Essay On Thomas Jefferson's Letter To James Madison

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The beliefs and values embraced by Thomas Jefferson in his Letter to James Madison can be seen by some as archaic and insensible to a growing society. Although America’s values on the basis of economy and society have shifted somewhat, a few of his ideas can still be interwoven into how America regards itself. Another writing of Jefferson’s will be referenced in the course of this essay, since it has a clearer sense of why Jefferson felt the way he did about agrarian societies. This writing is Query XIX from his Notes on the State of Virginia, the final edition published in 1785. The points maintained in this writing support those contained within his Letter to James Madison, even if he is speaking specifically of the state of Virginia instead of the country as a whole. His main points are such: that the limited land and resources of England forced corruption to spawn, America has great potential to make the most of the land that is accessible to it, and by supporting one’s home country through husbandry and manufacture instead of excessive importing and exporting of goods, the government will stay stable and sustained throughout the evolution of the country. Jefferson states in his Notes on the State of Virginia that while one ideal may work in favor of one country, it is not assured to be of benefit to another. In this hypothesis, it is clear the author believes that to support a people, manufacture must be for the advantage of that state, not for the benefit of trade. This seems to be one of the most important ties to Jefferson’s belief that an agricultural economy was the best course of action for the new country of America. In Query XIX in Notes on the State of Virginia, he expresses that This points to his view that England’s lands were tied up in manufacturing just to get by, instead of creating a wealth of goods benefiting all who worked for a living. As more people moved to cities to escape the destitution of the countryside, they brought with them corruption, greed, and the poverty they were attempting to escape. This caused widespread nepotism and anger that could not be solved by the government. Jefferson viewed cities as the breeding grounds of corruption, where no one was to be trusted with voting. His idyllic voting population was that of independent agrarians, who relied on no one else to produce and make their living, yielding a voter who was virtuous, and if they were so self-governed The established customs in English cities were made to benefit the government. This goes back to post-feudal times, when landlords took land back from the freed serfs and slaves to build their own profits. This left those freedmen with no land, and therefore no way to provide for themselves or their families. The Parliament and Crown did nothing to help this situation, either, by claiming precious metals found on land, and prohibiting those who owned less than four acres of land from building cottages, set forth in the Erection of Cottages Act of 1588. Only an act passed thirteen years later in 1601 provided some relief to the poor, through the building of huts by church authorities, but only under permission of the manorial lord. This was later repealed in 1775, but not before gaining a reputation in which cities were incubators for demoralization and poverty, where the government helps those already in power. Jefferson may have seen the …show more content…
There is land set aside for reasons other than agriculture, such as wildlife preserves and national parks. Regarding that, does Jefferson mean that every available plot of land, whether park or backyard, should be used for agriculture? One may deduce that from this writing that he does. But in the grand scheme of things, he is chiefly concerned with Americans providing for themselves instead of being reliant on the craftsmanship and trade of other countries: In this respect, he denigrates the corruption of cities, but does not vilify the creation of culture or lifestyle, as in his letter To Benjamin Rush, This can be expanded to suggest that if he lived through the expansion west and the destruction of many lands from that development, that he may have acknowledged the designation of untouchable lands as

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