The Writings of Thomas Jefferson | Page 4

not be a kind of a half escape
from thralldom and tyranny, but it should be ample and absolute. This
theory is most admirably expressed in the opening of the Declaration of
Independence, of which he was the sole author, and which was adopted

almost literally as he wrote it: "We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish
it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations, and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their safety and happiness." Democratic principles cannot be
more clearly expressed than in the language above quoted, nor can any
creed be more clearly defined. It is but just to state, therefore, that no
individual American represents more distinctively the constructive
power of the principles of popular government than Thomas Jefferson,
who was then as now the greatest of all Virginians save
one--Washington. In all of his public acts he was upheld by his
confidence in the people, and he was so tactful at all times that he never
allowed himself to wander at any great distance from the masses of his
fellows. His faith in the reserve power of the people was imposing, and
by this trustfulness he stamped himself as the matchless leader of his
times, and among the greatest leaders of all times. Excepting, perhaps,
Washington and Lincoln, the name of Jefferson is the most
conspicuous of all Americans, and will endure longest in the annals of
the history of the Great Republic, because it must be conceded that his
theories of government have had more influence upon the public life of
America than those of any other American citizen, living or dead.
There was a sympathy between his heart and the great popular heart,
which time and conditions have never shaken. Expressions from his
writings have become axioms, creeds and rallying cries to great
multitudes of his countrymen. Three quarters of a century have elapsed
since his death, and yet his ideas, doctrines and teachings are still
quoted and accepted without any apparent diminution of their influence.
Cicero had in mind an exact prototype of Jefferson when he said,
"Homines ad deos nulla re propius accedunt quam salutem hominibus
dando."[1]

[1] There is no way by which man can approach nearer to the gods than
by contributing to the welfare of their fellow creatures.
Authentic history shows a persistent tendency of the Anglo-Saxon race
in the unswerving direction of personal liberty. The inhabitants of the
American Colonies revealed a tenacity and self-assertiveness in this
direction to a greater extent than had ever been shown in England. The
Jeffersonian idea has ever been that there shall be no king; that the
sovereign ruler should be placed on the same level and be judged by the
same principles as the humblest citizen; that the lords of the manors are
entitled to no more privileges than the poorest peasant; that these rights
are inalienable, and that any government which disregards them must
of necessity be tyrannical.
In his introduction to De Tocqueville's able "Democracy in America,"
Mr. John T. Morgan thus describes the formative period of the
American Republic, a period in which the name of Thomas Jefferson
must, if justice be meted out to him, appear in every chapter, and in
every important achievement that was then made:
"In the eleven years that separated the Declaration of the Independence
of the United States from the completion of that act in the ordination of
our written Constitution, the great minds of America were bent upon
the study of the principles of government that were essential to the
preservation of the liberties which had been won at great cost and with
heroic labors and sacrifices. Their studies were conducted in view of
the imperfections that experience had developed in the government of
the Confederation, and they were, therefore, practical and thorough.
When the Constitution was thus perfected and established, a new form
of government was created, but it was neither speculative nor
experimental as to the principles on which it was based. If they were
true principles, as they were, the government founded upon them was
destined to a life and an influence that would continue while the
liberties it was intended to preserve should be valued by the human
family. Those liberties had been wrung from reluctant monarchs in
many contests, in many countries, and were grouped into