Great Minds of the Founding Generation: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine

            The great minds of the founding generation, like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine were heavily influenced by history, political science, economics, and the philosophies that came out of the Age of Enlightenment. The culmination of knowledge available to these brilliant men instilled within them a new sense of reason, which fostered the seeds of “democracy, republicanism, economic liberalism, and the sense of American manifest destiny” (Shea 108). This Age of Reason promoted the ancient political ideology of Cicero’s Natural Law, John Locke’s right of property and pursuit of happiness, and Algernon Sidney’s principles of liberty and reason, to name a few. The United States of America was founded upon these doctrines and continues to use them as a guide today.

            During the eighteenth century, many of the Founding Fathers produced a plethora of writings, books, essays, pamphlets, letters, etc. that were inspired by the ideology of reason. Thomas Jefferson stated this fact when he commentated on the time and circumstances surrounding his writing of the Declaration of Independence:

The object of the Declaration of Independence was not to find out new principles or new arguments never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we [were] compelled to take.

Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion. All its authority rest then, on the harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversation, in letters, printed essays, or in the elementary books of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc. (Maxfield 71).   

            Jefferson was familiar with the Roman political writer, Cicero, and his commentaries on “true law,” which later came to be known as Natural Law or the Laws of Nature: “True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions….It is a sin to try to alter this law, nor is it allowable to repeal any part of it, and it is impossible to abolish it entirely” (Skousen 35). Cicero’s “true law” was written as the “Laws of Nature” in Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, and the inspiration for the sentence—“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson 154). However, the latter half of that prose was inspired by John Locke, who arguably was one of the most influential minds to come out of the Age of Enlightenment.

            It is no surprise that John Locke’s voice was heard emanating out of Jefferson’s brilliant letter for secession; since he once said, “Bacon, Locke and Newton…I consider them as the three greatest men that have lived” (Borgmann 25). Locke’s reasoning of civil government and the pursuit of happiness in his work The Second Treatise of Civil Government guided Jefferson’s mind and his pen:

IF man in the state of nature be so free, as has been said; if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to no body, why will he part with his freedom? why will he give up this empire, and subject himself to the dominion and controul of any other power? To which it is obvious to answer, that though in the state of nature he hath such a right, yet the enjoyment of it is very uncertain, and constantly exposed to the invasion of others: for all being kings as much as he, every man his equal, and the greater part no strict observers of equity and justice, the enjoyment of the property he has in this state is very unsafe, very unsecure. This makes him willing to quit a condition, which, however free, is full of fears and continual dangers: and it is not without reason, that he seeks out, and is willing to join in society with others, who are already united, or have a mind to unite, for the mutual preservation of their lives, liberties and estates, which I call by the general name, property (Locke 57).

            Jefferson used reason, philosophies from the Age of Enlightenment, and great wisdom from the past to justify arguments for human equality and liberty through natural law. He was not alone in this endeavor to edify and enlighten the minds of those living in the colonies. Other great statesmen like him, before and after Jefferson also contributed their brilliant commentaries on the subject of reason.

Benjamin Franklin changed the world in so many ways through his public service in government, his many inventions, and tremendously so through his pen. He also attempted to use reason to assist European gentlemen, who might have been thinking of settling in America, to reconsider their Old World traditions and beliefs before immigrating to this land. He eloquently stated in his essay, Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, the futility of European aspirations to acquire “civil offices” or similar employments, since there were “few” such “superfluous” jobs in America as there were “in Europe” (Franklin 131). An additional warning was offered to the European gentleman that there was a “rule established in some of the states, that no office should be so profitable to make it desirable” (Franklin 131). Spending a great amount of time in Europe and also understanding the European mindset of noble birth, Franklin advised any noble, who only relied on their name for worldly advancement, that Americans cared less about birthright and more about “What can he do?” (Franklin 131). As Americans persisted in pursuing and implementing the principles of self-government, it continued to grow into a land of industrious people, who were willing to work for success and not rely on the government for their support. The new American government, unlike the European governments of old, Franklin stressed, was not about to “hire people to become settlers, by paying their passages, giving land, Negroes, utensils, stock, or any other kind of emolument whatsoever. In short, America is the land of labour” (Franklin 132).

            An additional mind that rose out of the eighteenth century that pleaded for Americans to look to reason as an answer to solve their many problems with Great Britain was Thomas Paine.

The pamphlet that Paine published on January 10, 1776, Common Sense, had a tremendous impact on the United States of America and the course of the world forever afterwards. His reasonable words helped colonists to put aside their petty political, cultural, and economic differences and unified them. In what is considered as America’s “first bestseller” (Wilson Quarterly 80), which sold over 120,000 copies in the first three months (Liell 16), Paine offered “nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense” to his American audience (Paine 136). Paine explained how the fight for independence was greater than anything anyone could imagine and would have lasting affects until the end of time: “The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. ’Tis not the affair of a city, a county, a province, or a kingdom; but of a continent....’Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected even to the end of time by the proceedings now” (Paine 136). Commons Sense was instrumental in helping “the American people to form a government from scratch” (Nash 12-18).

            Paine’s argument on the viability of independence helped to ease the minds of Americans living in the colonials; it had changed their opinions on this issue and settled some of their fears. Edmund Randolph, who became the second Secretary of State of the United States, said concerning Paine’s work: “the public sentiment which a few weeks before had shuddered at the tremendous obstacles, with which independence was environed, overleaped every barrier” (Larkin 8). The political theorist and economist, Murray Rothbard, said that “Tom Paine had, at a single blow, become the voice of the American Revolution and the greatest single force in propelling it to completion and independence” (Smith). Even John Adams admitted that because of Thomas Paine and the publication of Common Sense, “the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain” (Smith).

            All three of these men contributed great words and reason that changed the world forever. Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence has been the model for other nations when drafting their laws; as well as Paine’s common sense reasoning contributed to liberating revolutions in and outside of the United States. Franklin’s understanding of human nature motivated him to leave a surplus of printed wisdom that has inspired the minds of Americans until this day. The ideals and principles of republicanism and liberty left by these great men have continued to guide and direct American leaders, the American public, and the world.

Bibliography

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Skousen, W. Cleon. The Five Thousand Year Leap: 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World. Franklin: American Documuent, LLC, 1981. Print.

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"Tom Paine's Myth." Wilson Quarterly 30 30.3 (2006): 80. Print.