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Thomas Jefferson: Should The Constitution Be Interpreted?

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Thomas Jefferson: Should The Constitution Be Interpreted?
Before presidency, Thomas Jefferson believed that the constitution should be interpreted very strictly, but during his presidency his views were flipped. James Madison, on the other hand, believed that the constitution should be interpreted loosely before and during his presidency.
Before Jefferson was elected, he, and the majority of the Jeffersonian Republicans, believed that the constitution should be interpreted very strictly. He believed that there was a necessity for “preservation of the Federal Constitution, according to its obvious principles” (Jefferson Document A). Jefferson writes of how a large portion of citizens (Federalists such as Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison) “support principles that go directly to a

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