Thomas Jefferson, the Classical World, and Early America

Foreword

ix Foreword This volume comprises a selection of essays presented at a conference held at the American Academy in Rome on October 13–14, 2008, at the Villa Aurelia, with its sweeping views of the city. The conference aimed to be both interdisciplinary in approach and also to be international in the composition of the speakers. The papers were circulated in advance to allow more time for discussion , which essentially began the editorial process, resulting in a sharply focused result. However, although the essays cohere well, they offer competing views rather than a consensus. They are a far cry from the wishes of the historian Leopold Von Ranke, whose scientific approach to the writing the Cambridge Modern History sought to leave readers unaware when one contributor laid down his pen and another and another took it up. At the conference, there were sharp differences in the papers and in the discussions as to the importance of classical antiquity in the founding of America. The central debate revolved around the question whether lessons and ideas from the classics were significant agents of change. In discussion, Gordon Wood summarized the contending arguments well, as between those who saw the classics as prescriptive , and those who saw them as merely illustrative—doing nothing more than providing colorful metaphors and language. This tension also divided the disciplines represented, since historians of the arts and architecture cannot but pay homage to the tremendous influence of the classics on the aesthetics of the new republic. The conference was funded by the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. The center hosts a conference abroad annually , in addition to other types of international events. It is located opposite Monticello, on a 78-acre site formerly owned by Jefferson. The center aims to provide, support, and disseminate scholarship on Thomas Jefferson. In addition to its international events, the center edits the retirement papers of Thomas Jefferson, which are published by Princeton University Press but will x Foreword this year become available online through the Rotunda imprint of the University of Virginia Press. It also provides fellowships for visiting scholars, about a third of them from outside the United States, who use the center’s library, which was dedicated in 2002. The center also includes an archaeology department , which has pioneered a database of comparative slavery in the U.S. South and the Caribbean. It is an appropriate tribute to a founder who celebrated the life of the mind. Jefferson never visited Rome. It was nevertheless most appropriate to stage a conference entitled Thomas Jefferson, The Classical World, and Early America in that city, and especially at the American Academy. This was made possible thanks to the president of the academy, Adele Chatfield-Taylor. Founded in 1894, the mission of the academy is to foster advanced research and independent study in the fine arts and humanities. It naturally has a long tradition of hosting classical scholars among its fellows. The resident director, Carmela Franklin, and her staff were warm hosts, and made our group feel very welcome. Staff member Andy Bay helped to make the visit especially comfortable. His equally helpful counterpart in Virginia was my assistant, Joan Hairfield. It is also a pleasure to thank Senator Gary Hart, who gave the keynote speech and was actively engaged in the conference throughout. He is a public intellectual in the tradition of the American founders. Finally, my thanks to the two editors of this volume who have performed their task with efficiency and verve. Peter Onuf has been a remarkable friend of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies. He has helped foster the academic vitality and conviviality of the center, and given unstintingly of his time. Nicholas Cole was a formative influence in the choice of topic during his fellowship at the center, and also assisted in the preparations. Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy Saunders Director, Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies Thomas Jefferson, the Classical World, and Early America ...