Thomas Jefferson and historical self-construction: the earth belongs to the living?
From: The Historian
|
Date: 1/1/1999
|
Author: McDonald, Robert M.S.
Thomas Jefferson in his letters to James Madison wrote the living generation of people should have control over the laws that govern them, and an inherited rule of law was an infringement on the rights of the living. However, in his private life he tried to ensure that his political legacy would pass on to succeeding generations.
"The earth belongs in usufruct to the living," Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison on 6 September 1789. It was a "self-evident" principle "that the dead have ...
COPYRIGHT 1999 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc.
This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.
For permission to reuse this article, contact Copyright Clearance Center.