身為政治學家,傑佛遜秉持古典自由主义與共和主義,制定《維吉尼亞宗教自由法》(Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779, 1786);該法日後成為美國憲法第一修正案創設條文之基礎,傑佛遜民主(Jeffersonian democracy)因他而得名。1792年傑弗遜創立並領導民主共和黨(今日民主黨之前身)。傑佛遜曾為第二任維吉尼亞州州長(1779年-1781年)、第一任美国國務卿(1789年-1793年)、與第二任美国副总统(1797年-1801年)。1800年傑弗遜擊敗競逐連任的亞當斯當選美國第三任總統,此後他領導的政黨統治美国達四分之一世紀,直至他的政黨1824年分裂為止。
傑佛遜工作於維吉尼亞的市民院。他於1774年寫下《英屬美洲民權概觀》(A Summary View of the Rights of British America),引領維吉尼亞地方議會走向國會。這本小冊成為美國人對英國殖民者們辯駁時的有力論據,促進美國人走向獨立自主,標示著傑佛遜為愛國者中思想最深刻的辯士之一。
1776年9月,傑佛遜回到維吉尼亞,並獲選入新成立的弗吉尼亚州众议院。傑佛遜於其任期中銳意改革州內法制體系,以使維吉尼亞成為民主的一州。他於三年間起草了126條法案,包括廢除長子繼承權、建立宗教自由、並使司法體系現代化。1778年,傑佛遜的「知識大幅普及散播法案」("Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge")促成其母校的連串學術改革,包括美國各大學中第一個成立的選修制度。
从法国回来之后,傑佛遜於乔治·华盛顿的政府中擔任首任美国國務卿(1789-1793)。他與亚历山大·汉密尔顿兩人之間開始對全國金融政策展開論戰,傑佛遜將漢彌爾頓與其他狂熱的聯邦黨人與保皇黨等量齊觀。1790年,傑佛遜深恐其擬之為「保皇主義」的「漢彌爾頓主義」佔上風,寫下「漢彌爾頓的信徒們跟著氣喘噓噓…並渴求帝王之冠、諸侯之冕、與主教法冠」("Hamiltonians were panting after...and itching for crowns, coronets and mitres")。[4]傑佛遜與詹姆斯·麦迪逊創立民主共和黨,並成為黨內領袖。他們二人與麥迪遜的競選總幹事約翰·貝克利(John James Beckley)所建立的體系,史稱第一政党体系。1793年,英法兩國爆發戰爭,傑佛遜強烈支持法國,而漢彌爾頓與華盛頓在締結傑伊條約後則支持英國,傑佛遜於是辭職隱退蒙地沙羅,後于1796年參選總統落敗,其後又獲選為美国副总统。
HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
傑佛遜受多名歐洲啟蒙思想家的見解影響極深,其政治原則來自约翰·洛克(尤其是不可轉讓之權利(inalienable rights)與人民主權(popular sovereignty))與湯瑪斯·潘恩的常識。政治學家將傑佛遜的思想擬之於與其同時的盧梭[5]傑佛遜相信,人類擁有「某種不可轉讓之權利」。也就是說,無論政府是否存在,人所擁有,不可創造、奪取、或轉讓的基本權利永存。傑佛遜對於自由的解釋最受重視,他將之定義為「正當的自由為,在其他人據相同權利劃定之範圍內,依我等之意願暢行無礙。我並未加述「合法範圍內」,因法律通常不過是專制獨裁的統治者之意圖,而法律的確就是這樣侵犯個人權利。」("rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’,because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.")[6]因而,對傑佛遜來說,政府不僅不能「創造」自由權利,反而有可能侵犯個人自由。而適切自由的範圍並非由法律所規定,而是止於他人有相同權利之處。傑佛遜認為,適切的政府不僅要防止個人侵害群體中其他人之自由,也要自我限制以防削弱個人自由。
以法官為一切憲政疑義之最高仲裁者之說法十分危險,任何釋憲的法官皆可置我等於寡頭獨裁之下。我們的法官既與常人一般正直,亦無逾常人。法官們對黨派、權力、與自身特權之偏好,亦無異於人,其格言為boni judicis est ampliare jurisdictionem─「廣為管轄即正義」。他們的權力最是危險,因其為終身職,且不如其他部門一般對選民負責。依憲法設立的法庭,非以交付予任何弊端隨時發生、成員專制的黨派;而是更明智地令其所有部門平等共治。[13]
傑佛遜於美國革命期間領導維吉尼亞實行政教分離。英國國教派當時受維吉尼亞州府資助,而傑佛遜在「維吉尼亞照會」(Notes on Virginia)中,取消以下法條:「若有人提及基督徒否認上帝或三位一體之存在…應受懲處。首先,取消任公職之資格…其次,限制收受禮物或遺贈…並入獄三年。」前此擔任公職者,據信連同傑佛遜本人在內,必須宣誓不相信羅馬天主教的圣餐變體論學說。1779年,傑佛遜完成「建立宗教自由之議」初稿,並視此案之通過為重要成就。對他而言,政教分離不僅是抽象的觀念,而是對基督教各派互以他派為異端的宗教「專制」之必要改革。
紀錄顯示,傑佛遜一生中曾擁有逾650名奴隸,其中有是自雙親及妻方繼承而來,也有許多是因債權而扣留之資產。他既公開坦承相信奴隸制度不人道且終將絕跡,但他又繼續蓄奴,遭批評為偽善。1801年,在總統大選過後,波士頓的報紙《新英格蘭守護者》(The New England Palladium)報導,傑佛遜『騎在奴隸背上進入自由之殿堂。』[33]
自傑佛遜在世時便爭議不斷的一個題材,他是否女奴莎麗·海明斯子女之父,此一說法自1802年起廣泛得到公眾關注。記者詹姆斯·科連德(James T. Callender)於里奇蒙的地方報刊中寫道,海明斯曾為傑佛遜之『情妇』,長達數年之久,並為傑佛遜生下多名子女[37]。傑佛遜未曾對此作任何公開回應,但其遺囑中要求予海明斯之兩子艾斯頓(Eston)與麥迪遜·海明斯(Madison Hemings),自由之身。兩人後來聲稱傑佛遜為其生父。
1998年,一項對其DNA的研究,斷定海明斯與傑佛遜兩個家族間具有遗传上的連結,但無法確證杰斐逊本人為海明斯家族之始祖。三項研究成果於2000年代初期發佈,並公開出版。在蒙地沙羅運作的托马斯·杰斐逊基金會(Thomas Jefferson Foundation)[38]聲明『不太可能是…傑佛遜家族內的其他人,而非托马斯·杰斐逊本人,為海明斯子女之父。』托马斯·杰斐逊遺產協會(Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society)下屬一個研究委員會,由13名獨立成員所組成的學者委員會領導,[39]斷言,以傑佛遜本人為其始祖的理論站不住腳。『全國宗譜協會季刊』(National Genealogical Society Quarterly)稍後發文評論,莎麗·海明斯與托马斯·杰斐逊兩人間的關係證據確鑿。[40]
