U.S. Presidents 1789 to 1840

The presidents that served between 1789 and 1840 helped shape the nation during its formative years. During this critical period in American history, statesmen laid the foundations for political culture, philosophy, and institutions. Although all the presidents during this fifty-year period had some influence on the early republic, several left a more outstanding mark and legacy. As a Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson undoubtedly deserves recognition as one of the most important presidents in the entire history of the country.

As a slave owner who believed in a small central government, Jefferson also set a precedent for what would become a series of contentious compromises between Americans who supported racism and the slave trade and those who recognized the ways slavery contradicted the underlying principles of the democracy. Likewise, James Monroe carried on the American legacy of compromise, and is remembered most by the Monroe Doctrine and the Missouri Compromise.

The years between 1789 and 1840 established the principles and practices of Manifest Destiny, and Westward expansion, creating what would become a superpower just a hundred years later. This half-century also revealed the schisms in American society, particularly regarding federalists versus anti-federalists, and racists versus abolitionists. Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe both established domestic and foreign policies that impacted not just the United States, but the entire world. In fact, Jefferson and Monroe worked together throughout their political careers.

Both men were at some point the governor of the state of Virginia, and both helped to solidify the Louisiana Purchase. During Jefferson’s first term as President, he sent James Monroe to France to negotiate a purchase of the port of New Orleans. However, James Monroe took the deal a step further by negotiating the entire Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which “effectively doubled the size of the United States,” (“James Monroe” 1).

Both Jefferson and Monroe deserve credit for the Louisiana Purchase, a formidable moment in American history because of the way it expanded not just territorial acquisitions but also American political and economic power throughout the New World. The Louisiana Purchase helped instigate the era of Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion. Moreover, the Louisiana Purchase exemplified the debate over whether to allow slavery in newly acquired territories.

After securing the territory of Louisiana, Monroe also entered into a new treaty with Britain that set aside the conflicts of the War of Independence while ensuring ongoing strategic alliances between Old World and New. These alliances would allow the United States to have ongoing and lucrative trade relationships with Europe, but Jefferson remained suspicious of Britain and did not approve the treaty Monroe negotiated without presidential approval (“James Monroe” 1).

Thomas Jefferson is heralded as a Founding Father because he wrote the Declaration of Independence, which permanently extricated the new nation from Crown rule. Throughout his political career, Jefferson harbored strong feelings about autonomy, sovereignty, and small government, which is why he mistrusted the Crown even after independence was won. Before the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was heavily involved in colony politics as the governor of Virginia and had long been a stalwart advocate of self-rule in the colonies (“Thomas Jefferson” 1).

Jefferson’s contributions to American political culture included his advocacy for states’ rights and his tacit approval of slavery. Although he was not in the center of the Federalist versus Anti-Federalist rivalry, Jefferson did side with Aaron Burr over federalist opponents like Alexander Hamilton. The anti-federalists prevented the United States from taking a strong nationwide stance to resolving its slavery crisis, eventually leading to Civil War.

Jefferson’s anti-federalist stance also led to unique transformations in the federal voting process, changes that would thereafter remain entrenched in the Constitution. In the election of 1796, Jefferson became Vice President of the United States not because he was John Adams’s running mate, but because he received the second highest number of votes (“Thomas Jefferson” 1). In face, Jefferson and Adams were political opponents, the latter siding more with the federalists and Jefferson with the anti-federalists.

The proportional method of selecting presidents would change after the election of 1800, when Jefferson again ran against John Adams. This time, Jefferson and fellow anti-federalist Aaron Burr tied and Congress had to step in to resolve the situation. Having Congress resolve a tie breaker seemed antithetical to the notion of a popular vote, which is why Congress helped ratify the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution. The Twelfth Amendment secured separate voting for the President and Vice President (“Thomas Jefferson” 1).

Jefferson might not have been responsible for drafting or even initiating the 12th Amendment, but it was because of his role in federal politics that the amendment was ratified. The 1800 election essentially revealed flaws in the American federal electoral process, and those flaws were readily resolved. In addition to the mark both Jefferson and Monroe made on domestic politics and policies, both presidents played an important role in determining American foreign policy.

Jefferson became the nation’s first Secretary of State and had a major role to play in the country’s first official foreign policies. Monroe also served as Secretary of State, under President James Madison during the critical period of the War of 1812. During the Revolutionary War, Jefferson formed a strategic diplomatic alliance with France that would ultimately enable the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson’s diplomatic tactics also helped to create long-lasting political relationships between the United States and both France and Britain.

Unfortunately, those political ties unraveled during the Napoleonic Wars, which pitted France against Britain. Both France and Britain had been goading the United States to take sides by slyly harassing American merchant ships (“Thomas Jefferson” 1). Instead of feeling pressured to take sides and enter the war, thereby placing at risk either the country’s alliance with Britain or with France, Jefferson opted to remain neutral. Jefferson’s methods of remaining neutral led to one of the low moments of his political career: the Embargo Act of 1807.

Contrary to American economic policy, the Embargo Act cut off the United States from its main markets in Western Europe. Two years later, the Embargo Act was repealed and although the economy recovered,.