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Originally Posted by GatorB
Oh BS. Jefferson was all about this "small government" talk BEFORE he became President. After he became president he expanded the federal governments role greatly. Hell he's made the Louisianna Purchase. Which he himself didn't thnk was within his rights constitutionally but he did it anyways.
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That's not true. Jefferson was always a strict anti-Federalist. The Louisiana Purchase was one of the few things that Jefferson did that required him to bend his beliefs. He did it primarily for national defense, as he feared a French invasion from New Orleans and knew how important that port was to the country. He was going to try and make it a constitutional amendment, but didn't have time because of the timeframe Napolean gave him to make the purchase.
Other than that, he was 100% for states rights and clashed with everyone from Hamilton over the National Bank to Justice Marshall on just about every issue that came to the courts. He impeached Federalist judges and even threatened Marshall at one time. He tried to increase the Supreme Court too so that he could stack it with anti-Federalists.