TDIH: Thomas Jefferson on Good Government
"leave them otherwise free . . . and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned"
On this day in 1801, Thomas Jefferson addresses the nation. He had just been sworn in for the first time.
Americans, he noted, are “enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence . . . .”
Hmm. But the Supreme Court’s “separation of church and state” jurisprudence can be traced back to a letter that Jefferson wrote. So why did he choose to include this? Interesting.
“[W]ith all these blessings,” he concludes, “what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government . . . .”
You have to wonder if he would recognize the nation that he helped to found today.
Dear regular readers: Full-fledged history stories return tomorrow.
Most people have gotten separation of Church and State wrong for a long time. I feel it was political maneuver to get what they wanted at the time. We have no State Religion like Britain and that is the point of separation of church and state.
Thank you Tara for this important history lesson.
No doubt Jefferson would not recognize the country today. Separation of Church and State is not the only thing that’s been misinterpreted over the years. Hoping against hope that we can get back to the basic principles our nation was founded upon. Looks like we are heading that way, but it’s going to be an uphill battle.