The Tree Of Liberty Must Be

Jefferson wrote this in a letter to William Stephens Smith, John Adams's son-in-law, on November 13, 1787, written from Paris where Jefferson was serving as American minister to France. He was responding to news of Shays' Rebellion — an armed uprising in Massachusetts by indebted farmers. Rather than alarm, Jefferson expressed equanimity: popular rebellions were, in his view, a necessary and healthy corrective to governmental overreach, and he was wary of governments so strong they could suppress all dissent. The line is among his most debated, given how differently it has been interpreted across American history.