Similarities Between Adams And Thomas Jefferson

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Two Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both discussed their views of aristocracy. The two disagreed on this subject, as they did on many others. In summary, Adams seemed to be more open to aristocracy, as long as it is controlled, while Jefferson rejected pseudo-aristocracy, he believed that natural aristocracy can and should be a result of government. Adams discussed his views on aristocracy in Discourses on Davila. In which, he outlines the benefits and drawbacks of an aristocracy. As far as positives, an aristocracy allows arts and sciences to flourish, because aristocrats are often patrons of these subjects, Adams views this as beneficial to society. Also in most cases, an aristocracy provides the people with protection against a king. Adams saw the negatives of this form of rule as the dependency of the people on the aristocrats and the creation of a perpetual battle between the king and aristocrats. …show more content…

Within this letter Adam provides his definition of an aristocracy and listed potential problems they can create. Adam defines aristocracy as “men who can command, influence, or procure more than an average of votes; by an aristocrat, every man who can and will influence one man to vote besides himself” (Adams, Letters to John Taylor, 199). When Adams is referring to natural aristocracy, these people most likely do not hold the title of aristocrat, they are simply the most influential members of society, due to their excellence in knowledge, strength, or beauty, etc. Those who hold the title aristocrats are what Adams calls artificial aristocracy, because they are just handed their positions, they do not earn

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