An Epistemological Appeal

Ruins, slave quarters, Monticello. Photo Katherine Heline Botkin.

Jefferson built his case for American freedom on an epistemological foundation - the epistemology derived from Enlightenment philosophy. The book to read is Inventing America, by Gerry Wills. I refer to this moment in American history simply to emphasize the strong influence Enlightenment belief and methods had on social and political movement in the eighteenth century. Consider Jefferson's declaration:
...the course of human events...implies a flow fixed by natural laws.
..Nature and Nature's God...make no mistake, this is not the God of the ancien regimen.
...we hold these truths to be self-evident.. why not 'evident'? Why not 'truth as revealed from Heaven'?
...let facts be submitted...political science, like physical science, could construct irresistible proofs through rigorous application of deductive method. The necessary elements in this process were 1) good measurements giving solid facts, and 2) a candid starting point.
...submitted to a candid world...the inductive and deductive processes which produce truth have this prerequisite: one must begin without prejudice, bias or interest. This was the candid state of the soul, wiped clean of the foul stains of tradition, custom, or creed. The American appeal to a worldwide brotherhood of states would presuppose such whitened judgment...for without such beginnings, the rational processes which produce truth must inevitably fail.

A side note: the fireplace above looks like it was hastily constructed from a wide assortment of gleaned materials. But the firebox - look at that. Shallow firewall, high mantle, forward throat... this is a Count Rumsford design, the most scientifically advanced concept in fireplace engineering in Jefferson's time. I guess I am not surprised that this complicated man would find a way to order even waste materials into scientific form.