THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE NEW NATION

by Merrill D. Peterson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1970

In the face of the generally acknowledged definitive work on Jefferson by Dumas Malone (the fourth volume, p. 1302, has just appeared), Professor Peterson of the University of Virginia has written an enormous work which must contain most of his knowledge of his great protagonist. One can only indicate the high points of Jefferson's life and of the book itself--its unbiased authenticity, its freedom from fictional techniques, its plethora of detail. Jefferson, a man interested in everything from agriculture to paleontology, was also an incurable and frequently mistaken optimist. Chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence because of his command of clear English, he was next sent to France where he made friends but failed to influence European politics. Detesting banks and believing agriculture to be the salvation of America's future, he feuded with the industrialist Alexander Hamilton; an advocate of States Rights, he fought the Supreme Court and formulated the doctrine of ""Nullification."" When elected President in 1800, his two Administrations were ""tied to two gigantic facts of geography, the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean."" By the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 he acquired the Mississippi and the lands beyond it for the nation, but his failure to stop British aggressions on the Atlantic led to his Embargo Act, a political error that plunged the nation into an economic decline. His retirement at Monticello was plagued by illness and debt but was brightened by the renewal of his ruptured friendship with John Adams and his founding of the University of Virginia. For those without the stamina for the Malone continuing works in progress, an excellent, substantive study for students and scholars.

Pub Date: May 1, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Oxford

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION