Thomas Jefferson, the Classical World, and Early America

Peter S. Onuf, Nicholas P. Cole

University of Virginia Press, Oct 19, 2011 - History - 328 pages

Thomas Jefferson read Latin and Greek authors throughout his life and wrote movingly about his love of the ancient texts, which he thought should be at the core of America's curriculum. Yet at the same time, Jefferson warned his countrymen not to look to the ancient world for modern lessons and deplored many of the ways his peers used classical authors to address contemporary questions. As a result, the contribution of the ancient world to the thought of America's most classically educated Founding Father remains difficult to assess.

This volume brings together historians of political thought with classicists and historians of art and culture to find new approaches to the difficult questions raised by America's classical heritage. The essays explore the classical contribution to different aspects of Jefferson’s thought and taste, as well as examining the significance of the ancient world to America in a broader historical context. The diverse interests and methodologies of the contributors suggest new ways of approaching one of the most prominent and contested of the traditions that helped create America's revolutionary republicanism.

Contributors:Gordon S. Wood, Brown University * Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia * Michael P. Zuckert, University of Notre Dame * Caroline Winterer, Stanford University * Richard Guy Wilson, University of Virginia * Maurie D. McInnis, University of Virginia * Nicholas P. Cole, University of Oxford * Peter Thompson, University of Oxford * Eran Shalev, Haifa University * Paul A. Rahe, Hillsdale College * Jennifer T. Roberts, City University of New York, Graduate Center * Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, University of Virginia

Contents

• The Legacy of Rome in the American Revolution: 11
• Classical Moral Theory: 56
• The Case of Thomas Jeffersons: 78
• An American Agenda: 99
• Cincinnatus or Marcus Aurelius?: 128
• America and Ancient and Modern Europe: 171
• Aristotle and King Alfred in America: 193
• Historical: 219
• Cicero and the Classical Republican Legacy in America: 248
• The Founding Era and Beyond: 265
• Notes on Contributors: 301

About the author

Peter S. Onuf is Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia. Nicholas P. Cole is Junior Research Fellow in History at St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Thomas Jefferson, the Classical World, and Early America; Jeffersonian America
• Editors: Peter S. Onuf, Nicholas P. Cole
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press, 2011
• ISBN: 0813931827, 9780813931821
• Length: 328 pages
• Subjects: History / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775)