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JEFFERSON ON "THE PEOPLE"
>Been reading your selection of jefferson quotes on the UVA pages.
>Thanks so much for puting all of that up in one convenient
>place.
Thank you for visiting the site. I'm always glad to hear from visitors.
>I have been reading Madison and other founders for years. I have
>the thought that you could add a useful category of selections.
>Many of the founding fathers use the phrases "the people," or
>"the body of the people" in their writings. I know of one
>quotation, I think it was by Coxe (I cannot locate it, "Who are
>the people?..."
>
>I had the thought that it would be nice for you to create a
>section containing all of Jefferson's quotes that in some way
>define what he (or other founders) thinks are "the people," what
>roles and rights they have, etc.
That is a very interesting suggestion. There is one section of the site
that "sorta" covers what you have in mind, and that is:
The Sovereignty of the People
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff0300.htm
But I understand what you have in mind, and that would be a lot more
than that one section.
A separate section on the meaning of "the people" probably would not
really fit into the format of "Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government,"
but an essay on that subject with carefully selected quotes that illustrate
the meaning and significance of the term would better meet your
suggestion, I think.
I have been thinking about something in the nature of "Jeffersonian
Political Science," or "Topics in Political Science Based on the Writings
of Thomas Jefferson," which would be an entirely new website, and a
whole chapter/essay on "The People" would be quite appropriate there.
I like your suggestion very much, however. Let me think about it some,
and see if I could come up with something.
By the way, I have a some essays at another website which I wrote a
couple of years ago (and have forgotten exactly what they contain).
They might have some of this information you are interested in. They
are:
"Democracies, Republics & The People"
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7970/jefpco17.htm
"The People & the Intellectual Elite"
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7970/jefpco38.htm
"Libertarianism & 'The People'"
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7970/jefpco57.htm
Those cover in part the meaning of "the people," but are not a complete
outline, which is what you seem to have in mind.
Let me think about this some more. Thanks for writing.
Best wishes,
Eyler Coates