Thomas Jefferson's Western Expansion

Thomas Jefferson was a smart man. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence and also had input into the writing of the Constitution. He once said, "The Constitution belongs to the living and not to the dead." Jefferson said this because the world is ever changing. There are always improvements made everything and more people are born thus more opinions are formed.

() The declaration of Independence written in 1776 was known to be one Jefferson best work. Why because predominately paved the path for the American people the power to govern for themselves. Jefferson vehemently believed in strong natural proponent of rights of all people. Which he exclaimed and I quote: “ We hold these truth to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, That among these are Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (Textbook).

Thomas Jefferson viewed western expansion as an opportunity to open trade with Indians of the west and find a water route to the Pacific ocean. Jefferson was fascinated with the discovery of the west and wanted to map out the new acquired territory before any European nation could claim it as their own. Not only was Jefferson interested in the territory, he wanted to build relations with the Indian tribes of the west and help them develop their agricultural methods and way of life. He sought to expand America to the west as a way to benefit both the Americans and the Native Americans. Jefferson wanted to learn from the Natives of the west, as well as influencing their way of living in efforts to build a working relationship between the

Jefferson was a man of personal growth and believed in social change. His previous family history set the way for him to become a delegate, which ultimately led to him going as far as paving America’s path into the Revolution. He helped set the country’s new standards by bringing in ideas previously thought to be radical. His political disposition stemmed from his interaction in the American Revolution, which evolved his previous ideals from basic concept into complex thoughts he believed he should act on. Jefferson’s unwavering commitment to equality was also apparent during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Title: Thomas Jefferson Ms. Santi Jaset L. Rivera Civics 7th Grade Kissimmee Middle School Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia and died on July 4, 1826, at his home in Monticello, Virginia. Due to its enormous culture and scholarship, Thomas Jefferson was a clear example of enlightened, freethinking and supporter of the natural rights of man and man one of the politicians, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, more decisive for the future of their country. As the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, put it all enlightened ideas of European origin, which are then applied in two presidential terms (Freidel & Sidey, 2006).

How he was wanting to go out west to make a better living and more room. And to also add on to America and to make it larger so that their could be more people move out west. And how they were also wanted to make a better income for America. Thomas Jefferson had bought land to go west they were building and making homes, stores,and train station. To have a way to make America great and also help people get around to places.

Besides taking government in a new direction, the Jefferson administration left a legacy with the purchase of new lands. He insisted that farm

Since its beginnings America has been a land of great progress. After Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803, we have expanded our land and ideals. We undertook a noble mission to stretch our nation from coast to coast, labeling it Manifest Destiny. Men, women, and children from East coast took hold of their destiny and traveled westward on famous trails such as the Oregon trail. The journey west was not without its hardships.

Thomas Jefferson was the man who wrote The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence is a document declaring freedom and liberty for all United States citizens. As well as all the great things Thomas Jefferson accomplished, he was a slave owner who had negative thoughts about people of color. This man wrote this document so that we could all be free from British rule, yet Jefferson treated people of color poorly. There is no equality and justice for all.

However, Jefferson had huge accomplishments in his life. His bravery was marked by an optimism that other Founding Fathers lacked. What inspires people when they look back on Thomas Jefferson’s life is that the path he chose to follow was not necessarily the easiest one, but the one that he knew was paved with beliefs and morals he held close to his heart. He believed in liberty for all and freedom to love his God. He believed the citizens came first and the government is there to protect the people (Mummery).

I agree with all that you have stated above. I also found that republican agrarianism was Jefferson 's view of a nation of small family farms grouped into rural communities. Jefferson believed that a nation full of farmers, each only dependent on themselves for livelihood, would show the concern for the community good that was essential in a republic. This is exactly how it gave America uniqueness and a new destiny. I also read from the text that expansionism had a few downfalls to it.

Jefferson believed that “America’s happiness and morality depends upon its recognition of agrarianism as the foundation of economic prosperity”. His ideas led to the Louisiana Purchase in

I believe that there were several things that cause the Jeffersonian world view to disappear , thus prompting the shift toward an economy based on commerce, manufacturing, and large scale agricultural endeavors were almost inevitable due to a change in the national government, the purchase of more land and territories, and the need to make the new America grow and continue to prosper. Even in America as we know it now, change has to happen. Sometimes for the good and sometimes for bad. There will alway be one group of people who will either be left out of weeded out due to change. First of all, the need to make America grow and continue to prosper shifted the need to more than just farming.

Based on the text by Robert Morgan, I do not agree with Morgan’s central idea. Mogan is telling us westward expansion is a good thing. I do not agree that westward expansion is a good thing. Morgan believes westward expansion was made up by us, the people, and he thinks the government just followed along, but he is nowhere near right. The government brought about the westward expansion and Thomas Jefferson made it happen.

He condemned slavery as an abuse of the rights of man. He defended American Indian culture and stated that only their environment needed to be changed to make them equal to white men. On the other hand, Jefferson was influ-enced by the predominant views of many historians on race and he never ceased to believe that a color line was drawn by Nature between the races and that this line dic-tated their rights and liberties. For the black population – which was obviously on the wrong side of his imaginary line – this meant that they would have to be removed from American soil once freed and for the Native Americans this meant that only as long as they fulfilled all the preconditions of entry to the “Garden set aside by God”, would they have a right to