Thomas Jefferson, "A View of the Rights of British America"

Justin Brenis
Blog Post #1
8-29-09

In this letter to Great Britain, Jefferson is attempting, on behalf of the people of what was then known as 'British America', to reason with the King and request that he give back the basic rights of the people who lived here. He feels that while a brotherhood with Great Britain is not necessarily a bad thing, they are beginning to encroach upon Americans' civil liberties merely because they have the wealth and power to do so. Jefferson first attempts to remind the King of America's founding in saying, "America was founded...at the expense of individuals, and not of the British public," and goes on to say that after having accepted British aid early on, "...[T]hese states never supposed that, by calling in her aid, they thereby submitted themselves to her sovereignty. Had such terms been proposed, they would have rejected them with disdain, and trusted for better..." This letter got me thinking a lot about the current situation in the Middle East with Iraq and their people. Though arguably the position I wish to relate to this reading is almost the inverse to Jefferson's argument, I still think it holds its weight as a point worth considering. Whereas Jefferson was speaking for the public oppressed, we never really hear much about the public who, possibly unknowingly, was doing the oppressing. Here in America during this war, there is a large percentage of the population who have strongly opposed it for quite sometime, almost for the same reasons as Jefferson and the American people did their own oppression. In reading a newspaper or watching the news it doesn't take much effort to see that the people of Iraq, while grateful for the end of Saddam Hussein's rule, are rather unhappy with the current state of the country and the current state of U.S. involvement. However I wonder if the Iraqis know or realize that a majority of U.S. citizens are regretful for the actions of our country as a whole and want the same withdrawal of involvement that they do--especially because there have been so many negative effects on us because of it. We lost respect for our own leader when there were no WMDs found, but as Jefferson stated, "bodies of men as well as individuals are susceptible to the spirit of tyranny," and while tyranny may be better replaced by 'mislead partriotism' the effect is still the same. Also noted both today and by Jefferson is how the prices of our commodities have risen, "to double or [triple] of what they sold before," gas being a perfect example. I think it is ironic how much this mirrors the wants and request of our forefathers, and while I wonder if the British people in that time period had such disdain for the choices of their king, I only wish that our right to protest today could hold as much weight or clout as something as simple as a letter did centuries ago.