Thomas Jefferson free essay sample

Different beliefs may lead to discussions that become argumentative because of the multiple point of views brought forth. The philosophy of the government is ultimately decided based on one’s opinion. An opinion is formed with an ideal that supports the specific beliefs being analyzed. In the year 1801, Thomas Jefferson was elected as the third president of the United States and changed his ideals shortly after becoming president. In his time of control, Thomas Jefferson had his own thoughts on the philosophy of the government. Thomas Jefferson’s ideals revolved the national bank, tariffs, and the Assumption Plan funding â€Å"at par†, that changed after he had entered the White House. First, Thomas Jefferson’s ideals on the national bank were different before he had been elected president. A section of the Constitution states that â€Å"Congress may pass any laws ‘necessary and proper’† (195) and â€Å"would be fully justified in establishing the Bank of the United States† (195). We will write a custom essay sample on Thomas Jefferson or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Thomas Jefferson thought that the national bank was unconstitutional because the Congress did not obtain specific power that allowed them to create a bank. With Thomas Jefferson’s beliefs against this statement, he provides intelligent information which was determined before he was elected. Thomas Jefferson believed that the national bank did not have the authority for this specific financial situation, therefore he â€Å"argued vehemently against the bank† (195). He was against the idea that Congress had the ability to charter banks because the states should have the power to do so. After his successful election, his â€Å"harsh realities forced Jefferson’s principles to bend† (219). Though, Thomas Jefferson disagreed with the national bank he did not take any action to change it. With the overwhelming power Jefferson had after his election, other concerns regarding more important situations had been brought to his attention. To conclude, Thomas Jefferson was against the national bank but after moving into the White House, he did nothing to change it. Additionally, Thomas Jefferson did not agree with the first tariff law passed by Congress in 1789. The first tariff law was declared because by â€Å"imposing a low tariff of about 8 percent in the value of dutiable imports† (194) would protect industries. Congress cared mostly about their income and this tariff law increased the price on items. Thomas Jefferson did not agree with the Congress’ action. His point of view was that â€Å"all powers not specifically granted to the central government were reserved to the states† (195). By this, Jefferson does not believe Congress should perform this but the states should have the authority to. The first tariff law’s purpose was to tax imported goods. Due to his opposing beliefs, Thomas Jefferson would not change his mind. Unexpectedly, Thomas Jefferson did not do anything about it. For having the authority and power as a president, he should have done something about the situation if he were so against it before he had been elected. Unfortunately, â€Å"they launched no attack†¦ nor did they repeal the mildly protective Federalist tariff† (218). Even though Jefferson believed that products were at much higher cost than they were needed to be, he took no further action to abolish this law at any given opportunity. Lastly, Thomas Jefferson’s ideals included the Assumption Plan funding â€Å"at par†. The Assumption Plan was when the government would assume the states’ debts. During this Assumption Plan â€Å"the states would simply give their debts over to the federal government. The reason for assuming state debts was to tie states together in a common endeavor – to jointly pay off the debt† (wikinotes). Thomas Jefferson believed this was not fair because he did not respect the government for only paying half of their debts. Jefferson agreed that â€Å"a national debt was a bane rather than a blessing† (218). Thomas Jefferson disagreed with the idea that â€Å"paying debts in full or at 100% face value in what was called Funding at Par†¦ was crucial, basically because it would get respect† (wikinotes). The ideals Jefferson had were realistically intelligent and he believed in his point of view. On the contrary, Thomas Jefferson â€Å"did not tamper with the Federalist programs for funding the national debt at par† (218). He was entirely against the Assumption Plan but took no action into changing this act. Furthermore, it is not understandable why Thomas Jefferson did not change what he believed was correct, after becoming president. In conclusion, as the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson failed to change numerous acts that his ideals supported. His beliefs were clearly stronger before he had become president. The national bank, tariffs, and the Assumption Plan funding â€Å"at par† changed after he had been elected. Thomas Jefferson free essay sample