Introduction
In this paper, I am going to discuss some difficulties of making e research about Thomas Jefferson. I am going to present the main problems with the respective arguments. The third President of the USA was a leader of great influence not only in his nation.
Thomas Jefferson is a huge personality whose political activity affected not only American history but also other states. It is not easy to write about him. He had a large activity in many political roles and during that time he took important decisions and undertook several changes which involved many people.
Difficulties writing about Thomas Jefferson
The main problem during the research paper is the large amount of information which is common for political figures of great influence. It is difficult to write about his principles of republicanism, his ideas about slavery, his critiques addressed to the government, and even about his personal life. He did not give only political ideas. He also played a vital role after he retired, giving ideas about education and other aspects of life.
The first difficulty comes because of the large diapason between his positions. We can write about Thomas Jefferson’s activity as a state legislator, governor of Virginia, member of Congress, secretary of state, minister to France, father of a university or Vice President. As we can see we have to choose between several posts. The most important, with no doubt, is the post of the third president of the United States. Focusing our research on this post we find out about is political philosophy and views. One of his main ideas about the state is the republicanism.
Jefferson was a leader in developing republicanism in the United States (Eyler, 2001). His republican political principles were influenced by such important figures as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This makes these ideas difficult to be analyzed. To be able to interpret them we must have some basic knowledge of Locke and Rousseau’s philosophy.
Another important point of his view was his idea about the connection between the liberty and the government. He stated that though the government cannot create a right to liberty, it can indeed violate it (Eyler, 2001). Nowadays is difficult to interpret this statement which is very critical for the government. All the governments in the world predict that they guaranty the liberty of their citizens. It is not difficult to understand that behind the statement there is a philosophical idea.
Another tricky idea to be interpreted is the necessity of forced removal and extermination. If we want to make an appropriate research about Jefferson, we have to make clear the political and social situation where this statement took place. Taking present the difference in time will help us analyze better the real context of it. In general is not easy to write about important figures in the past because you have to go as deeper as possible through a past situation that may be complex. Every act of Jefferson may be taken as positive or negative depending on the point of view of everyone. For the political figures, which work for the common welfare all the time, is easier to be misunderstood because they may affect personal interests of certain individuals in the society. Jefferson was an active speaker against slavery but he owned many slaves over his lifetime. This is another fact that seems very contrary if you do not take present other circumstances and reasons.
During his long career, he tried many times to limit the advance of slavery (Eyler, 2001). During the research is difficult to select the information by picking up the most important issues which “marked” American history. All the things mentioned above are related only to the public activity of Jefferson. If we search about his personal life we have to deal with other inconveniences. He was a man who had a complex life and it is impossible to state that his personal life did not affect his public one. The first thing to search about is the origin of his debts which never ended. He died covered by debts.
Conclusion
The complexity of his political positions is the main reason that causes difficulties in the research paper. This fact is common for important historical leaders. The complexity of their activity leads to the difficulties of understanding them.
As we see from these few facts presented above it is not easy to search and make analyzes about Thomas Jefferson.
References:
Eyler, R. (2001) The life of Thomas Jefferson. Web.