I had thought in the past that I read that Jefferson wasn't in favor of the United States being a democracy, but in a recent discussion someone said this was not so...

Then while reading on here, I saw the quote-

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine"

-that someone had in their signature...
To me, that sounds pretty anit-democracy... Does anyone happen to know, when he said that, or what about... And! Was he against a democracy? I had though that he was in favor of a rule by the intelligent, not totally sure what that is called...

Jefferson, and many of the founding fathers, were distrusting of democracy.

They believed that in general, people are uninformed and ignorant, hence they cannot be trusted to make every decision. They did, however, believe that it was extremely important that the government had the full support and confidence of the people. In short, the U.S. is a republic, not a democracy.

You can find quotes from Jefferson praising as well as dissing democracy.

As with any well educated thinker, support for democracy is usually ambivilent and only Winston Churchill's dictum wins the day... "democracy is the worst political system... except for all the rest".

In other words, Jefferson was a democrat, but he understood that democracy has warts. Either way, it is better than anything else and that's why it is generally supported.

Interestingly enough, Jefferson was most pessimistic about democracy in the face of the power (and interest) of money. He was very prescient.

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[I]Remember what the dormouse said, 'feed your head'. [/I]

Churchill said "Democracy is a terrible system, but the best we've had so far". It is slightly a different meaning. He also said that the best arguement against a democracy was a 5-minute conversation with the average voter.

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[I]It is dangerous to be right in matters where the established society is wrong.[/I]

[I]God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable. They find not only sanctuary in His arms, but also a kind of superiority, soothing to their macerated egos: He will set them above their betters.[/I]
- Henry Louis Mencken

Jefferson was the same as all his contemporaries, he was a wealthy land owner and these 'founding fathers' were more concerned with retaining their wealth that what was best for the people. I agree that most Americans were uninformed as they are today, not much has changed.

The only true revolutionary was Thomas Paine, who got the people on the side of the revolution with 'Common Sense', which put forth in simple language what the revolution was all about and the uninformed, became informed and thusly, the revolution got popular backing. It would not surprise me if it was found that Paine was a contributor to the Declaration, for I do not see Jefferson coming up with these concepts on his own.

For his contribution to revolution, Paine receives a footnote, when he should be held up as the true Leader that he was and give the man his due.

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[url]http://vladtheagitator.blogsource.com[/url]

Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it. Albert Einstein

We Americans have NO commission from God to police the world. Pres. Benjamin Harrison

Jefferson was really concerned with Tyranny of the Majority. As it turns out, he was right. Just look at all of the civil rights problems we've had. That's why we have both a Representative Republic (not a democracy, like, say, the Swiss) and an electoral college (even though it doesn't really function as it was intended, and there were also other reasons for the EC's existence as well, regarding balancing bigger and smaller states).

Tommy J. liked to retire to Monticello and dream up what the 'best' outcome for the country would be; a country of 40-acre farms, from sea to shining sea, of course as the Geography and Climate Science of his day was quite wrong.

CHUQ's post #5, contains more truth than not, I believe. Although I also believe it overstates the dichotomy, in their eyes, between keeping their wealth and what was best for the people.

And it fails to take into account the reliance our Founding Fathers placed on westward expansion to cure society's ills.

Of all the Founding Fathers of the United States of America,
the seminal Democracy of History, Thomas Jefferson's great hand
was as much as the rest put together.

This, in spite of the fact he owned slaves, and because of it.

He said:

"I tremble for the future of my country when I consider
that God is Just, and His Justice cannot sleep forever...

It is the surest thing in God's creation that these people
are to be free."

If only Jefferson had been a better man, living up completely
to moral truth? I wish so every day.

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[I]From the fury of the Northmen, Good Lord, deliver us.[/I]

Democracy is not everything. A state cannot be without checks and balances and rule of law. Any state where the constitution allows the will of 51 % of the people to determine anything over the other 49 % is not much better than a dictatorship. It is the tyranny of the majority.

Remember also, that democracy without a strong rule of law and strong checks and balances can easily be made to disappear by votes in Parliament. For example, first you outlaw the Commies, then you outlaw the Socialists, then you outlaw the Liberals and the Conservatives, and so the Nazis are the only ones left in parliament. This happened in Germany in 1933.

Democracy did noting to help the Afro-Americans to get their civil rights in the American south, quite the contrary.

Democracy is a good start, but it is not the only thing you need in order to have a good and fair country to live in.

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[U]President Josiah Bartlet:[/U] Sweden has a 100% literacy rate. 100%! How do they do that?
[U]Leo McGarry:[/U] Maybe they don't and they can't add.

It is probably not helpful to paint things in the colors of political or religious ideology. Most of our so-called “founding fathers” - when viewed candidly - were a fairly pragmatic and irreligious lot. Franklin, who is considered to be the “First American,” came close to forsaking hearth and home for England. Even Jefferson with all his slaves was hardly the liberal reformer we would have him be. He was a deist, who had no qualms about revising the Bible to suit himself. The “times that try men’s souls” bring out firebrands like Paine; who, if he was not a founding father, was certainly the midwife of American independence, and abetter to the overthrow of the French monarchy as well. Like Jesus, we would not be able to stand him. (Indeed, Paine was such a pain in the ass that he managed to make himself persona non grata in England, America and France!) Our perception of these characters is clouded by the dark glass of history, and distorted by attributions that represent so much wishful rather than critical thinking. It is like crediting Rembrandt’s paintings with depth of hue when their darkness is due to his using cheap paint.