This was a unique performance...giving a newsman a government salary to attack the administration...

[NNadir]

I'm reading, in desultory fashion, here and there, a fascinating history book on the founding of Constitutional Government in the United States, called The Great Divide: The Conflict Between Washington and Jefferson That Defined a Nation

Most of the online reviews of the book note the author's clear distaste - many reviewers think it "over the top" - for Thomas Jefferson, which is probably why I'm rather enjoying it. Thomas Jefferson is almost certainly my least favorite "Founding Father" as the author of the phrase "all men are created equal," was a slave holder is mostly notable for validating the hypocrisy that has reached an apotheosis in the modern Republican Party; the "right to life" forced birth party that wants lots of children to be available to be shot in schools.

Jefferson did emancipate his children by his slave Sally Hemmings, but the majority of them were sold off under the terms of his will to pay his debts.

Jefferson was Washington's Secretary of State, but even so, spent much of his time working to undermine Washington's government according to this book.

The quote in the title of this post comes from the book is found on page 110 describing the efforts of Jefferson and Madison to convince Madison's former roommate at "The College of New Jersey," now Princeton University, to launch a newspaper to attack Alexander Hamilton, and by extension, George Washington himself. The ex-roommate, Phillip Freneau, a forgotten personage then known as "The Poet of the Revolution," at first demurred, but Jefferson and Madison prevailed on him to do a job.

The full text of the sentence reads, after stating that Madison convinced Freneau to found the newspaper, to "enter the fray,"

...Whereupon a delighted Jefferson offered Freneau a job as a translator in the office of the secretary of state. This was - and remains - a unique performance - giving a newsman a government salary to attack the administration in which his patron was supposedly a loyal partner.

Well, he wasn't a newsman, but Michael Flynn was a government employee, a general - Jack T. Ripper brought into the real world - in the Obama administration, so I'm not sure about "and remains..." but that's a quibble.

From the book's jacket:

Summary: "In the months after her husband's death, Martha Washington told several friends that the two worst days of her life were the day George died--and the day Thomas Jefferson came to Mount Vernon to offer his condolences. What could elicit such a strong reaction from the nation's original first lady? Though history tends to cast the early years of America in a glow of camaraderie, there were, in fact, many conflicts among the Founding Fathers--none more important than the one between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The chief disagreement between these former friends centered on the highest, most original public office created by the Constitutional Convention--the presidency. They also argued violently about the nation's foreign policy, the role of merchants and farmers in a republic, and the durability of the union itself. At the root of all these disagreements were two sharply different visions for the nation's future. Acclaimed historian Thomas Fleming examines how the differing temperaments and leadership styles of Washington and Jefferson shaped two opposing views of the presidency--and the nation. The clash between these two gifted men, both of whom cared deeply about the United States of America, profoundly influenced the next two centuries of America's history and resonates in the present day.

In many ways I find the characterization that the book's arguments do, in fact, resonate in the present day.

I suspect Jefferson, were he a modern rather than a historical figure, might have proved a favorite on Fox Noise, but that's just me.

[rsdsharp]

1. Jefferson borrowed heavily from John Locke:

“All mankind... being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.”

[brush]

3. Sheer hypocrisy on Jefferson's part.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. The phrase also appears in the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason.

I post about George Mason every year. I thought I had posted about the Virginia Declaration of Rights too, but I can't dig up any such post right now.

Virginia Declaration of Rights

Created: May 1776
Ratified: June 12, 1776

The Virginia Declaration of Rights was drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and the United States Bill of Rights (1789).

{snip}

Contents

Articles 1–3 address the subject of rights and the relationship between government and the governed. Article 1 states that "all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights of which ... they cannot deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety," a statement later made internationally famous in the second paragraph of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, as "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

{snip}

[brush]

2. OK, what was their big disagreements on running the nation?

Last edited Sat Feb 18, 2023, 10:38 PM - Edit history (1)

From the post I gather there were differences, but what were they?