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City Mice and Country Mice

"Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God... [in] whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue."

—Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, pp. 164-165

Do you remember Aesop's fable about the City Mouse and the Country Mouse? It's a story about two very different ways of living: city life and rural life. In that story, the Country Mouse, after experiencing the glamour and danger of city life, returns home quite satisfied by his less glamorous rural lifestyle. Today, most Americans are urban dwellers. We have been moving to the city in droves, but we still feel a strong connection to the rural way of life.

In 18th-century Virginia most people lived in the country and were involved in agricultureUntil the middle of the twentieth century, most Americans were farmers. They lived in a seasonal rhythm. They measured time by plantings and harvests. Every fall we remember this lifestyle in schools across the nation. Harvest festivals and autumn decorations help describe for students a way of life that most of them will never know. But this rural tradition can be more than just harvest celebrations. It can be an opportunity to teach students about the important role agriculture and farming communities have played in the development of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson believed that farmers were the very heart-the foundation-of the Republic. In his 1781 "Notes on the State of Virginia," Jefferson declared that "Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God." Farming was the industry that created real produce and real wealth. Farms and the small communities were the places where people worked and interacted together in a democratic atmosphere. In these small rural neighborhoods citizens were engaged with the governing of their communities. The people worked together for the common good. Jefferson described these communities as "virtuous."

Jefferson contrasted virtuous rural communities with the corruption of Great Britain's urban culture. It's important to remember that in 1781 Jefferson was fighting the Revolution. He had just finished his term as governor of Virginia. During that term, the British invaded Virginia, driving the legislature out of the capitol and nearly capturing him at his home, Monticello. Jefferson described the British government that he fought as "corrupt." He believed the British government had become corrupt because it strayed away from the kind of "virtue" he found in rural communities. British government had been taken over by manufacturers, merchants, and special interest groups who exploited community resources to make their profits. These were groups that congregated in cities. When these corrupt forces attempted to profit by subjugating the American colonies, the citizens of America responded by fighting for their independence. It was a war between good and evil.

Cities like Williamsburg served as busy centers of government, also attracting tradesmen, shops, and people Jefferson carried this feeling about the virtuous farming community and corrupt city throughout his public career. As Secretary of State, he struggled with Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists who, he believed, gave too much influence to the commercial interests of the United States and endangered rural communities. As President, he believed the purchase of the Louisiana Territory would guarantee land and resources to expand America's rural communities for generations to come.

Certainly the attachment to rural communities remained an important part of our democracy throughout most of the nineteenth century. Just look at the presidential campaigns for an example. Andrew Jackson's presidency ushered in the era of the "common man." William Henry Harrison's campaign for president was designed to emphasize his rural connections, complete with country barbeques, hard cider, and log cabins. Abraham Lincoln was the "log splitter."

That attachment to our rural heritage remains today. We still believe rural communities are better, more peaceful, and more wholesome than urban ones. It's important for students to understand, however, that our attachment to those rural values is an important lesson about citizens at work in their communities. Perhaps we have become a nation of "City Mice," but Americans still believe, like Thomas Jefferson did, that good citizens are engaged in governing their communities. We believe strong communities are the foundation of our Republic. We work so special interest groups cannot exploit our communities. Our local communities continue to be the heart-the foundation-of our Republic. Perhaps we have become a nation of "City Mice," with "Country Mouse" values.


This article was written by Dr. William E. White, Director, Educational Program Development, Department of Education Outreach, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.