JEFFERSON & RAYNAL (PART II)

"It is civilization alone which replaces women in the enjoyment of their natural equality" — Jefferson

AM | @HDI1780

- Women in Indian tribes. Although more work needs to be done, it is pretty clear in my mind that Jefferson took his inspiration from Histoire des deux Indes in his treatment of the condition of women in North American Indian tribes. Raynal: "Les femmes etoient sous l'oppression dans l'Orenoque, comme dans toutes les régions barbares" (HDI 1780, vii.17, p. 181). Jefferson: "The women are submitted to unjust drudgery. This I believe is the case with every barbarous people" (Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII).
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- The earth belongs exclusively to the living (*). Here's another well-known tirade by Jefferson, almost certainly derived from Diderot's chapter 42 of Book XVIII in Histoire des deux Indes [see]. In his letter IV to Le politique hollandais (22 January 1782), Adams quotes in French the key passage from Révolution de l'Amérique: "Qu'il n'est nulle forme de gouvernement, dont la prérogative soit d' être immutable. Nulle autorité politique qui créée hier ou il y a mille ans, ne puisse être abrogée dans dix ans ou demain. Nulle puissance, si respectable, si sacrée qu'elle soit, autorisée à regarder l'État comme sa propriété" (pp. 42-43).

(*) Jefferson to Monroe, Paris, September 6, 1789 [see].
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- Letter to Chastellux. On 7 June 1785, Jefferson complains about Raynal in a letter to Marquis de Chastellux. Whereas John Adams had chosen to ignore the degeneracy controversy, Jefferson was deeply involved in (sometimes costly) refutations of Buffon, de Pauw and Raynal [VIDEO]. In particular, the author of Histoire des deux Indes draws his ire: "The Abbé Raynal alone has taken that step [i.e. extending degeneracy to Europeans transplanted to America]".
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- Article "États-Unis". In 1786, Jean Nicolas Démeunier published the long "États-Unis" article in Volume II of the Encyclopédie méthodique [see: pp. 345-433]. Jefferson did provide some information. Clearly, he was anxious to distance himself from Démeunier's text,"tainted" as it was from Histoire des deux Indes. Here's Jefferson in two August 1786 letters (*):

To Charles Gysbert, August 25: With respect to the article "Etats Unis" of the Encyclopedie now inclosed, I am far from making myself responsible for the whole of the article. The two first sections are taken chiefly from the Abbé Raynal & they are therefore wrong exactly in that proportion. To John Adams, August 27: I include you the article "Etats Unis" of one of the volumes of the Encyclopedie, lately published [...] He [Démeunier] has left a great deal of Abbé Raynal, that is to say a great deal of falsehood, and he has stated other things on bad information.

Jefferson's personal animosity notwithstanding, these documents show the extent of the damage created by the degeneracy controversy in terms of Raynal's reputation and the standing of Histoire des deux Indes in the New World.

(*) The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Vol. 5, pp. 161 and 171.

[PART III TOMORROW...]
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