Should every generation be able to rewrite its laws and constitution?

OCR: 1 cited passage(s) are machine-read (OCR) text of old printings; quotations reproduce the stored OCR text, misreadings included.

1. WHAT HE SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Jefferson believed that laws should be enacted in response to immediate needs and that the delay caused by requiring royal assent was oppressive. He argued that the necessity for immediate legislative action should not be hindered by procedural delays. "so that, however immediate may be the call for legislative interposition, the law cannot be executed till it has twice crossed the Atlantic, by which time the evil may have spent its whole force." [1]
• BELIEF (undated): Thomas Jefferson believed that a degeneracy in manners and spirit could undermine the laws and constitution. He argued that preserving good manners and spirit is essential for the vigor of a republic, and that a canker in these areas would soon eat to the heart of its laws and constitution. "A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution." [2]
• BELIEF (1783-06): Thomas Jefferson believed that a convention could be called to alter or correct breaches of the constitution if two-thirds of any two branches of government concur. This implies that he supported the idea that the laws and constitution could be revised under certain conditions. "Any two of the three branches of government concurring in opinion, each by the voice of two-thirds of their whole existing number, that a convention is necessary for altering this constitution, or correcting breaches of it, they shall be authorized to issue writs..." [3]
• BELIEF (1786-12-16): Thomas Jefferson believed that laws and constitutions should be revised over time, as shown by his reference to the revisal of laws and his support for the Virginia Act for Religious Freedom, which was a significant revision of legal principles. He also expressed a belief in the importance of reason and the ability of people to govern themselves, suggesting that laws should evolve with societal understanding. "I shall be glad when the revisal shall be got thro'. In the criminal law, the principle of retaliation is much criticised here, particularly in the case of Rape." [4]
• BELIEF (1787-09-16): Thomas Jefferson believed that the federal constitution should be divided into federal and state sovereignty, with the federal head having means to enforce compliance. He did not directly address whether every generation should rewrite laws and constitutions, but he suggested that the law should be determined by those involved in the discussions, implying a degree of adaptability and collective decision-making. "Your own ideas & those of the great characters who were to be concerned with you in these discussions will give the law, as they ought to do, to us all." [5]
• BELIEF (1789-09-06): Thomas Jefferson believed that each generation has the right to govern itself fully and independently, without being bound by the debts or obligations of previous generations. He argued that the earth belongs to each generation during its course, in their own right, and that no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence. "I say the earth belongs to each of these generations during it's course, fully, and in their own right." [6]
• BELIEF (1789-09-06): Thomas Jefferson believed that no society can make a perpetual constitution or perpetual law, and that every constitution and every law naturally expires at the end of 19 years. He argued that the earth belongs to the living generation, which may manage it and govern itself as it pleases, and that laws enforced longer than 19 years are an act of force and not of right. (key quote above) [7]
• BELIEF (1813-06-24): Thomas Jefferson believed that each generation should be considered as a distinct nation with the right to bind itself by the will of its majority, but none to bind the succeeding generation. He argued that the earth belongs to the living, not to the dead, and that each generation has the usufruct of the earth during its period of existence, passing freely to the next generation. "We may consider each generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of its majority, to bind themselves, but none to bind the succeeding generation, more than the inhabitants of another country." [8]
• BELIEF (1813-09-11): Thomas Jefferson believed that the right of each successive generation should be guaranteed against the dissipations and corruptions of those preceding, implying that each generation should have the authority to address such issues, possibly through constitutional means. He argues this based on the idea that there is no law between generations other than that of nature. "Ought not then the right of each successive generation to be guarantied against the dissipations and corruptions of those preceding, by a fundamental provision in our constitution?" [9]
• BELIEF (1816-07-12): Thomas Jefferson believed that each generation should have the right to revise its constitution and laws, as he argued that a new generation is as independent as the one preceding and has a right to choose the form of government it believes most promotive of its own happiness. (key quote above) [10]

What cuts against it

• ACTION (1803-07): Thomas Jefferson participated in the Louisiana Purchase, an act that expanded the nation's territory and potentially bound future generations to new obligations, which could be seen as inconsistent with his stated belief that no generation should bind the next. "The province of Louisiana is incorporated with the U. S. and made part thereof." [11]

• ACTION (1789-09-06): Thomas Jefferson supported the idea of a perpetual constitution in practice, as the U.S. Constitution has endured beyond 19 years without being rewritten, contradicting his stated belief that constitutions should expire every 19 years. "On similar ground it may be proved that no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law." [7]

• ACTION (1783-06): Thomas Jefferson proposed a mechanism for altering the constitution that required supermajorities in two branches, implying a preference for stability and difficulty in change, which contrasts with his belief in frequent revision. "Any two of the three branches of government concurring in opinion, each by the voice of two-thirds of their whole existing number, that a convention is necessary for altering this constitution, or correcting breaches of it, they shall be authorized to issue writs..." [3]

• ACTION (undated): Thomas Jefferson's belief in the importance of practical statesmanship over abstract principles suggests he may have compromised on the idea of rewriting laws and constitutions when it suited practical governance. "When it comes to an issue between an abstract doctrine and vital practical statesmanship what masterful man, with great destinies in his hand, does not turn from the theoretical dogma to the living and commanding act?" [12]

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. Thomas Jefferson believed that each generation has the right to govern itself and that laws and constitutions should not bind future generations. "I say the earth belongs to each of these generations during it's course, fully, and in their own right." [6]

2. He argued that no society can make a perpetual constitution or law, and that such laws naturally expire after 19 years. "On similar ground it may be proved that no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law." [7]

3. Jefferson believed that each generation is as independent as the one preceding and has the right to choose its form of government. "Each generation is as independent as the one preceding, as that was of all which had gone before." [10]

4. He suggested that laws and constitutions should be revised periodically to reflect the will of the living generation. "Ought not then the right of each successive generation to be guarantied against the dissipations and corruptions of those preceding, by a fundamental provision in our constitution?" [9]

5. However, Jefferson also supported mechanisms that made constitutional change difficult, such as requiring supermajorities, which implies a preference for stability. "Any two of the three branches of government concurring in opinion, each by the voice of two-thirds of their whole existing number..." [3]

3. HIS TAKE

Record coverage: PARTIAL

The record is silent on whether Jefferson believed every generation should rewrite laws and constitutions in practice, but it is clear that he believed in the principle that each generation has the right to govern itself and that laws should not bind future generations.

Extrapolation: Jefferson likely believed that laws and constitutions should be periodically revised to reflect the will of the living generation, but he also recognized the need for stability and may have supported mechanisms that made such revisions difficult.

Competing readings: One reading is that Jefferson believed in frequent revision of laws and constitutions to reflect the will of each generation. Another reading is that he supported stability and difficulty in change, as seen in his proposed mechanisms for altering the constitution. The record itself states the latter, but the former is an inference.

Confidence: Moderate, as the record supports both readings but does not provide a definitive statement on the frequency of revision.