Thomas Jefferson Imperialism Analysis
A precursor to the intellectual history that Spahn’s Thomas Jefferson, Time, and History presented, was Gilbert Chinard’s Thomas Jefferson: The Apostle of Americanism. Published in 1929, Chinard’s text is a tome at nearly 550 pages and it attempts to study the mind of Jefferson rather than his actions. Although it is nearly 200 pages longer than Spahn’s text, it is actually a much lighter read and does not get bogged down in terminology and prose the way Spahn’s work does. Chinard’s work is a biography of Jefferson, but the most crucial aspect of the work regards his time spent in France in the years leading up to the French Revolution. This segment offers the greatest insight into why he was so greatly adored by the American public again beginning
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He has been dragged through the mud by historians but he always seems to find a way to bounce back and stay relevant. In Joseph Ellis’ American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, the myth of Jefferson is taken head-on by Ellis who attempts to demystify Jefferson. This biography of Jefferson is unlike the rest of the aforementioned works, instead of being all-inclusive in its treatment of Jefferson, Ellis’ text examines snapshots of crucial moments of Jefferson’s life. Ellis’ goal is to “catch Jefferson at propitious moments in his life, to zoom in on his thoughts and actions during those extended moments,” and by focusing on “the values and convictions that reveal themselves in these specific historical contexts,” interpret Jefferson that way. (pg. xi) Although this is an innovative way to study Thomas Jefferson, Ellis’ work jumps around too much for the reader to keep a firm grasp of what he is arguing and it is easy to get lost in the information he is presenting. This work is significant and reflective of the state of the nation. At the time of its publishing in 1997, the United States had not yet entered the War on Terror or become entangled in foreign affairs in the Middle East. Additionally, the ground breaking text Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, written by Professor Annette Gordon-Reed, had not yet been widely circulated and thus the fallout surrounding the likelihood of Jefferson fathering children with his slave had not yet become revived as a hot topic of discussion. This left a void of attributes to assign to Jefferson, and because of this he became mystical and fascinating for Americans. His image often becomes a reflection of the prevalent issues of the time of a works publishing, however since there was no major issues that were impacting the greater American population, he became a
He has been dragged through the mud by historians but he always seems to find a way to bounce back and stay relevant. In Joseph Ellis’ American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, the myth of Jefferson is taken head-on by Ellis who attempts to demystify Jefferson. This biography of Jefferson is unlike the rest of the aforementioned works, instead of being all-inclusive in its treatment of Jefferson, Ellis’ text examines snapshots of crucial moments of Jefferson’s life. Ellis’ goal is to “catch Jefferson at propitious moments in his life, to zoom in on his thoughts and actions during those extended moments,” and by focusing on “the values and convictions that reveal themselves in these specific historical contexts,” interpret Jefferson that way. (pg. xi) Although this is an innovative way to study Thomas Jefferson, Ellis’ work jumps around too much for the reader to keep a firm grasp of what he is arguing and it is easy to get lost in the information he is presenting. This work is significant and reflective of the state of the nation. At the time of its publishing in 1997, the United States had not yet entered the War on Terror or become entangled in foreign affairs in the Middle East. Additionally, the ground breaking text Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, written by Professor Annette Gordon-Reed, had not yet been widely circulated and thus the fallout surrounding the likelihood of Jefferson fathering children with his slave had not yet become revived as a hot topic of discussion. This left a void of attributes to assign to Jefferson, and because of this he became mystical and fascinating for Americans. His image often becomes a reflection of the prevalent issues of the time of a works publishing, however since there was no major issues that were impacting the greater American population, he became a