Principle and Interest: Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Debt

by Herbert E. Sloan

Overview

In this acclaimed work, available here for the first time in paperback, Herbert E. Sloan examines Thomas Jefferson's complex and obsessive relationship to debt—its roles in his life and political career, and in the formation of republican ideology. As party leader in the 1790s, and later as President of the United States, Jefferson led a crusade against public debt, which he felt robbed the people of a future rightly theirs. Yet as a private person, he was plagued by debt, never free of it throughout his life. In this respect, Sloan argues, Jefferson was representative of his social class—most of the Virginia gentry had similar problems with debt, and similar feelings about it.

Taking as the central exposition of Jefferson's political vision his famous letter to James Madison on the rights of the living generation, Sloan explores in detail the events of 1789–90, when Jefferson acceded to Hamilton's plans for the national debt. The consequences of this decision would haunt Jefferson until the day he died.

Eloquently written and exhaustively researched, Principle and Interest provides a unique perspective on a range of topics—revolutionary ideology, political economy, the mechanics of party organization—central to an understanding of the period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813920931
Publisher:	University of Virginia Press
Publication date:	11/29/2001
Series:	Jeffersonian America
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Herbert E. Sloan is Professor of History at Barnard College.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	3
1	The Thralldom of Debt	13
2	The Rights of the Living	50
3	Wars, Debts, and Taxes	86
4	Errors of Political Life	125
5	Pay as You Go	165
6	An Engine so Corruptive	202
Appendix A	Paine and Condorcet	239
Appendix B	Selected Virginia Libraries	244
	Notes	247
	Index	371

Editorial Reviews

In six well-conceived, impeccably researched chapters,... Sloan demonstrates that Jefferson was the consummate republican.... Sloan's conclusion, that Jefferson's views about debt were not novel but rather bound him to his age and place, provides perceptive insight for understanding the victory of liberal capitalism over classical republicanism.

Journal of the Early Republic - Gene A. Smith

A masterful account of a key theme—debt—that runs through Jefferson's private life and public career.... Sloan's expansive exploration... stands out from all previous accounts.

American Historical Review - Richard B. Latner

Principle and Interest is the most impressively original and beguilingly stylish interpretation of Jefferson's ideological obsessions since Winthrop Jordan's White over Black: American Attitudes toward the Negro, 1550–1812. It does for the question of debt what Jordan's pathbreaking book did for the question of race; namely, send a shaft of light into the Jeffersonian abyss that not only illuminates one important region of former darkness, but also sets off lights in a whole series of adjoining areas.

Reviews in American History - Joseph J. Ellis

A masterful account of a key theme—debt—that runs through Jefferson's private life and public career.... Sloan's expansive exploration... stands out from all previous accounts.

Richard B. Latnern Historical Review

A masterful account of a key theme—debt—that runs through Jefferson's private life and public career.... Sloan's expansive exploration... stands out from all previous accounts.

— Richard B. Latner

American Historical Review

In six well-conceived, impeccably researched chapters,... Sloan demonstrates that Jefferson was the consummate republican.... Sloan's conclusion, that Jefferson's views about debt were not novel but rather bound him to his age and place, provides perceptive insight for understanding the victory of liberal capitalism over classical republicanism.

— Gene A. Smith

Journal of the Early Republic

Principle and Interest is the most impressively original and beguilingly stylish interpretation of Jefferson's ideological obsessions since Winthrop Jordan's White over Black: American Attitudes toward the Negro, 1550–1812. It does for the question of debt what Jordan's pathbreaking book did for the question of race; namely, send a shaft of light into the Jeffersonian abyss that not only illuminates one important region of former darkness, but also sets off lights in a whole series of adjoining areas.

— Joseph J. Ellis

Reviews in American History

"An important book yielding new insights into the thought and career of Thomas Jefferson."—Choice

"The most impressively original and beguilingly stylish interpretation of Jefferson's ideological obsessions since Winthrop Jordan's White Over Black."—Reviews in American History

"With nuance and subtlety, Sloan presents a convincing picture of Jefferson that skillfully blends divergent elements in recent historiography...This study is first-rate scholarship and merits wide circulation...we are truly indebted to Sloan."—American Historical Reiew

"Specialists will find the book a useful addition to our understanding of the "Jeffersonian persuasion.""—The Journal of American History

"...six well-conceived, impeccably researched chapters, accompanied by two appendices and extensive, informative notes..."—Journal of the Early Republic

From the Publisher