Thomas Jefferson

America showed/proved that they can transfer power from party to party and do it peacefully. Jefferson knew that if it was not done peacefully than the administration would not succeed, or the nation survive. He stated at his inauguration:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
-Decleration of Independence

With Congress Jefferson reduced taxes and cut the size of the Federal bureaucracy (department, and workers that make up the Federal government. He changed the size of the army to just 3000 men.

John Adams

John Adams served as a leader during the American Revolution and served as a Vice President for 18 years. He faced difficulties because he ruled a new country 'young country'. It was also difficult because the parties grew wider and wider. He also had to deal with a threat of war from France. They threatened them because of Jay's Treaty with the British and began seizing American ships in French harbor.
To avoid war Adam sent officials to Paris (capital of France) to negotiate with the revolutionary government.

Image source: http://homedir-c.libsyn.com/podcasts/4dbfc708babc73e83d966d2c3a966d91/4ae4b3e2/dogmafreeamerica/images/john_adams.jpg

Information source: American Pathway to the Present

Jefferson and Hamilton

There were 2 ways of looking at the government and the human nature. Hamilton and Jefferson represented two ways of interpreting the Constitution.
There was the strict construction which Jefferson favored, he believed that the government should only use the implied powers of the Constitution if it is absolutly necessary. Apart from the strict Constitution there was the loose Constitution which Hamilton favored, he believed the government could use the implied power of the Constitution to do many things as long as they were not prohibited by the Constitution.
Jefferson had more faith in his people than he had in their government. He also thought Hamilton was someone betraying the ideals of the American Revolution.

Jefferson and the other states were promoting resistance to the Federalists in letters to one another. They were called Jeffersonian Republicans. Jefferson, those other states, and Federalists were the first political parties in United States.
-Political Parties- A group of people who seek to win elections and hold public office in order to control government policy and porgrams.


Information resource: "American Pathway to the Present"
Image source: http://blogues.cyberpresse.ca/laporte/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/thomas-jefferson-picture.jpg

Mindmeister :)

This is my Mindmeister and it is about Benjamin Franklin and hopefully it will be useful to you, here is the address:
http://www.mindmeister.com/31533646/zineb-taouba-benjamin-franklin

Legislative Power - Constitution and the Different Amendments

Legislative power:
To be able to pick who you want as a leader is ( for me ) a great idea. By the help of this it is possible for people to be fair and to be lead by someone who they think will make a good leader such as a leader that accepts other religion, culture, tradition. This is a characteristic which makes a good leader.

First Amendment (from the book Bill of Right) :
To have to believe in things is important, because everyone should have the right of believing what they want to believe in. For example if the leader believes in many gods and someone believes in one god, that person should have the right to keep that belief.

Second Amendment (from the book Bill of Right) :
This amendment says that people can own a fire arm. This is vital for some people because anything may happen. There maybe a killer who threatens to take the land and it, in this case, the farmer does not find anyway to protect himself he might die. Arm fires are very important for protection and everyone should have the right to protect themselves and if we take that arm fire away we are taking that right too.

Third Amendment (from the book Bill of Right) :
Soldier can not enter your house if you do not want to. When the government send soldiers to your home is like invading your private place. People should have the right to have their own private property/space and they , and only they, should have the right to let a soldier come in or not.

Fourth Amendment (from the book Bill of Right) :
In this Amendment it is said that no one may search, arrest, or take your property without a specific warrant. This amendment is important because without it people might try to get what is yours and claim that it is theirs.

How were the colonists able to defeat the greatest world power of their time?

By gaining confidence from the military, the French were able to defeat the greatest world power of their time (the British). To gain confidence/trust is an important factor this may help when it comes to war.
The french started to make their borders stronger and this helped them for any kind of attack. They were prepared for any situation.
Then the British started giving taxes. The colonies were not pleased by those new taxes. Stamp Act was what one of the new taxes the British made. The colonies were unwilling for all of this and brought delegates to come and gather in New York. They decided and convinced that all kind of tax could not come from the parliament, but from the legislatures.

Image source: http://www.britishbattles.com/images/british-officer.jpg

Right of Self Determination

Right of Self Determination means the free choice of someones actions and this without any external compulsion. They have the right to decide how they will lead, how they will govern their country, but this without any influence from the other countries.
And this is a fundamental principle of human rights law, so you can see that this connects. They can freely pursue things such as economy, social, political, cultural, etc.

Information Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-determination, http://130.94.183.89/parker/selfdet.html

Popular Sovereignty

A popular sovereignty is a pre-Civil war for the right of the people in an organized territory and they decide by the vote of their legislature whether or not slavery would be permitted there or not.

Information source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/popular+sovereignty

Right Of Revolution

The right to overthrow a certain power such as government of kind. England's colonies overthrew their King because he was not fair.
They thought they deserved some human rights which were taken away more and more over time.
When they opened their eyes they realized that they could not live that way and so they started thinking about revolution and its rights.

Social Contract

A social contract is an agreement which people in the same organization or community share to define rights and duties each and everyone of them have. Social Contract Theory is a contract that the people of a given area agree upon to live by.

Information sources: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/social+contract, http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Social-Contract-Theory/79131