Jefferson wrote that “173 despots would surely be as oppressive as one” to argue that concentrating all powers in an elected legislature is just as dangerous as monarchy, and he thought the recent experience of state governments—especially in New England— demonstrated how popular assemblies could become tyrannical in practice. [1][2]
The line appears in his discussion of the Virginia constitution, where he notes that “all the powers of government, legislative, executive, and judiciary, result to the legislative body.”[1] He then says that putting all powers in one body is “precisely the definition of despotic government,” and that it is no comfort that many lawmakers, not a single king, wield that power: “173 despots would surely be as oppressive as one.”[1]
His point was that mere election or multiplicity does not cure the problem of unchecked power; if the legislature holds all functions, it can oppress as thoroughly as a monarch. Jefferson thus joins a broader Founding‑era concern with “legislative despotism” and the “tyranny of the majority.”[2][3]