In the years prior to Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, he was a very vocal critic of the centralized federal government and was an avid follower of the constitution. In the later years of Jefferson’s presidency, him and the federalists did not see eye to eye. The Federalist Circular in Massachusetts says in 1808 (Document E), â€Å"Nerve your arm with vengeance against the Despot [Jefferson] who would wrest the inestimable germ of your Independence from you ­Ã¢â‚¬â€œand you shall be Conquerors!!! † Clearly, the federalists were against Jefferson and he was still a critic of the federalist policies. He was eager to implement many of his Republican views into the establishment of the United States. Jefferson’s presidency turned to be fairly self-contradictory to his original views. The three largest contradictions that stood out amongst his actions were his war with the Barbary pirates, using restrictive economic policies to achieve his goals, and acquiring Louisiana. We will write a custom essay sample on Thomas Jefferson or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Although these contradictions were for the good of the country, he still went against what got him elected. Thomas Jefferson went against his views of having an unnecessarily? Large military that would intimidate other countries. When President John Adams proposed to expand America’s armed forces and create a navy, Jefferson campaigned against it for reasons of expense and to avoid the precedent of a standing army. Yet in one of his first decisions as President, Jefferson dispatched American armed forces around the globe to confront the Barbary States of North Africa (Document D). These pirates had long made a national industry of blackmailing and plundering merchant ships that ventured into the Mediterranean. Jefferson’s decision to destroy these people was a blatant disregard for his previous view on this issue. Also, Jefferson did not inform Congress until the warships had sailed far enough to be effectively beyond recall. This additionally goes against his supposed love for the constitution because of this illegal action. In American politics, it is illegal for the executive branch to declare war on a foreign body because it takes an act of congress to do so. Obviously, Jefferson had thorough knowledge of this and yet still went forward and declared war anyways. Also, because the military was weak, Jefferson instead of building up the military still went against his previous views by using economic might (Document A). With the nation’s militarily weakened, Jefferson decided to force respect for the nation’s rights by an economic boycott in 1807. Even though this boycott turned out to be inefficient and harmful, Jefferson refused to lift the embargo for two years. Finally, Jefferson caved in to congressional pressure, and stopped the demolishing economic policy. Another example of Jefferson changing his point of view on economic policy is his view on free trade, which fit his libertarian use of thought. Jefferson used this vocal point in his election against John Adams, yet once in power he failed to implement a free trading system with overseas nations. Jefferson realized that it was impossible to imply such a thing if the other nations wouldn’t go along with it. Most importantly, Thomas Jefferson deeply contradicted his views on land expansion and violated his policy on following the constitution completely. An important example of this was the Louisiana Purchase, in which Napoleon offered Jefferson the opportunity to purchase all of France’s American territory for only $15 million, doubling the physical size of the nation. The French needed the money to fight a war with the British, and Jefferson wanted the mouth of the Mississippi River for America. So, Jefferson gave the Constitution a close reading? to seek authorization. Failing to find any, he decided to unconstitutionally take the offer anyway (Document C). This clearly violated his previous views on such an issue. However, it is obvious that Jefferson made the right decision in the matter, and the American people should be very grateful for Jefferson’s stretching of the constitution. Finally, although Jefferson had many other contradictions, these three were highly turning, nearly breaking the constitution which he had earlier claimed he followed carefully. The three large controversies in the Jefferson Administration was the war with the Barbary pirates, the 1807 economic embargo, and the Louisiana Purchase. Although, consistent support for states rights came from Jefferson throughout his presidency. The Kentucky Resolutions (Document B) says â€Å"each state has the residuary mass of right to their own self-government. † Jefferson never took this right away and did not force large government on the states. So, even though he contradicted himself in many ways, I feel as if Jefferson just realized a different way to go about certain things, and that he always had the nation’s best interests in his mind.

