Kristian Fabian
November 5, 2013
Ethics, Moral Leadership & Common Good
Dr. Nicholas
Wiki Project: Thomas Jefferson
"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time."
Biography:
Born in 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia to a prominent and otherwise affluent Colonial
family, Thomas Jefferson was one of the great American Founding fathers, the principal author
of the Declaration of Independence, founder of the University of Virginia, and the third President
of the United States of America. In his early life, Jefferson attended private schools and notably,
the College of William and Mary, where he studied philosophy, literature, science, and law. In
1769, Jefferson was admitted into the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he published A
Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774), which was a philosophical pretext to the
Declaration of Independence that expounded the injustices of King George III, essentially
arguing that the British Parliament did not have the right to govern the colonists in America.
Markedly, these two documents reflected not only national interests, but also Jefferson's personal
beliefs and concerns. Heavily influenced by Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke,
Jefferson was a strong advocate for democracy and human rights, contending that the
government was an instrument of the people, and if that body proved to be oppressive or
despotic, the people had a natural right to rebel against it.1
In 1783, Jefferson was appointed Secretary of State under the presidential administration
of George Washington, where he battled with Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton
over the nation's financial policy and funding of wartime debts. In response, Jefferson along with
James Madison organized the anti-administration party, popularly known as the DemocraticRepublican Party, which was a faction designed to undermine Hamilton's political policies and
oppose the Federalist agenda. Moreover, as a result of ensuing discord and disagreement,
Jefferson voluntarily left his cabinet post in 1793, receiving harsh criticism from Washington and
other Federalist critics. Nevertheless, nearly seven years later, Jefferson would go on to defeat
Aaron Burr in the presidential election of 1800, becoming the third president of the United States
of America. Perhaps, one of Jefferson's greatest achievements as president was his authorization
of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, acquired from Napoleon for $15 million. Significantly, this
compromise doubled the size of the United States as well as effectively laid the groundwork for
future exploration, settlement, and expansion in the West. After his presidency, Jefferson
continued to be very active in public affairs, in 1815 selling his massive collection of nearly
6,000 books to the Library of Congress to replace the smaller collection destroyed in the War of
1812, and founding the University of Virginia in 1819, which he considered one of his greatest
achievements. For these reasons, among many others, Thomas Jefferson's legacy has generated
200 years of historical and literary inquiry, remaining one of the greatest leaders in American
history.
Challenge Discussion:
Thomas Jefferson was a philosopher, a lawyer, and a distinguished statesman, chosen as
one of the delegates for the Continental Congress in 1775, elected Governor of Virginia in 1779,
appointed to Secretary of State in 1789, then later voted President of the United States in 1800.
As an active politician and great American leader, Jefferson faced a number of challenges,
pressures, and opposition in his career.
Early in his life, Thomas Jefferson experienced the death of two influential family
members – his father Peter Jefferson and his older sister Jane Jefferson. The death of these two
individuals was a blow to the young Thomas Jefferson; nevertheless, the Founding Father
gradually overcame his grief and as a result, was inspired to pursue a more advanced education.
For instance, at the early age of 14, Thomas Jefferson’s father Peter had suddenly died of
unknown causes, bequeathing his impressive collection of books and mathematical instruments
to his eldest son (Thomas). Importantly, before he died, Peter Jefferson had left very specific
instructions that the young Thomas was to receive a “thorough classical education.”2
Accordingly, Jefferson sought out a personal tutor by the name of Reverend James Maury as a
means of promoting such learning. Significantly, Reverend Maury possessed an extensive library
of nearly 400 books, which provided Jefferson with the necessary foundation for achieving
higher education. Nearly two years later, Jefferson would be accepted into William and Mary
College in Williamsburg, Virginia. However, to the greater dismay of Thomas Jefferson, in
1765, his oldest sister Jane had died unexpectedly, once again engendering grief and sadness.
