practical path across the United States had been found. Unfortunately, the path was too rough for wagons. Although the explorers did not find an easy route to Oregon, Lewis and Clark discovered a lot about the previously unknown land. Other explorers found a route for wagons to follow, and travel on the Oregon Trail began. Life on the trail consisted of pre-travel preparation, numerous hardships, and several interesting actions that reflect the realities of life for Oregon Trail pioneers. After deciding to follow others...
Words: 1052 - Pages: 5
...A National Plan On April 4, 1808, Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of Thomas Jefferson, sent to the Senate his report on roads and canals. It begins with the assertion that " the general utility of artificial roads and canals . . . is universally admitted." The question is, who should build them. In some countries, "these improvements may often, in ordinary cases, be left to individual exertion, without any direct aid from Government." In the American case, two major circumstances," whilst they render the facility of communications throughout the United States an object of primary importance, naturally check the application of private capital and enterprise to improvements on a large scale." The first of these is the relative scarcity of capital. It is much more difficult than in Europe to attract investment by "prospects of remote and moderate profit." The second is " the extent of the territory compared to the population." With a sparse population, local traffic cannot be counted on to make profitable a local improvement. In general, a canal will be unproductive unless it opens " a communication with a natural extensive navigation which will flow through that new channel." For this reason, " some works already executed are unprofitable; many more remain unattempt, because their ultimate productive- ness depends on other improvements, too extensive or too distant to be embraced by the same individuals." " The General Government ", declares the...
Words: 1880 - Pages: 8
...“To be American (unlike being English or French or whatever) is precisely to imagine a destiny rather than inherit one; since we have always been, insofar as we are Americans at all, inhabitants of myth rather than history.” In the context of this quote attributed to Leslie Fiedler, being American means subscribing to a socially constructed national identity--to the collective American Dream. This observation expresses a core truth about Americans, and about an American greatness that is in fact exceptional, but it is also problematic in several ways. First, the public has never felt compelled to fix the meaning of the American Dream, a term that presumably everyone knows. Second, while Fielder’s assertion is true of Americans, it is not uniquely so: All people, in some sense or another, inhabit myths. Finally, while Americans have certainly imagined destinies for themselves, they also live in history. Everyone does. The American Dream is neither a self-evident falsehood nor a scientifically demonstrable principle. Beyond the abstract belief that anything is possible if you want it bad enough, there is no single American Dream. The theoretical basis for the American idea incorporates an explicit allegiance to the concept “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.” But as the history of slavery and the struggle for women’s rights make clear, the rights...
Words: 1791 - Pages: 8
...Tax Supported Education In today’s society, we do not think twice about public education being funded by our taxes at a district, state or federal level. We take for granted expected rights such as education and the right to vote. When we stop and take a look back at history, we realize that the expectation of education was not always a birth right but one that developed due to our ancestors realizing the effect an education (or lack of an education) can have on society. The involvement of Government supported schools began after the Revolution but expanded in the 19th century. By 1870, all states had free elementary schools. Originally, the tax supported schools were limited and existed chiefly to educate the children of the poor (Kennedy, Cohen & Bailey, 2013). The founders of our nation recognized that educated, well-informed citizens are fundamental to a democratic form of government. Well-to-do, conservative Americans came to realize that uneducated children grow up and influence society with their vote. Taxation for education was an insurance premium that the wealthy paid for stability and democracy” (Kennedy, Cohen & Bailey, 2013). The United States was also different in the fact that our citizens were not from the same background. Unlike citizens in other countries, who shared the same ethnic background or culture, Americans would need to base their national identity on shared ideas such as a belief in democracy and equality and on the common experience...
Words: 601 - Pages: 3
...Major Event/Epoch in American History | Time Period/Date(s) | Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History | 1) Describe three different American Indian cultures prior to colonization. | 17,000B.C.–1492A.D. | One American Indian culture that existed prior to colonization was the Paleo-Indians. These were highly nomadic people who hunted mastodons, woolly mammoths, and other mammals of similar size with spears. They had nomadic tendencies, which led them to live a rather isolated way of life. This helped to avoid the spread of some extremely contagious diseases and allowed families to survive (Brands, 2012, p. 5). Another pre-colonization culture was the Plains Indians. This particular culture survived by using a combination of hunting, gathering, and farming. This development led to the establishment of villages near river valleys that assisted in the influx of population. The conditions in which the lived were optimal for multi-generation survival (Brands, 2012, p. 7). A third American Indian culture that thrived prior to colonization was the Aztecs. They were able to build enormous cities with complex governments, ruled by aggressive men. The Aztecs successfully developed their own hieroglyphic writing as well as a genuine solar calendar. Over time they conquered a great number of foes across the Valley of Mexico and participated in the practice of human sacrifice, which aligned with the maintenance of their crops. They considered human blood...
Words: 2870 - Pages: 12
...that man had to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. In the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson, the author composes a document that changed the history of humanity by including rhetorical devices, such as, imagery, anaphoras, and capitilization. In Jefferson's document, he uses imagery as one of his rhetorical devices for an effective understanding of what he was experiencing or going through. This rhetorical device gives a clear picture of how the way things worked when he was in Great Britain and how it became completely necessary to dissolve the political bands between Britain and the United States. “He has refused Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good” (Jefferson 263). This develops an image of the King sitting on his thrown while people are not even given the necessary needs for living. By stating that sentence as a visual concept, it has caused readers to think about how harsh the people were treated by the king. Throughout the passage there are many statements that create a vivid idea of what Jefferson tries to get across in his passage. Another device used throughout Jefferson's passage are anaphoras, which assist into re-emphasizing his points throughout the speech. When a specific word is repeated in the passage, such as, "he has" and "for" it draws attention to part of an excerpt. For example Jefferson lays a list of complaints and starts each sentence with the phrase "he has", in doing so, it puts much...
Words: 461 - Pages: 2
