Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address Analysis

Thomas Jefferson, sometimes referred to as the father of liberty, has played a key role in not only American history, but also American Literature. From writing the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, the Notes on the State of Virginia, various letters, and even to his own Inaugural Address, it is easy to spot the very basis of American principles. However, underneath the historical significance of the documents, Jefferson’s change in writing style and even his personal opinions are revealed.

The Declaration of Independence something, at one point, every American has read. It is truly a remarkable piece of literature. The care that Jefferson painstakingly placed into this one document, shows the personal …show more content…
While he was Vice-President in 1798 he wrote The Kentucky Resolutions in response to the Sedition Acts, “which outlawed all opposition to the government” (Study Sheets). Now in The Kentucky Resolutions, Jefferson reveals that “it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions... ” (Study Sheets), he writes this in his views against powerful governments, as this will only bring about another tyrant, and the only way for the people to be confident in their government is to give them restraints or else the people live in fear. This being said a look at his First Inaugural Address highlights the change in his views. Side by side both documents reveals Jefferson’s contradiction as in his famous line “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists”(Study Sheets), while it is unity he speaks of, inevitability he reveals the transition of his belief that all political authority are tyrants is similar to his “innate faith in the American people” (Study Sheets), thus the two documents highlight his change in mindset of how the government is to be ran. Outside of the previous comparison, Jefferson’s Inaugural Address also reveals the beginning basis for his presidency through the use of his language, as “Jefferson summoned the American people-”fellow citizens,” “us,” “we,” “brethren of the same principle”- …show more content…
He wrote immensely about five freedoms, political, personal, religious, intellectual, and social. While political, intellectual, and social freedom has previously been touched upon, religious and personal freedom need a little more depth due to weight they held in his writings. Regarding religious freedom, Jefferson was often considered the enemy of religion, as he made it so that one was not only free to their own religion, but also free from religion (Study Sheets). In Jefferson’s Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom he states that “Almighty God hath created the mind free… that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments… tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness,” and “that impious presumption of legislators…[who] have assumed dominion over the faith of others,” by this Jefferson has given the Virginians power in the fact their legislature cannot control their faith, nor favor one faith over another (Letter of Oct. 7). “‘Separation of Church in State’ was coined in 1802 in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association” (Rogers). The Baptists asked “what religious privileges we enjoy… as favors granted not inalienable rights… are inconsistent with the rights of freemen” knowing “at the time, the First Amendment applied only to the federal Government”