American history overview and key concepts

American History

Jefferson's First Address

In his first inaugural address as the President, Thomas Jefferson displays a degree of compassion and tolerance towards those who disagree about his perception of the new form of government -- which was Republican, and not Federalist -- that would characterize his tenure in the executive office. He states within his address that those who disagree with his opinion should be allowed to disagree, if only so that by doing so people will see the error of their ways. This gesture signifies a degree of confidence on the part of the former President, who truly believes that his way of governing the country is superior to those of his doubters and naysayers, and that reason and logic will prove the righteousness of his methodology for governance.

Jefferson was well reputed as an advocate of the rights of the individual. His envisioning of the United States as a nation of independent farmers is indicative to the degree of liberty and egalitarianism that he equated with the common individual in the U.S. These concepts are denoted within his first Inaugural address. In this speech, Jefferson definitely expresses a regard for the potency of the Union and for the federal government in general. But Jefferson was not a Federalist, he was rather a Republican, and this speech is peppered with quotations in which the former President speaks about the value in the personal freedom of people. Of his many references, some of the most eminent include the passage in which he applauds the U.S. For ridding itself of religious intolerance, and then goes on to equate political intolerance as equally "despotic as the former. Both of these examples are indicative of the fact that Thomas Jefferson truly valued the individual, and only esteemed the collective government in so much as it represented a majority of individuals.

3. Jefferson was one of the proponents of the notion that the most effective government is that which governs least. As such, the former president was definitely in favor of circumscribing the role of the federal government, particularly in the daily affairs of the people who elect its specific individuals to power. In this speech, Jefferson made certain to mention the fact that the government he was presiding over would be a "frugal" one, that would be limited in its effect on the type of work and industry that people performed, as well as on the earnings that people garnered for the application of their industry. He also advocated, within this document, a limited central government that would leave it to the discretion of the individual people to make changes and improvements in their lives -- both in an individual and in a collective sense. These are some common tenets that Jefferson was ultimately known for.