Notably, the death of Peter Jefferson both motivated Thomas to pursue higher education
as well as laid the foundation for his successful career as a politician. Reflecting on the death of
his father years later, Jefferson wrote:
When I recollect that at fourteen years of age the whole care and direction of myself was
thrown on myself entirely, without a relation or friend qualified to advise or guide me,
and recollect various sorts of bad company with which I associated from time to time, I
am astonished I did not turn off with some of them.3
This segment reveals the strong perseverance of Jefferson to persist through these early obstacles
and continue his education rather than give up and concede in moments of difficulty and tragedy.
Moreover, these early challenges shaped Jefferson’s strong resolve and determination, which
were characteristics critical to his success as a future politician.
Virtue Discussion:
Seemingly, the virtue that best characterized Jefferson's life was his perseverance, or this
persistence in the face of great difficulty and discouragement. For instance, while appointed by
his fellow delegates to write the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson spent several
weeks constructing the draft, famously crumpling up many earlier efforts before submitting his
polished piece. Additionally, once he presented his initial draft, the committee and Congress
responded with various criticisms and numerous revisions, with one of his fellow congressman
voting to remove his section condemning the British slave trade. Despite the difficulties of
writing such an important document, not to mention, the corrections and critique received from
fellow committee members, Jefferson nevertheless persisted through these various hardships,
authoring the Declaration of Independence, a significant expression of liberty that served as an
inspirational model for countless movements for independence, such as, the Haitian Revolution
of 1791 and the French Revolution of 1798.
Similarly, after experiencing the death of both his father Peter and older sister Jane at a
very young age, Thomas Jefferson resolutely persevered through these early challenges,
continuing his education at William and Mary College and later pursuing a career as a lawyer.
Choice-worthy good:
Thomas Jefferson understood that liberty and equality were the two most valuable goods
in life, maintaining that all human beings are endowed with these natural and inviolable rights.
For instance, in the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson writes, “We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”4 Moreover,
although Jefferson drafted the Declaration on behalf of the United States, the ideals he presented
reflected his personal beliefs, values, virtues, and the manner in which he lived his life. For
instance, within several days of his initial draft, Jefferson's fellow congressman directly
challenged his position on the slave trade, voting to remove the controversial section from the
final draft of the document. Nevertheless, for the next fifty years of his life, whenever he was
asked to furnish a copy of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson would provide his initial
draft with the revisions, suggesting that he always stood up for what he believed in, and never let
the external pressure of another sway his actions or dictate his beliefs. Furthermore, throughout
his life, Jefferson published a series of reports on ways to protect liberty and limit the power of
the government from dominating the people. Moreover, as president, Jefferson diminished the
significance of the federal government by paying off government debt, ending internal taxes, and
reducing of the size of the army and navy. Evidently, Jefferson was a fervent defender of human
liberty, sacrificing his political reputation and encountering much domestic and foreign pressure
for standing up for what he believed to be right.
Cultural Ill:
As an active politician and great American leader, Jefferson faced a number of
challenges, pressures, and opposition in his career stemming from King George III's unjust
treatment of the New England colonists as well as the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In adhering to
his virtues and beliefs, Jefferson prevailed against these domestic and foreign institutional
pressures; as a result, he is widely considered one of the greatest United States presidents of all
time.
One of the earliest challenges Jefferson encountered was the British Parliament's
violation of the New England colonists’ human rights through the implementation of various
unlawful taxes, which merely funded the king's military ventures. Hence, Thomas Jefferson
argued that this taxation was illegitimate, as the colonists were subjects to the Crown and did not
have representation in the British Parliament. Further, on March 5, 1770, a company of British
troops stationed in Boston opened fired into an angry crowd of colonists, killing five civilian
men and injuring six. According to Locke's philosophical treatise, the government was supposed
to protect its citizens, not kill them. Therefore, one of Jefferson's challenges was preserving the
rights of the citizens of the young United States, which the British Empire had infringed upon.
