Thomas Jefferson on the Character of an Unfree People: The Case of Spanish America

Thomas Jefferson perceived the people of Spanish America during their revolutionary struggles of the 1810s through the lens of national historical development, formulating an ambiguous attitude toward them. Although welcoming their independence movements, he questioned their ability to establish free, self‐governing republics believing that they needed to undergo a process of political maturation so that they could develop a republican character. As well as regarding the newly liberated countries of Spanish America as potential allies of the United States, Jefferson expressed concern about their becoming its economic and political rivals. Experiencing the new states as scenes of permanent military conflicts, he even suggested temporary restoration of metropolitan control over them by Spain.