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Western expansion gave people more power to own their own land and confidently create their own lives, but it the people’s independence had to then be balanced with a growing Presidential supremacy.
While the new nation was trying to feel more equal in a world of ancient empires, the Founding Fathers agreed that the mastodon, a giant prehistoric skeleton found by naturalist Charles Peale, would be a “symbol of dominance” to inspire the people to support the budding government in their attempts to legitimize the country (Semonin 2). When Peale first discovered the skeleton, he placed the teeth in a way to show the animal was a carnivore. Having a fierce symbol, like the mastodon, gave Americans the idea that in the past the natural world was shaped by violent conquests. This idea transferred to western expansion, where Americans felt it was their calling to gain more land and power, and by moving west, decimated the wilderness and even Indian tribes. What I found interesting in this story of the mastodon was that Peale’s initial placement of the teeth, the detail that made the animal more ferocious, was incorrect. Instead, later naturalists discovered the mastodon was actually an herbivore. At this point, the myth of the powerful mastodon had already swept the nation, but it begs the question that if Peale had correctly identified the mastodon’s eating patterns from the beginning, would this animal ever have become such a symbol for the nation? Would the American people have had the confidence to expand westward, and by doing that strengthen the nation?
When Western expansion became even more possible with the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson had to struggle with balancing his ideals of people’s individual rights and giving more control to the Presidential role. Jefferson accepted the Louisiana Purchase without asking the citizens for a vote, going against what TaSimmons notes in her post as the importance of the people’s expression of opinions as a way to affect the government. Instead, the move exemplifies Jefferson’s realization that the President has to hold a certain degree of power over the people. While it is undeniable that the people should have a say in the government and be able to change it when it is not working in favor of the masses, it is also important to remember that the President has a responsibility to make certain difficult and complex decisions without putting everything to a vote. In other books, I’ve seen the authors criticize this move by Jefferson as a power grab or a distancing from what he claimed were his principles. Wilentz, though, describes this move and Jefferson’s presidency more sympathetically. I liked Wilentz description of his presidency because it reminds readers that sometimes the President has to upset people when he believes his choice will benefit the country as a whole in the long run. Without Jefferson’s decision to accept the Louisiana Purchase, our country would be very different today, so his choice to use the power of the Presidency was warranted.