Readings in Early American History
Merrill D. Peterson (1921-2009)
Peterson, Merrill D. The Jefferson Image in the American Mind. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1960.
CONTENTS
Prologue: THE APOTHEOSIS, 3
Benedict Arnold, 12
Uriah P. Levy, 13
David d'Angers, 13
Book One
One RESURRECTION, 17
1. The Election of 1828, 20
2. Jefferson's Memoirs, 29
3. Virginia: State Rights, Democracy, and Slavery, 36
4. South Carolina Nullification, 51
Two DEMOCRACY I, 67
1. The Jacksonians, 69
2. The Conservatives, 87
3. The Whigs, 99
Three HISTORY I, 112
1. The Character of Jefferson: Virginia, 115
2. The Character of Jefferson: Massachusetts, 130
3. Episodes: Mecklenburg and Burr, 140
4. Henry S. Randall, 149
Four UNION, 162
1. Slavery and Abolitionism, 164
2. The Republican Jefferson, 189
3. War, the Nemesis, 209
Book Two
Five REDIVIVUS, 229
1. Who Was Thomas Jefferson?, 231
2. Touch the Bones of Jefferson, 250
3. Republic or Empire, 266
Six HISTORY II, 277
1. Henry Adams, 280
2. Quest for the Document, 291
3. Beard and the Parties, 309
4. Parrington and the Jeffersonian Tradition, 321
Seven DEMOCRACY II, 330
1. The New Hamiltonians, 333
2. Claude Bowers and the "New Jefferson," 347
3. Jefferson and the New Deal, 355
Eight CULTURE, 377
1. Monticello: The Shrine, 380
2. The Civilized Man: The Academy, 394
3. The Jefferson Memorial: The Temple, 420
4. The Thomas Jefferson Bicentennial, 432
Epilogue: THE LENGTHENING SHADOW, 443
Guide to Sources, 459
Henry S. Randall, The Life of Jefferson, III (N.Y., 1858). This is the best account of the last days, death, and burial of Jefferson.
N.Y. Eve. Post, August 2, 1826. Contains the report of Jefferson's son-in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph.
Thomas Donaldson, The House in which Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, (Phila., 1898). There are numerous recollections by his grandchildren. This source contains the recollections of Septima Randolph Meikleham.
David M. R. Culbreth, The University of Virginia (N.Y., 1908) reprints an interesting but probably inaccurate account of the funeral.
Letter by Henry R. Worthington to R. B. Hicks, July 5, 1826 (MS, Alderman Library, University of Virginia). This letter is valuable on the funeral of Jefferson.
The history of the lottery and subscription funds may be reconstructed from the newspapers, especially the Richmond Enquirer, though Randall is helpful as always.
The leading Eastern newspapers carry the reports of the Jubilee, the deaths of Jefferson and Adams, and the public observances.
Lyman Butterfield, “The Jubilee of Independence, July 4, 1826," Va. Mag. of Hist. and Biog., LXI (April 1953) re-creates the occasion.
For interesting reactions and reflections:
Alexander H. Everett, America (Phila., 1827).
John P. Kennedy, ed., Memoirs of the Life of William Wirt (Phila., 1849).
Charles Chauncey Binney, Life of Horace Binney (Phila., 1903).
"A Yankee," A Glance at the Times... (Phila., 1827).
George Lippard, Jubilee in Washington and His Generals, or Legends of the Revolution (Phila., 1847).
The event is later recalled by Robert C. Winthrop, A Century of Self-Government (Boston, 1876).
Still later by Francis N. Thorpe, "Adams and Jefferson: 1826-1926," No. Amer. Rev., CCXXIII (June 1926).
Eighteen of the eulogies are included in A Selection of Eulogies, pronounced in the Several States, in Honor of those Illustrious Patriots and Statesmen, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (Hartford, 1826).
The volume offers a good cross section of a vast literature, but it omits four of the best eulogies:
Nicholas Biddle's before the American Philosophical Society.
Samuel L. Mitchill's before the N.Y. Lyceum of Natural History.
Samuel Harrison Smith's before the Columbian Institute of Washington.
Edward Everett's in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
T. P. H. Lyman's Life of Thomas Jefferson (Phila., 1826) suggests the range of public knowledge.
On Jefferson's assets and liabilities as a hero, see Dixon Wecter's chapter in The Hero in America: A Chronicle of Hero-Worship (N.Y., 1941).
Randall covers the settlement of Jefferson's estate. The Edgehill-Randolph Papers at the Univ. of Va. contains useful information, as does the Register Debates in Congress for several years after Jefferson's death. Paul Wilstach's definitive account.
There are numerous reports on Monticello and its deterioration:
Anne Royall, Southern Tour.(Phila., 1830)
George Leiper in the National Gazette (Philadelphia), September 6, 1833, with a Virginian's rejoinder, September 25, 1833
J. S. Buckingham, The Slave States of America (London, 1842)
Benson J. Lossing, "Monticello," Harper's New Monthly Mag., VII (July 1853).
An intimate view of Martha Jefferson Randolph and her father is in the reminiscences of Margaret Bayard Smith, The First Forty Years of Washington Society, Gaillard Hunt, ed. (London, 1906).
See also the brief sketch by a granddaughter, Sarah N. Randolph, in Sarah Butler and Agnes Irwin, eds., Worthy Women of Our First Century (Phila., 1877)
A biography by Mildred Criss, Jefferson's Daughter (N.Y., 1948).
On the David d'Angers statue, see Réception de la Statue de Thomas Jefferson... (Mesnil, 1905).
For the debate in Congress on Levy's gift, Register of Debates, 23 Cong., 1 Sess.
For the final acceptance, Report of the Senate Committee on Buildings and Grounds, 43 Cong., 1 Sess., February 25, 1874 (Number 138).
George Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feelings (N.Y., 1952) provides the
best single background against which to understand Jefferson's reaction to
political events before his death. Niles' Register is particularly valuable as a
depositary of National Republican thinking. Henry Clay's speeches have the
same usefulness for this study. See his collected Works, Calvin Colton, ed.,
7 v. (N.Y., 1897). Joseph Dorfman treats the American System political eco-
nomists and their foes in The Economic Mind in American Civilization, II
(N.Y., 1946). Leading theoretical statements for the opposition: Thomas
Cooper, Lectures on the Elements of Political Economy (Columbia, S.C., 1826)
and Thomas R. Dew, Lectures on the Restrictive System (Richmond, 1829).
See also the collected writings of William B. Giles, Political Miscellanies
(Richmond, 1829). Niles's counterpoise is Condy Raguet's Free Trade Advocate.
Martin Van Buren recalls his visit to Monticello in his Autobiography, J. C.
Fitzpatrick, ed., Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the
Year 1918, II (Wash., 1920). It is valuable for his views of political parties,
but see in addition Inquiry into the Origin & Course of Political Parties in
the United States, Edited by his Sons (N.Y., 1867). An abridged version of
his Senate speech of 1828, "On the Powers of the Vice-Presidency," is in
William M. Holland, The Life and Political Opinions of Martin Van Buren
(Hartford, 1836). The Old Republicanism, which Van Buren typified, is evoked
Index, 523
