Thomas Jefferson's Paris

For just under 10 months four delegates from the United States of America, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams, negotiated with two representatives from the Kingdom of Britain within the Hôtel d'York. The hôtel was only one street and a bridge crossing from the Louvre and the Île de la Cité. There in the heart of Paris the gathered Anglophones haggled over the settlement of a country on the other side of the Atlantic. On 3 September 1783 the two sides finalized an agreement. For the United States, the Treaty of Paris was no less important to its existence than the Declaration of Independence, as its terms guaranteed recognition by Britain to its right to exist as an independent sovereign nation. In contrast, the treaty was an utter humiliation for the British delegates who refused to pose for the commemorative painting.

It is no coincidence that the fate of the United States was settled in Paris. Paris was a great city, whose population eclipsed every other urban center in Europe, save only London. It was the most important city in the Kingdom of France, the world’s great land power. Moreover, it was France that had tipped the scales in favor of the American colonists. After a number of French adventurers supported the early US war effort, the young Marquis de Lafayette chief among them, France entered the conflict in early 1778. Louis XVI and his ministers cared little for the American cause, instead seeing the war as an opportunity to enact vengeance on a hated rival. Motivations aside, French soldiers fought British troops across the world, draining the British of manpower and resources, eventually allowing the Americans to win a prolonged war of attrition. If American Independence started in Boston it ended in Paris.

Yet, 1783 was not the end of American attachment to the City of Lights and France in general. France had been America’s greatest ally and one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world. Even after the war ended American politicians knew that they had to maintain good relations with their benefactor. This task had been most expertly achieved by the polymath Benjamin Franklin whose brilliance, wit and endless charm allowed him to woo every French gentleman and their wives to the American cause. Yet, Franklin was already 77 years old when he signed the document guaranteeing America’s independence. Moreover, with peace settled, John Jay aimed to return to the United States to pursue high office. Jay’s departure spurred Congress to appoint Thomas Jefferson as minister plenipotentiary in Paris, tasked with negotiating treaties of friendship and commerce with France.

Jefferson’s connection to France began at a young age. Since the 17th century France was regarded by other Europeans as the preeminent country for art, literature and culture. As such, any well-educated European or European colonist had to learn some French and Jefferson was no exception. As a child he was tutored in the language and read classic French books. For literature he drew upon the great playwrights Jean Racine and Molière, for science, Georges-Louis Leclerc, the Comte de Buffon. The 18th century produced a flowering of political treatises by writers such as Diderot, Montesquieu and Voltaire, all of which Jefferson voraciously consumed and incorporated into his own ideas for governance. Even before Jefferson first set foot in France he had an idea of the country based on the achievements of its most-renowned international figures.

Jefferson’s voyage to France nearly occurred in 1782. That November he received word from Congress that he was to join the American delegation to conclude peace with England. For Jefferson, the appointment was a much-needed reprieve. Two months prior his wife Martha succumbed to a long bout of illness. Martha’s death sent Jefferson into a profound state of melancholy, during which he secluded himself in his room for weeks. When he finally emerged from his quarters he rode his horse aimlessly through the countryside. Mad with grief, Jefferson leapt at the opportunity to sail abroad as a much-needed distraction. Yet, before he could set out he learned that a provisional peace had already been agreed upon and his services were no longer needed.

After two years serving as a Congressman, Jefferson learned that John Jay was returning to America, leaving vacant his very important role as Minister to France. On 5 July 1784 Jefferson left Boston with his 11-year-old daughter Patsy and his personal slave and valet, James Hemings. A month later the trio pulled into port at Le Havre and entered Paris on 3 August.
 The City of Lights was unlike anything Jefferson had experienced up to that point. At the time the largest city in the United States was Philadelphia with 40,000 people. In stark contrast, the population of Paris was probably more than 600,000. Paris was also quite a bit more opulent than Philly. In fact, Jefferson arrived during the height of a building frenzy. After a lull in construction during the Seven Years’ War, rich nobles and bourgeoisie sponsored urban projects. The country was continually growing wealthier, at least for those at the top rungs of society. Moreover, its lax economic regulations meant that virtually everyone of note engaged in speculation, often in the form of real estate. The result was that Jefferson entered a grandiose city with stunning new hotels, operas, bridges, markets and public forums. Virtually every corner of the city offered a new delight for this brilliant architect who had studied great buildings in books but who had never been to a city of any significance before.

