Ihave to write an essay about the purpose of government, for this essay i have to choose between two presidents. 1. thomas jefferson who belied that we should have a small central government that is less intrusive that allow men/women to do as they . or 2. abraham lincoln who believed we should have a decent sized "active" government that provides the people with the that they need. in your opinion who had a better idea of what our government should be like? all answers welcome you!

Explanation:

They both are right especially during the time of their presidency. Thomas Jefferson believed that a strong federal government proved itself to be a necessity although he probably didn't like the idea at all. After all the founding fathers tried the Articles of Confederation (ratified 1781) and found out that it didn't really work.

Eight years later, they wrote the constitution that we currently live under. The federal government was given a lot more power which it needed. That doesn't mean it was fully embraced. Just that it was the next step. If anything, for all Jefferson's idealism, he was a pragmatist. If it worked, do it and be content.

Lincoln saw the whole situation quite differently. The Civil War began with the underlying cause of state's rights. Later on (1863), Lincoln turned to the question of slavery. There was a hole even in the 1789 Constitution and that hole came back to haunt everyone. The question was individual rights. Slaves. The south could not easily survive without slave labor and because slaves were expensive, they were more or less humanely treated.  After the Civil War, their condition was a nightmare. Lincoln address the entire question of what was missing in the constitution although he did not bring any amendments to correct what he knew had to be corrected. He may have done so if he was not murdered. As it was it was left to Johnson to bring in the 13th amendment, which abolished slavery.