The Road to Monticello

by Hayes, Kevin J. ;

  Regardless how eager Jefferson was to reach Philadelphia, he proceeded at a leisurely pace, partly by chance and partly by choice. Between Williamsburg and Annapolis, he stopped to buy a new horse. He subsequently made additional stops for a new harness and some veterinary attention. In Annapolis, he did some sightseeing and shopping. As he noted in his interleaved copy of that year’s Virginia Almanack, he also toured the new State House. The old one, which had so disappointed him nine years earlier, had since been razed to make way for this handsome new edifice. Construction on the new State House had been completed in 1774. The new building was a distinct improvement over the old one, though some found its modest cupola to lack an appropriate sense of grandeur. The cupola would eventually be replaced with an imposing dome.

  He also visited the Annapolis bookshop of William Aikman, who had settled here two years earlier. Bringing with him a wide assortment of books, Aikman had taken over a shop across from the Court House on West Street, where he established a combination circulating library and bookstore. Shortly after its opening, Aikman’s Circulating Library contained more than twelve hundred volumes on a variety of subjects. His advertising copy declared that the library contained books covering “the most useful sciences, history, poetry, agriculture, voyages, travels, miscellanies, plays, with all the most approved novels, magazines and other books of entertainment.”9 Jefferson clearly recognized the intellectual, social, and political value of circulating libraries. Many years later, he would say, “Nothing would do more extensive good at small expense than the establishment of a small circulating library in every county.”10

  Since settling in Annapolis, Aikman continued importing books and expanding the collection. He ambitiously hoped to make his library equal to or greater than any other circulating library in America. His bookshop developed a reputation as a congenial gathering place for local men of letters, and as his advertisements indicate, he sold much else beyond books. He also had on hand a supply of “wet goods” that included such items as old Port, London porter, and Cheshire cheese. Before Jefferson left Aikman’s shop, he had purchased thirty-one shillings’ worth of books.11

  After spending Saturday night in Annapolis at Middleton’s Tavern, he resumed his journey the following day, the second Sunday of his trip. Continuing northward, he reached Philadelphia on Tuesday, June 20, ten days after he had begun. Here he found lodgings with Benjamin Randolph, a cabinetmaker located on Chestnut Street between Third and Fourth. Jefferson’s note-filled Virginia Almanack reveals how his insatiable curiosity manifested itself during his stay with Randolph, whose parlor contained a large, handsome fireplace. The careful measurements of the fireplace that Jefferson recorded on one of the almanac’s blank leaves suggest that he must have climbed halfway into it to obtain such details.12

  The day following his arrival, Jefferson appeared before Congress to present his credentials. He aroused much curiosity on the part of the other delegates. Save for Elbridge Gerry and Charles Thomson, no one outside the Virginia contingent knew him personally. But all knew him as the author of A Summary View of the Rights of British America. Good writing commands respect. The writing skills Jefferson demonstrated in this work had earned him the respect of the other Congressional delegates even before his arrival.

  His fellow Congressional delegates attested to the literary quality of Summary View. Samuel Ward of Rhode Island, for one, had many good things to say about it. Describing Jefferson’s arrival in a letter to his brother the next day, Ward wrote, “Yesterday the famous Mr. Jefferson a Delegate from Virginia in the Room of Mr. Randolph arrived. I have not been in Company with him yet, he looks like a very sensible spirited fine Fellow and by the Pamphlet which he wrote last Summer he certainly is one.”13 Summary View had given other delegates a good impression of Jefferson and favorably disposed them to accept him at first sight.

  Jefferson brought with him a manuscript copy of “Virginia Resolutions on Lord North’s Conciliatory Proposal,” which further enhanced his reputation as a writer among the Congressional delegates. By his own account, the document had an important effect on them in terms of “fortifying their minds, and in deciding their measures.” Describing the overall impression made on his fellow delegates, John Adams said that Jefferson brought to the Continental Congress “a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent of composition. Writings of his were handed about, remarkable for the peculiar felicity of expression.”14 Making this statement, Adams did not specify which of Jefferson’s writings were handed about, but presumably he meant either his resolutions on North’s proposal or copies of Summary View, or both.

  In the coming days, Jefferson got to know many of the delegates personally. He was impressed with Samuel Adams, whom he found “rigorously logical,” “clear in his views,” and “abundant in good sense.” He later referred to Samuel Adams as the “Palinurus to the Revolution,” a reference to the helmsman in the Aeneid.15 He also befriended Silas Deane, with whom he enjoyed much intellectual conversation. As Jefferson interacted with other delegates, he impressed them not only with his capacity for hard work but also with the range and depth of his linguistic knowledge. Speaking with John Adams, James Duane of New York characterized Jefferson by his erudition, calling him “the greatest Rubber off of Dust” he had ever met. “He has learned French, Italian, Spanish and wants to learn German.”16

  True to what he told Duane, Jefferson made an effort to teach himself German. The next year, in fact, he visited Robert Aitken’s Philadelphia bookshop, where he purchased a copy of John James Bachmair’s Complete German Grammar.17 Bachmair’s introductory textbook gave Jefferson the basic rules of German grammar, syntax, and conjugation. Bachmair also provided lists of familiar phrases, dialogue in parallel German/English texts, examples of idioms and proverbs, practical vocabulary lists organized by various trades and professions, and sample letters in German. Overall, Bachmair gave his readers the basic skills to learn and apply the language.