傑佛遜最廣為引述的警句『管得最少,就是最好的政府。』("That government is best which governs least")其實根本不是出自傑佛遜。[41]而出於亨利·大衛·梭羅對於公民抵抗的說法,[42]自其合眾國期刊與民主評論(The United States Magazine and Democratic Review)警句『最好的政府是管得最少的』(“The best government is that which governs least.”)改寫而成。 [43]
^ J. G. A. Pocock, The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975), 533; see also Richard K. Matthews, The Radical Politics of Thomas Jefferson, (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1986), p. 17, 139n.16.
^原文:I have recently examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth.
^原文:The Christian god is a three headed monster, cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites.
^原文:And the day will come, when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as His Father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva, in the brain of Jupiter.
^原文:Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on Man。
^Merrill D. Peterson, ed., Thomas Jefferson: Writings (1984), p. 347
^Reynolds (98 U.S. at 164, 1879); Everson (330 U.S. at 59, 1947); McCollum (333 U.S. at 232, 1948)
^Helen F. M. Leary, "Sally Hemings's Children: A Genealogical Analysis of the Evidence," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 89, no. 3 (Sep. 2001), 165-207. [1] (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆)
Thomas Jefferson: Writings: Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters (1984, ISBN 0-940450-16-X) The Library of America edition; see discussion of sources at [2] (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆). There are numerous one-volume collections; this is perhaps the best place to start.
Thomas Jefferson, Political Writings ed by Joyce Appleby and Terence Ball. Cambridge University Press. 1999
Edwin Morris Betts (editor), Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book, (Thomas Jefferson Memorial: December 1, 1953) ISBN 1-882886-10-0. Letters, notes, and drawings—a journal of plantation management that Jefferson left to posterity recording his contributions to scientific agriculture, including an experimental farm implementing innovations such as horizontal plowing and crop-rotation, and Jefferson's own moldboard plow. The Farm Book is a window to slave life, containing Jefferson's notes regarding the rations his overseer distributed, the daily tasks he required of particular slaves, and the number of yards he purchased for slaves' clothing. The book portrays the industries pursued by enslaved and free workmen, including in the blacksmith's shop and spinning and weaving house. Minutely detailed, the Farm Book is the most complete record of plantation activity in early America, casting light on the life of the Monticello plantation, its owner, and its inhabitants, both free and enslaved.
Boyd, Julian P. et al, eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. The definitive multivolume edition; available at major academic libraries. 31 volumes covers TJ to 1800, with 1801 due out in 2006. See description at [3] (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆)
Adams, Dickinson W., ed. Jefferson's Extracts from the Gospels (1983). All three of Jefferson's versions of the Gospels, with relevant correspondence about his religious opinions. Valuable introduction by Eugene Sheridan.
Bear, Jr., James A., ed. Jefferson's Memorandum Books, 2 vols. (1997). Jefferson's account books with records of daily expenses.
Betts, Edwin Morris and James A. Bear, Jr., The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson (1986). Correspondence of Jefferson with his children and grandchildren. Thomas Jefferson was never loved by his mother. Interesting
Cappon, Lester J., ed. The Adams-Jefferson Letters (1959).
Chinard, Gilbert, ed. The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson: A Repertory of His Ideas on Government (1926). Jefferson's legal commonplace book.
Howell, Wilbur Samuel, ed. Jefferson's Parliamentary Writings (1988). Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice, written when he was vice-President, with other relevant papers.
Ledgin, Norm. 2000. "Diagnosing Jefferson: Evidence of a Condition That Guided His Beliefs, Behavior and Personal Associations"
Shuffelton, Frank, ed. Notes on the State of Virginia (1999).
Adams, Henry. History of the United States of America during the Administration of Thomas Jefferson(1889; Library of America edition 1986) (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆) famous 4-volume history.
Wills, Garry, Henry Adams and the Making of America (2005), detailed analysis of Adams' History
Appleby, Joyce. Thomas Jefferson (2003), short interpretive essay by leading scholar.
Beard; Charles A. Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy(1915), emphasizes battle between farmers and financiers to control the government
Bernstein, R. B. Thomas Jefferson. (2003) Well regarded short biography.
Brown; Stuart Gerry. The First Republicans: Political Philosophy and Public Policy in the Party of Jefferson and Madison 1954.
Channing; Edward. The Jeffersonian System: 1801-1811 (1906), "American Nation" survey
Cunningham, Noble E. In Pursuit of Reason (1988) well-reviewed short biography
Dunn, Susan. Jefferson's Second Revolution: The Election Crisis of 1800 and the Triumph of Republicanism (2004).
Elkins; Stanley and Eric McKitrick. The Age of Federalism (1995) in-depth coverage of politics of 1790s.
Ellis, Joseph J. American Sphinx (1996). Prize winning essays; assumes prior reading of a biography.
"American Sphinx: The Contradictions of Thomas Jefferson." essay by leading scholar online at [6] (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆)
Ferling, John. Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 (2004).
Finkelman, Paul. Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson (2001), esp ch 6-7.
Horn, James P. P. Jan Ellen Lewis, and Peter S. Onuf, eds. The Revolution of 1800: Democracy, Race, and the New Republic (2002) 17 essays by scholars
Jayne, Allen. Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: Origins, Philosophy and Theology (2000); traces TJ's sources and emphasizes his incorporation of Deist theology into the Declaration.
Lewis, Jan Ellen, and Onuf, Peter S., eds. Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory, Civic Culture. (1999).
McDonald, Forrest. The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson (1987) intellectual history approach to Jefferson's Presidency
Malone, Dumas. Jefferson and His Time, 6 vols. (1948-82). Multi-volume biography of TJ by leading expert; A short version is online。
Mayer, David N. The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson (2000).
Onuf, Peter S. Jefferson's Empire: The Languages of American Nationhood. (2000). Online review
Onuf, Peter S., ed. Jeffersonian Legacies. (1993).
Onuf, Peter "The Scholars' Jefferson," William and Mary Quarterly 3d Series, L:4 (October 1993), 671-699. Historiographical review or scholarship about TJ; online through JSTOR at most academic libraries.
Peterson, Merrill D. The Jefferson Image in the American Mind (1960), how Americans interpreted and remembered Jefferson.
Peterson; Merrill D. Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation (1975), a standard biography
Peterson, Merrill D. ed. Thomas Jefferson: A Reference Biography (1986), 24 essays by leading scholars on aspects of Jefferson's career.
Schachner, Nathan. Thomas Jefferson: A Biography (1957)
Sears, Louis Martin. Jefferson and the Embargo (1927), state by state impact.
Sloan, Herbert J. Principle and Interest: Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Debt (1995). Shows the burden of debt in Jefferson's personal finances and political thought.
Smelser, Marshall. The Democratic Republic: 1801-1815 (1968). "New American Nation" survey
Tucker, Robert W. and David C. Hendrickson. Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson (1992), foreign policy
Wiltse, Charles Maurice. The Jeffersonian Tradition in American Democracy (1935), analysis of Jefferson's political philosophy