Thomas Jefferson: Founding Contributions and Views on Slavery

Introduction

Thomas Jefferson has undoubtedly made significant contributions to the founding of the United States. Regarded as one of America's most prominent political figures, Jefferson has been lauded for several milestones during his career. He is perhaps most well-known as the author of the Declaration of Independence and as the staunchest supporter of the separation of church and state. Several of Jefferson's writings focus on religious and individual freedom as the American way of life. Among his other well-known accomplishments are serving as the first Secretary of State, the second Vice President, the third President, and as the politician responsible for the Louisiana Purchase.

Although Jefferson is strongly connected with the ideology of personal and individual freedom, much has been made of his dependence on slavery and his conviction that American society remained a white male-dominated one. Jefferson continues to be a paradoxical figure in American history, having come under much scrutiny — especially in the world of scholarly research. The discrepancies between his liberal writing and his practical personal life in relation to race and society have been widely studied and debated. To most people, however, both domestically and abroad, Jefferson remains an icon of democracy and a heroic symbol associated with the foundation of the United States. This paper will outline and discuss the contributions that Jefferson made to the founding of the nation and will explore his views and opinions on slavery and race relations.

Personal Profile

In order to understand Jefferson's contributions and his opinions regarding slavery, it is important to discuss his personal background. By understanding Thomas Jefferson the person, we are better able to understand his contributions to the forming of the nation and his impact on slavery and race relations. Jefferson's impact on the forming of the nation is vast, and it is with good reason that his accomplishments are considered nothing less than extraordinary for a man once called the "Apostle of Freedom" by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Considered by historian Dumas Malone as a member of the "trinity of American immortals, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln," Jefferson's contributions to the founding of the nation are nothing short of remarkable. Described by many as a truly learned person, Jefferson's interests and intellect have been the focus of much historical research, producing countless works on his personal and professional life.

Thomas Jefferson was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1743. He grew up on the family plantation named Shadwell, where he would later build his home, famously known as Monticello. He was the third child born and one of eight siblings, with one younger brother and six sisters. His father, Peter Jefferson, was an accomplished farmer, and his mother was a descendant of one of the most prominent families in Virginia.

Jefferson was raised in a family life dependent on slave labor, having grown up on a plantation with at least 60 slaves. There are countless accounts of one of Jefferson's first memories as a child being carried around the plantation on a pillow by a slave. As Malone points out, by 1794 Jefferson owned 150 enslaved people (1932, p. 207). This aspect of Jefferson's hypocritical lifestyle has been studied extensively and will be explored later in this paper.

It is from his father that Jefferson may have inherited his passion for politics and hunger for success. Peter Jefferson was colonel of Albemarle County and served as a member of the House of Burgesses. He instilled in his son the value of hard work, and as Malone elaborates, "he was no landless pioneer but an enterprising young planter" (Malone, 1948, p. 4). Peter Jefferson died when Jefferson was only 14 years old, leaving the family with abundant financial resources and a high social standing in the community.

Always a conscientious student, Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg at age 17 and excelled in the field of law. According to many accounts, Jefferson was a disciplined and obsessive student who reportedly spent 15 hours a day studying. Malone's writing highlights this trait and credits much of Jefferson's success to discipline:

"Self-imposed, rather than external, discipline shaped his education from his youth onward ... The first period of his amazing life differed in many ways from the important and exacting era of public service which followed, but the habit of study persisted. Drafting state papers brought him no such joy as the free pursuit of knowledge, and he could not approach all public problems with the zeal of the explorer; but in all his tasks he could and did manifest the seriousness and the industry of the scholar" (Malone, 1948, pp. 55–56).

During his college years, two figures exerted the greatest influence on Jefferson's development. William Small, a teacher of mathematics and science, and George Wythe, the leading legal scholar in Virginia, were the two people who most shaped his formative years. It is from them that Jefferson developed a deep appreciation of mentors — a concept he would later apply as a foundation of the University of Virginia. Small instilled in Jefferson the idea of thinking with a free mind, and Jefferson frequently referenced him in his writings:

"It was my great good fortune and what probably fixed the destinies of my life that Dr. William Small was then professor of mathematics, a man profound in most of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of communication, correct and gentlemanly manners, and an enlarged and liberal mind. He, most happily for me, became soon attached to me and made me his daily companion when not engaged in school; and from his conversation I got my first views of the expanse of science and of the system of things in which we are placed" (Adams–Jefferson Letters).

Jefferson practiced law and represented clients — most of whom were involved in land disputes — but grew a reputation for being shy and an indifferent public speaker. Although not known for a combative spirit in the courtroom, he was well-known as an exceptional legal scholar and brilliant thinker and writer. His reputation for being highly educated and capable of independent thought preceded him, and his opinions were often welcomed.

Cunningham explains that although accomplished in many areas of study, Jefferson was driven mainly by his desire for the freedoms granted by the laws of nature: "Despite Jefferson's diverse interests and accomplishments, certain basic tenets motivated his life and shaped his actions in whatever challenges he faced. Of these, none was stronger than his belief in 'the sufficiency of reason for the care of human affairs.' As a man of the Enlightenment who believed in the application of reason to society as well as to nature, Jefferson throughout his life pursued the use of reason as the means by which mankind could obtain a more perfect society" (Cunningham, 1987, p. 6).

Although Jefferson's contributions to the separation of church and state, religious freedom, and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence are the central focus of this paper, it is important to note the other areas in which he made a significant impact. Historians argue that Jefferson is responsible for more than the Declaration of Independence when it comes to laying the foundation of the nation. Basic social institutions enjoyed today, such as the public school system, can trace their roots back to Jefferson. He was more advanced than many of his contemporaries in the areas of women's rights, the formation of public schools, and a prison system.

According to Maier (2000), Jefferson tried to enhance equality among Virginians in many ways. Maier cites Jefferson's article on "Rights Private and Public" as evidence that he supported granting poor and property-less people 50 acres of land and provided that females have equal rights with men in areas of inheritance and property (p. 29). Jefferson also proposed a free public school system in Virginia that provided three years of tuition-free instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic, languages, and history. Notably, Jefferson proposed this idea of public schooling for both free males and females residing in Virginia.

Religious Freedom

The issue of religious freedom and the idea of the separation of church and state have been the focus of much study and debate by historians and philosophers. Central to these debates are Jefferson's contributions, and because of this, a great deal of attention has been placed on his ideas, writings, and speeches. Religious freedom and the separation of church and state are two of the building blocks upon which the United States was founded. Historians agree that Jefferson served as a trailblazer and made significant contributions in both of these areas.

Regarded as a mind shaped by the Enlightenment, Jefferson is often grouped with great thinkers such as Newton, Bacon, and Locke, all of whom developed a radical approach to social, political, and religious ideals. Although not in agreement on all issues, one central theme emerged from Jefferson and these men: the world must be governed by the laws of nature. According to Jefferson, to achieve this, the mind must be free of religious intolerance, censorship, and the tyranny of both church and state.

Among Jefferson's most significant contributions to religious freedom were made while serving in the Virginia legislature and as governor. During this time, Jefferson authored several key pieces of legislation citing the need for reform and outlining the critical issue of religious freedom. Virginia became the model for the rest of the states to follow, and Jefferson is largely responsible for that.

Jefferson's insistence that the citizens of Virginia enjoy full equality in the exercise of religious freedom and the disestablishment of the Church of England was a battle he fought diligently for over ten years. The Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia, a historic piece of legislation, was authored by Jefferson in 1779, although it would not be passed by the Virginia Assembly until 1786, when Jefferson was in France. In the bill's text, Jefferson defines the issue of religious freedom and outlines the need for this "natural law."

It is accepted by many historians — Malone among them — that Jefferson's ideas were widely circulated throughout the Americas and Europe, and that this statute encouraged religious freedoms in other states and served as the foundation for the First Amendment's religion clause several years later. In Jefferson's draft of the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia, religious protections were not limited to Protestants or Christian groups but were extended to cover all. Jefferson's draft was also designed to withstand time and included a clause stating that no assembly could pass an irrevocable law, along with a declaration that the rights outlined were "of natural rights of mankind." These were concepts that were far ahead of their time, and as Malone points out, they were not widely accepted during Jefferson's era (1948, p. 278).

