for a larger military. James Monroe, while a protégé of Jefferson, held this view, as did many young Republicans who hoped to use the powers of the federal government to boost the economy through the creation of an "American system" of canals, roads, and other public works. In short, the period that followed the war was a period of nationalism: one in which the "empire of liberty" that Republicans had long desired seemed within reach. But to govern this empire, many of the politicians who had looked to Jefferson for guidance began to take a more pragmatic view of the national government.

The aftermath of the War of 1812 provided a catalyst for further Westward migration. Now that the United States was more secure in its borders, Jefferson was able to use the vast tracts of land bought from Napoleonic France under the Louisiana Purchase to help fulfill his economic and political vision.

Unlike Federalist opponents such as John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, Jefferson believed that the prosperity of the American economy depended on agriculture. Furthermore, the political stability of the new republic relied upon the existence of landowners—like Jefferson himself—to provide the kind of wise, disinterested leadership that the United States needed.

One of the core principles of Jeffersonian democracy was the idea that landowners were society's natural leaders as they were more closely tied to the soil and therefore more responsible. Jefferson believed that their close connection to the land would enable landowners to act in the national interest as a whole instead of their own economic self-interest, as bankers and merchants were wont to do.

I find two significant ways in which Jefferson's philosophy was shifted as a result of the War of 1812.  The first would be in the reconceptualization of laissez- faire.  Jefferson's Republican tendencies was to initially embrace the idea of non- intervention and "to let alone."  The role of government was deemphasized and the lack of government action was notable in the Jeffersonian ideal.  Yet, in the War of 1812, the government was forced to respond to the impressment of sailors and the increasing tension between France and England.  Laissez faire became supplanted with entrance into the war, where government action was more evident than at really any other time in the Jefferson administration.  I also think that the the strict interpretation of the Constitution, where powers are clearly defined within it and power is exercised through it are elements that were shifted to the other side as a result of the War of 1812.  The idea that the Constitution could be strictly interpreted in a war was not going to happen.  Once war was declared, a more loose and pliable interpretation of the Constitution was evident because wars increase centrality, something that the strict interpretation of the Constitution that Jefferson revered would not advocate.  In this, there is a fundamental shift in his belief systems and in his ideals with the advent of the War of 1812.