The distinctive vision that Jefferson brought into his presidency was the idea that the Federal government should be limited in their powers and that a small army and navy should be maintained in order that the country not infringe upon its citizens civili liberties or become involved in foreign trade and ultimately, foreign wars. Still, the reality of the Jefferson era was in contrast to an agrarian republic that would be isolated from the problems of Europe and the rest of the world. During his tenure, the War of 1812, Barbary Pirates, and Napoleon all conspired to prevent the United States from being too detached from the affairs on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, Thomas Jefferson oversaw the Louisiana Purchase despite his objections as to whether he even…show more content… As far as how Jeffersonian policies confliected with the vision of Handsome Lake, I don’t think there was a conflict. Both were pro-agrarian and Handsome Lake’s sympathy to Christianity, despite his calls for an Indian cultural revival would put him less at odds with Thomas Jefferson than would have been expected given his initial resistance to Christianity. Both Handsome Lake and Thomas Jefferson seem to have been productive personalities and I imagine that they would have had much in common since they were both pragmatic in the way that they handled the situations placed upon them.
The primary cause of the War of 1812 was a desire for expansion on the part of war hawks whose nationalism manifested itself as a strong desire to increase the amount of territory under American suzerainty. The frontiersmen of the North wanted to see Canada become part of the US while those in the
