One of Jeffersons most lasting reforms as a legislator
was to introduce a workable balance of powers into the governmental
structure. By establishing separate executive, judicial and legislative wings,
Jefferson created a model later adopted in the Constitution of
the United States (See
the Constitution SparkNote). Though Jefferson was
always more comfortable in a legislative position, his political
skills repeatedly thrust him into executive roles. On the strength
of his impressive record in the Virginia Assembly, Jefferson was
catapulted from legislator to chief executive when his colleagues
elected him to a one-year term as governor on June 1, 1779.
Partly by Jeffersons own design, the executive was granted
few powers in the overall structure of the Virginia government.
Thus, upon promotion, Jeffersons hands were tied by virtue of
his own decree. Such limitations were all the more frustrating
in the face of the difficult war at hand.
The first years of the war had not gone entirely favorably
for the Americans. Initially, they were sorely outnumbered by
British forces. On the brink of defeat, George Washingtons brilliant
crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 rallied
the cause. The 1778 entry of the French into the war on behalf
of the Americans also provided a much-needed military boost. But
when the long winter of 1778 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania depleted Washingtons
forces severely, he turned to Virginia to call up reserve forces.
Most of the early fighting had been done in Canada, New England,
and New York, and when Jefferson assumed his governorship Virginia
was still largely untouched by warfare. Still, Jefferson was hard-pressed
when ordered to recruit within Virginia. The domestic force had
already been thinned out by then-Governor Patrick Henrys ambitious
foray into the Great Lakes region, where a task force of troops
attempted to secure a hold on lands that had been claimed by Britain
under the Quebec Act.
Under Jefferson, these efforts were redoubled. A secret
expedition led by George Rogers Clark set out to re-conquer the
disputed territory for keeps. Retreat came only in 1780 when Jefferson promised
to cede the newly secured territory to the United States. Out
of these lands, the present-day states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
and Wisconsin were formed.
Closer to home, Virginia suffered a setback when the British made
a successful blockade of Chesapeake Bay in 1779, limiting trade
severely and essentially paralyzing the economy. In an effort to
revive flagging finances, Jefferson began a severe flurry of loyalist confiscations,
claiming land and property of all citizens suspected of maintaining
an alliance with British interests.
