Thomas Jefferson's Freedom To Disagree With Government Ideas

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Jefferson’s Rule is that you do not have to agree with governmental ideas. It is perfectly acceptable to have conflicting viewpoints and you should have the freedom to voice your opinion and fight for what you believe. Thomas Jefferson was the voice for conflict in the United States. Jefferson desired federal state power, to keep the Articles of Confederation with a few amendments so that way, the government was not completely weakened and the citizens still had a few laws to live by. He believed in the people’s rights to voice one’s opinion, or rights to Liberty. As opposed to Alexander Hamilton who desired constitutional power. Conflict and debate over the constitution began when Jefferson so openly shared his thoughts on the constitution to his friend James Madison. “Prima facie I do not like it. It fails in an essential character, that the hole and patch should be commensurate. But this proposes to mend a small hole by covering the whole garment” (Pg. 5). The fact that Jefferson so openly shared his opinion against the constitution infuriated Hamilton. The root of tension between these two gentlemen was that Jefferson was not at the Constitutional Convention and still stepped in to voice his concerns against the constitution which Hamilton supported. This form of debate created the party system which at the time did not have an official title, you either agreed with Jefferson (Jeffersonian), or you agreed with Hamilton (Hamiltonians) which later on in the both sides are given their titles; Jeffersonian would become democratic, and Hamiltonian would become republican. Jefferson’s rule created conflict to stand up for what you believe caused our fathers to become, just as Sehat titled, “inflexible” because none of them could agree on what the constitution stands for. Ever since Jefferson so openly voiced his opposing views on the constitution it seemed that almost everyone throughout history was not shy about their conflicting opinions. There was always this ugly debate occurring. No matter how long, or how many times debated or talked about, there was always at least one person, like Jefferson, who had to go and fight against the outcome. Nobody could ever just get along and agree. Or at the very least agree to disagree. Jefferson’s Rule had a major influence on the incoming civil war by conflicting the South, or Confederate States of America, and the rest of the nation. The conflict of the civil war was good for our nation because it presented the strengths and weaknesses of our nation. The south wanted to extend slavery into the northern states, however, the north and west simply refused. They wanted to put an end to slavery. The conflict between two states created a civil war. One of the darkest times in American history, Americans killing other Americans. The civil war sickened president Abraham Lincoln. In the midst of Americas darkest time Lincoln desired two things: one, to gradually slow down slavery into extinction, and two, focused more on making America into one nation. “For score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. “(Pg, 101). Jefferson’s rule of not being afraid to voice your opinion, and fighting for what you believe in, helped plant the seed for conflict. Jefferson wanted federal government …show more content…
Franklin D. Roosevelt had the intensions of bringing back the founding fathers intentions of the constitution after the civil war had ended. Martin Luther King Jr. pushed and fought for equal rights for African Americans, Lyndon B Johnston wanted to continue on Roosevelt’s ideas of quoting the constitution, Clinton tried to change taxes. These examples may have done good things that have changed the American society, but they did not prove they do not prove that the liberals understand the constitution better than the Conservatives. The conservatives on the other hand, certainly understand the constitution better than the liberals not only because they are the ones who wrote the constitution in the first place, but because the country was founded on a republican foundation. For example, the Tea Party protected the constitution for the benefit of republicanism and this

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