Are there any books that explain how Thomas Jefferson affected democracy in the U.S?
93503
there is a book by Christopher Hitchens about Thomas Jefferson which was short and too the point.
793128
John Adams was actually not very advanced.  He had a sincere philosophy that said poor men should have no say in government.  He really didn't want the poor to have any rights at the state level either.\nThe electoral colleges were established specifically because he only wanted educated men voting for the president.\nHe also established the Alien Sedition Act because writers were seriously dissing his actions as president.  He didn't feel that anyone had a right to their personal opinions, expecially if they were published.\nThis is the reason he only served one term.  In essence, he sucked and had no interests at heart, but those of the wealthy.
742645
Thomas Jefferson wasn't very religious and was very in favor of the Separation of Church and State.  He felt that that is why there were people there they wanted to be free to worship as they pleased, and that for that to be possible the State shouldn't be in favor of one particular religion.
503075
I can't believe how ignorant my fellow Americans are about American history.  Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.  JAMES MADISON wrote the first draft of the US Constitution
630645
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams\nhttp://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760591.html\nhttp://www.forerunner.com/mandate/X0069_The_Education_of_Joh.html\n\nGood luck!
617518
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/americangovernment3.htm
1134533
Your quote is from Alexis de Tocqueville, who was a member of the French Aristocracy and favored monarchy over democracy. He came to America shortly after the French Revolution to study democracy up close and personal. He didn't like it much, but why would he? He had it pretty good under the French monarchical system. At least understand what it is you're ranting about.
429228
John Adams\n"By a legislative oddity, while Jefferson had outpolled Adams, he was technically tied with Burr, as the Democratic-Republican electors had failed to distinguish between the two candidates even though Jefferson was clearly earmarked as the leader. Burr, sensing an unforeseen opportunity to become chief executive, refused to relinquish his claim, and the election was thrown to the House of Representatives for a decision." However, that doesn't mean he almost BEAT him. Be more clear in the wording of your question.
85339
Jefferson changed the face of the presidency.  In the study of how our government started he was a key factor.  Jefferson thought the government was too powerful at the time he took office.  Jefferson worked to change it with new economic policies.  He reduced government spending through budget management. (a lesson we should take from him now)  He also decreased the size of the government by having government take less of a role in the lives of everyday people like us.  \n\nThis is important for 8th graders to know because there are many things you can learn from Jefferson.  In only four or five years you will be voting in the same elections adults are voting in.   We want you to be informed voters.  We want you to know how to listen for what candidates stand for, decide if you agree with them and make your own choices.  That is why we study any past presidents,  it is to make you consider, is this someone you would have voted for?  If not what would you vote for?  Jefferson and Adams differed in many ways.  Jefferson and Hamilton probably differed even more.  Who would you have voted for?  Look at candidates we have now.  They too have different opinions.  Can you take a position and stand for it?  Can you make an informed decision and vote for the person that will help our country the most?  Start thinking about it now because you will be standing in that voting booth all alone some day and you will have to make the decisions.
480843
No. Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence not the Constitution of the United States
185515
The Federalist Papers advocated the proposition that the colonies should have a strong centralized government that would downplay to some extent the notion of states' rights.   It lined up as a game of wills between the forces led by Alexander Hamilton (Federalists) and those of Thos. Jefferson (Republcans).  In the end, there was naturally a certain amount of equivocation on the part of both sides but a deal got done.  Unfortunately, the most important issue of all -- slavery-- was set aside and not properly addressed.  For purposes of the government, a slave was counted as 3/5 of a white person.   Failure to resolve the SLAVERY issue properly eventually was a cause of the CIVIL WAR!!!!
396765
"Information is the currency of democracy."  Thomas Jefferson
31534
well, jefferson wrote in the declaration of independence, "when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another... that governments are instituted among men... deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed... " as justification for the secession of the colonies from the british empire and the creation of a new state.\n\npresumably the same considerations applied to the people of the southern states and their wish to dissolve the political bands which connected them to the republic, especially as when jefferson continued "whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute new government... it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government".\n\nseems pretty reasonable to secede from a union based on principles graven in the very document which formed that union.
692888
http://www.whitehouse.govJohn Adams \n\nLearned and thoughtful, John Adams was more remarkable as a political philosopher than as a politician. "People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity," he said, doubtless thinking of his own as well as the American experience. \n\nAdams was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735. A Harvard-educated lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause; a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, he led in the movement for independence. \n\nDuring the Revolutionary War he served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles, and helped negotiate the treaty of peace. From 1785 to 1788 he was minister to the Court of St. James's, returning to be elected Vice President under George Washington. \n\nAdams' two terms as Vice President were frustrating experiences for a man of his vigor, intellect, and vanity. He complained to his wife Abigail, "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." \n\nWhen Adams became President, the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the United States on the high seas and intense partisanship among contending factions within the Nation. \n\nHis administration focused on France, where the Directory, the ruling group, had refused to receive the American envoy and had suspended commercial relations. \n\nAdams sent three commissioners to France, but in the spring of 1798 word arrived that the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand and the Directory had refused to negotiate with them unless they would first pay a substantial bribe. Adams reported the insult to Congress, and the Senate printed the correspondence, in which the Frenchmen were referred to only as "X, Y, and Z." \n\nThe Nation broke out into what Jefferson called "the X. Y. Z. fever," increased in intensity by Adams's exhortations. The populace cheered itself hoarse wherever the President appeared. Never had the Federalists been so popular. \n\nCongress appropriated money to complete three new frigates and to build additional ships, and authorized the raising of a provisional army. It also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, intended to frighten foreign agents out of the country and to stifle the attacks of Republican editors. \n\nPresident Adams did not call for a declaration of war, but hostilities began at sea. At first, American shipping was almost defenseless against French privateers, but by 1800 armed merchantmen and U.S. warships were clearing the sea-lanes. \n\nDespite several brilliant naval victories, war fever subsided. Word came to Adams that France also had no stomach for war and would receive an envoy with respect. Long negotiations ended the quasi war. \n\nSending a peace mission to France brought the full fury of the Hamiltonians against Adams. In the campaign of 1800 the Republicans were united and effective, the Federalists badly divided. Nevertheless, Adams polled only a few less electoral votes than Jefferson, who became President. \n\nOn November 1, 1800, just before the election, Adams arrived in the new Capital City to take up his residence in the White House. On his second evening in its damp, unfinished rooms, he wrote his wife, "Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof." \n\nAdams retired to his farm in Quincy. Here he penned his elaborate letters to Thomas Jefferson. Here on July 4, 1826, he whispered his last words: "Thomas Jefferson survives." But Jefferson had died at Monticello a few hours earlier.
27665
Thomas Jefferson lived in France for a period of time following the American Revolution. When he returned, he brought new foods and introduced them to the U.S. Many have since become staples of our culture: macaroni & cheese, ice cream, french fries, for example. \n\nYou could explain the history leading up to Jefferson's time in France, what happened when he was there, give out samples of some of the foods he brought back with him, and talk about the role they play in our everyday lives today.
350730
Thomas Jefferson used the social contract theory to say that since the king was not governing as the people needed, we had the right to form our own government. (Declaration of Independence)\n\nJames Madison wrote the Constitution. His first line was "We the people..."
1116219
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/5.htm