"Our Original Barbarism": Man vs. Nature in Thomas Jefferson's Moral

This paper presents Thomas Jefferson’s moral attitudes from a particular point of view. The thesis I defend can be stated in a very schematic way. (1) In order to secure the new-born Republic the American “leader,” according toJefferson, must struggle against enemies, against circumstances but mainly against nature. Nature is perhaps the most powerful symbol of the disorder white Americans have to conquer. (2) This struggle against nature reveals a deep ethical commitment. White men are praiseworthy to the extent that they keep fighting against disorder, nature, and circumstances. (3) Jefferson’s optimism, or better, “meliorism,” was aimed at promoting moral behavior, i.e., to incite his alter egos to struggle against adverse conditions. As to whether or not he was confident about the course of American history, I have staked no claims in this paper. (4) Jefferson’s case for the struggle against nature is ethically coherent and leads to some interesting reflections on Jefferson’s ideas about human nature and white Americans in particular.