Choose one of these events from Thomas Jefferson's presidency and discuss.....?

Question

one positive and one negative effect it had on the United States; his efforts to reduce the size of the federal government; the Embargo Act.

Answer 1

The above poster, unfortunately, is not entirely correct about the Embargo Act. The Embargo Act was put in place due to threats to the US neutrality and trade. The British were engaging in impressment and both the French and British were capturing ships headed to the ports of the other - the French took about 500 ships and British took about 1000. The issue was that of respect for US neutrality, and the Embargo Act was Jefferson's solution, which tried to punish BOTH England and France.

Jefferson, by putting the Embargo Act into effect, was trying to engage in peaceful coercion and protect American interests and avoid war (Positive effect), by means of basically stopping US ships from going to Europe until both England and France stopped capturing US ships.. Unfortunately, it backfired. New England merchants were totally ruined by it, and as it turned out, the Europeans weren't really so dependent on US trade. American exports went from $108 million in 1806 to just $22 million in 1808. The government passed a Force Act to stop smuggling via Canada, and the Federalist Party was totally outraged by it. The Embargo was replaced in 1809 by new president James Madison, who put in place the (snicker snicker) Non-Intercourse Act, which allowed trade with any nation that wasn't England or France, and then later with Macon's Bill #2, which stated we would trade exclusively with which ever of the two decided they would respect our rights first, which happened to be France, which led to the War of 1812.

If you want the positive effect of reducing the federal government's size, it saved a lot of money and enabled Jefferson to get the US pretty much out of debt. The downside is that in doing so, the US cut a lot of military spending and leadership positions (though the US did open up West Point Training Academy under Jefferson), meaing that the US was pretty much unprepared for the War of 1812.

Answer 2

POSTIVE: JEFFERSON TRIED TO PUNISH THE ENGLISH
NEGATIVE: IT BACK FIRED AND NO ONE LIKED IT

Britain and France were at war; the U.S. was neutral and trading with both sides. Both sides tried to hinder American trade with the other. Jefferson's goal was to use economic warfare to secure American rights, instead of military warfare. Initially, these acts sought to punish the United Kingdom for its violation of American rights on the high seas; among these was the impressment of those sailors off American ships, sailors who claimed to be American citizens but not in the opinion or to the satisfaction of the Royal Navy, ever on the outlook for deserters. The later Embargo Acts, particularly those of 1807-1808 period, were passed in an attempt to stop Americans, and American communities, that sought to, or were merely suspected of possibility wanting to, defy the embargo

Answer 3

Why don't you look this up for yourself and then answer the question instead of asking us to do it for you. THen, post your answer and we'll check it for accuracy!

There is excellent information here ...
http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/madison_archives/life/secretary/embargo2.htm

(Shame on the answerer who professes to be a teacher, yet enables cheating.)

Answer 4

You need to do your own homework.