Jefferson's Empire: The Language of American Nationhood (Jeffersonian America)

Thomas Jefferson believed that the American revolution was a transformative moment in the history of political civilization. He hoped that his own efforts as a founding statesman and theorist would help construct a progressive and enlightened order for the new American nation that would be a model and inspiration for the world. Peter S. Onuf's new book traces Jefferson's vision of the American future to its roots in his idealized notions of nationhood and empire. Onuf's unsettling recognition that Jefferson's famed egalitarianism was elaborated in an imperial context yields strikingly original interpretations of our national identity and our ideas of race, of westward expansion and the Civil War, and of American global dominance in the twentieth century. Jefferson's vision of an American ''empire for liberty'' was modeled on a British prototype. But as a consensual union of self-governing republics without a metropolis, Jefferson's American empire would be free of exploitation by a corrupt imperial ruling class. It would avoid the cycle of war and destruction that had characterized the European balance of power. The Civil War cast in high relief the tragic limitations of Jefferson's political vision. After the Union victory, as the reconstructed nation-state developed into a world power, dreams of the United States as an ever-expanding empire of peacefully coexisting states quickly faded from memory. Yet even as the antebellum federal union disintegrated, a Jeffersonian nationalism, proudly conscious of America's historic revolution against imperial domination, grew up in its place. In Onuf's view, Jefferson's quest to define a new American identity also shaped his ambivalent conceptions of slavery and Native American rights. His revolutionary fervor led him to see Indians as ''merciless savages'' who ravaged the frontiers at the British king's direction, but when those frontiers were pacified, a more benevolent Jefferson encouraged these same Indians to embrace republican values. African American slaves, by contrast, constituted an unassimilable captive nation, unjustly wrenched from its African homeland. His great panacea: colonization. Jefferson's ideas about race reveal the limitations of his conception of American nationhood. Yet, as Onuf strikingly documents, Jefferson's vision of a republican empire--a regime of peace, prosperity, and union without coercion--continues to define and expand the boundaries of American national identity. Thomas Jefferson believed that the American Revolution was a transformative moment in the history of political civilization. He hoped that his own efforts as a founding statesman and theorist would help construct a progressive and enlightened order for the new American nation that would be a model and inspiration for the world. Peter S. Onuf's new book traces Jefferson's vision of the American future to its roots in his idealized notions of nationhood and empire. Onuf's unsettling recognition that Jefferson's famed egalitarianism was elaborated in an imperialist context yields strikingly original interpretations of our national identity and our ideas of race, of westward expansion and the Civil War, and of American global dominance in the twentieth century.Jefferson's vision of an American "empire for liberty" was modeled on a British prototype. But as a consensual union of selfgoverning republics without a metropolis, Jefferson's American empire would be free of exploitation by a corrupt imperial ruling class. It would avoid the cycle of war and destruction that had characterized the European balance of power.The Civil War cast in high relief the tragic limitations of Jefferson's political vision. After the Union victory, as the reconstructed nation-state developed into a world power, dreams of the United States as an ever-expanding empire of peacefully co-existing states quickly faded from memory. Yet even as the antebellum federal union disintegrated, a Jeffersonian nationalism, proudly conscious of America's historic revolution against imperial domination, grew up in its place.In Onuf's view, Jefferson's quest to define a new American identity also shaped his ambivalentconceptions of slavery and Native American rights. His Revolutionary fervor led him to see Indians as "merciless savages" who ravaged the frontiers at the British king's direction, but when those frontiers were pacified, a more benevolent Jefferson encouraged these same Indians to embrace republican values. African American slaves, by contrast, constituted an unassimilable captive nation, unjustly wrenched from its African homeland. His great panacea: colonization.Jefferson's ideas about race reveal the limitations of his conception of American nationhood. Yet, as Onuf strikingly documents, Jefferson's vision of a republican empire -- a regime of peace, prosperity, and union without coercion -- continues to define and expand the boundaries of American national identity. Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 INTRODUCTION Jefferson's Empire......Page 16 CHAPTER 1 "We Shall All Be Americans"......Page 33 NATURAL REPUBLICANS, UNNATURAL ARISTOCRATS......Page 38 THE FUTURE OF THE WEST......Page 48 PHILANTHROPY......Page 61 "YOUR BLOOD WILL MIX WITH OURS"......Page 66 CHAPTER 2 Republican Empire......Page 68 EMPIRE......Page 72 KILLING THE KING......Page 76 PART AND WHOLE: VIRGINIA AND THE UNION......Page 80 FRIENDS AND ENEMIES......Page 85 NATION......Page 91 CHAPTER 3 The Revolution of 1800......Page 95 PARTY TO NATION......Page 100 STATES' RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES......Page 108 "THE SPIRIT OF 1776"......Page 113 REVOLUTION OF 1800......Page 117 "STRONGEST GOVERNMENT ON EARTH"......Page 122 CHAPTER 4 Federal Union......Page 124 LINES OF DISTINCTION......Page 128 UNION AND DISUNION......Page 132 DESTROYING NEW ENGLAND......Page 136 EMPIRE OF LIBERTY......Page 144 FIRST PRINCIPLES, LAST RITES......Page 152 CHAPTER 5 "To Declare Them a Free and Independant People"......Page 162 INDEPENDENCE AND NATIONAL IDENTITY......Page 166 NATION AND RACE......Page 173 "KNELL OF THE UNION"......Page 197 Notes......Page 208 Bibliography......Page 244 Index......Page 258 "Peter S. Onuf's book traces Jefferson's vision of the American future to its roots in his idealized notions of nationhood and empire. Onuf's recognition that Jefferson's famed egalitarianism was elaborated in an imperialist context yields original interpretations of our national identity and our ideas of race, of westward expansion and the Civil War, and of American global dominance in the twentieth century.". "In Onuf's view, Jefferson's quest to define a new American identity also shaped his ambivalent conceptions of slavery and Native American rights." "Jefferson's ideas about race reveal the limitations of his conception of American nationhood. Yet, as Onuf strikingly documents, Jefferson's vision of a republican empire - a regime of peace, prosperity, and union without coercion - continues to define and expand the boundaries of American national identity."--BOOK JACKET.