Jefferson and The Rights of Man: 1785-1792: Volume II

The two great events of the decade treated in Jefferson and the Rights of Man were the outbreak of the French Revolution and the establishment of a new government in the United States. Jefferson reported home with "extraordinary fullness" on the early stages of the French Revolution. "Insofar as he exerted a direct personal influence," writes Dr. Malone, "he did so primarily on Lafayette and a few other kindred spirits. The record leaves no doubt that it was a moderating influence." Jefferson's relation with the new American government is the major theme of the latter half of this book. In this section Dr. Malone sheds a revealing light on the early differences between Jefferson and Hamilton. He writes: "The best answer to the charges of disloyalty to the Constitution and Washington that were afterward made by Hamilton and the latter's partisans is provided by Jefferson's own contemporary words and actions. If we may use modern terms in this connection, he regarded the Hamiltonian system as tending towards totalitarianism." "With the possible exception of Washington," the author concludes, "he was the most sensitive of the major public men of his era, and he was far more disposed to battle for principles and policies than for his own interests. Perhaps that is the real secret of his eventual political success, as it assuredly is of his enduring fame. He was a true and pure symbol of the rights of man because, in his own mind, the cause was greater than himself.'.…