Comparison of Thoughts: Jefferson and Wollstonecraft's View of Government and Freedom

Wollstonecraft believes intellect is a powerful tool in retaining personal freedom and Jefferson would agree. Wollstonecraft said, "Prejudices have clouded reason [. . . ]" and to thus, "Pursue the course of reason [ . . . ]" (3). Wollstonecraft says intellect is like a form of power and by having intellect one can avoid oppression of a government. Through intellect one may retain personal freedoms. She then said, "Some women govern their husbands without degrading themselves, because intellect will always govern" (2). Thus, through intellect not just women, but people can retain various freedoms from reasonable governmental control. Jefferson, would also agree, but in a different manner. Individuals under a tyrant's rule have the ability to conspire against him. Jefferson said for a society to, "Institute new Government [ . . . ]" when they feel oppressed (78). The people of the original Thirteen Colonies felt oppressed and thus wanted to create a new government. They realized they had the power to, even when under reasonable control by governments. If a government became corrupted, under Jefferson's writings, the people could potentially conspire against their oppression. Not the actual conspiring is intellectual, but having the knowledge of the ability to overthrow or break apart from one's own government is a form of maintaining personal freedom. As a member of a corrupted government one wouldn't feel as bad if they new they had the ability to create change. The people of the Thirteen Colonies realized they have some power in controlling their own lives and decided to draft The Declaration of Independence to create a new government for themselves.

Following the rules or laws set by a government is another way of retaining personal freedom, as Jefferson and Wollstonecraft both described. Jefferson believes following a government is just peachy, but not until the government becomes corrupted. Jefferson says people should follow the rules only if a government is reasonable in its controlling of its people. However, the moment a government starts oppressing people, Jefferson would tell the people to break away from such usurpations. Wollstonecraft also believes in following the rules, to retain what few personal freedoms people have. Unlike Jefferson, she would not suggest fighting against wrong doings of governments. She does feel as though women do not receive equality compared to men. Women offer to the world and their governments, excellence. Wollstonecraft wrote, "Women are, in fact, so much degraded by mistaken notions of female excellence [ . . . ]," thus noting women do serve a purpose within a society, but receive no credit (2). She says for people to reside within one's status otherwise something bad will occur. For example, Wollstonecraft said, "The needy gentlemen, who is to rise, as the phrase turns, by his merit, becomes a servile parasite

Obviously, both Jefferson and Wollstonecraft each wrote documents pertaining to government and freedom. Wollstonecraft believes in people standing up for themselves to retain their freedoms, while Jefferson believes in working as a whole to retain various freedoms. Both Jefferson and Wollstonecraft believe a good future will come of today's evils. Wollstonecraft blatantly said good will come, in her writing, and Jefferson, implicitly through his writing of The Declaration of Independence. They essentially mean everything will feel fine in the end. Wollstonecraft said, "I build my belief on the protection of God [ . . . . ] that all will be right" (5). They each expressed themselves by writing documents. For example, Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence to show the king ruled as a tyrant and inform the king of his wrong doings. Writing is a form of maintaining personal freedom while under reasonable governmental control because writing allows people to communicate by expressing ideas. If they experienced a more tyrannical control or non-reasonable control of writing their papers, at the time, their writings could have easily gotten destroyed by their governments.

Jefferson would define power as the ability to do what one wants, whereas Wollstonecraft would define power as the ability to induce change and generally survive oppression. According to Jefferson, someone of power has, might, authority, force and influence. Wollstonecraft would consider someone of power as someone with a great intellect. The most significant method of maintaining personal freedom while under reasonable governmental control is through the use of power as Jefferson and Wollstonecraft described differently. Wollstonecraft mentioned people may acquire power through fighting in war and their newly found power becomes difficult to take away from them. However, Wollstonecraft also said, "But one power should not be thrown down to exalt another - - for all power inebriates weak man; and its abuse proves that the more equality there is established among men, the more virtue and happiness will reign in society" (6). She doesn't believe in overthrowing governments because of a people's oppression. She does, however, feel if more equality prevails among men and women - if they get along - people in general will feel more content. Due to contentedness, people will retain their freedoms. If people do not feel happy, then they don't have freedom. Happiness is a form of personal freedom, which no government should take away. Jefferson said, "For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" (81). The previous sentence concluded The Declaration of Independence and informed the king the oppressed Colonies would stand together. The oppressed will no longer accept nor abide by a tyrant's rule. The Declaration of Independence marks the end of the Colonies' oppression and the beginning of a new government. The reason for mentioning oppression and creating a new government is rather simple. According to Jefferson, if a people becomes subject to oppression by a corrupt ruler, the people have the ability to institute change and create a new government. Their ability to change their living conditions and their lives is a supreme power, which no government can ever control or contain. Having the ability to create a new government, whether under reasonable governmental control or tyrannical control, is an excellent power to have.

Wollstonecraft and Jefferson each discussed governmental oppression and how to maintain personal freedom under such conditions. Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence because the Thirteen US Colonies felt the oppression of their king, and the only way Jefferson saw fit for the people to keep their freedom is by breaking apart from Great Britain's rule. Within his writing he mentioned either directly or indirectly methods for maintaining personal freedom while under reasonable governmental control. Wollstonecraft also mentioned various methods. Each of the two scholar's work seem like a list of complaints to a novice reader, but their writings provide insights to government and freedom. Wollstonecraft, if one spoke to her in person, would say men act stupidly and women just go along with the flow. She wrote her document to inform readers of governmental oppression and to give insights to maintaining personal freedom while under reasonable governmental control. Some of her methods include intellect, abiding by the rules or laws, the writing of her actual document is in itself a manner of maintaining freedom, and most significantly she mentions power. Jefferson and Wollstonecraft, due to unreasonable governmental control, felt the need to write out their emotions because people couldn't maintain personal freedom under tyrannical rule. Unreasonable would mean the opposite of reasonable and thus includes governments executing midnight raids and falsely imprisoning its people. Wollstonecraft and Jefferson created significant immortal documents to altar people's thoughts and lives.
Works Cited

Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. A World of Ideas: EssentialReadings for College Writers. 6th ed. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston: Bedford, 2002. 78-81.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. "From A Vindication of the Rights of Woman." Modern History Sourcebook, 1929. 1-7. 17 Mar. 2002. .