Light and Liberty: Thomas Jefferson and the Power of Knowledge

257 Pages·2012·2.443 MB·English

by  Robert M. S. McDonald (editor)

Light and Liberty
Jeffersonian America
Jan Ellen Lewis, Peter S. Onuf, and Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Editors
Light & Liberty
Thomas Je√erson and the
Power of Knowledge
edited by
robert m. s. mcdonald
University of Virginia Press Charlottesville and London
University of Virginia Press
∫ 2012 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
First published 2012
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Light and liberty : Thomas Je√erson and the power of knowledge / edited by
Robert M.S. McDonald.
p. cm. — (Je√ersonian America)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8139-3236-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-8139-3237-8 (e-book)
1. Je√erson, Thomas, 1743–1826—Political and social views. 2. Je√erson, Thomas, 1743–
1826—Knowledge and learning. 3. Je√erson, Thomas, 1743–1826—Influence. I. McDonald,
Robert M. S., 1970– II. Title: Thomas Je√erson and the power of knowledge.
e332.2.l54 2012
973.4%6092—dc23
2011022102
In honor of
Daniel P. Jordan
and
in memory of
Frank Shu√elton

Light and liberty go together.
—Thomas Je√erson to Tench Coxe, 1 June 1795
Knowledge is power . . . knowledge is safety . . . knowledge is happiness.
—Thomas Je√erson to George Ticknor, 25 November 1817

Contents
Foreword by Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy xi
Acknowledgments xv
List of Abbreviations xix
Introduction 1
‘‘The Yeomanry of the United States Are Not the Canaille of Paris’’:
Thomas Je√erson, American Exceptionalism, and the ‘‘Spirit’’
of Democracy 19
Brian Steele
‘‘To Di√use Knowledge More Generally through the Mass of
the People’’: Thomas Je√erson on Individual Freedom and the
Distribution of Knowledge 47
Johann N. Neem
Consistent in Creation: Thomas Je√erson, Natural Aristocracy,
and the Problem of Knowledge 75
Richard A. Samuelson
The Je√erson Gospel: A Religious Education of Peace, Reason,
and Morality 96
Cameron Addis