Loose Constructionists Dbq Analysis

Conflict over foreign and domestic policies between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson led to the development of two political parties. Although the Jeffersonian-Democratic were strict constructionist and the Federalists were loose constructionists, both failed to be consistent and chose whichever interpretation that better served their interests at the time.
Jefferson originally began as a strict state’s rights advocate. He only accepted the Constitution with a guarantee of the Bill of Rights that reversed many Federalists policies, (Doc. A).Jefferson supported the separation of government and religion that can be seen in the Bill of Rights that promised freedom of religion. However as President he did not make major changes in the government.
Following George Washington’s two-term policy, Jefferson handed down the presidency to fellow, Democratic- Jeffersonian, James Madison, (Doc. C). Because of the problems inherited from Jefferson’s term, the majority of Madison’s decisions consisted of loose constructionist decisions. First was the Non-Intercourse Act. This watered-down version of the Embargo Act served to instigate the War of 1812. Because of the New Englanders disliked the restrictive trade laws, the Federalists party regained a little of their popularity back. Federalists responded by joining together to propose amendments to the Constitution in the Hartford Convention in 1815 that favored strict constructionists. Also Daniel Webster, a Federalist, argued against expansion of the governmental powers by opposing military conscription, (Doc. E). Another loose constructionist’s act was the Protectionists Tariff of 1816, which aimed to promote American manufacturing, (Doc. D). It placed a tariff not specified in the constitution and was advocated by the supposedly strict constructionist Thomas Jefferson. However South Democratic-Republicans argued against due to the unfavorable nature to the South and chose a strict interpretation of the Constitution for justification, (Doc. G). Overall, Madison enacted only one significant strict constructionist decision in vetoing governmental funding for infrastructure,
Madison, the Hartford Convention and opposition for military conscription showed their willingness to switch advocacies when it conflicted with their personal interests. The same applied for the Jeffersonian- Democratic displayed through the actions of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Thomas Jefferson served to expand governmental powers and Madison enacted only one strict constructionist act throughout his presidency. Therefore, the political views in the political party did not align well with the decisions followed through by the party