If the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent Corps of Discovery were Jefferson's crowning moments as president, the growing agitation with England and France would be his downfall. Like Washington and Adams before him, Jefferson maintained neutrality was the best course of action for our young nation. The problem was we already appeared vulnerable (because we were) to the French and British and our neutrality policies made us seem weaker. Instead of giving us a break and respecting our rights to neutral trade on the seas, Britain and France continued their policy of impressment. Also, Britain's strong presence in Canada and our western territories, as well as their growing alliances with the natives, made us uneasy as well. We were facing a two-front war (home and sea) with a country much more powerful than us and this time there was no way France would bail us out again.
Read this website on the Chesapeake Affair, the Embargo and NonIntercourse Acts and their repeals. In the comments section, answer this question: Would you have done anything differently if you had been Jefferson? (Put yourself in Jefferson's shoes while answering. That means...don't assume stuff Jefferson would not have known like "We are going to beat the British in the War of 1812 anyway so it doesn't matter what I do" because there is no way he could have known that.)
We could say that Thomas Jefferson made many bad choices, but we weren’t in his shoes. Until you’ve actually been in his situation we won’t really know exactly what to do. The Embargo Act seemed like, at the time, to be a good idea, but then the economy of America got worse. We relied on trade as a main source of money, but when we stopped all trade with other countries we weren’t receiving the money we used to. Jefferson could not have known this would happen so we can’t blame him. The one fault I find is his stubbornness to keep the Embargo Act. He should have changed it much sooner to the Non intercourse Act, which was much better, than to wait until three days before the end of his second term, before it was almost too late.
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ReplyDeleteIf I was Thomas Jefferson I would have done almost exactly as he did because I would want to follow the great George Washington and his idea for neutrality. The Embargo Act of 1807 defiantly would have helped not going to war if it had not been such a failure. Also I wouldn't have given up, like how Thomas Jefferson didn't "give up" he just made the Nonintercourse Acts of 1809, because its always good to try again, although this idea was also unpopular. One thing different I would have done was to try to clean my plate for the next president, for instance, James Madison had to deal with Jeffersons issue.
ReplyDeleteHonestly if I was Thomas Jefferson, I would have done everything pretty much the same. I could not see the result of every decision I made and how it would affect everything else. I would definitely want to stay neutral like George Washington, and try my best to avoid going into war. The Non-intercourse Act does seem like it would work a lot better than the Embargo Act, but he was not really willing to repeal the Embargo Act and have the Non-intercourse Act. It would have been better to just not trade with France and Britain. I think that is the only thing I would have done differently, to change the acts about trading sooner. Overall I would have done exactly what Jefferson did in trying to stay away from war and to remain neutral. (136)
ReplyDeleteJefferson was president at a bad time in America. I had a hard time putting myself in his shoes considering what he went through. Many of the things that he did, I agreed with and some not. The Embargo Act looked like a really good idea to me when I first read about it, but after seeing the result I realized it probably wasn’t that good of an idea. But honestly, I probably couldn’t have thought of anything better than the Embargo Act. Maintaining neutrality would also be a major difficulty to me. I would have most likely lost patience and declared war on England considering the amount of impressment that took place. The repeal of the Embargo Act was extremely smart considering it had no effect on Britain but was a huge financial effect on the United States. Although signing something 3 days before leaving office didn’t seem like the best plan to me. (155)
ReplyDeleteI do not think I would have done anything different if I was President Jefferson. He did the best he could to not go to war with Britain or France. Jefferson got as far away from the situation as he could. He got the ships of the water to make sure our men didn’t get pulled into the war. Jefferson did not sign the treaty because he knew it did not stop the impressments. Even though the Embargo Act failed it prevented us from going to war sooner. If we had gone to war we would have been in even more debt and that would have been really bad. (109)
ReplyDeleteIf I were Thomas Jefferson I would have done about the same as him. He did well for most of his presidency except for the Louisiana Purchase, Embargo Act, and Non-Intercourse Act. The Louisiana Purchase was a great oprotunity for America but I would have gone against it because of my beliefs about the government. The Embargo Act was a total failure and I should have had enough insight to see that Britain and France would get their American necessities somewhere else. It would also ruin our economy as well as not solve our problems. I believe the only reason the Non-Intercource Acts didn't work was because of the failure of the Embargo Act. People probably turned it down just because it was similar to the Embargo Act and made people think that it would only make America worse.(139)
