About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherCambridge University Press

ISBN-101107157366

ISBN-139781107157361

eBay Product ID (ePID)235555798

Product Key Features

Number of Pages348 Pages

Publication NameThomas Jefferson and the Science of Republican Government : A Political Biography of Notes on the State of Virginia

LanguageEnglish

SubjectHistory & Theory, General, Presidents & Heads of State

Publication Year2017

TypeTextbook

AuthorDaniel Klinghard, Dustin Gish

Subject AreaPolitical Science, Biography & Autobiography

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Weight21.2 Oz

Item Length9.3 in

Item Width6.2 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2017-006691

Reviews'Gish and Klinghard make their case thoroughly, drawing on in-depth knowledge of the scholarship on Notes, Enlightenment science and scientific polemics, and the political history of the United States in the years they say constitute the book's political biography. The benefit of their serious, thoughtful, imaginative scholarship becomes evident in the culminating section on Jefferson and Madison, perhaps the most thought provoking and thus rewarding section of the book.' David Tucker, The Review of Politics

Dewey Edition23

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal975.503092

Table Of ContentIntroduction; Part I. Origins and Influences: 1. The composition history of Jefferson's Notes; 2. The formal structure of Jefferson's Notes; Part II. Interpretation: 3. Reading the Notes, part I nature; 4. Reading the Notes, part II cautious philosophy; 5. Reading the Notes, part III peoples and constitutions; 6. Reading the Notes, part IV Republican reforms; Part III. Publication and Reception: 7. The publication history of Jefferson's Notes; 8. Jefferson, Adams, and the view of rebellion from abroad; 9. Jefferson, Madison, and Republican constitutionalism; Conclusion.

SynopsisThis biography of Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, his only published book, challenges conventional wisdom by demonstrating its core political thought as well as the political aspirations behind its composition, publication and initial dissemination. Building upon a close reading of the book's contents, Jefferson's correspondence and the first comprehensive examination of both its composition and publication history, the authors argue that Jefferson intended his Notes to be read by a wide audience, especially in America, in order to help shape constitutional debates in the critical period of the 1780s. Jefferson, through his determined publication and distribution of his Notes even while serving as American ambassador in Paris, thus brought his own constitutional and political thought into the public sphere - and at times into conflict with the writings of John Adams and James Madison, stimulating a debate over the proper form of Republican constitutionalism that still reverberates in American political thought., Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia blended Biblical language with Enlightenment science to influence American political thought. In this thorough analysis of the Notes, backed up by Jefferson's personal correspondence, the authors argue that the work was intended for a wide audience and to shape constitutional debate in the critical 1780s.

LC Classification NumberF230