To confront this challenge, Thomas Jefferson used the Declaration of Independence as a
vehicle for challenging King George III and the British Parliament's foreign policy. In many
ways, the Declaration was very much an expression of Jefferson's own beliefs and his fixation
with individual liberties, as he argued that all men are “endowed with certain inalienable rights,
among them, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”6 Significantly, this vision of the world
challenged one of the most powerful nations on the planet, essentially contending that the
Thirteen Colonies regarded themselves as separate and distinct from the British Empire. When
Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers signed this document, they were signing their
death warrants, as the Declaration of Independence was considered high treason and punishable
by death. In spite of this, Jefferson firmly advocated liberty for his fellow colonists, and even
though his life was at risk, he nevertheless clung to his values and beliefs in writing and signing
the Declaration.
After achieving independence, Jefferson faced many other challenges throughout his
political career, namely, criticism directed at his Embargo policy and the Louisiana Purchase.
For instance, after procuring the Louisiana territory, Jefferson faced domestic opposition, as
some opponents deemed the compromise unconstitutional on the basis that the United States
Constitution did not include conditions for acquiring land. One key adversary, Timothy
Pickering, was a Harvard graduate and passionate anti-Jeffersonian. Elected to Congress in 1803,
Pickering strongly opposed the Louisiana Purchase, arguing that if the United States expanded
into the West, the New England colonies would lose its significance. Additionally, other critics,
particularly the Federalists, preferred to maintain closer relations with Britain than with
Napoleon, contending that this compromise had cost a lot of money and might result in war
against Spain, as France had initially promised Spain that they would not sell Louisiana to a third
party. Despite major criticism and internal pressure, Jefferson went ahead with the purchase and
defied these opposing claims, effectively removing France's influence in the region, doubling the
size of the United States, and ensuring free passage on the Mississippi River.
In 1807, Thomas Jefferson issued the Embargo Act, a general prohibition against France
and Britain meant to assert American neutrality in the Napoleonic Wars and condemn the British
Royal Navy for impressment, or the taking of United States sailors into the navy by force.
Markedly, the Embargo Act was largely a disaster, as it was difficult to enforce, not to mention,
it invoked bitter protest and subverted national unity. Around the same time, Jefferson faced
additional criticism from his primary adversary Alexander Hamilton as well as other Federalist
critics, who attacked his obsession with individual liberties and religious freedom. One Federalist
satirist argued that Jefferson would even promote the right of weeds to flourish on account of
their equal right to live. In response, Jefferson claimed, "I would rather be exposed to the
inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”7 In
other words, Jefferson firmly stood up for human rights and equality, essentially maintaining that
he would rather choose liberty over tyranny. Moreover, although he faced substantial criticism
during his presidency, he nonetheless stuck to these fundamental beliefs and values; as a result,
he successfully grappled with institutional forms of oppression on both domestic and foreign
levels.
Although a firm defender of liberty and equality, Jefferson still owned slaves, which
added a tint of irony, inconsistency, and contradiction to his legacy. In 1825, Jefferson wrote to
leading abolitionist Frances Wright, stating, “The abolition of the evil (slavery) is not
impossible: it ought never therefore to be despaired of. Every plan should be adopted, every
experiment tried, which may do something towards the ultimate object.”8 Markedly, all great
leaders should maintain this eternal optimism and relentless determination of combating the
oppressive institutions of the world bent on dominating the weak and inhibiting people from,
“participating in determining their actions or the conditions of their actions.”9 Despite the fact
that Jefferson owned slaves and presumably had sexual relations with one of them, he
nevertheless believed in a future America where equality was self-evident for all human beings.
Endnotes
1. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, (Nicholson Press, 2013).
2. Henry Stephens Randall, The Life of Thomas Jefferson (Ulan Press, 2012), 18.
3. Henry Barnard, American Journal of Education, Volume 27 (Memphis: General Books LLC,
2012), 514.
4. United States Declaration of Independence, 1776.
5. John R. Alden's, History of the American Revolution, New York: Knopf, 2013.
6. United States Declaration of Independence, 1776.
7. Thomas Jefferson letter to Archibald Stuart, December 23, 1791.
8. Thomas Jefferson letter to Frances Wright, August 7, 1825.
9. Young, Iris Marion (1990) Justice and the Politics of Difference, 38.