Compare/Contrast Thomas Jefferson and Jonathan Swift

There exists a fine line between the degree of responsibility a government has for its citizens, and the control it assumes to ensure the proliferation of its power. While freedom may be a traditional American value, how it is defined is a question that has long been a source of debate. Furthermore, when an institution follows a course of action that becomes detrimental to society, what responsibility, if any, do the citizens have to show their dissent, and what form should that dissent take? All of these are questions looking to be answered, with varying degrees of seriousness, by Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Swift. Thomas Jefferson’s A Declaration of Independence may be thought of as a universal symbol of traditional American values,†¦show more content†¦In the introduction Swift invokes the daily sight of poverty on the streets of Ireland, and how families, â€Å"are forced to employ all of their time in strolling, to beg sustenance for their helpless infants, who are, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country.† While Swift opens with a strong sense of compassion, creating a sense of empathy in the reader, his comments about woman as â€Å"breeders† and Irish who â€Å"fight for the pretender in Spain,† give some insight into his mixed loyalties. The wretched description of poverty certainly creates a need for change, but when Swift begins to attack the same poor people he claim need assistance, the quality of his delivery is compromised and the reader loses some degree of emotional investment in the story. Another important component of each work individually is the course of action the author claims will be effective against their perceived source of tyranny. The Declaration of Independence, having clearly labelled each offense committed by the king, culminates in a final paragraph of action; the colonies claim to be â€Å"absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and out to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude