Thomas Jefferson’s Vision of a Free Holding Yeoman Society Essay Example

social system in which the ownership of land was a symbol of a man’s stand in the society and the political power that he yielded. Thomas Jefferson and J. Hector St.

John de Crevecoeur came up with a philosophy that dictated the natural rights of any man to own land and that the ownership of land by any man obviously gives him a social status and dignity.The philosophy goes further to describe how mans interaction with nature “makes him virtuous and happy”. This philosophical thinking as Jefferson and his colleague tend to challenge the government is that it “should be dedicated to the interests of the freehold farmer” (Hess, 1992). This policies and principles held a lot of significance for Jefferson who is considered as the brains behind the western land policy.

In Jefferson’s own words he described the small and self sufficient as “the chosen people of God” and thus asserted their importance if the new republic would have any chance to survive. Jefferson described the “virtuous yeoman” as the moral backbone that would lead the nation to greater heights and thus prosperity would be easily achievable (Hess, 1992). The issue of land was embedded deep in Jefferson’s heart and he believed that it was the core of an envisioned republic.Thomas Jefferson had a landscape vision that mainly depended on the unlimited expansion of most of the wilderness in the country and thus make it the peoples will to settle and subdue it for settlement and cultivation purposes. This vision was just a vision and its applicability mainly depended on the prudence of the government of that period in applying the “public land policies fairly

and justly”.

Jefferson held the belief in his heart that “land was the clay from which a free society would be molded and preserved” (Hess, 1992).However, one of the issues that he had to deal with was those of religion. Although religion was a predominant force during his government, it had failed to provide what Jefferson’s landscape vision promised to produce. Land in this era was considered to offer the much needed cohesion and was therefore viewed as an “icon of secular religion” (Hess, 1992). The success of Jefferson‘s policies and philosophical thinking are still evident today and the western range is the product of his landscape vision.The landscape vision which was envisioned in the “Jeffersonian agrarianism” was built on a firm foundation (Hess, 1992).

This had the obvious effects of spilling its advantages in the years that were to follow and most of its effects are still visible today. The western range which was a harsh testament of nature in the state of a wilderness became a land that would become exceedingly abundant. However, the alteration of nature and its overuse can be considered as one of the negative aspects of his landscape vision.Various factors one of them being drought led to the overstocking of the ranges in a way that nature was almost strained beyond its holding capacity and thus became unforgiving with adverse effects. Collisions among farmers with diverse wants is also a major shortcomings but the experience that was gained from the harsh reactions of nature served to teach the inhabitants valuable lessons and thus take some measures into considerations during when setting future plans.