Thomas Jefferson: Mastering Relationships

While studying the founding fathers this semester, one that stood out greatly was Thomas Jefferson.  Thomas Jefferson was a president of many accomplishments and advances in the country that we live in today.  Having said that, he would not have been as successful without the relationships he established along the way.  In almost everything Jefferson achieved, there was someone working with him.  Being very personable, mixed with his intelligence helped him gain the respect he had around the world.  Some relationships in particular were very helpful in certain situations Jefferson found himself in.  

Connections Inside the Louisiana Purchase

Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon 

Jefferson made a bold decision when taking on the West.  A few things had to happen in order for this expedition to take place.  Coming in close contact with Napoleon would be the first step. In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte took back the area of land that was previously controlled by Spain.  When things started to fall apart for the French, Napoleon had a surprise for Jefferson and the whole country. In the article, Jefferson, Napoleon and the Louisiana Purchase, by Victoria Cooke, she states, Jefferson wrote to Robert Livingston,  at the time serving as minister to France, "... we must learn at once wether we can acquire N. Orleans or not," and sent future president James Monroe to assist in the negotiations. Livingston and Monroe were authorized to purchase the city of New Orleans, but Napoleon's representatives surprised the Americans by offering the entire Louisiana Territory (Cooke 2003).   Andrea Wulf explains in her book Founding Fathers, that although Jefferson's

counterparts James Monroe and Robert Livingston had done their part in trying to clench the Louisiana Territory through Jefferson's instruction, Napoleon had other reasons for giving up the land.  "The French soldiers, however, never made it to Louisiana because almost all of them died, either in battle or from a devastating malaria epidemic.  In the wake of this disastrous campaign, and with his army decimated, Napoleon abandoned the idea of a French colony in North America and decided to concentrate on Europe instead (Wulf 2011). When Jefferson learned that he would be sending his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to embark across the entire vast unknown part of North America, the expedition became much more interesting.  Wulf tells her readers, "Originally conceived as an expedition through Spanish and French territory, Lewis's journey would now cross a continent largely free from European Rivals"(Wulf 2011). Due to the civil relationship that Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon Bonaparte had established, the Louisiana Purchase was a peaceful exchange of land between two nations with extremely different leaders.  Cooke writes, at that moment in 1803, the determination of Jefferson to acquire the port of New Orleans coincided with Napoleon's decision of rid himself of France's colonial responsibilities for the Louisiana Territory, altering the course of American history and beginning fulfillment of Jefferson's dream for a nation which stretched from sea to sea (Cooke 2003). 

Thomas Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis  

Thomas Jefferson and Meriwether Lewis had a very close and important relationship long before the expedition west actual went forward. When Jefferson served as Secretary of State under president George Washington, he proposed an exploration to find out what else was waiting for them in North America. Meriwether Lewis, a young man from Virginia, who Jefferson knew through family ties, volunteered to conduct the difficult task. He did not receive the assignment and it was given to someone else. Unfortunately, (or so they thought) due to a backfire in the chosen leader, André Michaux the expedition never took place at that time. Jefferson knew that the time would come to explore America, and that him and Meriwether would have to wait it out together. Tom Huntington wrote in his article, The Lewis and Clark Expedition, No doubt Jefferson kept Lewis's zeal for exploration in mind. In February 1801 the president-elect asked his fellow Virginian to serve as his private secretary. Lewis may have seemed an odd choice for the position, but we can assume the president had some other plans in mind for the young man (Huntington 2003). As Jefferson and Lewis began working together, their relationship built into a team.  He gave Lewis the mission to explore the west. Most importantly many historians reference the quote of Jefferson saying "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River", in order to find a trade route across the continent to the Pacific (Wulf 2013). Jefferson also instructed Lewis to do many other things, and Lewis was in a position to do whatever the president asked of him.  He requested things such as mapping the new territory, and gaining knowledge of the Native Americans, he was to observe the climate and animals that roamed the unknown land.  Jefferson became very fond of Meriwether.  He made sure that if Lewis felt threatened at anytime, that he was to retreat back rather than to push forward.  Jefferson and Lewis soon build something of a father-son bond.  In The Lewis and Clark Expedition, the author shares a quote from Jefferson himself, "Against losing time in the description of objects already possessed, honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves, with all these qualifications as if selected and implanted by nature in one body, for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him" (Huntington 2003). Whether people today realize the importance of this friendship between these two men, no one really knows what life would be like without the bond they created to make important advances in our country.  

Connections at Monticello 

Thomas Jefferson and his Property 

When Jefferson reached the end of his presidency, he could finally go home to do what he wanted to do, tend to his garden at the beautiful Monticello.  Thomas Jefferson was so passionate about what went into the ground around his estate in Virginia that it became a part of him.  One would say that Jefferson had a love affair with the plants outside his window.  Wulf shares that Jefferson used his gardening to bring his family together, "As with his daughters, Martha and Mary, in the early 1790's, Jefferson's love for his family and his

garden became intertwined in playful letters--almost as if nature became the stage on which to play out his feelings (Wulf 2013).  When he returned home in March of 1809, he immediately went out to inspect the farms and gardens he had missed so dearly. A quote from Jefferson shows up in Wulf's writing, "Never did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power" (Wulf 2011). He admired his collection of weeping willows and spring bulbs that had yet to begin to blossom. He was finally home.  Said in Founding Gardeners, Jefferson observed, but he could nonetheless feel his "vis vitae"--his energy of life--returning to him (Wulf 2013).  After a successful expedition west, Jefferson had many exciting specimens to add to his garden.  Many changes would begin to take place in his beloved soil and he could not wait to get started transforming his place of peace just like he did our country.  

Thomas Jefferson and his Slaves 

Thomas Jefferson had a unique relationship with the slaves that he owned.  He wasn't the average slave master but worked with his slaves to make their lives as "normal" as possible.  He made them feel as if they were an important part of Monticello.  Henry Wiencek wrote in his article Thomas Jefferson Slave Master, The big surprise that emerges from Jefferson is not only that he embraced slavery as essential to maintaining his personal standard of living but that he was at the forefront of efforts be Virginia plantation owners to modernize and prolong the "peculiar institution"(Wiencek 2012). Jefferson

provided the slaves with their own vegetable plots that they were allowed to spend their free time on sundays and evenings working in.  Jefferson would then buy what the slaves had grown and what he had failed to supply himself.  Wulf shares in her book, almost one hundred and fifty slaves lived at Monticello during Jefferson's retirement, and many of the families had their own yards. They sold to Jefferson cucumbers, potatoes, cabbages, squashes and lettuces as well as apples and melons (Wulf 2013).  Jefferson holding a fair relationship with the slaves he had working for the land helped keep the peace and allowed everyone to live a worthy life for the situation they were in.  As Jefferson said, "To give liberty to, or rather abandon persons whose habits have been formed in slavery is like abandoning children" (Wiencek 2012).  

References

Cooke, Victoria. "Jefferson, Napoleon and the Louisiana Territory." USA Today July 2003: n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com.spot.lib.auburn.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=459c3780-a439-4cc7-90da-86197203e5b3%40sessionmgr4004&hid=109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=10207995>.

Huntington, Tom. "The Lewis and Clark Expedition." American History Apr. 2003: n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=459c3780-a439-4cc7-90da-86197203e5b3%40sessionmgr4004&hid=109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=9044005>.

Wiencek, Henry. "Thomas Jefferson Slave Master." American History Oct. 2012: n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=abeacc44-0950-494b-bf62-9a84f109fb9b%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=78296636>.

Wulf, Andrea. Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. Print.