ReplyDeleteI think If I was Jefferson I would have done everything pretty much the same. If you think about it, everyone practically worshiped George Washington. If it were me, I would have felt like I had to fill in his shoes. I think that Thomas was just trying to impress people as Washington did. I understand why he would make those decisions, because I don't like to fight with people. I would have wanted to stayed neutral and not fight. I think that the NonIntercourse Act would have worked better, but I think Jefferson was being stubborn. :)(107)
ReplyDeleteOne of George Washington's precedents he left was to try to stay neutral at all costs, but it's not always that easy. War always leads to more debt and bad relations with foreign countries. I probably would have done the same as Thomas Jefferson. The impressment issue was not improving, but I think that the Non-Intercourse Act would have been better than the Embargo Act to try solve it. We were relying totally on trade and since the Embargo Act stopped that, well that didn't really help. It completely cut us off. But what I don't understand is why Jefferson waited three days until he resigned to sign the Non-Intercourse Act. But every president makes their mistakes. (117)
ReplyDeleteLooking at this from a perspective of Thomas Jefferson's would be diffrent then a person like me who already knew the outcome of this situation. If I were him I wouldn't know what to do.Like it said we couldn't afford to go to war with Britan and France, but we also couldn't keep allowing them harass us. I think he did a good job at trying to avoid war, and the only thing I would have probably done diffrently would be not passing the Embargo Act.It didn't bring any money in, and it didn't have much effect on France and Britian. I think he would have been better off just having the Non-Intercourse Act. This act allowed them to trade with other countries except France and Britan which allowed more money come in then when they had just the Embargo Act.(144)
ReplyDeleteIf I was Thomas Jefferson I would have done the exact same thing. Even though one of George Washington's main precedents was neutrality it would not have been easy to always stay that way. We were being bullied all over the seas. Between Tripoli and the European impressment it was not the only option but the best one in my opinion. Thomas Jefferson obviously wasn't a perfect president but every president tries to do his best for the good of America. The Non-Intercourse Act had better ideas than the Embargo Act and probably would have worked better. The Embargo Act screwed us up pretty bad but, it seemed like the best route at the time. (116)
ReplyDeleteWe cannot know what Thomas Jefferson was thinking about during at the time but we do know what he did. Thomas Jefferson was a very good man. He was just like George Washington when they were both neutral to war. That is why I personally like them. If I were Jefferson I would stay neutral to war. I would have chosen the Embargo Act of 1807 just like Thomas Jefferson. He really, to me, made the right choices. He is a huge role model to present presidents and future presidents. He was faced with a question of if he wanted neutrality in the war and he chose yes.(108)
ReplyDeleteIf I was put in Jefferson shoes there is a lot things different I would have done. I would have tried to stay to neutrality as along as possible. It was one of George Washington’s successful precents. This policy kept our country alive for a long time. But when it became clear peace would not be possible would have gone strait to preparing for war. It was clear the British were not up to negotiations. Instead of wasting time on the embargo act and non-intercourse act I would have tried to enlarge our military and navy so we would be prepared for war.(103)
ReplyDeleteLooking back on it and knowing what I have learned from class, it’s safe to say that Jefferson messed up big time. However, under further consideration I think that if I was in Jefferson’s shoes I would have done the same. He was a smart man and seeing how well Washington did in office he probably wanted to follow after him and remain neutral (or at least I would have). The British were the toughest country in the world both in their navy and their army. Thomas Jefferson couldn’t have possibly known or predicted that we would have won another war with them especially since we could not rely on France this time as Mr. Haston pointed out. I think the only logical thing he would have thought to do was to somehow hurt France and Britain without actually going to war, and to do this he thought banning trade would work. However, he didn’t count on the fact that trading was basically our whole economy and without trade we were without money. He messed up, but I think that the good parts of his presidency by far outweigh the bad. All of this being said, I think without knowing what only history could have told I would have made the same mistakes as Thomas Jefferson.
