Jeffersonian Conservative Tradition Summary

Clyde N. Wilson’s article The Jeffersonian Conservative Tradition aims to set straight the original meaning of conservatism in the context of early America. Furthermore, his ambition is to trace the history of conservatism to its founding; as a means of setting the record right. Wilson insists that this is the work that must be done. He goes so far as to say, “Before American conservatism achieves a full understanding of what it is and whence it comes, it must achieve its own painstaking, comprehensive, and subtle reevaluation of the political movements of our history” (Wilson). Therefore, Wilson traces the current political climate back to Thomas Jefferson, which both Republicans and Democrats have claimed as their political hero throughout …show more content…
The nation was rapidly expanding with more states being added and the need for a strong federal government. Jefferson’s dilemma was protecting states rights, as well as ensuring a “united” country. To this point Wilson states, “The disagreement between Federalists and Jeffersonians was a matter of mechanism and interests, not principle” (Wilson). Everyone wanted America to succeed. Also, Martin Kich says, the
Jefferson's administration produced three major accomplishments without which the geographical and economic expansion of the nation would simply not have been possible. Ironically, all three of these accomplishments are now at least indirectly at the center of the debates over the erosion of American prosperity and of the standard of living of the average American (Kich 594).
What Kich is referring to is Jefferson’s purchase of Louisiana, federally funded railways, and embargos. Each of these decisions questioned the states individual rights along with a growing federal government. On the other hand, American Eras volume four shows that Jefferson also shrunk the size of the federal government, by …show more content…
Wilson’s historical perspective on conservatism within the United States points to the Jefferson administration as the blending of both federal governing and state independence. Wilson accurately describes Jefferson’s conservative and liberal decisions to keep America strong, as well as point out the real enemy of America—power hungry people. In light of his article, I believe that we need to make room for all people to live with deep differences, rather trying to eliminate these differences. In my mind, both conservatives and liberals have lost their agenda of making America stronger and have instead decided to pursue power. Furthermore, just as America was born out of a Constitution and the Bill of Rights, one written by Federalists and the other by Anti-Federalists, I believe we need both conservatives and liberals to be a strong nation. Also, I believe this to be true within the church. The church should be the place where all people can gather rather than polarizing people to extremes. As Os Guinness, the author of Case for Civility says, “There is no problem with the wider culture that you cannot see in the spades in the Christian Church. The rot is in us, and not simple out there. And Christians are making a great mistake by turning everything into culture wars. It's a much deeper crisis” (Guinness). The culture is not the enemy of the church; sin and evil are. That means that so-called “liberals” or “conservatives” are not the problem. The

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