To enter Paris he first had to pass through a brand new wall. At 10-feet in height and 18 miles in circumference, Paris’ new wall was not for defending against enemy armies but as a desperate attempt by the crown to squeeze out whatever money it could from its own citizens. The wall housed numerous customs barriers where people had to pay to leave or enter the city. The French hated this new tax as an assault on their liberty and a further drain on their pockets. Jefferson himself bitterly complained about the entry fees, which was somewhat ironic, given that these were implemented to pay for France’s military costs during the American War for Independence.

As impressive as the privately-owned hotels and theaters were they paled in comparison to the state-sponsored public buildings. Among the many new great projects, those that made the greatest impression on the visiting Virginian were the Halle aux blés, the church of Saint-Genevieve and the Hôtel de Salm. Today serving as the Bourse de Commerce, the Halle aux blés was originally a large-scale building for exchanging grains. Yet, the building’s use of flowing arches elevated its more mundane function. Furthermore, it was crowned by a magnificent dome, which Jefferson described as, “the most superb thing on Earth.” When Jefferson later became president he wanted to use the dome as a model for the House of Representatives, though his chief architect claimed it was impractical.

The Hotel de Salm was yet another remarkable example of neoclassicism, combining as it did Roman-style columns, busts and front pieces. If Jefferson failed to get the dome he had wanted, he succeeded in using the Hotel de Salm’s façade as a model for the capitol at Washington D.C.

One other significant building in Paris that appealed to Jefferson was the Church of Saint Genevieve. Dedicated to the patron saint of Paris, the building was only finished in 1790, by which point it was seized by the Revolutionary government, whose leaders converted it into a temple of liberty. Thus, Saint-Genevieve was rechristened the Panthéon, to house the bodies of the greatest figures in France. Given it was still under construction during Jefferson’s tenure in Paris, and due to his own opposition to anything religious, the Virginian likely did not spend much time there. Still, it is possible that the fresco within its dome, known as the Apotheosis of Saint Genevieve, may have inspired the Apotheosis of Washington, a dome fresco in the US capitol which depicts General George Washington looking down at the proceedings from the clouds, as if he were a guardian angel.

Few cities could have so greatly impacted an 18th century architect. These and other monuments inspired Jefferson to call for similar great works in the United States as a means of glorifying the nation and expressing its equivalence to the great European countries. Jefferson was just as inspired by Paris’ flaws as he was by its triumphs. Given that Paris was an old city that had organically grown over millennia, it had many narrow, winding streets, alleys and overpopulated areas rife with filth, crime and disease. Paris’ dual nature of soaring marble and back-alley misery convinced Jefferson that the United States needed to construct a new capital city from scratch with a logical layout. Through careful urban planning, Jefferson wanted to avoid the problems of poverty, disease and unrest while creating a capital that exemplified the greatness of the young nation. Thus, in 1791, a little more than a year after leaving Europe, did Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson work with the French architect Pierre l’Enfant to design the new capital. As he did he specifically instructed him to model the new city’s buildings on that of the modern Louvre, Gardes meubles and the Hotel de Salm, while also drawing from the examples of antiquity.

