Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson's views on freedom of religion and freedom of the press reflect those of a well-thought out balanced approach to public policy. This balance encompassed differences in personal opinion including his own beliefs as well as the pros and cons of granting these freedoms as illustrated in this paper.
With regards to freedom of religion, Jefferson's own roots in Deism that espouses the belief in a creator manifests itself throughout The Declaration of Independence when he uses terms such as "Creator," "Nature's God," and "Divine Providence." Further, Jefferson believed that people obtained rights such as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" from this Creator. Even so, Jefferson was a strong ally of religious freedom, commenting that, "The constitutional freedom of religion [is] the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights." Reflecting his support for the separation of church and state, Jefferson wrote, "Religion is a subject on which I have ever been most scrupulously reserved. I have considered it as a matter between every man and his Maker in which no other, and far less the public, had a right to intermeddle."
Jefferson was concerned with the abuses of the press as evidenced by the following quote:
The most effectual engines for [pacifying a nation] are the public papers... [A despotic] government always [keeps] a kind of standing army of newswriters who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, [invent] and put into the papers whatever might serve the ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper."
But, these concerns were not enough to outweigh what Jefferson considered to be the necessity for freedom of the press, "The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure."
Bibliography
Thomas Jefferson." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_JeffersonAvailable 25 Oct. 2005.
Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government, Freedom of Religion http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm. Available 25 Oct. 2005.
Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government, Freedom of the Press. http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1600.htm. Available 25 Oct. 2005.
Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence Of all the men known as the Founding Fathers of the United States, perhaps the man most discussed is Thomas Jefferson. He was instrumental in the creation of the country through his participation with the First and Second Continental Congress and in ensuring the successful beginning of the nation following the American Revolution. Besides being Vice President to John Adams, and then the third
Thomas Jefferson Politics Decisions and Actions Democratic-Republican Party's Beliefs and Ideals Federalist Party's Beliefs and Ideals Initiated the first Barbary War -- Aligned most with the Federalists party because it was a display of national power. They were terrified of a strong national government. They were strong believers of a central government Bought the Louisiana Purchase -- Aligned most with the Federalist party because they believed in expanding national power by expanding their territory and property. They understood
Summary of the three most important leadership lessons learned What one can and should learn from studying the life and thinking of Thomas Jefferson is that leaders are not necessarily born, but they are also shaped. What is takes to be a leader in those days, is similar to these. One needs constant learning and interest in different fields of activity that will cultivate not only a good understanding of their
Jefferson and Haiti Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776, marking the beginning of the American Revolution, and the establishment of a new nation: The United States of America. It may seem strange that the man who wrote so eloquently about the rights of man, and how each human being was invariably born free, could in fact be the owner of his fellow human beings, but it was true.
Though Jefferson played a major role in the development of the United States he preferred to be remembered for the things he gave the people and not the things the people gave to him. His final request was that his tombstone read: HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR of the DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE, of the STATUTE of VIRGINIA for RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, and FATHER of the UNIVERSITY of VIRGINIA. The Townsend Acts
He disapproved the religion intolerance that largely shaped the past of humanity, stressing the fact that it had been very important for people to get actively engaged in supporting freedom through any means available. Jefferson's discourse is somewhat philosophical in nature, given that it deals with concepts of morality and to the fact that people should refrain from putting across a biased behavior. He deals with problems that were contemporary
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now