A Few Words about our Oldest Science

A Few Words about our Oldest Science Astronomy is one of those subjects that just reaches out and grabs you the first time you step outside under a sky full of stars. Sure, its a science, but astronomy is also a cultural practice. People have watched the skies since the first person looked up and wondered about what was up there. Once they got the hang of observing and noticing what was happening in the sky, it wasnt long before people figured out a way to use the sky as a calendar for planting, growing, harvesting, and hunting. It aided in survival.   Noticing Sky Cycles It didnt take long for observers to notice that the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Or, that the Moon moves through a monthly cycle of phases. Or, that certain spots of light in the sky move against the backdrop of stars (which appear to twinkle due to the action of Earths atmosphere).. Those wanderers, which look more disk-like, became known as planets, after the Greek word planetes. From Earth, with the naked eye, you can seeMercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The others require a telescope, and are quite faint. The point is, these are things you can see for yourself.   Oh, and you can also see the Moon, which is one of the easiest objects to observe. Study its mottled surface and it will show you evidence of ancient (and recent) bombardments. Did you know that the Moon was created when Earth and another object collided early in solar system history? And, if we didnt have a moon, there might not be life on Earth?   Thats a fascinating aspect of astronomy that most of us dont think about! Star Patterns Help you Navigate the Sky If you watch the sky a few nights in a row, youll notice star patterns. Stars are more or less randomly arranged in three-dimensional  space, but from our point of view on Earth, they appear in patterns called constellations. The Northern Cross, also known as Cygnus the Swan, is one such pattern. So is Ursa Major, which contains the Big Dipper, and the constellation Crux in the Southern Hemisphere skies. While those are merely a trick of perspective, those patterns help us make our way around the sky. They add order to an otherwise chaotic-seeming universe. You Can Do Astronomy You dont need much to do astronomy: just your eyes and a good dark sky sight. Oh, you can add in binoculars, or a telescope to help magnify your view, but they arent necessary when youre getting started. For thousands of years, people did astronomy without any fancy equipment at all.   The science of astronomy began as   people went out and observed each night and made notes of what they saw. In time, they DID build telescopes, and eventually attached cameras to them, to record what they saw. Today, astronomers use the light (emissions) from objects in space to understand a great deal about those objects (including their temperatures and motions in space). To do this, they  use ground-based AND space-based observatories to study the far distant reaches of the universe. Astronomy concerns itself with studying and explaining everything from nearby planets to the earliest galaxies that formed not long after the universe was born, some 13.8 billion years ago.   Making Astronomy a Career To do Big Astronomy, people need a solid background in math and physics, but they still need a basic familiarity with the sky. They need to know what stars and planets are, and what galaxies and nebulae look like. So, in the end, it all still comes down to that basic activity of going out and looking up. And, if you get hooked, you can take it at your own speed, learning the constellations, the names and motions of the planets, and eventually peering out to deep space with your own telescope and binoculars.   Deep down, were all astronomers and were descended from astronomers. So, when you go out tonight and look up, think about this: youre carrying on a tradition as old as humanity. Where you go from there - well, the skys the limit!

Paper on Abuse Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paper on Abuse Reporting - Essay Example This paper will supply an overview of the child reporting laws of the state of California. This paper will further discuss these laws in relation to my thoughts on confidentiality and the duty to protect others from harm. It will refer to ethical standards of human service s professionals and other codes of ethics. The Office of Child Abuse and Prevention under the California Department of Social Services, is responsible for executing the child abuse and neglect reporting law. According to a Summit (1983), California enacted its first child abuse reporting law in 1963. Earlier laws mandated that physical abuse should only be reported by physicians. The definition of child abuse has however been expanded by the numerous amendments that have been taking place over the years. Laws have also clarified the procedures for reporting various categories of child abuse (Summit, 1983). In California, there are certain professionals who are required to report known cases or suspected cases of child abuse. However, other citizens who are not required by law to do so may also be allowed to do so. Mandated reports and practitioners must therefore be kept updated on amendments made to these laws from time to time so that they can be well informed on what is required of them under all circumstances (Gil, 2001). The California laws on abuse reporting provide for why reporting is necessary, what should be reported, who should report, when reporting should be done and to whom it should be done. The laws also give ways of identifying incidences that need to be reporting and signs to look out for to know when to report. There are guidelines to determine suspicion of the various forms of abuse such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional abuse among others (Summit, 1983). In relation to my thoughts on confidentiality and protecting the rights of others, I am of the opinion that it