Jefferson Evaluation : Pragmatic
By: Becca Gredone and Hannah Courtney
Excise Tax Removed
Jefferson is pragmatic because he removed the excise tax on whiskey since he believed it was better for the people to be ridden of this. This is pragmatic because he is doing what is best for the people even though it's against his original opinion.
National Bank
Jefferson kept a later created a large national bank because he knew it was working for the country. Even though Jefferson did not approve of the national bank he kept it because it was best for the people.
Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson's first decision was to buy as much land as he could without spending over 10 million dollars, but Monroe went over this budget and bought a huge amount of land. Jefferson was pragmatic in this situation because even though that was not his opinion and decision, he was okay with it and kept the deal because he realized that it would probably be best for the people.
Marbury V.S. Madison Case
During the Marbury V.S. Madison case, Jefferson stood strongly for the states rights and he was not following the constitution strictly like he encouraged. During the case Jefferson looked out for what was better for the people and the states, not necessarily worrying about whether or not what happened in the case was constitutional.
Embargo Act
The Embargo Act is an important factor of Jefferson being pragmatic. Jefferson passed the Embargo act which didn't let the people export their goods out of the nation. When Jefferson passed this act he was looking out for the people making sure that they don't get hurt during the process. Jefferson was looking out for the better of the people when the act was passed, not as much for the economy.