It was a day in 1801, the day when Thomas Jefferson was elected the third president of the United States. It was marked as the first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. Everyone expected great things out of Jefferson. In his presidency of two terms, Jefferson accomplished many things that turned out great for the nation. He went on to become one of the most impactful people to the United States. His actions, however, did not completely consist of good choices. This Founding Father made several mistakes and definitely had many imperfections. Jefferson was responsible for many highly regarded things that happened to the United States. First, he wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776, which is probably …show more content…
The Declaration lay down a foundation of ideals and goals for our nation. This helped us win our freedom from King George III, and provided a good example for other countries who were also struggling with independence. This was an important change to the United States because it allowed colonists to feel that they were entitled to something. Even now, it has had a lasting effect on us. Unlike before, women are now treated the same as men and all races are considered equal. Next, in 1777, Jefferson wrote a document, The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. In it, he had written that he supported practice of any religion, claiming that freedom of religion is a ‘natural right’. This later became a model for the first Amendment of the Constitution. Two years later, A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge was written by Jefferson. It consisted of a plan in which he wanted to establish public schools where children could be taught for three years. During those years, they would …show more content…
Before the Embargo Act, when France was rivaling with Britain, Jefferson declared the United States a neutral nation. This allowed him to stay true to his isolationism policy. He attempted to resume regular trade with both countries. Unfortunately, Britain and France attacked American vessels to prevent them from making any money. In 1807, Jefferson declared an embargo, which banned all American ships from leaving the harbors to go trade overseas. He intended to hurt the two other nations, but France and Britain both learned that they didn’t require the United States to trade. This resulted in farmers being unable to sell their surplus cornmeal and flour. Agricultural prices and earnings dropped. Over 55,000 American sailors lost their jobs overnight. With lack of money and supplies, people began stealing and smuggling from one another to get their needs. Industries that were correlated with shipping were ultimately devastated. People resorted to manufacture things manually, and prices rose to unreasonable highs just to ship something domestically. Ships sat in harbors, rotting away because they had no use anymore. Britain, on the other hand, the loss of this trading partner almost had no significant effect on them. It seemed like Jefferson had destroyed his country. The Embargo Act was repealed in 1809, relieving his people from the time of difficulty he had reigned upon