Jefferson's views on religious freedom contributed more than the practical applications of legislation. As Boorstin argues, Jefferson also contributed greatly to philosophical thought on religion, morality, and the natural rights of men. According to Jefferson, the essence of religion and religious freedom is not theology or denominational affiliation, but morality — not what men think, but how they act.

It is this ideology that provides the basis for religious freedom in Jefferson's view. Boorstin points out that in his Virginia Act, Jefferson listed as the first prerogative of a religiously free man "the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern" (1948, pp. 155–156).

By grounding a man's relation to religion in nature rather than in personal conscience or relation to God, Boorstin argues that Jefferson shaped the way society viewed religion and, through this theoretical argument, offered a new way to understand tolerance of other faiths. Jefferson had "provided a framework for political thought which qualified them to build a strong New World in an age when vigorous men could hardly have ignored such an opportunity. Yet at the same time they built a traditional framework in which their intellectual disciples and descendants were to be unwittingly confined" (Boorstin, 1948, p. 166).

Jefferson believed that religion reinforces morality and moral obligation, and that it would make popular government orderly and stable. Kerber argues that Jefferson's paradoxical idea — that religious faith equaling morality was a necessary ingredient in a social order that forbade establishment — became widespread and eventually persisted as a mainstay of political thought (Kerber, 1970, p. 208).

Additionally, Jefferson's ideas of religious freedom have contributed to more than just the right of Americans to worship as they wish without government interference. Jefferson is so critical to the development of the institution of separation between church and state that his writings have been used as a guide for consultation and legal interpretation. The far-reaching implications of his influence in this area can be seen in practical legal use even in the twenty-first century. The Supreme Court has relied heavily on the interpretation of Jefferson's writings as a basis for its conclusions in several landmark decisions.

For example, in 1947, the Supreme Court decided in Everson v. Board of Education that the Establishment Clause was intended to erect a rigid wall of separation between religion and government. The Court cited Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, in which he indicated that the American people, in ratifying the Establishment Clause, were "building a wall of separation between church and state" (Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Danbury Baptist Association, 1802).

Dreisbach contends that the Supreme Court's "reliance on Jefferson's view is so extensive that his pronouncements have become a virtual rule of Constitutional law. The Court has assumed not only that Jefferson's views have some relevance to the proper interpretation of the First Amendment, but also that Jefferson's statements regarding the 'separation' of church and state connoted a rigid barrier between government and religion" (Dreisbach, 2002, p. 3). The results of this reliance have been significant. In many cases, the Court has struck down various practices of state governments on the basis that they have encroached on the prohibited "entanglement" between government and religion.

Conclusion

It is difficult to summarize Jefferson's contributions — for better or worse — to the founding of the nation. The legacy that Jefferson left behind is one filled with grandeur, admiration, gratitude, and controversy. To analyze Jefferson against the contemporary political climate is virtually impossible, but as we have seen, Jefferson has continued to influence contemporary policy and thought.

Despite the expansive research conducted and the extremely detailed information known about Jefferson, he remains an enigma, shrouded in mystery. With all that is known about his public and political life, there continues to be a thirst for more information. Arguably one of the most significant figures in the history of the United States, Jefferson has been and will remain a mainstay in the study of American history.

Many, such as Maier, contend that Jefferson was "an appropriate if unconventional hero for a nation of doers — a man of restless energy who threw himself wholeheartedly into one project after another" (2000, p. 29). She further comments that Americans admire the range of Jefferson's interests, the strength of his dreams, and the power with which he stated his ideals, but argues that many Americans, like Jefferson himself, often have difficulty realizing those ideals in practice.

Both Maier and Ellis agree that the widespread association of Jefferson with the cause of equality and rights is well founded. Many of his proposals, according to Ellis — including his plans for the University — were "magisterial in conception, admirable in intention, unworkable in practice."

Perhaps the inscription on Jefferson's tombstone contains all the words necessary to sum up the life of such a significant figure:

"Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia."

Jefferson explained that "because by these, as testimonials that I have lived, I wish to be most remembered." For a man of such towering and contradictory achievement, that epitaph remains as carefully chosen — and as incomplete — as the nation he helped to found. Students and scholars interested in exploring Jefferson's broader intellectual context may consult the Wikipedia overview of Thomas Jefferson or the Library of Congress's dedicated Jefferson resources for further primary material.