How to Explain Jefferson’s Royalist Statements in Early 1780s? A New Approach

• In Event: Poster Session: Political Thought and Philosophy & International History and Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Political Thought and Philosophy: Historical Approaches

Abstract

Harvard political scientist and historian Eric Nelson meticulously documents that quite counterintuitively, in 1770s-1780s, Jefferson sometimes clearly displayed some striking “defense of Royalist position,” even though he was, by all means, a staunch believer of the “whig political and constitutional theory.” Traditionally speaking, modern scholars tend to treat Jefferson’s defense of Royalist position as merely a “sarcasm and irony” rhetorical strategy adopted by him in the fierce battle against George the third. The author will argue something quite different from this usual reading. The author discovers that after considering the British parliamentary history during 1770s-1780s and Jefferson’s personal relationship with all sorts of Whig politicians, it is highly possible that part of Jefferson’s defense of Royalist position could actually be quite ingenuous and wholehearted. Particularly, if we closely consider Jefferson’s intimate interaction with the “new” Whig leader Lord Shelburne and his Bowood circle, who very much favored, supported and trusted by George the third, we will see that it is theoretically quite possible that a part of Jefferson’s defense of Royalist position might be quite genuine & sincere, and mainly derive from his peculiar subscription to the Shelburne style “new” Whiggish pro-the-monarch stance. We need to revisit the vital fact that, in 1770s-1780s, being a whig does not necessarily mean that you need to stand opposed to the king at all times.

Author

• Haimo Li, University of Houston