Jefferson’s Role in the American Revolution / Role of Leaders

Jefferson’s Role in the American Revolution / Role of Leaders

Successful Revolution need several key ingredients:

Military Leaders: Washington Agitators: Sam Adams Political leader: John Adams, Henry, Otis Writers / Intellectuals to provide an Ideology /

Intellectual explanation / motivation: Paine and Jefferson

Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of Independence

PurposePurpose

1. Declare Independence – follow up on the motion of Richard Henry Lee – an eloquent declaration, not just a motion

2. Explain why it was being declared / justify this declaration

3. To win domestic and foreign support for independence

Committee of 5 chosen to write it: Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Sherman, Livingston

Jefferson selected by this committee to single-handedly write the first draft because:

It should be written by one person (consistency) He was the most skilled writer among them – had practice in this

kind of argument (Summary Views, Causes and Necessities) He was considered popular and non-confrontational, well-liked:

was not part of any faction He was from Virginia / Aristocracy – would give the Revolution

credibility (like Washington); not just a Northern Revolution

Jefferson asked of Adams “what can be your reasons” for assigning the task of writing it to him.

Adams replied

“ Reason first – You are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second – I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third – You can write ten times better than I can.”

The Summary View was written for the VA Convention to elect delegates to the Continental Congress in 1774. It furthered the Revolutionary cause and secured his reputation as a fine writer – it was like a first draft, practice run

It condemned British treatment of the colonies and defended American freedom and self govt.

Displayed his dramatic style, conjuring a convincing black and white picture in which the king and his parliament were villains and the colonists their slaves.

It asserts that the colonies were subject only to the laws adopted by their own legislatures and that their natural rights had been violated by Great Britain.

It calls for a repeal of taxes and a lifting of the ban on American trade and manufacturing.

It also asserts that the colonists wanted to abolish slavery and the slave trade but that the king has prevented them from doing so

It contains his view on expatriation (colonists came without Br. help).

Jefferson had an influence on public opinion (at least on his fellow representatives), esp. in Virginia, before he wrote the Declaration of Independence

Joseph Ellis American SphinxJoseph Ellis American Sphinx “But whether they knew it or not – and there was no earthly

way they could have known – the members of the Constitutional Congress had placed the ideal instrument in the perfect position at precisely the right moment. Throughout the remainder of his long career Jefferson never again experienced a challenge better suited to call forth his best creative energies.

The work had to be done alone, isolated from the public debates. It needed to possess an elevated quality that linked American independence to grand and great forces that transcended the immediate political crisis and swept the imagination upward toward a purer and more principled world….(over)

Joseph Ellis American Sphinx

Joseph Ellis American Sphinx

Finally it needed to paint the scene in bright, contrasting colors of truth and falsehood, right and wrong, “ought” and “is” without any of the intermediate hues or lingering doubts. It is difficult to imagine anyone in America better equipped, by disposition and experience, to perform the task as well.”

Four Parts

1. Part 1: Lays out the Theoretical Base for Independence;

Enlightenment Ideas of Locke, Rousseau… Natural Laws / Rights Government by Consent Right to rebel against an unjust ruler

2. Part 2: List of specific complaints against the English King, George III

About this section Jefferson said that he was not striving “for originality of principle or sentiment” but was seeking only to provide an “expression of the American mind” – he was trying to sum up the past eight years of colonial opposition to British policy in language designed to make the king responsible for all the trouble.

He is, in general, accused of “absolute Despotism” and “absolute Tyranny”……then come the specifics

Total of 28 charges – “abuses” or “repeated injuries and usurpations”

Are these charges valid? To what extent are they exaggerated, propaganda?

Read the complaints / charges

Create a chart:

Paraphrase Relate them Say if each

Each Charge to the charge is

11 Acts / accurate,

Oppressive exaggerated,

Measures or

fabricated

3. Part 3: Reminder that adequate warning has been given through petitions (they tried the peaceful path) to the Government / King, but the Tyrant has answered with repeated injury

Appeals have been made also to the British People but they too have ignored the Colonists

4. Part 4: The actual official eloquent declaration of Independence:

“ ...these United Colonies are, and of Right out to be, Free and Independent States: that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved…...”

Which clauses were left out

and why?

Which clauses were left out

and why?1. Condemnation of the king for promoting the slave

trade (see handout)

it was considered inaccurate / exaggerated: the king had not forced slavery on the colonies, nor had he prohibited the colonies from ending the slave trade / slavery: he had not encouraged rebellion among colonial slaves

It might be offensive to the Southern Colonies and therefore divisive because it implicitly condemns slavery - South Carolina and Georgia strongly objected

Which clauses were left out

and why?

Which clauses were left out

and why?

2. A more serious denunciation of the British people (see handout)

it might give offense to potential supporters of American Independence (Whigs)

Which clauses were left out

and why?

Which clauses were left out

and why?

3. His theory of expatriation

One of his favorite theories, in which he claimed that the first settlers came over at their own expense and initiative, “unassisted by the wealth or strength of Great Britain.” He claimed there had never been any colonial recognition of royal or parliamentary authority.

