Revolutionary Slander: A Personal Grudge in Early American History and the Damage Done

In 1805, William Wirt decided to write a biography about the recently deceased Patrick Henry.  There should have been plenty of material about one of the prime movers in the American Independence movement.  However, Wirt recognized a problem, Henry had left very few personal papers.  Many of the Founders preserved their correspondence and diaries knowing future generations would read what they wrote.  Henry bucked the trend, not even retaining a transcript of his most famous contribution: the “Liberty or Death” speech.  Wirt wrote to Henry’s acquaintances asking for reminisces and details of the famous Virginian’s life.  One set of letters from a longtime associate stood out for its shockingly derogatory portrayal:

Patrick Henry “was a man of very little knowledge of any sort.  He read nothing and owned no books.   . . .  I have often been astonished at his command of proper language; how he obtained the knowledge of it I never could find out, as he read little, and conversed little with educated men.”

The attack did not stop there:

“[Henry] wrote almost nothing—he could not write.   . . . Neither in politics nor in his profession was he a man of business; he was a man for debate only.   . . .  [Henry’s] two great passions were the love of money & of fame:”  . . .  [His] judgment in other matters was inaccurate in matters of law was not worth a copper.  [Henry was] lazy as a lawyer, he was avaritious [sic] & rotten hearted.

So who wrote such unflattering descriptions?  The answer may come as a surprise, it was Thomas Jefferson.  In theory there were few more qualified than Jefferson to offer an assessment of Henry.  He first met Henry at the age of 17, long before either were famous, and they interacted frequently until Henry’s death 40 years later.  At this point, a pretty obvious question comes to mind: “why would Thomas Jefferson say such awful things?

The answer is complicated and reveals a fascinating aspect of early American politics.  We tend to think of Founders like Jefferson and Henry as working together to defeat the British and create a new democratic republic “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”1  The popular perception of cooperation does reflect the Spirit of ’76.  Patriots went to war believing they had a God given right to self-rule.  However, after the Revolutionary War ended, Americans found themselves at the helm of a new nation with a similar set of principles but very different ideas of how to create a government to fulfill those ideals.  With disagreement came personality conflicts where friendships, rivalries and grudges often played a key role.   The relationship between Henry and Jefferson also mirrors the path and eventual divergence in American politics.

Henry and Jefferson both realized before most that Americans should be free of British rule and both worked together to achieve this end.  They differed significantly though on how to establish a new government after the war.  Both favored empowering small landholders but Jefferson based his philosophy of government on theory gleaned from his voracious reading of treatises and classical works.  Henry approached government through the lens of practical experience by way of his actual interaction with western Virginia farmers.

The disagreement of theory vs. experience alone was not enough to inspire Jefferson’s enmity.  His anger arose over an incident in the dark summer of 1781 when Jefferson was serving as Governor of Virginia (he had succeeded Henry in this role).  The traitorous Benedict Arnold forced the General Assembly to leave the capital in Richmond in May.  They re-convened in Charlottesville in relative safety until a force of British cavalry unexpectedly arrived on June 4^th.  The Assemblymen fled to Staunton while Governor Jefferson retired further south to Bedford County.  Jefferson’s term had ended on June 2^nd but there had been no time to conduct an election.  Outraged that he had not joined them in Staunton, the General Assembly voted to conduct an inquiry into Jefferson’s conduct as governor.

Jefferson considered the inquiry a personal attack on his honor and an accusation of cowardice.  The inquiry came to nothing.  Only a few months later, Washington’s stunning victory at Yorktown effectively ended the war and any enthusiasm for making Jefferson a scapegoat.  Jefferson even ended up receiving a commendation for effective leadership.  Nevertheless, though Henry had played no role in calling for the inquiry, Jefferson blamed him and never forgave him.

After the Revolutionary War, Jefferson and Henry clashed politically over several issues including reforming Virginia’s Constitution.  If the descriptions above are not enough to express his true feelings a letter to James Madison in 1784 leaves no doubt about Jefferson’s sentiments: “While Mr. Henry lives, another bad constitution would be formed and saddled forever upon us.  What we have to do I think is devoutly to pray for his death.”

Jefferson did not just hate Henry, he wanted him dead.2  So now we know why Jefferson wrote such scathing assessments.  Before ending, we should address another issue: the impact of Jefferson’s words.  Wirt took the assertions above seriously.  Though he softened Jefferson’s observations, the overall tenor became a central theme of the biography of Henry, published in 1817.  Wirt portrayed Henry as largely uneducated and lacking in intellectual curiosity; “indolent” and “lazy” in practicing law; and overlooked Henry’s very effective leadership in the General Assembly and as Governor of Virginia (1776-1779; 1784-1785).  The portrayal did lasting damage to Henry’s historical reputation and partially explains how he faded in importance.

Historians have struggled ever since with the veracity of Jefferson’s slanderous misrepresentations in presenting a more accurate appraisal of Patrick Henry.  For example, in his 2008 book analyzing Henry’s library, historian Kevin Hayes dedicated the entire introduction and big chunks of the book to dispelling Jefferson’s erroneous assertions.  Hayes noted that far from reading “nothing” and owning “no books,” Henry possessed over 200 books at his death on history, politics, science, botany, philosophy, and mathematics (some in Latin or Greek with Henry’s notes in the margins).  Even 190 years after Wirt’s biography, Jefferson’s observations still resonated.

Jefferson has long been known for using third parties to attack his opponents.  In Henry’s case he was especially successful.  Part of the blame must go to Henry though for failing to preserve his personal papers which allowed Jefferson to fill in the gaps with misrepresentations.  Now that we know much of what Jefferson wrote was false, the attacks tell us as much about him as they do about Henry.  In addition, historians have realized they need to find alternative sources and dig a little deeper to draw out Patrick Henry’s life and character.  Finally, we have learned a great deal about the past in better understanding how personal grudges influence history.

Sources:

Note: I quoted Jefferson from the following sources, but I changed the order to improve the flow of the article above.

Jefferson, Thomas to William Wirt, “Thomas Jefferson to William Wirt, 4 August 1805,” 4 August 1805, Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-2187. 

Jefferson, Thomas to William Wirt, “Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on Patrick Henry, Enclosure to Letter to William Wirt Dated 12 April 1812 [before 12 April 1812],” before 12 April 1812, Founders Online, National Archives.  http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-04-02-0496-0003.

Jefferson, Thomas to William Wirt, “Thomas Jefferson to William Wirt, 14 August 1814,” 14 August 1814, Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-07-02-0403).

Jefferson, Thomas to William Wirt, “Thomas Jefferson to William Wirt, 5 August 1815,” 5 August 1815, Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-08-02-0523  

Jefferson, Thomas, Jefferson in His Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of His Life, Drawn from Recollections, Interviews, and Memoirs from Family, Friends and Associates, Kevin J. Hayes ed., (Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2012).

Jefferson, Thomas to James Madison, “Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, December 8, 1784. December 8, 1784. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from:  https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-07-02-0402

Hayes, Kevin J., The Mind of a Patriot: Patrick Henry and the World of Ideas, (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2008).

1  To borrow one of Abraham Lincoln’s better lines from his Gettysburg Address. 

2  There is debate over whether Jefferson was serious or joking though even if Jefferson was not being literal, the passage accurately reflects his strong dislike of Henry.