Word: jeffersonism
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...under that hall in steamy, summertime Philadelphia; an idea was proclaimed that would shake and reshape the world. Yet the entire world was hardly represented. All 56 of the signatories were white males of European descent, most of them wealthy property holders. Like some of his co-revolutionaries, Thomas Jefferson, who was primarily responsible for the soaring language of the document ("We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . ."), owned black slaves. In this context, what could "equal" mean? And why were only "men" created that...
Americans over 40 might be startled by a description of the Glorious Fourth that points out the racial, sexual and social characteristics of the Founding Fathers, never mind taking a swipe or two at Jefferson. But most of today's schoolchildren would not be surprised. It is now fairly commonplace to learn American history in the context of who has oppressed, excluded or otherwise mistreated whom. All across the country, students are imbibing a version of the past and present that their parents would not recognize...
Most of the revolutionaries were wealthier, more respectable types than Paine, including, shamefully, even slave owners like Tom Jefferson. But whatever their limitations, they were all proud sons of the Enlightenment. They believed fiercely in the power of individual reason as a guide to action, which is why so many of them defied majority opinion with their radical views on God. Any 1990s-style political handler could have advised them to go to church and mouth the prayers along with everyone else, but men like Paine, Ben Franklin and John Adams were deists, holding that God had created the universe...
Western thought since the Renaissance has considered that the course of mankind was ascendant, up out of the shadow of evil and superstition and unreason. Thomas Jefferson, a brilliant creature of the Enlightenment, once wrote, "Barbarism has . . . been receding before the steady step of amelioration; and will in time, I trust, disappear from the earth...
...some ways, there isn't. There's no law of nature that says only gifted speakers can be good statesmen. Thomas Jefferson, for instance, never overcame his stuttering. Ghostwriting, then, could be seen as just a way of leveling the political playing field--allowing voters to choose on the basis of issues, not speaking ability...