Thomas Jefferson Quotes
… a people occupied as we are in opening rivers, digging navigable canals, making roads
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, 3rd President of the United States (Democratic Republican, VA), Description of Americans, Quoted in Fawn Brodie, Thomas Jefferson
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
At the time, roads were built by the states. This was one of the first instances urging that the Federal Government take some responsibility for roads. This would culminate when President Eisenhower proposed and created the National Highway System and as Madison predicted, it would have a massive economic benefit for the nation.
It was on time and on budget. It is hard to imagine that we could complete a project this large today. It would take more than 8 years to do the studies and get the permits and fight off the lawsuits. However, the engineering feat for the up and coming young country was as Clinton said, “unparalleled in the experience of mankind.” America had already exceeded the Ancient Egyptians, the Europeans, the Chinese. The economic development for the young nation was enormous—as big as the digital revolution almost two centuries later.
Although Madison vetoed the Federal bill to improve the national infrastructure, he was very much for the improvements and he said so in this veto message. He, however, did not see the Constitutional authority for the Federal government to appropriate moneys to be spent in the States for infrastructure improvement. He was for a Constitutional Amendment to do so or to make the improvements using State money as New York did building the Erie Canal. Alexander Hamilton, and many of the Congressmen who voted for the bill disagreed (many of whom were also in the Constitutional Convention) and did not see the Constitutional limitation that Madison did. See Hamilton’s Quote 644278. He was particularly concerned that small and less affluent states could not possibly have the skill to design these or the finances to build them. Later President’s and Congresses sided with Hamilton. It would be hard to envision America today of Madison’s view had prevailed.
Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier
Arguing that Slavery inhibited a society from development ...
Building of roads and highways was not then an accepted national priority.
This was one of the early suggestions for providing jobs for the unemployed to work at developing the national infrastructure. In this case if highways and the river could be improved, transportation would allow goods to be reach more of the country cheaper. The CCC and the Job Corps of America would use a similar reasoning for public employment.
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
