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Fallacies and Founding Fathers

A photograph of the cover of Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton against a black cloth with white polka dots. On the cover, a portrait of Hamilton with white hair pulled into a braid and a decorative collar is featured prominently. 

I have been in a slight bit of a rut. I don’t have a clear direction as to what I should be doing for my post-camp administrative work, so I end up procrastinating and not getting much work done at all. I have been a bit more of an insomniac than usual, and I feel as though I am perpetually trapped in the first day of a cold. While I have been keeping my daily blog posts up, I often start them later in the evening than I should, which does not help me to get to sleep on time.

In the midst of this productivity nightmare, I have been reading Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton, a man who was tremendously and prolifically productive. The conflict between people deemed urban elites and farmers began in the post-Revolutionary era and continues to the present day. I find it interesting that farmers considered themselves hardworking underdogs even when their jobs involved more slave management than actual farm labor. Thomas Jefferson’s conduct in particular has summoned rage from the small, unforgiving heart of this American. Despite being pedagogically against slavery, Jefferson owned slaves throughout his life. He put himself in significant debt to lead an extravagant lifestyle, which further solidified his dependence on slave labor. Chernow explains that:

Jefferson’s colossal shopping sprees in Paris—he bought two thousand books and sixty-three paintings—betrayed a cavalier disregard for his crushing debts as well as the slaves whose labor serviced them. While Jefferson’s Parisian life seems to contradict his politics, he was embraced by a group of Enlightenment aristocrats who exhibitied the same exquisite contradictions. (Chernow 314)

Despite my frustration with Jefferson’s hypocrisy, extravagant use of money, and slave ownership, I find it oddly comforting to know that the Founding Fathers could be just as terrible as modern-day people.

Hopefully, by the time you hear from me tomorrow, I will be faring better, and I will have read more (potentially infuriating) chapters of Alexander Hamilton.

Best wishes,
Lydia
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