FREE ESSAY ON THOMAS JEFFERSON: HIS PRESIDENTIAL LEGACY

THOMAS JEFFERSON: HIS PRESIDENTIAL LEGACY

Thomas Jefferson: His Presidential Legacy
Thomas Jefferson, our third president, was born in 1743 in Virginia. He studied at
William and Mary and then read the law. In 1772, he married a widow lady, Martha Skelton
and he took her to live at his partially completed home at Monticello, the plantation
consisting of approximately 5,000 acres that he inherited from his father.
Mr. Jefferson was considered to be a gifted writer, but he was not a public speaker. He
wrote his support for the patriotic cause in the House of Burgesses and the Continental
congresses but he did not give any speeches. He was a silent member, and as such, drafted
the Declaration of Independence. He became the first Secretary of State under George
Washington, but resigned the post in 1793. His resignation was due to political conflicts
with Alexander Hamilton and his sympathies for the French Revolution. As political
differences grew in the new nation, two parties began to form; Jefferson became the
leader of the Jeffersonian Party, which later evolved into the Democratic-Republican
Party. He opposed a strong central government and was a champion for states' rights.
In 1796, he missed being elected President by three votes. Instead, due to a flaw in the
Constitution, he became Vice President. In the next election, the flaw became much more
apparent. The Republican Party cast a tie vote between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson.
Alexander Hamilton voted for Jefferson, even though their political views differed. When
Mr. Jefferson's second term was completed, he retired to Monticello and worked on his
designs for the university of Virginia. He died on July 4, 1826.
Mr. Jefferson's presidency left several legacies. The most important, in chronological
order, were the Supreme Court's decision in the 1803 case of "Marbury v Madison," the
Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and the adoption of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution in
1804.
The landmark case of "Marbury v Madison" involved William Marbury and James Madison.
After his defeat in 1800, then President Adams appointed as many federalist judges to the
court system as possible, but the commissions were not delivered. Mr. Marbury was
appointed as a Justice of the Peace for the District of Columbia; James Madison tried to
use his power as Secretary of State to shelve Mr. Marbury's commission. Mr. Marbury sued
in the Supreme Court for the delivery of the commission and based his appeal on the
Judiciary Act of 1789. However, Chief Justice Marshall dismissed the suit, explaining
that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional because it attempted to assign powers
to the Supreme Court that the Constitution had not foreseen. He adamantly asserted his
opinion that the Constitution embodied a higher law than regular legislation. Chief
Justice Marshall stated that "it is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial
department to say what the law is…" His decision greatly increased the authority of
the Supreme Court; the Court now had the final say-so in the interpretation of the
Constitution and to determine the constitutionality of a law.
Just a few months later, in May 1804, Jefferson completed one of the largest land
transactions in history. He purchased the entire Louisiana Territory, consisting of more
than 800,000 square miles, from Napoleon for $15 millions dollars. The United States
government paid $11,250,000 directly to the French government and the United States
government assuming French debts to U.S. citizens covered the balance of $3,750,000. 
This purchase was the result of serious concerns for free trade and navigation along the
Mississippi River. In 1800, Spain and France entered into a secret pact in which Spain
ceded New Orleans and the territory to France. The United States government was afraid
that it would have to go to war with France to acquire control of the port of New
Orleans, so Mr. Jefferson sent Robert Livingston and James Munroe to negotiate with
Napoleon for the sale of New Orleans and as much land to its east as possible for a
maximum of $10million. They were also instructed that if negotiation with Napoleon
failed, they were to begin negotiating with England for an alliance. Jefferson was
willing to form an alliance with the former enemy, England, against a former friend,
France, in order to secure New Orleans.
However, because Napoleon failed to conquer Santo Domingo again and because he was ready
to end a nearly two-year lull in his war with Britain, Napoleon decided to sell the
entire Louisiana Territory. With this sale, he abandoned his hope of an empire in the New
World. He preferred to sell the territory rather than being forced to make a gift of it
to England since England controlled the seas. He decided put the money in his coffers to
use in his European efforts. So, it seemed that out the clear sky, while Robert
Livingston was waiting the arrival of James Munroe but still negotiating for the port of
New Orleans, a French foreign minister asked for an offer for the entire Louisiana
Territory. After a week of haggling, Robert Livingston signed the treaties in which the
United States acquired the Louisiana Territory.
Once Thomas Jefferson received word of the agreement, he realized that there could be a
constitutional issue with the deal. The President did not have the constitutional
authority to negotiate treaties in which the United States would acquire new land.
Jefferson submitted the treaties to the Senate while admitting that he had overstepped
his presidential authority. The senators were thrilled with the deal - more than 800,000
square miles of land for three cents per acre. 
There were several implications from the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. With the
purchase, the United States secured free trade and navigation along the Mississippi
River. Acquiring the land nearly doubled the size of the fledging country. Furthermore,
the later expedition of Lewis and Clark proved the feasibility of overland travel to the
far west and provided much needed information of the territory. After their expedition,
western commerce and settlement surged.
Another important legacy of Thomas Jefferson's presidency was the Twelfth Amendment to
the Constitution, which was ratified in September1804; the only states that rejected the
amendment were Delaware, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.. In the election of 1800, both
Jefferson and Aaron Burr received an equal number of electoral votes. Section One of the
Constitution declared that the person who garnered the most votes would be the President,
and the man who received the second most votes would be the Vice President. And that a
tie could only be broken by the House of Representatives. At this time, the Federalists,
who vehemently opposed Thomas Jefferson, controlled the House. Because of a stalemate in
the tie breaking voting in the House of Representatives, several Federalists gave up and
refrained from voting in the 36th round. This resulted in Thomas Jefferson securing the
presidency, which was what the electors wanted. The Twelfth Amendment was adopted so that
the situation in the 1800 election would not happen again. Since this sort of bargaining
over the presidency was the very thing the Electoral College was supposed to prevent, the
Congress and the States quickly adopted the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution by
September of 1804. The difference between the procedure which the Twelfth Amendment
defines and that which was laid down in Section One of the Constitution is in the
provision that it makes for separate designation by the electors of their choices for
President and Vice President.
Thomas Jefferson is most noted as being the author of the Declaration of Independence as
well as our third president. He was also a diplomat, an architect, a musician, and
scientist. His last act of public service was the founding of the University of Virginia
in 1819. He valued this accomplishment as much as his authorship of the Declaration of
Independence. However, his presidency left great legacies that touch the lives of all
Americans still today. He will forever be associated with the Supreme Court decision in
the case of "Marbury v Madison," the greatest land transaction in history, the Louisiana
Purchase, and with the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution. Mr.
Jefferson is firmly entrenched alongside George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as one of
the truly great Americans.
1383 words