The Meaning of Independence: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington

Richard Lectures

by Edmund S. Morgan

Americans did not at first cherish the idea of political severance from their mother country. In just a few years, however, they came to desire indepen-dence above all else. What brought about this change of feeling and how did it affect the lives of their citizens? To answer these questions, Edmund S. Morgan looks at three men who may fairly be called the "architects of independence," the first presidents of the United States. Anecdotes from their letters and diaries recapture the sense of close identity many early Americans felt with their countryâ s political struggles. Through this perspective, Morgan examines the growth of independence from its initial declaration and discovers something of its meaning, for three men who responded to its challenge and for the nation that they helped create. The Meaning of Independence, first published in 1976, has become one of the standard short works on the first three presidents of the United Statesâ George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. When the Mount Vernon Ladiesâ Association and the Organization of American Historians asked 1,500 historians to name the ten best books about George Washington, this book was one of those selected. In this updated edition, the author provides a new preface to address a few remaining concerns he has pondered in the quarter century since first classic work on the founding by the author of the bestselling Benjamin Franklin

Genres: History, American Revolution, Nonfiction, American History, Politics

85 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 1976

About the author

Edmund Sears Morgan

Reviews

[Christine Boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to give a full review - just a thin, little book with basically 3 separate essays. Mr. Morgan does a good job comparing and contrasting the three founders and their viewpoints on independence. Would be a great resource for any student of American History - or just anyone who would like additional insight into these three superstars!

[Sam Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little gem of a book on three of important political figures of the newly independent U.S. Morgan blends personal anecdote with character analysis with marvelous concision.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Interest and honor are likely to be linked in all public service. In seeking honor a man seeks the respect of others, of his family, of his social class, of his friends, his town, neighborhood, province, country. And people, however grouped, generally accord respect to someone who serves their interests. A man seldom looks for honor in promoting the interests of a group to which he does not belong. Consequently, in serving the interests of others he may well be serving his own, especially if he takes a large enough, long-range view." (36)

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very biased and not well researched.

[Luke Kruse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grad school reading

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry but informative

[Michelle Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for a grad school class

A good book on 3 of the most important figures of the Founding era and their views on Independence.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the brevity of the essays work against the purpose of the text. This is a thin volume, so it wouldn't be fair for me to criticize it for a lack of depth. That said, I expected this to be a series of essays that attempted to explain how each of the three founders (Adams, Washington, Jefferson) defined independence. And there is some of this, but I also found much more biography than I expected. And with a volume so thin, any biographical details must of necessity be short and shallow. Still, Morgan does draw out some helpful points.

Adams - Of Adams we learn the least, with more focus on his biography than his philosophy. In the main, we learn that he distrusted political parties and felt that the virtue of the individual was the key to a successfully independent nation: "the ability of the American republic to sustain its independence rested on the ability of its citizens to sustain their virtue" (20).

Washington - We get more of Washington's philosophy, with Morgan setting out two keys to Washington's approach to government: honor and interest. For Washington, "honor required a man to be assiduous and responsible in looking after his interests. But honor also required a man to look beyond his own profit ..." (33). These values were important for individuals and nations, and affected Washington's approach to foreign policy. He felt it was vain to "appeal to the honor of any country against the interests of that country and its people" because such appeals would not hold over time (46). This also implied that America should pursue its own interests, in an honorable fashion, without getting caught up in the interests of other nations, leading to Washington's famous neutrality in foreign relations.

Jefferson – Jefferson—the most controversial of the three, the most hypocritical from a modern perspective—is also the most radical in arguing that the rights of the state outweigh those of the national government and that the rights of the individual outweigh both. For Jefferson, "liberty was always an attribute of the individual, and the state at best a means of securing it” (70). In addition, he believed that "one generation is to another as one independent nation to another" (76), meaning that twenty years was the maximum amount of time that any law or constitution could be considered to have the consent of the people or that any public debt could be contracted. He also sought protection of individual liberty from the influence of the church and protection of national liberty from the burden of debt and foreign obligation. The goal, a government limited enough to provide every possibility of liberty to the individual, but powerful enough to protect that liberty. Though, significantly, Jefferson's conception of the "individual" was confined ideally to well-educated, land-holding farmer/philosophers (which, in modern terms, would translate to "the elite").

Overall, the Jefferson essay makes it worth the read, but even then you'll need to look elsewhere for historical context, nuanced interpretations, or scholarly controversy.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Meaning of Independence is a short work discussing what independence meant to John Adams, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. Evidently I read this when I was an undergrad, as the cover has an Illini Union Bookstore Used sticker on it. (I’m slowly reading through all the books on my bookshelves and deciding whether to keep or donate them.)

I’m amazed I kept this. I’m a big fan of John Adams – I have been since I first saw William Daniels as Adams in the movie version of the musical 1776 – and the text of this book is littered with my angry little notes at the author. He clearly sees Adams as the least worthy of the three (“To understand how someone who seemed in no way remarkable turned into someone who must still be remembered as remarkable…” (p. 5)), despite admitting to the many shortcomings of Washington and especially Jefferson (“He was not ahead in thinking about black slavery or in thinking about women, and we shall simply have to admit that and get on with learning what he still has to teach.” (p. 62)). The author seems befuddled that anyone could think John Adams a great man while making excuse after excuse for Thomas Jefferson.

Although I will not be keeping this on my shelves, it was interesting to read in light of the recent election. The days of Washington, Jefferson, and Adams as deep thinking presidents is past, at least for the short term.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. This is a brief foray into what independence meant for Adams, Washington, and Jefferson, and how that meaning influenced their perspective on the Constitution and the presidency. Well worth the time.

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like history especialy about those early years of the English colony, then this small book is a great one.