Jefferson spent most of his time in Europe within the city limits of Paris. Thus, his architectural experience was primarily dedicated to modern buildings. Yet, he did manage to take a small trip to the south of France where he came into contact with Roman ruins. The one that had the greatest impact on him was the Maison Carrée in Nîmes. Built under the Roman Emperor Augustus for the worship of the imperial cult, it remains one of the best-preserved Roman ruins to this day. In a letter to a friend, Jefferson wrote that he spent hours staring at the temple, “like a lover at his mistress.” In true obsessive fashion, Jefferson built a model based on the Maison Carrée which became the blueprint for the Virginia State Capitol. Through these and other projects Thomas Jefferson brought neoclassicism to America.

To the man who had spent most of his life living in the rural countryside and occasionally visited what could only be called a ‘city’ in the sparsely-populated United States, Paris was teeming with wonders. Aside from the monumental buildings it also boasted one of the greatest concentrations of brilliant minds. By the time Jefferson arrived in Paris, his compatriot Benjamin Franklin was a celebrity who was in contact with virtually everyone worth knowing. One of the few men who could rival Franklin was the Marquis de Lafayette, whose military exploits made him a sensation, especially in the wake of Franco-American victory. If Jefferson respected Franklin, he did not take easily to Lafayette, who he described as incredibly vain, with an incessant need to be the center of attention. Yet, Jefferson eventually became friends with the Marquis and the two corresponded for the rest of their lives.

Through these two friends, Jefferson encountered the most accomplished French scientists, thinkers and artists of the age. Of particular interest to the Virginian was Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier. Lavoisier was even then recognized as one of the greatest chemists who ever lived. Among his accomplishments were discovering oxygen, hydrogen and playing a role in creating the metric system. For these and other feats, Franklin honored him with an induction into the American Philosophical Society.

Another towering figure was Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet. Jefferson and Condorcet quickly struck up a friendship, both in admiration of each other’s scientific work and their mutual love of the classics. Condorcet, who was, The Permanent Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences, was a classic Enlightenment figure, known for his work advancing mathematics and for his radical politics. Condorcet was a great admirer of the United States, believing that its nascent republic could serve as a model for France. Jefferson welcomed this empathetic attitude, which was so far removed from the standard Parisian outlook that the US was a strange, half-savage, Anglophile backwater.

If Jefferson appreciated Condorcet’s pro-American outlook, he did not approve of just how liberal the Frenchman was. Condorcet believed that all forms of societal discrimination should be abolished, including those based on religion, sex and race. In 1788 Brissot de Warville founded the Société des amis des Noirs, the Society of the Friends of the Blacks, with the stated aim of ending slavery. Condorcet enthusiastically joined, as did Lafayette. Yet, when they invited Jefferson he declined, stating that he had to remain neutral in French political affairs.

Not all of Jefferson’s acquaintances were so amicable, and he soon came into conflict with Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. As the director of the Jardin du Roi [today the Jardin des plantes], he was a major figure in natural science who famously sponsored trips to Africa and the Pacific to gather plant species for further study. However, Buffon held pseudoscientific views on the biological potential of the New World, claiming that, “The air, the earth, overloaded with humid and noxious vapours, are unable either to purify themselves, or to profit by the influence of the Sun, who darts in vain his most enlivening rays upon this frigid mass…[The Western Hemisphere] is limited to the production of moist plants, reptiles and insects, and can afford nourishment only to cold and feeble animals.” Buffon and his contemporaries believe that the hostile environment of the Western Hemisphere would inevitably lead to the degeneration of plants, animals and humans who travelled there from the Eastern Hemisphere. Consequently, they believed that no proper civilization could succeed in the Americas.

Jefferson was furious at these attacks on his homeland. His entire purpose for being in Europe was to persuade Europeans that the United States could become a politically and economically viable country which could draw upon foreign political support and investment. Jefferson vehemently attacked the degeneration theory, leading many to drop their most anti-American views. However, the idea that the Americas was a savage place that would never reach European standards of development persisted.

