Question

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison had similar economic beliefs. Which of the following was their interpretation of what was most beneficial for the country?
They strongly believed that the government should have a hands off approach to American businesses.
They wanted higher tariffs to support the Northeastern manufacturers.
They supported lowering tariffs and strong foreign trade for American farmers.
They believed the American farmers would benefit with domestic trade within the United States.

Answer 1

A and D. Jefferson was a member of the Democratic-Republican party, which was sort of the opposite of the federalists. He was all about agrarian society, which means farming out the wazoo, and he wanted things to stay small. He figured that farming was the epitome of a good american virtue - self sufficient, hard working - and he was therefore big on telling the government to keep their hands off of things (think of the whiskey rebellion). He thought that if we engaged in foreign trade that our money would flow out of the US and not be replenished enough coming back in. In fact, most of hte founding fathers were big on isolationism (sticking to ourselves and leaving foreign affairs alone), probably because they'd just gone through a huge costly war affair with England and didn't want to deal with that again (think of Geo Washington's farewell speech)

Answer 2

Answer:

They supported lowering tariffs and strong foreign trade for American farmers.

Explanation:

Thomas Jefferson was a defender of the ideal that the government should impact the economy as little as possible. Although that is the case and he did get rid of many taxes, he also believed that he was supposed to protect Americans (as he believes to have done with the Embargo Act). He also did fight for policies that favored farmers.