Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Political Science

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Recently, state legislatures have increasingly mandated that public universities implement academic units dedicated to civic education. The development of such centers is relatively new to American higher education, prompting many to question the motivations behind the legislation. To address and understand this movement, I turn to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson detailed his educational plans and held that citizens should be taught a curriculum rooted in republican principles. Some may ask: how could a man who promoted free inquiry also set requirements for what citizens must learn? I answer this question by tracing Jefferson’s lifelong goal to create a secular education that supplements men’s natural reason and morality, arguing that he envisioned a classical republican education to ensure an electorate capable of acting in the best interests of the political community. In doing so, I counter the claim that Jefferson was primarily influenced by the modern view of man held by Hobbes and Locke.

I argue that while Jefferson acknowledges men require an authority to refine their self-interests, he diverges from Hobbes and Locke by incorporating a natural governing faculty. The “moral sense” has long been overlooked as a component of Jefferson’s natural rights theory. I demonstrate its importance through the work of the lesser-known Scottish theorist, Henry Home (Lord Kames), and I challenge the assertion that the Founders failed to consider the role of moral virtue in the political community. Thomas Jefferson’s incipient educational plan was derailed, but he maintained a ceaseless determination to reform American public education so that citizens could uphold the republican principle of self-governance. Such determination should prompt us to wonder if we should be doing the same—and, if so, what documents are needed to reclaim the spirit of 1776.

Date

7-16-2026

Committee Chair

Stoner, James R.

LSU Acknowledgement

1

LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment

1

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