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Jefferson's Influence
22 August 2006 Volume 3, Issue 2 As the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks approaches, each of us will remember how we spent that terrible day. At Berkshire Publishing, we were alerted to events by a contributor’s e-mail. After the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center, we moved the staff up the hill to our house, where we could watch the television coverage. We stood together staring in disbelief as the first tower collapsed, and returned to our desks late in the day, knowing that our works then in progress, on global topics like fundamentalism, criminal justice, and modern Asia, would be more necessary than ever. So much has changed in these five years, yet still all too little. Terrorist threats and war remain much in the news. We thought it might be useful to step back in this issue of World History to Go to see how some great U.S. leaders understood the need to go beyond war (even though all but one played important roles as war-time leaders) and beyond violence to create lasting change in the world. The Influence of Jefferson
The Marshall PlanIn the United States, Cold War policies were set out in several early government documents. The first of these, which came to be known as the Truman Doctrine, was promoted in a speech on 12 March of 1947. In this speech, President Harry Truman declared, “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.” In June of 1947, Secretary of State George Marshall set out the European Recovery Program (later known as the Marshall Plan), which provided for economic aid to back up the ideology of the Truman Doctrine. [From the article, “Cold War,” by Michelle DenBeste in the Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History.] Inside the Berkshire Encyclopedia:
For more on these subjects, see articles such as Civil Disobedience, Freedom, Peace Making in the Modern Era, and Revolution—American. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Use of Nonviolent ResistenceMontgomery’s civil rights advocates decided in 1955 to contest racial segregation on that city’s public transportation system. When Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and police arrested her for violating the city’s segregation law, the activists formed the Montgomery Improvement Association to boycott the transportation system. They chose King as their leader. He quickly showed his commitment to the cause through his inspiring rhetoric and public fearlessness after his family home had been bombed. Just over one year after the start of the boycott, the city integrated the bus system. Wanting to capitalize on the success of the Montgomery boycott, King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in hopes of creating a national movement. He lectured on race-related issues around the country and abroad. A meeting with Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru helped cement his belief in using nonviolent resistance. He also drew inspiration from the struggles of Africans trying to overthrow colonialism and establish independent nations. [From the article “Martin Luther King Jr.,” by James G. Lewis in the Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History.] 
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To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Berkshire Publishing Group is making available for free download, the text of our two-volume work, Patterns of Global Terrorism 1985–2005: U.S. Department of State Reports with Supplementary Documents and Statistics. We consider it a public service to share these crucial reports with educators, scholars, students, and other citizens. And we are thrilled to announce the November publication of Global Perspectives on the United States, the first general resource to explore the global role and image of the United States, from its founding to the present. In this bold, balanced guide experts explain, nation by nation, what the world really thinks about America. U.S. prestige in the world has fallen dramatically in the past five years. This work explains the change, provides extensive historical background, and suggests avenues for improving our relationships with the rest of the global community. With warm regards, |
In 1776 the members of the Second Continental Congress selected a committee to draft a declaration of independence and Jefferson became the principal author. The Declaration, adopted by Congress on 4 July, announced the birth of a new nation, listed specific grievances against the British king George III, and set forth a philosophy of natural rights. Drawing upon French and English Enlightenment political philosophy, and particularly the work of Englishman John Locke, Jefferson urged the colonists to fight for a government based on popular consent that could secure the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The declaration, and the American Revolution it inspired, generated a wave of revolutionary sentiment throughout Latin America and Western Europe in the nineteenth century and were even used to justify anti-colonial struggles in Asia and Africa in the twentieth century. [From the article “Thomas Jefferson,” by John F. Lyons in the
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