When the Minister to France wasn’t hob-knobbing with great thinkers he enjoyed the company of great artists. His contacts included none other than Jacques-Louis David. David was the most celebrated painter of his age, whose pieces the Oath of the Horatii (1784) and the The Death of Socrates (1787) were regarded as the epitome of French neoclassicism. Perhaps just as famous was Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. As a woman, Le Brun did not have the same access to training that her male peers did. A self-taught painter, she became one of the most accomplished artists of her age, whose career took off when she became the personal portrait painter to Queen Marie Antoinette.

Jefferson’s preferred artist by far was the sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Franklin had previously invited Houdon to visit Mount Vernon where he made a sculpture of George Washington. Jefferson hired Houdon many times, commissioning busts of himself, Lafayette, Turgot and Voltaire, among others, all of which eventually found a home at Monticello.

While Jefferson spent much of his time in salons with notables he also made time to explore the great happenings across the city. Paris was then exploding with scientific, intellectual, literary and artistic productions the type of which the American could never have witnessed at home. One particular incident that stood out was a hot air balloon demonstration. On 19 September 1784 Jefferson, John Adams, and all those who could afford a ticket, attended a ceremony at the Tuileries Gardens. There, Les Frères Robert, (in English: the Robert brothers), filled a balloon with hydrogen and took off into the sky, which disappeared after a few hours, with its passengers landing safely in the commune of Beauvray. This was a spectacular event, one which took place a year to the day following the first manned balloon flight by the Montgolfier brothers.

Paris had a long-established reputation as a center for art, and it was in full bloom in the 1780s. The largest venue was none other than the twin palaces of the Tuileries and the Louvre in the heart of Paris. While nominally royal palaces, the monarchy had abandoned both for Versailles. The Tuileries was then occupied by rich state pensioners who used its lavish interior to house plays and concerts. Opposite the Tuileries, the Louvre was a haven for artists and academies. Every two years the Louvre hosted an exhibition of the finest paintings in the country. Jefferson was an avid attendee of the palace exhibitions. Yet, ever the architect, he was most fascinated by the famous Louvre Colonnade, the famous eastern entry to the Louvre. His obsession with the Colonnade reawakened during the designing of Washington D.C., when he used the façade as a template for the United States Capitol’s eastern and western entrances.

Of all the venues in Paris, none were more famous, or infamous, than the Palais-Royal. One block north of the Louvre, the building was originally called the Palais-Cardinal, when it was occupied by Cardinal Richelieu. Its name changed to Palais-Royal when the head of government gifted it to Louis XIII, who in turn passed it on to his son, Louis XIV. However, the Sun King had a far greater palace, Versailles, and so he gave the Palais-Royal to his brother, the Duke of Orléans, after which it became the property of the House of Orléans.

By the 1780s the palace passed into the possession of Louis Philippe II. After disgracing himself as a naval commander during the American War of Independence, the Duke of Orléans retired from the military and set to work on his great project. In short order he turned the palace into the center of Parisian debauchery. Architects reconstructed the great theaters where Molière had once called home. Workers built arcades which served as shopping centers, restaurants, gambling houses, billiard halls, cafés, spaces for clubs and scientific expositions and of course, brothels. Even more scandalous than prostitution was politics. The Palais-Royal provided an open venue for all political voices and quickly became a hotbed for anti-government speakers. These speakers were not of the caliber of Voltaire or Montesquieu, but were mostly cranks who dealt in imaginary scandals and gossip rather than profound ideas of statecraft. Still, they drew an audience, which was what mattered. The palace was also famous for banned literature. Despite heavy prohibitions, bawdy tracts blasting the monarchy and nobility were regularly disseminated. Jefferson was fascinated by entire spectacle and believed that the United States should create its own malls, albeit with stricter morals.

Paris was an overwhelming experience for the man from Monticello. Its streets teemed with new inventions, scientific discoveries and forms of art. Its architecture, cuisine and fashion were second to none. Having lived in a rural country, Jefferson leapt at the chance to meet with so many people who were his intellectual equal. Yet, he also believed that beneath France’s accomplishments was a deep rot. He saw a country whose citizens were either authoritarian Catholics or extreme libertines with little in between. Neither of these two extremes appealed to his vision of a country of morally-upright yeoman farmers.