Congress found that the argument was excessive, so it was eliminated.

Impact Impact 1. Gave the Revolution an ideology, sense of idealism, a purpose –

served as greater motivation: he provided, or at least articulated, the ideology needed for a Revolution to succeed

2. Gave Revolution Legitimacy; it was in tune with Enlightenment Ideas, the ideas of one of the world’s greatest political thinkers/philosophers – John Locke: the Colonists were way ahead of the Enlightenment, of their time – they had practiced the ideas of the Enlightenment since 1619: what they had been practicing was now becoming popular / legitimate

3. Stirred up negative emotions / emotional intensity, among the Colonists, towards the King by portraying him as totally corrupt, presenting a completely “black” picture, with no merits: Increased enthusiasm, passion, for the revolution…from a minority to a majority movement

Impact contd…Impact contd… 4. Polarization of opinions: Loyalists split from Patriots – forced people to

take sides

5. Convinced the Spanish, and more importantly the French to send help: showed how wrong the King was, how the Colonists were the reasonable party – they were seriously wronged, but had acted moderately and reasonably and tried negotiation and petition, and had turned to Revolution as a last resort…..would not have won without French support (money, supplies, soldiers)

6. Long Term: inspiration to countless revolutionary movements…influence on French Rev: in more recent times – China, South Africa…..

Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation

by Merill Peterson

Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation

by Merill Peterson

Yet the Declaration bore the unmistakable stamp of the author’s genius. It possessed that “peculiar felicity of expression” for which he was already noted. It was simple, clear, and direct: crisp and angry when this was the tone required, as in the arraignment of the King: gracious and elevated in the soft passages enunciating the rights of man: solemn and stately in the concluding pledge of “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” It’s rhetoric was faintly

aristocratic, shrinking from the boldness, the enthusiasm, the popularity of Paine’s writing, for example….Even so, he may have learned something from Common Sense, for the Declaration, far beyond any of Jefferson’s earlier writings, suppressed recondite legalisms to fundamental human values and capsuled large ideas in electrifying phrases. In a document of less than 1,500 words, most of it a bill or particulars against the reigning sovereign, ideas could not be developed, nor indeed even stated:

they could only be conjured up by magical words and phrases in trim array. Jefferson managed to compress a cosmology, a political philosophy, a national creed in the second paragraph of the Declaration. This was a triumph. It raised the American cause above parochialism, above History, and united it with the cause of mankind……

A philosophy of human rights attained timeless symbolization in words that inspired action.” (p.91)

The Declaration of Independence endowed the American Revolution with high moral purpose united to a theory of free government. Without this, the independence of thirteen colonies, three million people strung along the western Atlantic seaboard, would have been a significant but scarcely an epochal event in the history of mankind. As it was, it opened an age of revolution in old and new nations that is not yet spent.” (p.95)

Political Causes: importance / impact of Enlightenment Ideas….could be an essay question …include with rights as

Englishmen, political principles…actual representation..)

Political Causes: importance / impact of Enlightenment Ideas….could be an essay question …include with rights as

Englishmen, political principles…actual representation..)

Ideas of Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau Transmitted through Paine, Jefferson, Adams, newspapers,

pamphlets, books – Am Soc was exceptionally literate Discussed in taverns, town committees, Committees of

Correspondence Americans were very advanced in terms of their awareness of

political ideology Spoke the language of the Enlightenment…govt. by consent,

taxation through representation, Natural Rights / Rights as Englishmen…before Declaration of Independence…

Enlightenment Enlightenment Locke: Govt. by Consent, Social Contract, Natural Laws

/Rights, Right to Rebel, All Men are created equally

Voltaire: Freedom of speech, thought, expression, religion, tolerance

Montesquieu: Separation of Powers / Checks and Balances

Rousseau: more Direct Democracy, Social Contract

Focus on Declaration of Independence and Common Sense

Common SenseThomas Paine

Common SenseThomas Paine

His purpose was

to explain the folly of continuing to believe reconciliation with Br was possible.

turn the anger of Am’s away from the specific Parl measures they were resisting and towards what he considered the root of the problem - the Eng constit itself. It was not enough, he argued, for Ams to continue blaming their problem on specific PM’s, or even on Parl, or even the king – it was the system that was to blame….excessive Executive Authority, confusion of Executive and Legislative roles.

Thus it was simple common sense for Am’s to break completely with a govt. that could produce so corrupt a monarch as George III, a govt. that could inflict such brutality on its own people, a govt. that could drag Am’s into wars in which Am’s had no interest.

Br, a small island, was not fit to rule the much bigger Am continent

Am had a special, sacred mission to the world to create a model independent, democratic, republic

Paine reinforced Locke's main message: . Don't just be content with Resistance ….. think in terms of Independence…..Right to Rebel / Revolt

Common Sense had an enormous influence on Am thinking. Written in ordinary language, it gave meaning and sense to what people felt deep down: gave them a rationale, a coherent theory for their ideas and fears.

Contained both political theory and propaganda. Convinced many who were wavering that independence was the right course.

It also suggested that if they broke with Eng they could hope to get help from France

Common Sense