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I have 3 words to describe why Thomas Jefferson made these decisions, "crack under pressure". What I mean by that is he wanted to do something to help his country before he got chewed out by critics. That’s what I think about those decisions. I have no idea what I have done. I have never run a country or have had as much power as he did. I would have already had a military ready to go to battle when the disputes started. I don't think I would have been able to keep the neutrality if I was president. He did the best he could but no one is perfect and it is defiantly shown in these acts he made. (120)
ReplyDeleteIf I was Thomas Jefferson, I would probably do the same things he did. I agreed with some of the things he did and others not. Thomas Jefferson was a president in a really bad time in America. I would want to stay neutral like George Washington, and try not to get war with other countries. The issue with impressment was not improving, but I think that the Non-Intercourse could have been better than the Embargo Act. The Embargo Act really had no point and really did not help us, because we were relying on trade, but the Embargo Act had stopped that. We would have been better with the Non-Intercourse Act. This act prohibited trade only with Britain and France and their colonies. I still do not get why Jefferson waited three days until he resigned to sign the Non-Intercourse Act. I would not have done that. (150)
ReplyDeleteI think it is a bit obvious that Thomas Jefferson didn’t make the BEST decisions in the world. But also, you do have to give him a little bit of credit. In my opinion, sure some of the choices he made would not have been what most of us would choose now, but we have an advantage that he did not, and we have to remember that. We look back at his history, and viewing these acts, we think “Wow, that was kind of dumb of him,” but back then, what he did was all he knew to do. All I have to say is, at least he was trying to do something to help out. Even though it kinda did the opposite of that, he tried. I mean, compared to the president right before him, the difference is amazing. John Adams was shy and timid and made poor choices, as well. But I just get that he didn’t really want to help out quite as much as Jefferson wanted to. Also remember, at this time he was only the 3rd president. The nation was still young and we didn’t have everything sorted out yet, so decision-making was tough. (200)
ReplyDeleteIf I were in Jeffersons shoes, it would have been difficult. It already was difficult or Jefferson. Being President was already a major stress with all the big responsibilities there are. And the impressment and "bullying" from Spain and Britian didn't help at all. It all added to the stress. Jefferson was an impatient man with a temper, so when this came up he probably made this decision over pressure from Livingston and the people. The Embargo Act probably sounded like a good idea at the time and was probably one of the only choices he had that short notice. I, sadly, probably would have done the same thing to be honest. If you just look at the problem from far away you could say, you'd think that if you stop all trade then it would take care of the issues with Britian and whatever other countries that could come up. Of course if you took time (which he didn't think he had) to look at the issue closely it's clear that this obviously wasn't the best decision. (178)
ReplyDeleteI think that Jefferson did a great job as president and made some wise choices as a diplomat. But he was horrible with military matters. He did not see the whole picture as it continued to escalate. He was a man of thought, not of war. If I were Jefferson at this time,I would have made a full embargo and let the next president deal with war. Jefferson acted like a child here and should have shown at least a little aggressiveness. . I do think that he was planning to do something like this because he was stalling to let the Navy prepare. I think that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson's presidency's were mixed. Adams would have dealt with this because he was paranoid all the time and would have followed all of this. Thomas Jefferson was more laid back and tried to avoid war. But because he didn't trust our military I believe he made the right choice. So good job Mr. Jefferson. (165)
ReplyDeleteThomas Jefferson became the president of America right after the fruit loop John Adams. I would say Jefferson did a pretty good job running our country after the “man that couldn’t take criticism” left office. He just happened to be in office when France and Britain decided to go to war with each other. If I were him, I would have tried to stay neutral just like he did. War just causes tons of debt. Because our nation would have been a good ally, France and Britain wanted our help and violated our neutrality rights. Jefferson sought out a plan to stop the impressment of our ships and he came up with the Embargo Act of 1807. I as well would have done this. Even though it was a bit too extreme, no one could have taken a peek into the future and seen the disaster it would cause. I feel as though I would be on the same page as Jefferson and therefore I would have made the same choices as he. Everybody makes mistakes (Hannah Montana moment) but Jefferson’s were just in the spotlight because he was president. {190}
ReplyDelete~Hey_its_Mo!~
I think that Jefferson was right in staying neutral, like John Adams and George Washington. I would have done the exact same thing as Jefferson. Of course impressment is bad and all, but at that period of time we basically had no army like the beginning of the war of 1812. The only difference that I think I would make differently is the Embargo Act. I would just shut off trade with Britain and France to keep our sailors from being impressed. The Embargo Act that Jefferson came up with was not really helping the United States in a way. I would want to make the Non-intercourse Act first before the Embargo because I think that it is the smarter way of handling the situation. (125)
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