Discovering the Mastodon:
Part 5: Jefferson's Notes
Thomas Jefferson started writing what would become his Notes on the State of Virginia in 1781 in response to a list of queries by the French delegation in Philadelphia concerning the American states they were assisting. This work soon evolved into a substantial book that would encompass detailed discourses on a number of topics concerning Virginia and the United States. Jefferson published a limited and private edition in 1785 and a larger, public edition in 1787, but many of his ideas found their way into American discourse well before people had a chance to read his book (1).
Perhaps the most influential pre-publication element of Jefferson's Notes was his spirited rebuttal to Buffon concerning the Frenchman's theory of American Degeneracy. Buffon's theory, elaborated upon in 1761, stated that the animals of the New World, including the United States lacked the size, vigor and variety of their Old World counterparts. This inferiority, which Buffon attributed primarily to a humid and cold climate, extended to Native Americans, to livestock imported from Europe and –according to some of Buffon's disciples– to transplanted Europeans as well. It's not surprising that Americans took offense (2).
The centerpiece of Jefferson's rebuttal was a set of lists comparing the size and variety of American and European animals. Significantly, the animal at the top of Jefferson's list was the mastodon, then known variously as the "Mammoth", "American incognitum" and "animal de l'Ohio". Although he acknowledged that this animal might be extinct, Jefferson suspected that it still roamed the vast wilderness of North America (3). Whether living or not, it was clear to Jefferson and his contemporaries that this giant was "the largest of all terrestrial beings". Consequently, Jefferson regarded the "Mammoth" as perhaps one of the most compelling arguments against Buffon's theory of American Degeneracy:
"But to whatever animal we ascribe these remains, it is certain such a one has existed in America, and that it has been the largest of all terrestrial beings. It should have sufficed to have rescued the earth it inhabited, and the atmosphere it breathed, from the imputation of impotence in the conception and nourishment of animal life on a large scale: to have stifled, in its birth, the opinion of a writer [Buffon], the most learned too of all others in the science of animal history, that in the new world, –that nature is less active, less energetic on one side of the globe than she is on the other."
Jefferson also disputed Buffon's and Daubenton's contention that the fossils recovered from Big Bone Lick belonged to the elephant and a giant hippopotamus. Rather, he agreed with Collinson and Hunter that the fossils represented a single animal similar to, but distinct from the elephant (4). Like the British naturalists, Jefferson was struck by the exclusive occurrence of this animal and the Siberian mammoth in the northern latitudes, and he also suspected that the Siberian mammoth and the American "Mammoth" were the same species. In contrast, the elephant was found only in the tropics. To Jefferson, this giant of the North discredited Buffon's contention that cold climates led to degeneracy.
Jefferson believed that the "Mammoth" was probably a carnivore. This opinion, introduced by William Hunter in 1766 and shared by many of Jefferson's contemporaries, was based in part on the jagged biting surfaces of the animal's molars. It was also influenced by reports of the shattered bones of presumed prey at Big Bone Lick and by Native American legends popularized by Jefferson in his book. The image of a giant hunter rampaging through the wilderness fueled the imagination of many Americans offended by the Theory of Degeneracy and envious of Europe's cultural legacy. Europeans could point to the ruins of Classical Greece and Rome. America lacked Europe's antiquities, but the citizens of the new nation could boast of their natural wonders and the massive bones and teeth of the "Mammoth".
Next: Part 6 - The Search Heats Up
Print Resources:
- Cohen, C. 2002. The Fate of the Mammoth: Fossils, Myths and History. Translated by William Rodarmor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Originally published as Le Destin du Mammouth. 1994. Editions du Seuil.
- Jefferson, Thomas. 1787. Notes on the State of Virginia. Edited with introduction and notes by William Peden. 1982. Chapel Hill & London: University of North Carolina Press.
- Koch H. and W. Peden. (eds.) 1993. The Life and Selected writings of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Random House.
- Peterson, M.D. (ed.) 1975. The Portable Thomas Jefferson. New York: Penguin Group
- Semonin, P. 2002. American Monster: How the nation's first prehistoric creature became a symbol of national identity. New York & London: New York University Press.
Notes:
- Jefferson published a private edition of Notes in 1785 to distribute among his friends and associates in America and Europe. He hadn't intended to release a public edition largely because he feared its impact on Virginia politics. However, news of unauthorized French and English editions prompted him to change his mind. Many of his ideas became familiar among influential Americans either through the circulation of his manuscript or the private edition. But a broader audience was also exposed before the release of the 1787 public edition. For instance, excerpts were published in the Columbian Magazine months before its release. See Notes on the State of Virginia for a more detailed discussion of this book. [go back]
- George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) was the most influential naturalist of his time. See Buffon's Theory of American Degeneracy for more information on Buffon and his theory. [go back]
- The extinction of animals was inconceivable for most European scientists of the 18th century. It ran counter to firmly held beliefs by both Christian and Deists of the perfect creation. Moreover, the fossils of both the Siberian mammoth and the mastodon were only a few thousand years old. Unlike many older fossils, which are commonly embedded in hard rock, these fossils were typically found in mud, snow or ice. [See Fossils and Extinction.)(go back]
- Louis Daubenton was Buffon's anatomist. He published a memoir on "animal de l'Ohio" in 1762. See Part 2 - Enter the French for more information. Peter Collinson and William Hunter were British naturalists who published their own findings on the American incognitum in 1767 and 1768, respectively. See Part 3 - Enter the British for more information. [go back]
Image Credits
- Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Charles Willson Peale, 1791.
Image courtesy of the Independence Historical National Park.
www.nps.gov/inde/ [go back]