Thomas Jefferson
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Thomas Jefferson
He led attacks against British colonial policy in North America and served as a member of the Continental Congress (1775-76).
He drafted the United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and was the leader of the agrarian Democrats faction of Virginia. He established the U.S. coinage based on the decimal system (1783-84).
He was Secretary of State (1790-93) under President George Washington and used the opportunity to oppose the Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists and their centralizing tendencies.
He was elected President by the House of Representatives after a tied vote in with Aaron Burr.
While President, Jefferson approved the Louisiana Purchase (1803), which greatly expanded the territory of the United States, and he organized the Lewis and Clark expedition (1803-06).
From 1787, Jefferson built Monticello, a magnificent neo-classical mansion, just outside Charlottesville, Virginia.
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable Rights; that among these, are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness..."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776
Words of Wisdom from Thomas Jefferson
We would be wise to heed these words today!
The Master-Slave Relationship
"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever: that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events..."
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1782
Jefferson's Neo-Classical Mansion, Monticello, in Charlottesville, Virginia (Photo: Christopher Hollis)
Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (by Christopher Hitchens)
Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives)
Amazon Price: $14.05 (as of 02/16/2012)
The newest volume in HarperCollins' "Eminent Lives" Series, Christopher Hitchens' Thomas Jefferson is a compact and sophisticated look at "the author of America," the chief architect of our democratic system of government, whose eloquent words in the Declaration of Independence still ring down through the years since 1776: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
An inveterate opponent of dictators and demagogues of every stripe, Jefferson's words still inspire freedom-loving people throughout the world. "I have sworn upon the altar of God," he said, "eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
The Tree of Liberty
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1787
Thomas Jefferson (article)
As a political philosopher, Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment and knew many intellectual leaders in Britain and France. He idealized the independent yeoman farmer as exemplar of republican virtues, distrusted cities and financiers, and favored states' rights and a strictly limited federal government. Jefferson supported the separation of church and state and was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786). He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for a quarter-century. Jefferson served as the wartime Governor of Virginia (1779-1781), first United States Secretary of State (1789-1793) and second Vice President (1797-1801).
A polymath, Jefferson achieved distinction as, among other things, a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, author, inventor and founder of the University of Virginia. When President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
Thomas Jefferson and Martin Van Buren are the only two people to accomplish a so-called "triple crown": serving as Secretary of State, Vice-President, and President.
Source: Wikipedia
A Bill of Rights
"A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular; and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, 1787
Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson
Justice, Freedom
"Equal and exact justice to all men, ... freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected."
-- Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (1801)
Thomas Jefferson on 9 cent United States postage stamp (1923)
Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations
"...peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none..."
-- Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (1801)
Latest News on Thomas Jefferson
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"If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few; by resignation, none."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter, 1801
Statue of Thomas Jefferson at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, United States
U.S. Presidents from left to right : George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln
Public Trust
When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.
-- Thomas Jefferson, conversation with Alexander von Humboldt, 1804
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