  Jefferson progressed far enough in his study of German to translate some verse.18 “Falle doch auf Doris Augenlieder,” a song by Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, was one item he translated. Another was Christian Felix Weisse’s song “Ohn Lieb und ohne Wein.” Both works were best known in their musical settings—the likeliest way Jefferson encountered them. Though he learned enough German to translate these songs with the help of a German dictionary, he never mastered the language well enough to read it with ease or speak it with fluency.

  Soon after reaching Philadelphia, Jefferson spoke with fellow Virginia delegates and apprised them of what had been happening in Williamsburg. His first day in Congress he met with Edmund Pendleton. He confided in Richard Henry Lee around this same time. In his correspondence, Lee mentioned their conversation: “We had the news of Williamsburg by Mr Jefferson. It seems indeed as if Lord Dunmore was taking true pains to incur the censure of the whole reasonable world.”19 Lee’s paraphrase of their conversation suggests that Jefferson was more caustic in his private remarks concerning Governor Dunmore than he had been in his writings.

  Congress soon appointed a committee responsible for drafting a declaration to be made public by General Washington before the troops at Boston. John Rutledge and Benjamin Franklin were among the committee members. Known as the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking up Arms, this document went through considerable revision before it reached its final form. Rutledge drafted the initial declaration the committee presented. Congress debated the draft but remanded it to committee, whose membership expanded to include Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson.

  Jefferson composed a draft and then prepared a fair copy for the committee. The surviving manuscripts of both testify to his meticulous literary craftsmanship. Despite such careful composition, Dickinson vehemently disagreed with Jefferson’s version and wrote a draft of his own. As the author of the popular and influential Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies, Dickinson had helped to shape the poli
tical opinions of many Americans since the late 1760s, when that book appeared. Recognizing his literary skill and the ongoing influence of his writings, Congress let Dickinson prepare the final version Congress adopted.

  In the opinion of Jefferson and other Congressional delegates, including and especially fellow Virginian Benjamin Harrison, Congress overindulged Dickinson. The deference many Congressional delegates paid him seemed both humiliating and disgusting to Jefferson, but when he related this episode in later years, he told it with humor and aplomb. Like Franklin, Jefferson greatly enjoyed telling anecdotes. As a frequent dinner guest observed, “When conveying his view of human nature through their most attractive medium—anecdote—he displayed the grace and brilliance of a courtier.”20 Jefferson’s anecdote about the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking up Arms offers a good example.

  Retelling the story, he explained what happened after Congress approved Dickinson’s final draft of the Declaration of Causes.21 According to proper parliamentary procedure, further discussion on the matter was prohibited, but Dickinson blurted out one final remark.

  “There is but one word, Mr. President, in the paper which I disapprove, and that is the word Congress,” Dickinson said.

  To his chagrin, Dickinson did not get in the last word this time: Benjamin Harrison quickly rose from his seat to interject a final comment. “There is but one word in the paper, Mr. President, of which I approve,” Harrison stated, “and that is the word Congress.”

  Despite the differences between the final version of the Declaration of Causes as approved by the Continental Congress and Jefferson’s original, Dickinson did incorporate large chunks of text from Jefferson’s fair copy, which form some of the most moving passages in the completed work. In his draft, Jefferson wrote that the colonists had attempted every possible course of peaceful action to reconcile their differences with Great Britain but that liberty ultimately transcended sovereignty. He eloquently observed, “We have pursued every temperate, every respectful measure. We have supplicated our king at various times, in terms almost disgraceful to freedom; we have reasoned, we have remonstrated with parliament in the most mild and decent language; we have even proceeded to break off our commercial intercourse with our fellow subjects, as the last peaceable admonition that our attachment to no nation on earth should supplant our attachment to liberty.”22 Dickinson liked what Jefferson had written and used this passage in the final version of the Declaration of Causes, but he softened it considerably by removing the part about disgracing freedom by supplicating the king.

  Toward the conclusion of the Declaration of Causes, Dickinson paraphrased statements of Jefferson’s articulating the American reaction to unprovoked attack. Though both Jefferson and Dickinson had the conflict at Lexington and Concord in mind, their words do not mention the battle. Rather, they speak in general terms regarding any unprovoked attack, and their resulting statements apply to any and all attacks, those past as well as those to come. Their words bear repeating:

  We fight not for Glory or for Conquest. We exhibit to Mankind the remarkable Spectacle of a People attacked by unprovoked Enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of Offence. They boast of their Privileges and Civilization, and yet proffer no milder Conditions than Servitude or Death.

