Thomas Jefferson: Common Stock Labor
on Thursday, September 13, 2018Thomas Jefferson Money Quote saying we are given land to labor over to produce food and shelter. Small plots and their owners are important to government. Thomas Jefferson said:
“The earth is given as a common stock for man to labor and live on. The small landowners are the most precious part of a state” — Thomas Jefferson
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This quote from Thomas Jefferson expresses the view that the land and natural resources of a country are meant to be used productively by all people, not monopolized by a few. By saying the earth is “given as a common stock”, Jefferson seemed to believe that everyone has an equal right to farm, work and sustain themselves from the land.
Additionally, he calls “small landowners” the “most precious part of a state”, implying that widespread property ownership and independent farming are important for a healthy, prosperous society.
The quote conveys Jefferson’s democratic and agrarian ideals, with an emphasis on distributing land access and economic opportunity as broadly as possible among ordinary citizens, not concentrating it in the hands of a small elite.
Birthday: April 13, 1743 – Death: July 4, 1826