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Review
| Thomas Jefferson: The Revolution of Ideas, by R.B. Bernstein. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. 256 pages. $28.00, library edition.
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| Even by comparison to John Adams, his old friend and sometimes antagonist, Thomas Jefferson remains the darling of academics and the public alike. Although of late returned to center stage thanks to exceptional biographies by Joseph Ellis and John Ferling, Adams remains far behind Jefferson in both national adoration, and in the seemingly endless outpouring of books about his life and legacy. (A search on Amazon.com yields 740 results for Jefferson.) R.B. Bernstein, a professor of law at New York University and the author of an admired brief biography, Thomas Jefferson (2003), has here produced a scholarly yet readable account designed for high school courses. (Other titles in Oxford's eclectic Portraits Series include jurist Earl Warren, abolitionist and feminist Lydia Maria Child, author Jack London, and even filmmaker Hitchcock!) Essentially, this volume is a lightly revised version of Bernstein's earlier work. Each book contains ten chapters (all with identical titles) and an epilogue. In some cases, entire pages are identical, while in others, Bernstein has rephrased, made slight cuts, or moved passages around to make for easier reading. Unlike his previous study, this volume contains no endnotes, although both include a chronology of events and a brief bibliography. Most of all, The Revolution of Ideas adds dozens of illustrations, from portraits of Jefferson's friends, family, and foes, to political cartoons and even an image of the small bell that Martha Wayles Jefferson used to summon servants. High school students may recognize some of the commonly-reproduced images from their survey texts, but a few, such as the 1769 runaway slave advertisement Jefferson placed in a Virginia newspaper, should both enlighten and stun young readers. |
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As the subtitle indicates, Bernstein's study is as much about Jefferson's thought as it is about his actions. His two chapters on the Revolution are particularly good at conceptualizing the decades after 1763 within the intellectual world of the Atlantic enlightenment. Although Bernstein walks the reader through the traditional course of events, from the battle of Lexington to the siege at Yorktown, he is far more interested in how the imperial divorce shaped Jefferson's views on church-state relations, or on constitutional reform. Students confused about the ongoing battles over the proper place of religion in American public life will profit from Bernstein's discussion of Jefferson's 1779 Bill for Religious Freedom, part of which is reproduced here. Students accustomed to the hagiography typical of young adult biographies will be pleasantly surprised to discover that Bernstein makes no attempt to gloss over Jefferson's public or private failings. Most high school readers, however, will surely be less interested in the author's critique of policy matters like the Embargo Act—which Bernstein regards as a violation of the republic's "cherished political principles" (p. 201)—than in his treatment of Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings. Although other biographers, most notable Joseph Ellis, have scrutinized Jefferson's reactionary views on race and slavery, Bernstein is the first scholar to produce a life study since the combination of DNA testing and circumstantial evidence demonstrated that the Virginian was almost certainly the father of Sally's six children. But adolescents in search of prurient detail will find only a calm, dispassionate examination of the evidence. (In fact, Bernstein's unemotional tone on this matter stands in stark contrast to the increasingly fantastic arguments advanced by those writers who continue to deny the relationship.) |
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Having reviewed nearly one hundred books, but never one intended for "young people," for a final assessment of this work I consulted two future critics, Hannah Egerton, age fourteen and a freshman in high school, and Kearney Egerton, age sixteen and a senior. The former struggled on occasion with the vocabulary, but was impressed by the balanced tone. She observed that Bernstein clearly likes and admires Jefferson, but is not afraid to criticize him on occasion. The latter had no difficulty with the language, but added that if she had to write a research paper on Jefferson or his times, she might be more inclined to consult an adult biography. Certainly Bernstein's slightly larger Thomas Jefferson is more appropriate for use in a college survey course, as would be Norman Risjord's concise 1994 biography of the third president. |
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| Le Moyne College |
Douglas R. Egerton |
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