American Agrarianism In 1800

The revolution of 1800 introduced the first peaceful transition of power from Adams to Jefferson. Jefferson sought to change the American ideals of the 1800s, as the people accepted and demanded a change through the Electoral College. Once established in office, he reduced the size of the government, purchased the Louisiana territory, and advocated farming in America. It is known as Jeffersonian Democracy, however, the democracy was based off the notion of Agrarianism. Agrarianism can be defined as the social or political philosophy which values a rural society far more than an urban society; it advocates the concept of farmers being superior to paid workers, thus emphasizing the superior simple rural life style opposed to a far more complex

urban life style.
​Jefferson was given the title man of the people in relation to his democratic views. He opposed a strong central government, thus his central government developed limited and prudent towards the people. This came to be known as Jeffersonian Democracy. This refers to an American ideal which at the heart of the meaning of the term lies the household farm worked by ordinary families. Jeffersonian America marked a victory for common farmers as the ideal embodiment of the American citizen. As a result Jeffersonian America required that new western farmlands be cultivated as an absolute necessity for the future of the republic. In Notes on the State of Virginia written by Jefferson, in the works he establishes that the yeoman is a self-sufficient man free from "the casualties and caprice of customers" (Jefferson 175). His crucial sense of what mattered most in life grew from a deep appreciation of farming, in his mind the most virtuous and meaningful human activity. As he explained in his Notes on the State of Virginia, "Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God" (Jefferson 175). As Jefferson referred to the farmers as chosen from God, this belief system reinforced his strong commitment to Democracy as well as the push towards a more rural society.
​Thus, agriculture in American society began to blossom, however, Jefferson saw two major threats to his Agrarian Democracy. One was the growing urban industry, which Jefferson saw as a threat to man. His concept was that as industries develop, the need for workers would increase and with the sudden need for workers; farmers would leave the land. They would no longer be in control of their lives but they would give up their independence, which they maintained by being farmers. The second major threat he speculated was debt which could rob men from their economic autonomy. The notion of a fast paced developing nation didn’t frighten Jefferson, he didn’t fear technological advancement. In contrast, Jefferson being a man of great scientific brilliance, he wanted technology to flourish and he desired for technology to be incorporated into the ordinary farms and households to facilitate life. This would not only make life easier for the American people, but yet speed and increase production as the nation was growing at an exponential rate.
​Jefferson’s deal for the Louisiana territory came with a goal. The political vision for America that Jefferson imaged was becoming so. With the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson believed this immense territory would not only assure economic security to all who settled on it, but would in itself be a safeguard against the kinds of economic and social inequities that were characteristic of the European experience. Where land was always available to anyone willing to put his labor into it, no one ever need be exploited by anyone else. This dream of creating a safe haven for futures to come embodied the core of what American agrarianism was. Jefferson left a society in the making conceived with ideas of democratic self-governing and an ample country that would regenerate and with it the people.
​A major reason for American agrarianism was due to Jefferson’s belief of tyranny.

He firmly believed that farmers were the true depiction of the American as they would keep the government from becoming too powerful. As farmers have a tendency to stay away from large urban center, they would not be influenced by greedy politicians. Thus, their vote would preserve national liberty. These agrarian republican beliefs in the moral and political power of farmers to provide a stable, free, rural nation largely lost out to the tendency toward urbanization spurred by the Industrial Revolution in the northern United States and the persistence of massive plantation growers in the southern part of the

country
His purchase of Louisiana added millions of acres to the national domain, yet it was not enough.

His successors grabbed California, the southwest, and Oregon. "Manifest Destiny" was a conscious attempt by Jefferson's political descendants to prolong the agrarian present and deny the industrial future. American agrarianism expanded greatly during the 1800s, in theory Jeffersonian Democracy opened the gate way for Jacksonian Democracy to settle. As both Jefferson and Jackson desired for a greater agricultural America, yet this wasn’t the first time in American history that agrarianism was present. In the year 1769, J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur settled in New York, inhabiting the life of an American farmer. Crevecoeur in sight of a fresh start, decided to live the perfect American dream. His notion of the ideal American was unconventional; as he didn’t want to be a potent businessman or a wealthy tycoon. No, he saw the simple orderly farmer as the ideal American, thus to express his sentiments on the matter he took on a persona in his book, farmer James, from Letters from an American Farmer. Through this novel, Crevecoeur displays his views of a perfect agrarian society. Crevecoeur explains the humble principles of societies blossoming throughout the colonies, the inhabitants of America converting immense forests into pleasant fields and creating thirteen colonies of minimal subsistence, and content governmental harmony. Crevecoeur’s views on men were much like

transcendentalist views, as he stated in letter III:

Men are like plants; the goodness and flavour of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment. Here you will find but few crimes; these have acquired as yet no root among us. I wish I were able to trace all my ideas; if my ignorance prevents me from describing them properly, I hope I shall be able to delineate a few of the outlines, which are all I propose. (Gislason 2002)

Crevecoeur novel, Letters from an American Farmer projects an atmosphere of being one with nature. To Crevecoeur, America was a fresh start for opportunities, to achieve the upmost advantage from the given opportunity, Crevecoeur suggested farming. Living off the land as the main source of nourishment was promoted by him. Being an immigrant Crevecoeur knew the lifestyle of Europe and America, thus he emphasized the major difference between the two continents. When contrasting America from Europe, Crevecoeur used the terms plants to substitute for people therefore saying “in Europe they were as so many useless plants, wanting vegetative mould, and refreshing showers; they withered, and were mowed down by want, hunger, and war…” (Gislason 2002). The statement is used to point out the aspects that Europe has lost sight of humanity’s humble ways, having been carried by desires, famine, and reckless war by moving from a rural lifestyle to an urban modernized society. Throughout the novel he compares man to nature, as well as establishing a geographical and social view of why America should be a rural society. Such details accumulate as evidence to emphasize his established ideology, thus his works began to spread throughout the new world and with it, spreading the notion of agrarianism.