Written nearly 25 years after he had drafted the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson's message speaks to our politics today. Ballots and not bullets are the arbiters of bitter political divisions. Throughout history, and still in many nations, violence has been the leading recourse of defeated partisans threatened with the loss of their political power. Jefferson believed that republican government strengthened liberty by encouraging deliberation and allowing for the peaceful resolution of differences of opinion. Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle.
Majorities rule, but all possess equal rights.
Jefferson reminds us that we are bound to accept the rule of the legitimate majority but also notes that majority rule does not justify violating the just rights of the minority. The reconciliation of political differences comes not from circumventing this principle but from strengthening our consensus about the importance of majority rule and minority right. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. A wise and frugal government. Finally, Jefferson points out that good government is limited government and that limited government encourages our civic happiness.