ABSTRACT
Thomas Jefferson served eight years as president (1801–1809). His successor, James Madison, served eight years as president (1809–1817). Madison's successor, James Monroe, also served eight years as president (1817–1825). All three were from Virginia and all three strongly favored political and commercial policies that promoted the interests of an agrarian republic. There were two principal ways of promoting national agrarian policies: (1) ensuring export markets for agricultural commodities, and (2) actively encouraging the westward expansion of the agricultural frontier. These policies were implemented in very strange ways by Jefferson and Madison.
