Thomas Jefferson Summary

Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 American president, statesman and inventor who, among other things, is credited with helping to define the duties and regulations of the U.S. Patent Office. From 1790-93, Th... Read more

A Summary View of the Rights of British America by Thomas Jefferson A Summary View of the Rights of British America First published in 1774; excerpted from The Portable Thomas Jefferson, 1975 "... Read more

Jefferson, Thomas Excerpt from "To the U.S. Minister to France" Written on April 18, 1802 Published in The Works of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Paul Leicester Ford, 1905 When Spain ceded... Read more

Jefferson, Thomas Excerpt from "Jefferson's First Inaugural Address" Delivered on March 4, 1801 Published in Documents of American History, edited by Henry S. Commager, 1943 Ameri... Read more

Absalom Jones Born November 6, 1746 (Sussex County, Delaware) Died February 13, 1818 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Episcopal priest Absalom Jones was the first black Protestant Episcopal priest in the ... Read more

President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963; see entry in volume 5) once hosted a White House dinner attended by many Nobel Prize winners. Looking out on the gathering of famous scientists, physicians, and w... Read more

American philosopher and statesman Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third president of the United States. A man of broad interests and activity, he exerted an immense influence on the political an... Read more

The third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson is revered as a statesman whose belief in natural rights, equality, individual liberties, and self-government found its fullest expression in... Read more

Thomas Jefferson traveled abroad only once, from 1784 to 1789, and during his lifetime he never published any of the voluminous letters, papers, and notes he compiled while abroad. If he had, they wou... Read more

In the following essay, Blake discusses the correspondence between John Adams and Jefferson and situates their letters within the larger public political discourse of the time. I first saw the Constit... Read more

In the following essay, Hutson discusses the newly-restored manuscript of Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, and its effect on current controversies over the separation of church and s... Read more

In the following essay, Wallace discusses the sections of Notes on the State of Virginia that deal with Native Americans and claims that many of Jefferson's facts were inaccurate. After Jeffers... Read more

In the following essay, Onuf explores Jefferson's visions of America as a nation and as an empire, taking into account the more regressive tendencies of Jefferson's political thought. Th... Read more

In the following essay, Brodie examines Jefferson's writings and records from 1778-1779, concluding that they imply a close relationship between Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. The eart... Read more

In the following essay, Ferguson discusses the origins and structure of Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia. Ferguson dismisses the common claim that Notes is a disjointed, non-literary ... Read more

In the following essay, Hellenbrand explores the way Jefferson's thoughts on education informed his political and social philosophies. Introduction: the Politics of Improvement Between the publ... Read more

In the following essay, Lockridge examines Jefferson's Commonplace Book, written in his youth, noting that the selection of quotations and the writings that accompany them exhibit both rebellio... Read more

Thomas Jefferson: All Men Are Not Created Equal     When Thomas Jefferson wrote: "All men are created equal" he did not mean it. What he actually believed in was more like, all white me... Read more

Thomas Jefferson hailed his victory in the presidential race as a revolution "as real...as that of 1776." After 12 years of Federalist power, Jefferson and the Republicans took control of the governm... Read more

Being citizens of the new "united" states of America in the year 1794, we have to take a stand in the world developing around us! Who do you believe should be our country's next president? Thomas Jeff... Read more

George Washington, as prominent as he was proclaimed, would never have been so successful if not for his right hand, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton and his left, Secretary of State Thomas Je... Read more

When one thinks of a transition from a Federalist government to Republican government, one will immediately think of drastic changes and political tension. Federalists had a loose interpretation of t... Read more

Thomas Jefferson is one of our most gifted founding fathers. He was an open-minded Virginian and a strict constructionist meaning he always sought for a literally interpretation of the Constitution. H... Read more

Thomas Jefferson was the head of a committee of five in preparing the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was born at Shadwell in what is now Albemarle County, VA., on April 13, 1743. Thomas Jeff... Read more