Biography

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia. As a young man, he was a precocious student, and often spent upwards of fifteen hours per day studying while attending the College of William and Mary. After college, Jefferson bought the plot of land that would eventually be named Monticello and married Martha Wayles Skelton. Three years later, in 1775, he was appointed to the Second Continental Congress, and it was while serving there that he would write one of the most important documents in American history, the Declaration of Independence. During the American Revolution, Jefferson returned to Virginia and began projects centered on two of his lifetime's central causes: education and religious freedom. Also during this period, he was elected governor of Virginia and wrote Notes on the State of Virginia. In the 1780s, Jefferson traveled to France, where maintained friendships with characters such as the Marquis de Lafayette in the days preceding the French Revolution. In 1789, Jefferson returned to America to take up the post as Secretary of State under George Washington, where he contributed to the increasingly partisan atmosphere of the young United States. In 1800, Jefferson ran, as a Republican, for President. In one of the closest elections in American history, he won and fellow Republican Aaron Burr was elected Vice President. Jefferson was easily reelected in 1804 to another term, during which he authorized the Louisiana Purchase. In 1808, Jefferson retired to Monticello and lived out the rest of his days occupying himself with studies, architectural projects, and the founding of the University of Virginia. He died on July 4, 1826 at the age of 83.

Role in the Conversation

Though geographically distant from much of the radical conversation in England and France in the 1790s, Jefferson was nonetheless quite integrated in the radical movement. He remained friendly to France throughout the Revolution, and respected greatly the English radical school of thought. In addition to sharing similar influences (Locke, Rousseau, etc.) Jefferson and the English radicals shared ideas throughout their lifetimes, sending letters and writings back and forth across the Atlantic. Additionally, both Jefferson and the English radicals traveled across the Atlantic and met with each other to discuss and exchange ideas. Especially in the later 1790s, when political pressure forced many English Radicals to immigrate to the United States, Jefferson would have had the opportunity to meet and talk with many of them.

Summary of His Letters

Opinion on the French Treaties, April 28, 1793

Thomas Jefferson wrote "Opinions of the French Treaties" on April 28, 1793 in response to an increasing American voice that called for rescinding the treaties promising French and American alliance after the French change from monarchy to republicanism. Jefferson argued that, despite the overhaul of the traditional French monarchy, Americans had no reason to pull out of the agreement. The only valid reasons to pull out of the treaty, according to Jefferson, would be if an alliance with France brought danger to America. However, for various reasons, he argued "that few of these sources threaten any danger at all; and from none of them is it inevitable: & consequently none of them give us the right at this moment of releasing ourselves from our treaties" (427). Jefferson also argues that there would be serious consequences for American foreign policy were it to pull out of a treaty with France, most importantly that this unreasonable act would wound French pride and lose America an indispensable ally.

Letters to Thomas Paine and Philip Mazzei

Jefferson's letters to Paine on June 19, 1792 and Philip Mazzei on April 24, 1796 demonstrate Jefferson's growing worry that America was losing touch with its republican principles and regaining the aristocratic sensibilities of its pre-revolutionary days. In his letter to Paine, Jefferson compliments Paine on his newly published Rights of Man (1791) and hopes that this new tract will help renew republican virtues and help drive monarchical ones out forever.