The Jeffersonian Republicans are often categorized as strict constructionists who were opposed to the broad constructionism of the Federalists, but to some extent this generalization of the Madison and Jefferson parties were inconsistent. In the form of the Louisiana Purchase, the Embargo Act, and the War of 1812, the Jeffersonian Republicans can be seen as broad constructionalists, the opposition of the war, in the form of a two-thirds majority to declare war, and Madison's vetoing of the Internal Improvement Bill can make the Federalists seem as if they were the strict constructionalists. Through an analysis of these topics, it is easy to see that both parties crossed their political lines to some degree throughout this time period.

In the election of Thomas Jefferson, the world was about to experience a new era of national and political authority. The ideals of Thomas Jefferson were very different from the previous President; Jefferson sought a peaceful and constitutionally strict way of life for his political party. As Jefferson began his presidency he claimed that his election was a recovery of the original ideals of the American people. Jefferson's true ideology was one that believed in a small, weak central government, and that a small central government was …show more content…
While this is seen as one of, if not the most notable achievement of Jefferson, there are some missteps in logic. The idea that there should be no change in the Union was a moral supposedly followed by Jefferson. Jefferson would go on to say that this change should be proven true by a constitutional amendment, but since the process of amendment was slow, Jefferson basically said that there was no time for the ideas of strict constructionalism, the same ideals that his party and his ideals were based on… this showed the people of his party that there was some "elasticity" with this idea of strict