Thomas Jefferson held fast to his principles and ideals, but the practical realities of leadership forced Jefferson to make decisions in the best interests of the country. When Jefferson was elected, changes had to be made to the economy and new laws were drafted in an attempt to ensure the security of the United States. The events would occur in America, where Jefferson would have to determine whether to follow his principles or abandon them in domestic affairs. Jefferson was a pacifist at heart and did his best to keep the United States out of foreign conflicts and entanglements. His ideals were peaceful but in some places he should have violated them. Jefferson envisioned a land of agriculture and where the government would have minimal power over the lives of Americans, but that would not be the case. America could use a powerful and intelligent leader at this time. When Jefferson was elected president, changes had to be made to the economy and new laws were drafted in an attempt to ensure the security of the United States. When Jefferson first became president he had no intention of reshaping the government into a republican government. Jefferson made small reforms in government so that both Republicans and Federalists could coexist amiably. One small reform created by Jefferson was the removal of excise taxes. Hamilton had put the tax in place to help reduce the national debt. But Jefferson believed that this only created bureaucrats and imposed an unnecessary burden on farmers. Removing the excise taxes cost the federal government about a million dollars a year. Excise taxes aside, Jefferson kept the Hamiltonian system intact. After the Chesapeake U.S. frigate incident, the American people were united in their outrage at... means of paper... the United States or any foreign nation. The reasoning behind the embargo was to keep American ships out of harm's way while avoiding sending them to sea would stop further impressions and incidents like the Chesapeake. This act showed Jefferson's peaceful coercion, but this act made him very unpopular. He thought this act would keep the United States out of the European war. Another event that challenged Jefferson's personal ideals versus reality were the pirates of the North African Barbary States. Pirates were plundering American ships before Jefferson took office. The Federalist had paid the pirates not to steal their supplies, but Jefferson refused. The pirate leader declared war on the Americans, Jefferson reluctantly sent the ill-equipped navy to Tripoli where fighting continued for four years until a peace tray was reached in which the Americans paid the pirates $60,000.