Levy, Leonard W. Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker
Side. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963. xviii+225
pp, Bibliography, notes, and index. $4.50.
A philosopher of limited government,
classical liberal ideals, and civil equality, Thomas Jefferson yet poses as a dichotomy
according to Leonard Levy’s Jefferson and
Civil Liberties: The Darker Side. He accounts for Jefferson's involvement
toward religious and civil liberties during and after the American Revolution, details
Jefferson's controversial support of Virginia's 1778 Bill of Attainder and
sometimes hypocritical defense of freedom of expression (Levy denotes that the
politician was open to exceptions when it related to his political adversaries),
as well as the results of Aaron Burr conspiracy, the Embargo Act, his repressment
of Federalist writings and sentiment, as well as Jefferson's activities after
his presidential term including the establishment of his beloved University of
Virginia intended to enshrine republican values. Despite, provided a thorough
exposition on Jefferson as a political figure, Levy appears to be agenda-driven
- successfully exposing Jefferson’s supposed darker side.
Denigrating Jefferson’s hallowed
position in the minds of the American public, Levy presents an often unseen
side to the otherwise esteemed Virginia statesman, showing how his "at one
time or another supported loyalty oats; countenanced internment camps for political suspects; drafted
a bill of attainder; urged prosecutions for seditious libel; condoned military
despotism; used the Army to enforce laws in time of peace; censored reading;
chose professors for their political opinions; and endorsed the doctrine that
means, however odious, are justified by ends.”[1] Due to these
scholarly findings, Leonard W. Levy explores Jefferson’s political and social
record and relatively achieves his stated goal to “determine the validity of
his historical reputation as the apostle of liberty.”[2]
Objectively, Levy could be pressed
upon to have utilized a more neutral approach to discerning Jefferson's
achievements and failures, yet his intension to critique the pristine image of
the Founder is well-founded. By opting to do so, Levy's work stands out as
rather biased despite his emphasis that enough books have been produced
praising the statesman. A fair reading would instead find the complexity of
Jefferson engaging and understandable as there exists a “tension between the
principle of tolerance and the habit of complete commitment between idealism
and the exercise of power in a revolutionary age.”[3]
Instead, Levy appears to convict Jefferson on all charges and rip his saintly
halo and drag Jefferson’s tarnished image through allegorical mud. “In his
effort to expose sin, error, and dereliction [Levy] has ranged through the
entire career of Jefferson, covering half a century or more, and has collected
a considerable pile of what he regards as dirt...and while admitting that
balance is not his objective, [Levy] claims that in fact he is restoring it.”[4]
Astutely Trevor Colbourn notes that Jefferson was a “politician- (and with all
it connotes) a superb one. Jefferson does not need to be protected from
himself; virtues clearly outweigh his vices; like most human beings Jefferson
was not always on the side of angels,”[5]
and rightly so, suggests that Levy has constructed an unnecessarily embellished
interpretation in order to prove his thesis.
Although Levy reveals clear partiality,
his portrayal of Jefferson’s actions which stand contrary to national memory
and his abandonment of privately held and publically espoused ideals is a
credible aspect of his career that ought to be further explored. In The Darker Side, Levy provides an account
that carries significant weight in furthering a genuine exploration of America’s
most revered historical figures, including their exalted and broken
particularities. Though harshly critiquing Jefferson's conflicting ideals and
actions while in power, Levy offers an insightful and weighty account of a
passionate supporter of liberty while engaging in the humanistic portrayal of a
flawed and complex individual attempting to achieve the hopes enshrined in his
political and philosophical ponderings.
Bibliography
Levy, Leonard W. Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker
Side. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1963.
Scholarly Reviews
Consulted:
Colbourn,
Trevor. “Jefferson
and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side by Leonard W. Levy” The Journal
of American History 51,
no. 2 (1964): 297-99.
Harrison,
Joseph H. “Jefferson
and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side by Leonard W. Levy” The William
and Mary Quarterly 21,
no. 3 (1964): 451-54.
Malone,
Dumas. “Jefferson
and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side by Leonard W. Levy” The
American Historical Review 69,
no. 3 (1964): 787-89.
No comments:
Post a Comment