John Jefferson And Johan Von Herder Essay Example

In the years following the conclusion of the American Revolution, prolific thinkers emerged from the woodwork to debate the true meaning of liberty. After seven years of fighting against Great Britain with battle cries like “don’t tread on me” or “liberty or death,” philosophers like Thomas Jefferson and Johann Gottfried von Herder began pondering to whom this freedom applied. Slavery had existed on the American continent for centuries, but now many Americans felt conflicted. Why should Black slaves, who as of 1787 are counted as three fifths of a person, not enjoy the liberty they fought for? Their white peers with whom they fought were promised life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; Blacks received nothing of the sort. Fundamentally, these questions circumvent the dilemma of Blacks’ assimilation and entry into White society.

Jefferson and Herder both publish their ideas on the subject to the educated White population of the slaveholding western world. With this in mind, they offer incredibly different perspectives regarding racial differences. One argues near complete difference between Blacks and Whites while the other argues for a relativist approach to analyzing race. Both present well-crafted, persuasive arguments to their audiences.

In Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson outlines the differences between racial groups living in the United States. He particularly focuses on the differences between Black and White Americans with a focus on the ways that Blacks are naturally inferior to Whites. Jefferson contextualizes his arguments using emancipation. He begins his argument saying, “It will probably be asked, why not retain and incorporate the blacks into the state, and thus save the expense of supplying by importation of white settlers, the vacancies they will leave” (Jefferson, 18)? In his writing, he answers the question as to why Blacks and Whites can never truly coexist in a state of emancipation in the United States.

According to Jefferson, Blacks cannot fully assimilate into American life because the legacy of race relations is too ingrained in the racial identities of Black and White Americans. From the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade, White colonizers needed to rationalize the enslavement of other people. Jefferson writes Notes on the State of Virginia in the 1780s, almost 200 years after the Atlantic Slave Trade began. At this point, the “deep-rooted prejudices entertained by the whites” require deconstruction if the government grants Blacks full and unconditional emancipation (Jefferson, 18). 

As a White man himself, Thomas Jefferson makes an attempt at objectivity in his descriptions of racial differences. Although, since his audience is comprised of educated White folks, there would be few people to object to his statement that 

“The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not the effect of merely of their condition of life” (Jefferson, 20).

His other descriptions of inferior qualities of the black race included smelliness and lust, in addition to lack of reason, imagination, and artistic ability. Jefferson somewhat offsets this by venerating Blacks’ natural skills in music (Jefferson, 19). One might argue that Blacks were continually denied opportunities to develop skills and intellect while being subject to work that could only bring out the specific traits and inclinations. Jefferson nonetheless asserts that the condition of slavey has no impact on intellectual or artistic development, and that enslaved peoples of other races have never displayed the same inferiority as Blacks (Jefferson, 20).

In Johann Gottfried von Herder’s Ideas on the Philosophy of the History of Mankind, Herder makes the point that the physical differences expressed by members of different races is a result of adaptation. People’s evolutionary traits cannot determine superiority when taken out of their homeland to which they have adapted, and notions of racial superiority fail to account for natural physiological differences. Herder blames the popularized notions of racial superiority on Europeans’ “tyrannical indifference” (Herder, 14). Herder’s attack on ethnocentrism exacerbates a hole in Thomas Jefferson’s argument.  In Herder’s position, he defends that people from different biomes and climates need different traits to not only survive, but flourish; and the regions in Africa from which Slaves were most often taken were the regions least compatible with the adapted traits of Europeans. In the case that Europeans were taken to Africa and subjugated by native peoples, Europeans would display even more incompetency than what the Whites describe of them in America. 

The differences between races are a matter of locational diversity and not of true biological difference. With that in mind, Herder’s feelings toward racial differences seems in line with his racial indifference. One of his most prolific cases in his writings reflects the current state of race relations. For centuries, races have been in constant contact; groups have intermingled and reproduced to the point that “a hundred children are trifle to a negro” (Herder, 15). Why should we question the place of Black people in a society after their introduction to and miscegenation with member of other races? 

Before the 1794 invention of the Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney, slavery experienced rapid decline across the country. Tobacco farm and plantation owns moved away from labor-intensive tobacco in favor of wheat and freed surplus slaves. With the addition of prevalent Revolution-era philosophy, an increasing number of White Americans saw hypocrisy in the institution of slavery. Separate from slavery, racism prevailed regardless of people’s desire for total emancipation. Sending emancipated Blacks back to Africa became a popular method to reconcile Whites’ racist prejudices and their revolutionary philosophy. Still, this does not encompass the entire White population at the time. Depending on where in the country you resided, you might have a drastically different opinion from citizens in other states. Pennsylvanian Quakers held different values and opinions than Carolinian planters. Keeping this in mind, Herder and Jefferson’s writings may have each impacted regional population differently. 

By the 1780 populations of Blacks and Whites in North America had begun to mix considerably. Near the end of the decade, Sally Hemings had accompanied Thomas Jefferson to Paris and soon after, had a child. Along with Herder’s alleging that there were already a plethora of mixed-race children existing in North America, it seemed like some Americans were inclined to side with Herder rather than Jefferson. However lovely Herder’s words may seem, he lacked Jefferson’s reputation. 

The United States has no royals, though Thomas Jefferson is American royalty. No matter what you say about the man, it will never truly take him down. By the time of Notes on the States of Virginia’s publication, he had already written the Declaration of Independence, and served in an elected office. Jefferson’s charismatic legitimacy as a public figure surpasses that of Johann Gottfried von Herder whose notoriety does not extend into American mythos.

In their answers to whether or not Blacks are inferior to Whites, both Jefferson and Herder make compelling cases. In the late 18th century, the ideological divide between abolitionists and supporters of the institution of slavery cut deeply into the fabric of the country. Something everyone could agree on was the status of American heroes. Thomas Jefferson’s position in the pantheon of American heroes sets him apart from his philosophical contemporaries. The majority of the American people –regardless of their actual beliefs—might feel inclined to agree with someone of his stature and influence. If George Washington published a defense of Herder’s viewpoint, there could be a stir amongst the population regarding the debates. Additionally, Thomas Jefferson’s writing style appeals to the emotions of the reader and ignites his audience’s passions. Herder’s methodical and physiological approach to the subject disconnects his audience and their life experiences from the issue at hand. Thomas Jefferson makes the strongest argument  and brings educated White Americans to the conclusion that Blacks are naturally inferior to Whites.