Thomas Jefferson's Timeless Case for Free Speech

Sometimes less is more, especially when drama enters political conversation. These days, taking offense is a national pastime, edging toward violence. Thomas Jefferson saw things differently, suggesting it is far better to listen to stark differences than to dismiss them or react violently. He was onto something.

In Jefferson’s “Notes on the State of Virginia” (1782), the author of our Declaration of Independence and third president vigorously argued that government’s role should be limited, and that free speech was a saving salve.

Jefferson wanted us to know that words have meanings, and more than that, their free exchange is how we find truth; they are the timeless currency of our Republic.

Arguing for limited government – and he had cut the size of government – he wrote: “The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others… It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

Jefferson would be strongly opposed to silencing or cancelling offensive language. The two points he makes in that statement are powerful and relevant today.

First, government has a role that is limited, setting conditions to maximize God-given liberties equally, giving each citizen the most liberty possible without intruding on another’s liberty. Government should be kept to that role.

Second, free speech is what allows us to exercise those God-given liberties non-violently, correcting and affirming our course as needed. Freely exchanging words helps us see what we may miss, without loss of life, limb, or our property.

If this seems obvious, it is a principle very much at risk today. Everywhere violence creeps into politics, excused by Democratic Socialists with no patience for process or our Constitution. Like Soviet Bolsheviks, they seem to think “ends justify the means.” They do not in our Republic.

Now is the time for thoughtful citizens to remind each other – and those on the left – that political violence has no place in American politics or our political process.

The notion that perceived injustices – whatever their nature – warrant violence in the streets is nothing but the advancement of chaos for the sake of consolidating power with a hammer. That is not what 250 years of American history teach.

Those two and a half centuries should teach us that we are blessed to live in a self-correcting constitutional republic, even with warts, injustices, mistakes, and needs for course correction or complaints and “grievances” against the government.

Course correction in the American Republic is not by violence, which spurs more violence, but through trust in talk. Next time you feel frustrated by the stupidity, rudeness, provocation, or witlessness of an opinion, take a breath and use it.

Poorly reasoned opinions, common as they are, “neither pick my pocket nor break my leg.” This is our miracle, as Ben Franklin said, “a republic, if you can keep it.”