Thomas Jefferson's Personal "Pursuit of Happiness" (Part One)

(Note:  This is the first segment in a two part series.

Previous articles have discussed “the pursuit of happiness” from the perspective of the Declaration of Independence, from whence the phrase originated.  Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father of US capitalism, applied it to an economic plan that would bring physical greatness of dimensions previously unknown.  The thoughts of Thomas Jefferson, the author, were only touched upon briefly.  ...)

How did the author of the Declaration of Independence view his timeless phrase, “the pursuit of happiness” in the context of his own personal life?  Was it merely about a measure of an individual’s money or material wealth or a society’s physical greatness?  Or was it less scientific, guided more by a spiritual component derived from within and the laws of nature?

For the individual, according to Jefferson, the essence removed all arbitrary, artificial or hereditary distinctions, influences or preconceived notions.  The desire was to attain full, unencumbered intellectual and religious freedom of the mind, unconstrained by previous efforts to set authoritative delineation using lenses and filters.  Absent these external influences and thus empowered, the mind would exist in a completely and intellectually free state: to master its environment and attain its natural potentialities.  Central was the belief in the improvability of the human mind and the limitless progress of human knowledge.

On the collective level, Jefferson felt that the happiest society was one where inequalities of condition were not great.  Then-President Jefferson asked what else was needed for the happiness and prosperity of its people:

a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.  This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

Jefferson believed that the status of aristocracy, based as it was not on merit but inherited privilege, made it doubtful that this class would exercise its public obligation for human progress on its existing foundation.  Consequently, Jefferson’s ideas tried to restore what he called “the natural order of freedom to give talent and virtue, which were scattered through all ranks of society, a chance to rise.”  He described his purposes in terms of “natural philosophy.”  Throughout his life, Jefferson never ceased to believe that men (white men, that is) by right were free in their minds and persons and that human society should guide its steps by the light of reason.

It can be fairy assumed that the first major obstacle to the freedom of the mind which he perceived was primarily in the sphere of religion and morality and, specifically, the doctrine of supernatural revelation.  Consequently, events which could not be scientifically proven were to be rejected, Jefferson believing that  “No hypothesis ought to be maintained if a single phenomenon stands in direct opposition to it."

(Next week's second segment in this two part series analyzes Thomas Jefferson's personal views on religion and morality, where happiness was the aim of life, and virtue was its foundation.)

-Michael D'Angelo