Thomas Jefferson Converses with Napoleon at Poplar Forest
While researching our third president, Thomas Jefferson, I discovered Poplar Forest, his private retreat in Lynchburg.
I couldn’t wait to tell my kids I found another Napoleon video!
At their website I discovered a great on-line video of Thomas Jefferson (whom we met in 2004 at CW) and Napoleon (portrayed by Colonial Williamsburg’s Lafayette).
My kids loved this since they enjoyed previously meeting both actors.
During the hour-long video, Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon answer questions from a group of middle school students.
Thomas Jefferson’s perspective of Napoleon’s style of leadership clearly contrasted with Napoleon’s strong opinions in favor of his choices.
The expressions on the face of Jefferson matched the shock on my kids faces, too.
The actors’ interpretations of Jefferson and Napoleon brought to life the pages my kids had read in their books.
Even though we previously discussed the Louisiana Purchase, the Declaration of Independence, Code Napoleon, democracy vs dictatorship, etc, my kids now viewed these ideas through different lenses.
Napoleonic Perspective
After the presentation my kids poured forth their shocked reactions to Napoleon’s viewpoints.
Incredulous by how he justified everything, they ranted to great extent.
That gave us a fresh opportunity to approach his actions from the perspective of various peoples of Europe.
Lower Class Perception about Napoleon
Specifically, we focused on the lower class of France.
Napoleon claimed he was not a dictator. For proof, he said the people were happy.
For the first time in their history, the chains of feudalism were gone. They now had equality and liberty.
Also they “chose” him to be their leader.
Bothered by this, my son insisted Napoleon was a dictator who didn’t offer choices to his people.
Their rights were not as free as Americans had in the United States.
I asked him who brought an end to the French Revolution and stabilized France?
Reluctantly, he admitted that Napoleon brought peace to France.
What were the living conditions of the lower class prior to the French Revolution?
For generations upon generations, feudalism mandated allegiance to the nobles, no say in government, heavy taxation to support the king (and Marie Antoinette), poverty, hunger which led to the storming of the Bastille, the French Revolution, the guillotine, many temporary governments who could not bring control to the terror…at long last the people were supportive of this man who brought peace, control, and made their quality of life better than they or their ancestors had previously known.
Code Napoleon
We reviewed Code Napoleon, the civil law Napoleon enacted for all people under his rule.
We compared that to America where we have local laws, state laws, and federal laws.
But under Code Napoleon, all the people of France followed the same law as the people across conquered Europe, and for a time, Louisiana.
Even today, some countries and Louisiana continue to use parts of Code Napoleon for their law.
Upper Class Perception about Napoleon
Then we compared that to how the upper class perceived Napoleon.
The elite despised him for making the lower class equal to them.
Lafayette’s Perception about Napoleon
Even though the Marquis de Lafayette willingly risked his fortune and worked for equality and freedom for France, he did not condone Napoleon’s dictatorship.
Having been to America, Lafayette knew what true liberty looked like.
In Lafayette’s view, Napoleon was missing the mark.
Simon Bolivar’s Perception about Napoleon
Even Simon Bolivar, liberator of South America, admired Napoleon when he first brought stability to France.
But after he became monarch, Bolivar’s perspective of him soured as he committed himself to free his own country from oppression, but vowed to never take over his own country as Napoleon did.
Monarchs’ of Surrounding Nations Perception about Napoleon
We talked about the perspective of the monarchs of the surrounding nations who feared Napoleon’s seizure of their countries.
As a result, the monarchs often allied to battle Napoleon offensively.
The Epic Napoleon
Within those conquered nations, we considered the perspective of the common people who tasted freedom for the first time, without a monarchy, under Code Napoleon.
Historically, we cannot deny the influence Napoleon had on the world.
From our perspective today, we can see how the poor cheered Napoleon, the elite despised him, the educated were frustrated with him, those in the surrounding countries feared him, the conquered common people accepted him, while Americans kept their distance from him.
Interestingly, Napoleon admired George Washington. The kids wrote comparative essays about that, freely expressing their thoughts.
Epilogue
Unfortunately the old links have been taken down. Other conversations with Thomas Jefferson can be viewed here.
