Thomas Jefferson Quotes
The end proposed should be their extermination, or their removal beyond the [Great] Lakes.
At the time, Jefferson was the Governor of Virginia and the Indians and white settlers in the Western part of the state were coming into increasing conflict. This rather heartless and blood thirsty quotation of Jefferson’s surprises many of his great admirers. Especially because of his historical sophisticated and empathetic way he treated Indians. See {589102}, {589103}, {589113}, {589125}, and {605068}. Jefferson saw Indians much like he saw whites—differentially. Some were friends, some neutral, and some dangerous enemies. His wish to exterminate or ethnically cleanse these Indians was limited to these Indians—not to Indians in general. Nonetheless, it shows a violent side of Jefferson that was in play with enemies. As President, he was aggressive against the Muslim Pirates (see {623707} and {617123}).
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, 3rd President of the United States (Democratic Republican, VA), Orders to John Rogers Clark and his Virginia Troops, 1781
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Jefferson was one of the few Americans of his time who did not have the conviction that Indians were racially inferior to whites.
This appears to be the first American utterance of a longstanding doctrine of foreign policy.
In the 18th Century, the Islamic Barbary States combined their religious beliefs for Jihad against non-believers with a classic criminal enterprise--piracy. They would authorize corsairs to outfit ships and attack Christian merchant ships on the high seas. They would capture the ship and the cargo, which would be split with the ruler of the country. The crew and passengers would by “rented out” as slaves until they would be ransomed, the proceeds of which would also be shared. To motivate a larger ransom, the captives were regularly tortured as well as worked almost to death. The Barbary Pirates encouraged the “slaves” to write to their relatives, friends and governments to try and raise the ransom. Individual Christian countries were offered a “treaty” whereby for an annual payment of tribute to the Barbary country, the corsairs of that country would not attack ships flying the flag of the country that paid the tribute. The Christian country had to make 4 different tribute payments to each of the 4 Barbary nations. Most of the European powers were paying the tribute even though some could easily defeat the Corsair navies in a war. The cost of outfitting a fleet for war was much more greater than paying the tribute. The new nation of the United States was good pickings for the Barbary pirates and there was a period of several decades where the Americans had to create a policy to pay tribute or go to war. At different times America did both. Jefferson argued for War rather than pay the blackmail tribute.
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
