Comparative Essay Sample: Thomas Jefferson and Maximilien Robespierre

In studying the many notable Enlightenment thinkers, it is clear that they shared many similarities such as individualism and liberty. However, in looking more closely, one can see that there are a lot of differences as well. Take for example two of these thinkers, Thomas Jefferson and Maximilien Robespierre. Thomas Jefferson and Maximilien Robespierre shared similar ideas regarding the Enlightenment philosophies of Liberty and Progress; they both believed in the basic rights of man and the rights of people to change governments as they deem fit. This common belief is largely due to the fact that Robespierre was heavily influenced by Jefferson and the events of the American Revolution. They disagreed though with respect to the Enlightenment philosophy of Nature; Jefferson believed that white people were biologically superior to black people, whereas Robespierre believed that all people were the same. 

Both Thomas Jefferson’s and Maximilien Robespierre’s philosophies were heavily influenced by the Enlightenment philosophy of liberty. They believed that humans had basic rights and that governments can not limit said rights, and that people had the right to free will. For example, Robespierre was heavily in favor of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen when it was published in 1789. He insisted that every law in France needed to follow this Declaration, and was strongly opposed to government discrimination based on people’s religion and race. Likewise, Jefferson authored the United States Declaration of Independence, which stated that “When…it becomes necessary for one people…to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that humans have rights that they are born with and that governments can not limit them. This heavily reflects the Enlightenment philosophy of liberty as he stated that people were born with rights and that the government was restricting their rights to liberty. However, Jefferson owned slaves, while Robespierre was an avid champion for the rights of black people, and other marginalized groups. This is one area where Jefferson differs from Robespierre. Additionally, Robespierre said that all people had rights and they have the right to be inherently evil if that is the choice that they make. This connects back to the Enlightenment philosophy of liberty because it states that people had the right to choose whether or not they will be good in their lives or evil, and that what matters was that they had the right to choose that. He reasoned that if people have free will, which is a key concept of the Enlightenment philosophy of Liberty, then they would have the right to choose to be evil. However, Robespierre did acknowledge that being evil would have consequences, but again, people could choose to do so if they wanted. In conclusion, Jefferson and Robespierre were extremely similar concerning the philosophy of Liberty, but with one key difference being that Jefferson was a slave owner, whereas Robespierre was not. 

Another Enlightenment concept that Jefferson and Robespierre both believed was the Enlightenment concept of Nature, however, Robespierre is more closely aligned with the true concept. For example, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence at age 33, and he stated in it that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. This connects back to the Enlightenment philosophy of Nature because it states that humans were born with natural rights that can not be taken away. This specific philosophy says that everything that is natural is also inherently good, which is very similar to Robespierre’s beliefs of people’s basic rights that they get when they are born. Furthermore, Robespierre was very supportive of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which said that all people were born free. Robespierre was heavily in favor of natural-born rights, and wanted all people of every religion and race to have equal rights that were given to them at birth. This aligns very closely with the meaning of the Nature philosophy, which says that people are born with natural rights. However, while Robespierre spent much of his time as a lawyer defending the rights of minorities including those of African descent and Jews, Jefferson owned a large plantation that had many slaves, and wrote that black people were inherently worse than white people. In this way, Thomas Jefferson did not fully embrace the Enlightenment philosophy of Nature because he did not believe that every person is born with these natural rights, as we can see by the sheer magnitude of the number of slaves that he owned, and his statements that he considered black people to be biologically inferior to white people. These examples show that Maximilien Robespierre and Thomas Jefferson differed in their outlook of natural rights for everyone, as Jefferson was less aligned with the Enlightenment ideals of Nature.

 One final comparison is the fact that Jefferson and Robespierre shared similar beliefs that people had the right to change and improve a government as they see fit, which closely aligns with the Enlightenment philosophy of Progress. For instance, Jefferson believed that it was the people’s right to separate from an oppressive government if that is an action that they deem necessary. In 1776, he wrote, “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation”. Thomas Jefferson believed it was the people’s right to separate from an oppressive government if needed. In the Declaration of Independence, he wrote that people can declare that they are independent and establish a different government if that is what they decide. Jefferson believed that humans can, and should, improve societies as they deem fit.​​ This is also something the Enlightenment thinkers also believed, so this is an area where Jefferson was similar. Jefferson was anti-Federalist because he felt that a big federal government did not work, especially when he looked at Britain’s governmental system. The Federalists wanted a large federal government to be the new system of the United States, but Jefferson was strongly opposed as he felt as if it was too similar to the British government system that they had just fought hard to separate from. He believed that America needed to have a different system of government, and from this, he showed his feelings that people should be able to change governments. Through these thoughts and actions, it is obvious that he believed in the Enlightenment philosophy of Progress. Similarly, Robespierre was a part of a political group that directly opposed the French Absolutist Monarchy. He was one of the main figures in the French Revolution that took down the monarchy. Through this role, Robespierre showed his belief in the fundamental right of man to improve governments and make progress in society. Additionally, he was part of the Jacobins which directly opposed the monarchy government that was in place at this time. The writings and actions of the two thinkers, Robespierre and Jefferson, show that they strongly agreed about the Enlightenment philosophy of Progress. 

Thomas Jefferson and Maximilien Robespierre slightly disagreed in their beliefs regarding the philosophy of Nature, as Jefferson believed less in the rights of black people than Robespierre. Conversely, they held similar views about the Enlightenment philosophies of Liberty and Progress, both believing in the unalienable rights of mankind and the rights of people to alter their governments as they deem fit. These two Enlightenment thinkers are not the only ones who have key similarities and differences, but it is especially interesting to compare these specific revolutionaries as they are key players in the history of the world and humankind.