Other Masterpieces

• Author: Arthur Rizer
• Profession: Director of Justice Policy and a senior fellow at the R Street Institute
• Pages: 165-189

165

8

OTHER

MASTERPIECES

omas Jeerson’s Declaration of Independence is the undisputed magnum

opus of his fame, demonstrating his great persuasive writing prowess. How-

ever, the Declaration was not the rst and was not the last of Jeerson’s works.

Indeed, it was through his early writings that he gained the reputation of

being a passionate, eective, and persuasive pamphleteer that opened up so

many doors later in his career. is reputation would lead to his election to the

Second Continental Congress as a delegate from Virginia and eventually to

his appointment as the chair of the Declaration committee.

Jeerson was a writer, rst and foremost, and a prolic one at that. Here,

we will only be exploring a small sampling of his other works, including A

Summary View of the Rights of British Americans, Virginia’s Statute for Religious

Freedom, and a selection of his letters. We will delve into these works to learn

not only how Jeerson mastered the writing of words, but also how he per-

suaded others through them.301

A SUMMARY VIEW OF THE RIGHTS

OF BRITISH AMERICANS 1774

In his mid-twenties, Jeerson was profoundly curious, particularly with

regard to the ongoing debates between the various colonies as to their proper

relationship with the British Crown and Parliament. In the late 18th century,

the game of politics was the equivalent of today’s Hollywood movies,

166 JEFFER SON’S PEN: THE ART OF PE RSUASION

the NFL, and pop culture all

rolled into one. Like many young

intellectuals, Jeerson was se-

duced by the drama, action, and

inuence that politics provided.

As previously discussed, Jeerson

was appointed to the Virginia

House of Burgesses in 1768. Be-

cause of his prominent family and

their wealth, it was expected that

he would be among the ruling

elite in Virginia. However, there

were many political giants active

throughout the colonies, and his

ambition was likely to be con-

strained by such notable pers-

onalities as Patrick Henry, omas

Paine, John Hanson, John Hancock,

and George Washington, to mention only the most famous in American

history textbooks. He knew he couldn’t compete with the accomplished ora-

tors of his time, but he could, and did, distinguish himself with his writing

skills. Jeerson made his rst major contribution to the dialogue of American

politics, and the world for that matter, in 1774 when he authored A Summar y

View of the Rights of British America (the “Summar y”). At the time it was pub-

lished, the Summary was one of the most radical documents ever published in

the English-speaking world. It was so radical precisely because the Summary

directly challenged the King when most documents at the time found a way

to skirt the issue to honor and maintain British sensibilities (and one’s

freedom from prison). In it, Jeerson declared that the legislative body in

Virginia was equal to the Parliament in England.

e Summary was one of Jeerson’s earliest works to be printed and widely

distributed. It truly is a forceful and explosive reiteration of the Constitu-

tional rights of the British citizens living in the colonies.302 According to

Jeerson, though, Summary was never meant to be published; rather, it was a

“draught [he] prepared for a petition to the King.”303 Because he became ill

while traveling, he sent the letter on to be reviewed and signed by other