“The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time

with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is natural manure.”

Thomas Jefferson – November 1787

Letter to William Stephens Smith, son-in-law to John Adams

Hence began the urban legend that Jefferson advocated an overthrow of government every 7 to 20 years. I also believed Thomas Jefferson, our third President and one of our Founding Fathers, advocated an overthrow of government every so often. I was sure I heard it from my high school history teacher or I read it in a book. If my brain retains any information it is history; sponge-like.

Then came January 6, 2021. I heard some Trump supporters quote the Jefferson urban legend “we need a revolution every 7 years.” I thought to myself, “Oh no, I think they maybe on to something.” But wait, I did not remember the quote used in such a context as the Trump supporters professed was gospel. In fact, did Jefferson actually say these words at all? If so, what did he really mean?

Not to be taken out of context, below is the complete paragraph Jefferson wrote in November of 1787 to William Stephens Smith, son-in-law to John Adams.

“What country before ever exited a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is its natural manure.” – Thomas Jefferson.(1)

Before he penned the above quote to Mr. Stephens, Jefferson’s previous letters indicated he had a strong appetite for revolution and rebellion against any government that oppresses the citizenry. In a letter he wrote to James Madison on January 30, 1787, Jefferson formulated three forms of distinguishable government. “Societies exist under three forms sufficiently distinguishable. One, without government, as among our Indians. Two, under governments wherein the will of every one has just influence, as is the case in England in a slight degree, and in our states in a great one. Third, under governments of force: as is the case in all other monarchies and in most of the other republics.”(2)

Click on the below YouTube link to view a short four minute video on the life of Thomas Jefferson. There are some amazing facts in this video. I hope you enjoy.

https://youtu.be/uAt1YLP3T34

As he continued, Jefferson stated he believed the second society was best for its citizens. “The second state has a great deal of good in it. The mass of mankind under that enjoys a precious degree of liberty and happiness. It has its evils too: the principle of which is the turbulence to which it is subject. But weigh this against the oppressions of monarchy, and it becomes nothing.”(2) Jefferson then delivers his rebellious rhetorical line.

“Even this evil is productive of good. It prevents the degeneracy of government, and nourishes a general attention of public affairs. I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions indeed generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them…It is medicine necessary for the sound health of government.”(2)

In late Summer of 1787, Jefferson entered Paris, France, as America’s Minister (later known as the Ambassador). When he left the colonies, the people were governed under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles were initially approved on November 5, 1777, and were a loosely set of rules used to govern the 13 colonies or states. The Articles created a centralized Congress and government. They also gave America her identity as a new nation. However, the Articles gave each individual state immense power over a central government. The Congress under the Articles could not tax, regulate trade among the 13 states, or have a central currency. However, it was believed that in time of war, the 13 colonies would happily band together and fight a formable enemy.

Jefferson was against centralized power. He believed each colony, or state, should be left alone. Because of his belief in de-centralized government, he (along with James Madison) became the the founders of the Democrat-Republican Party. Alexander Hamilton and John Adams advocated for a strong centralized government, to include: a national banking system, a centralized Army and Navy, and the power to tax the individual states.

While Jefferson was away in France, Madison kept him informed of the agreements reached in the Constitutional Convention being held in Philadelphia. The convention started on May 25, 1787. While Madison, speaking for Jefferson, advocated keeping some of the Articles in place, because they preserved the sovereignty of the individual states, Hamilton and Adams fought for the Articles demise. The end result of this fighting gave birth to our present day U.S. Constitution, on March 4, 1789. So, for almost 12 years, America was governed by The Articles of Confederation.

So, it was during the ratification process of our present day Constitution that Jefferson advocated social discourse every so often. The statements, taken out of context, could have been construed treasonous during that period. However because many delegates at the Constitution Convention agreed something had to be done with the Articles, Jefferson was probably assured some leeway. Joseph J. Ellis in his biography on Jefferson concluded, “These were extremely radical statements, which, taken literally – or, for that matter, taken at all seriously – placed Jefferson far to the left of any responsible political leader of the revolutionary generation. For his remarks suggested that his deepest allegiances were not to the preservation of political stability but to its direct opposite.”(3)

It seems apparent from Jefferson’s letters that he never advocated an overthrow of a democratic form of government. Jefferson wrote these lines during a time when the United States was not in its present form. We were under a loosely set of Articles, a confederation. In a way, the Constitution itself may have tempered Jefferson’s rebel notions. I can only surmise Jefferson believed we, as citizens of a democracy, have a right to rebel against our government. However, this rebellion takes form during an election and is carried out in a voting booth. If we do no like our current rulers, we can vote them out of office in a peaceful and democratic manner.

Fast forward to 1968. The country was in its worst civil unrest ever seen since the Civil War and possibly what we witness today. On March 10, 1968, Robert “Bobby” Kennedy was departing a plane in Los Angeles, California, and was asked what he would do about the civil unrest gripping the country. His answer was right in line with what Jefferson believed, “We should pass the laws that remedy what people riot about.” And like Jefferson, he also spoke of a coming revolution. Let us hope it is as “Bobby” quotes.

“A revolution is coming – a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough – but a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.” – Robert F. Kennedy, May 1966

Endnotes:

(1) http://www.factsmyth.com/factoids/thomas-jefferson-called-for-rebellion-and-revolution/.

(2) https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/little-rebellionquotation/.

(3) American Sphinx, The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Joseph J. Ellis, pg.118.

Bibliography:

– Chernow, Ron, Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Books, New York, New York, 2004.

– Ellis, Joseph J, American Sphinx, The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Random House, New York, 1998.

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