Furthermore, Jefferson was never fully at ease in his role as Minister to France. He was not at all like Benjamin Franklin, who was never without at least a few courtesans at his side and whose bottomless charm made him the most famous man in Paris. Jefferson was a lanky, shy man, who was awkward around women. Finally, he was troubled by how expensive life in Paris was. He regularly complained that he had to spend both his government stipend and much of his own money just to keep up appearances. He repeatedly worried that any sign of financial problems would result in powerful and influential people turning their backs on him.

While Paris was a remarkably rewarding experience for Jefferson personally, professionally it was an abject failure. His only success was a relatively unimportant agreement between the United States and France over the rights of consulates in both countries. In fairness to Jefferson, the United States was undergoing its own political turmoil. Its post-war government was a confederation with a weak national government, one which eventually collapsed and was replaced by the US Constitution in 1788. By the time the US adopted a strong central government Jefferson’s time abroad was nearing its end. In 1789 he prepared to leave to settle his daughters into high society.

Before Jefferson departed the early stages of the French Revolution began. He was present at the opening of the Estates-General at Versailles on 5 May 1789. Jefferson further witnessed a gathering of the Third Estate with sympathetic members of the First and Second in the Church of Saint-Louis and declared that, “This is the first time that churches have been made some good use of.” Despite ostensibly remaining neutral, Jefferson openly supported the Revolution, heaping praise upon its non-violent nature. He declared that with the taking of the Bastille there had never been “so great a fermentation…[that] produced so little injury.” Nevertheless, not all was well; civil unrest became common and Jefferson complained to police that his house had been robbed three times.

Among his last acts in Paris, Jefferson allowed Lafayette and other notables to use his house to discuss what form France’s new government should take. On 26 August, the Minister to France hosted a gathering of 8 figures, among them: Lafayette, Duport, Barnave, Lameth, Blacons, Mounier, LaTour Maubourg and d’Agoult. It was there decided that there should be a single legislature and the king granted a veto. Afterwards, the Marquis de Lafayette turned to the author of the Declaration of Independence for help in editing his own work, which became the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

That fall Jefferson held a going-away party, whose guests included Lafayette, Condorcet and the duke de La Rochefoucauld. Jefferson firmly believed that he would return before long and establish ties between the United States and an increasingly democratic France. This proved not to be the case. Shortly after arriving in the United States, President George Washington asked Jefferson to be his Secretary of State. What followed was a long career in national politics, one which kept Jefferson from ever returning to France.

Fate was not kind to many of Jefferson’s friends. Lavoisier would be executed by guillotine in 1793 during the Reign of Terror, while Condorcet died in prison a year later. Following the Storming of the Tuileries Palace on 10 August 1792 the Duke de la Rochefoucauld went into exile, first to England then to the United States where he met Jefferson again at Monticello; he eventually returned to France during the Restoration. Lafayette survived the Revolution and later political upheavals and toured the United States in 1824, meeting with Jefferson after 25 years apart, and just two years before the latter’s death.

Jefferson’s Paris was a paradox. It was simultaneously a modern city and one stifled by the past. Caught between forward-thinking radicals and backwards-looking traditionalists; debauchery was the only common meeting-place between the two. For a man looking to form an all-new country, the Minister to France wanted to adopt the positive attributes of Paris without its vices. The results can be found in American government, law and culture, though they are most easily seen in its buildings, many of which copy French masterpieces.

Sources:

William Adams Howard, The Paris years of Thomas Jefferson, 1997.

Library of Congress, “Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827,” https://www.loc.gov/collections/thomas-jefferson-papers/articles-and-essays/the-thomas-jefferson-papers-timeline-1743-to-1827/1784-to-1789/

“Minister to France,” Monticello.org, https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/minister-france/

Howard C. Rice, Thomas Jefferson's Paris, 1976.