Wealth and Its Disparities
“ ...another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions of property in geometrical progression as they rise.”
The Idea
Jefferson understood that for a republic such as the Unites States to work, everyone must share in its rights, responsibilities, and benefits. He believed “artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth” was a threat to the American experiment in representative government.
If the wealth gap grew too large, Jefferson feared the shared sense of responsibilities and benefits might collapse, threatening the downfall of self-government. Promoting the pursuit of individual wealth while preventing its disproportionate accumulation, particularly when inherited or unearned, proved an elusive goal for Jefferson and his political allies.
Paradoxically, wealth and its disparities were on full display at Monticello.
“As long as Property exists, it will accumulate in Individuals and Families. Accumulations of it will be made, the Snowball will grow as it rolls.”
- John Adams 1814
“ a foundation laid for a government truly republican”
Wealth and the Law
Jefferson envisioned a republic that did not perpetuate the aristocratic systems of Europe, particularly in eliminating the inheritance of debt. In a letter to James Madison, he declared "that the earth belongs to the living"
The Union as a safeguard against domestic faction and insurrection.
“ The earth is given as a common stock for man to labor and live on. …it is not too soon to provide by every possible means that as few as possible shall be without a little portion of land.”
Between 1800 and 1820, nearly 14 million acres of land were sold to private citizens, laying the basis for westward migration to establish family farms in America’s newly acquired territories, paying down the national debt and broadening the distribution of wealth.
“ The happiness and prosperity of our citizens is the only legitimate object of government.”
Who Benefits from government intervention in business?
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Jefferson believed government should take a limited role in the financial dealings of individuals and restrict itself to ensuring fair business practices and imposing taxes earmarked for specific public works projects.
In his own words:
Constructing the Erie Canal
"The rich alone use imported articles, and on these alone the whole taxes of the general government are levied. the poor man who uses nothing but what is made in his own farm or family, or within his own country, pays not a farthing of tax to the general government, but on his salt: & should we go into that manufacture also, as is probable, he will pay nothing. our revenues liberated by the discharge of the public debt, & its surplus applied to canals roads, schools Etc. the farmer will see his government supported, his children educated, and the face of his country made a paradise, by the contributions of the rich alone, without his being called on to spare a cent from his earnings."
– Thomas Jefferson, 1811An economic rescue plan:
New England Cod Fishermen
After New England’s cod trade was almost destroyed by the Revolution, Jefferson proposed a tax credit for cod vessels to help revive the industry but questioned if the credit should go to the cod boat owners or to the crews. In 1792, Congress passed a law mandating that five-eighths of the credit go to the crew, and three-eighths go to the owners.
The Legacy
Jefferson feared that great wealth inequality would threaten to destroy the nation, creating class differences that would overwhelm the shared commitment to the rights, responsibilities, and benefits at the core of the American republic’s design. Although the nature of wealth has changed, wealth and its disparities remain an unresolved challenge to the American experiment in self-government.
Wealth and Its Disparities Explained
Wealth Inequality
Thrivers and Strugglers
The imbalance of power when economic benefits go only to the few is an ongoing challenge to the nation.
“ Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
WEALTH AND ITS DISPARITIES - VIDEOS
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Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed tells the story of Mary Hemings Bell, who had a long-term relationship with her owner and came to be seen in Charlottesville as his common-law wife, inherited his property, and gained freedom for most of her children.
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Monticello historian John Ragosta discusses Jefferson's writings about wealth and inequality in early America. Jefferson's views.
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Calvin Jefferson, descendant of the Granger and Hemings families, who were enslaved at Monticello, discusses this question.
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Peter G. Peterson, former Secretary of Commerce, discusses income inequality.
A Civic Engagement Initiative sponsored by and in collaboration with The New York Community Trust – The Peter G. Peterson Fund.
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