The purpose of this paper is to review, compare, and contrast two recent scholarly books that deal with the philosophical, legal, and social issues surrounding the concept of toleration in American society. These two books are Lee C. BollingerÆs The Tolerant Society (1986) and Owen M. FissÆs The Irony of Free Speech (1996). This paper will also consider John LockeÆs A Letter Concerning Toleration, which provided the foundation of American thought about the toleration of minority beliefs and practices in the new American experiment.
LockeÆs first Letter Concerning Toleration had been written and published in Latin during his exile in Holland. After his return to England in relative triumph, traveling to England in 1689 on the ship that carried Princess Mary to London for her royal wedding and joint coronation with William of Orange, the Letter was published in English. In 1690, his two treatises on civil government were published, along with his Essay Concerning Human Understanding; these propelled him into prominence as a social thinker. Although Locke was not active in politics during the remaining 14 years of his life, Locke was considered the philosophical Elder Statesman of the Whig Party, and his advice was constantly sought. His reputation was equally high on the other side of the Atlantic, which is why he became in effect the philosophical mentor of Thomas Jefferson and why his philosophy served, and continues to serve, as the foundation for all American political thought.
JeffersonÆs two most lasting contributions to American political writing are, of course, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. These were based squarely on LockeÆs writings. The Preamble to the Declaration includes close paraphrases of key passages in LockeÆs Letter Concerning Toleration and in the essays on civil government. In this way Locke provided not only the basic concepts but the very vocabulary of American polit...