  In our own native Land, in defence of the Freedom that is our Birthright, and which we ever enjoyed till the late Violation of it—for the protection of our Property, acquired by the honest Industry of our fore-fathers and ourselves, against Violence actually offered, we have taken up Arms. We shall lay them down when Hostilities shall cease on the part of the Aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before.23

  Though intended only for General Washington to read before the troops, the Declaration of Causes appeared in print shortly after Congress approved it. The Philadelphia papers published it the second week of July, and publishers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island issued it in pamphlet form. Copies of the pamphlet made their way across the Atlantic, where they found favor with European intellectuals. Christoph M. Wieland, a contemporary German poet, published an appreciation of the Declarations of Causes in the newspaper he edited, Der Teutsche Merkur: “In every line of this declaration breathes patriotism and the love of freedom, and these lines really deserve to be placed beside the most noble words of Demosthenes and Cicero. It is proof that the fine arts and eloquence bloom no less in the English colonies than among us, and that the Americans can wield the pen as well as the sword.”24

  In the Declaration of Causes, Jefferson and Dickinson articulated ideas that remain pertinent for understanding the causes and necessity of taking up arms, especially in the face of unprovoked attack, but neither Jefferson nor his fellow delegates had time to dwell on the matter. They had much else to consider and to write. On Saturday, July 22, with Lee, Adams, and Franklin, Jefferson was appointed to a committee whose task it was to take into consideration Lord North’s conciliatory proposal. Having already prepared Virginia’s answer to the proposal, Jefferson was a natural for the committee. So far, he had greatly impressed other delegates. Though he almost never spoke aloud in Congress, his work on committees and behind the scenes proved invaluable. John Adams recalled, “Though a silent member in Congress, he was so prompt, frank, explicit, and decisive upon committees and in conversation—not even Samuel Adams was more so—that he soon seized upon my heart.”25

  His fellow committee members requested him to write the report. Imagine his thrill at receiving such a vote of confidence from the likes of Benjamin Franklin, the best-known and most-respected mind in colonial America. Jefferson’s completed work, “Resolutions of Congress on Lord North’s Conciliatory Proposal,” contains many of the same arguments as his Virginia report on the same subject, but in places Jefferson sharpened his attack and coined some more memorable phrases. He wondered how the nation of Great Britain would react if faced with a situation similar to what the colonies faced: “With what patience would Britons have received articles of treaty from any power on earth when borne on the point of a bayonet by military plenipotentiaries?” And he claimed that the American colonies deserved to be treated on the same footing as other nations throughout the world: “If we are to contribute equally with the other parts of the empire, let us equally with them enjoy free commerce with the whole world.”26 Jefferson’s response impressed Franklin and the other delegates. Congress passed the resolutions.

  Jefferson left Philadelphia the first of August to return home for the next Virginia Convention. By now, there was no denying that the American colonies and Great Britain were headed for war. Those who had retained hope that relations between them would be resolved amicably could do so no more. Those who had avoided taking sides could do so no longer. Those supporting the cause of American freedom would stay and, if need be, fight it out. Those remaining loyal to the crown would return to England or relocate to Canada or the sugar colonies of the Caribbean. The summer of 1775 was a time of decision: stay or go.

  Though his Annapolis bookshop and circulating library were thriving, William Aikman recognized that his loyalty to the crown would make doing business in Maryland increasingly difficult. Before the year’s end, he boxed up his books, closed his doors, and relocated to Jamaica. Samuel Henley left Virginia to return to England, but he hoped to return soon: he left his fine library in Williamsburg. Jefferson’s friend John Randolph—Peyton’s brother—decided that he could not support the American cause, so he left for England that year, too. With Aikman’s departure, Maryland lost a figure who was instrumental in promoting intellectual life in Annapolis. With Henley’s departure, colonial Virginia lost its greatest literary scholar. With Randolph’s departure, Virginia lost one of its finest bookmen. The looming war was taking its toll on the literary culture of early America.

  The letter Jefferson wrote John Randolph on the occasion of his departure indicates the conflicting emotions he was feeling. Having agreed to purchase Ra
ndolph’s violin, Jefferson provided instructions for its care and handling before conveying his regret at Randolph’s departure: “I am sorry the situation of our country should render it not eligible to you to remain longer in it. I hope the returning wisdom of Great Britain will, e’er long, put an end to this unnatural contest. There may be people to whose tempers and dispositions Contention may be pleasing, and who therefore wish a continuance of confusion. But to me it is of all states, but one, the most horrid.”27

  This letter provides keen insight into Jefferson’s attitude toward his personal and political responsibilities. “My first wish,” he stated, “is a restoration of our just rights; my second a return of the happy period when, consistently with duty, I may withdraw myself totally from the public stage and pass the rest of my days in domestic ease and tranquillity, banishing every desire of ever afterwards hearing what passes in the world.”

  Jefferson encouraged Randolph to do what he could to inform the English of the justness of the American cause and the steadfastness of the Americans to fight for their rights. He claimed that he would rather not have to fight for independence: “I am sincerely one of those, and would rather be in dependance on Great Britain, properly limited, than on any nation upon earth, or than on no nation. But I am one of those too who rather than submit to the right of legislating for us, assumed by the British parliament, and which late experience has shewn they will so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink the whole island in the ocean.”