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The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson

On March 04, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated president of the United States of America in the new capital of Washington D.C. He was a simple, frugal, and unconventional president. He started the precedent of sending messages to Congress to be ready by a clerk, and some believe that it was he who truly set the two-term precedent for the presidency. Thomas Jefferson instilled his democratic ideals and liberal principles into the forming of the United States of America, and he served Her extensively and faithfully. Through his faithful terms as President of the United States of America he added on to the list of legacies that would survive him through history. His three most important legacies during his presidency were: The peaceful “Revolution” that took place during his first term; the purchase of the Louisiana Territory; and authorization of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Jefferson won the 1800 presidential election after the House of
Representatives settled the electoral-vote tie with his Federalist opponent, Aaron Burr. During his first term, Jefferson attempted to win the allegiance and trust of Federalists by maintaining the national debt and debt-repayment plan of Hamilton, as well as carrying on neutrality policies. He retained the loyalty of republicans by adhering to their guiding principle of limited central government (reduced military size, eliminated the number of federal jobs, repealed excise taxes, and lowered national debt). He also pardoned those serving time under the Sedition Act and enacted a new naturalization law that returned the years needed for immigrants to gain citizenship from fourteen to five. Most importantly, however, Jefferson led a “revolution” with the peaceful transfer of power from Federalists to Democratic-Republicans, which showed that a change of administration did not have to involve a disastrous outcome.
In 1802 the Spaniards at New Orleans withdrew the right...

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The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson. (1969, December 31). In Retrieved 22:30, September 02, 2015, from