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The Spirit of 1776

Taylor Smith

The Age of Jefferson

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During the era surrounding WWII, America paraded the idea of freedom as a

means of trumping aspiring fascist empires. This included the creation of the Freedom

Committee (Freedom House), as well as a supranational organization known as the Free

World Association. With his leadership, President Franklin D. Roosevelt defined freedom

in a simplistic mannerfreedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom of speech, and

freedom of worship. These freedoms were artistically embodied in Norman Rockwells

paintings The Four Freedoms. Of the four paintings, Freedom of Speech is characterized

with a specific ambiguity that presumably shows a man standing and speaking amongst

the crowd in a town hall meeting. Regardless of the equivocal nature of the painting, the

ideas illustrated through Rockwells work captures a familiar theme present throughout

United States historythe spirit of 1776(Foner, 1998, pp. 221-227). Despite being

characterized by the contextual events of the 1940s, in order to understand this spirit and

how it persists throughout American history, students must examine the issues facing the

nation during the late 1800s, as well as the fear presented in Thomas Jeffersons qualms

with the Federalist administration of John Adams, including the rejection of the national

bank, disapproval of the Alien and Sedition Acts, and his plea to George Washington to

remain in office that led him to describing this spirit.

When examining the Kansas state history standards, students are presented with

revolutionary ideas and events in the 5th, 8th, and 12th grades. However, many of the

complex ideas of the time are conveyed in distinct manners. In the twelfth and fifth

grades, the Bill of Rights are portrayed as historical events, whereas eighth grade students

examine these rights as an idea that is rooted in the republican ideals of the pre-

Constitutional era. Continuing with the eighth grade standards, the state expects students
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to further examine individual freedom and the growth of judicial power in concurrence

with the Alien and Sedition Acts as an event (KSDE, 2013). However, as in Peter Onufs

Jefferons Empire, the concern of Thomas Jefferson in the latter years of the 1700s was

characterized by a fear of an anglophile, monocratic system that was developing due to

the legislative efforts of the Federalist administration of John Adams. Thus, when

defining the Spirit of 1776, Onuf presents the question of whether or not this spirit

encapsulates civil liberties, or if it is a form of enlightened public opinion. Regardless,

when examining the words of Thomas Jefferson through various correspondences, it

becomes apparent that Jefferson fears that the nation faces a bleak future if some sort of

revolution fails to occur. Having students examine the events surrounding Thomas

Jeffersons rhetoric would prove beneficial for their complete understanding the Spirit of

1776 a spirit embodied in ideas like the Bill of Rights, as well as the growth of

judicial power and individual freedom (Onuf, 2000).

Understanding Jeffersons view of the Spirit of 1776, begins with his contention

against the National Bank of the United States. As presented in his Opinion on the

Constitutionality for Establishing a National Bank in 1791, Jefferson argues against

Alexander Hamiltons efforts of charter because he views the bank as a usurpation of the

powers delegated to the United States; thus, incorporation falls within the 10th

Amendment, and that the commerce clause is a fallacious means of establishing a bank

power (T. Jefferson, 1791). That being said, Jeffersons objections of the National Bank

serves as a contextual factor in his letter to George Washington where he discusses the

conditions that require a resurrection of the spirit of 1776, as well as the postulation for

Washington to remain in office. For example, Jefferson states that there is and eminence
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of character on which society have such peculiar claims, and these claims include a bias

towards happiness, and restrain him to that alone arising from the present and future

benedictions of mankind. Ultimately, Jefferson views Washingtons occupation of the

presidential offices as a means of holding the nation together, as he, the great general, is

the spirit of 1776 (T. Jefferson, 1792).

Prior to and after the election of John Adams in 1797, Thomas Jefferson wrote a

series of letters where he consistently mentions the spirit of 1776, and the despotic

actions of the Federalist legislature, as well as the Adams administration. In his letter to

Philip Mazzei in 1796, Jefferson describes the conditions of the nation that changed after

Mazzeis departure. These changes, according to Jefferson, include an Anglican,

monarchical and aristocratical party whose main objective was to draw over us the

substance as they have already done the forms of the British government. That being

said, Jefferson believes that the Federalistsincluding Secretary to the Treasury

Alexander Hamilton and the Judicial Branchhave created a system that squandered the

publics republican principles. Thus this creation of a British model, calls for the need

of a boisterous sea of liberty, revering that of the Revolutionary era (T. Jefferson,

1796). Furthermore, Jefferson proclaims that the spirit of 1776 was not dead, and takes

on the tone that a revolution is near. This, as he explains, is due to the despotic actions of

the Adams administration with the Alien and Sedition Acts. Ultimately, Jeffersons fear

of the Anglomen and monocrats, fuels his passion for evoking the constituent power to

rise with their virtuous feelings of republicanism (T. Jefferson, 1796).

That being said, when looking back at Norman Rockwells Freedom of Speech in

the Four Freedoms images for the war bonds during World War Two, the man standing in
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the town hall meeting embodies Jeffersons spirit of 1776, as he seemingly speaks to

his local body politic. This spirit, with the rise of fascism in the early 20th century, was an

effective form of rhetoric that Thomas Jefferson worked to describe through the years

where he believed that America was losing its republican vision through the actions of the

Federalist government. Thus, the establishment of the National Bank, as well as the Alien

and Sedition Acts usurped the powers of the American public through the accumulation

of debt and the elimination of the freedom of expression. Defining the spirit of 1776,

and understanding the conditions that called for its revival in the latter half of the 18th

century is essential for students to fully understand the Bill of Rights, individual freedom

and the growth of judicial power as an idea.

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Works Cited

Jefferson to George Washington, May 23, 1792.

http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-23-02-0491.
Jefferson to Philip Mazzei, April 24, 1796.
http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-29-02-0054-0002.
Foner, E. (1998). The story of American freedom. New York: W.W. Norton.
KSDE (2013). Kansas Standards for History, Government, and Social Studies. Retrieved
from: http://www.ksde.org/Portals/0/CSAS/Content%20Area%20(F-
L)/History,%20Government,%20and%20Social%20Studies/Eighth%20Grade%20
United%20States%20History.pdf
Onuf, P. (2000). Jefferson's empire the language of American nationhood.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Thomas Jefferson (1791). Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank.
Constitutional Principles, February 15, 1791, pp. 1-4.