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Essays on Thomas Jefferson

What makes a good thomas jefferson essay topic.

When it comes to writing an essay on Thomas Jefferson, the topic you choose can make all the difference. A good essay topic will engage the reader, showcase your knowledge and critical thinking skills, and provide a unique perspective on the subject matter. So, What Makes a Good Thomas Jefferson essay topic? Here are some recommendations on how to brainstorm and choose an essay topic, what to consider, and What Makes a Good essay topic.

When brainstorming essay topics on Thomas Jefferson, it's essential to consider the aspects of his life, achievements, and impact that interest you the most. Are you passionate about his role as a founding father, his contributions to the Declaration of Independence, his presidency, or his views on democracy and individual rights? Start by making a list of these interests and then consider how you can develop them into a unique and engaging essay topic.

When choosing a Thomas Jefferson essay topic, it's important to consider the relevance and significance of the subject matter. Is the topic you're considering relevant to current events, debates, or scholarly discussions? Will it provide a fresh perspective or shed new light on a lesser-known aspect of Jefferson's life and legacy? A good essay topic should be thought-provoking, relevant, and contribute to the existing body of knowledge on Thomas Jefferson.

A good Thomas Jefferson essay topic should also be specific and focused. Rather than choosing a broad and generic topic, consider narrowing down your focus to a specific aspect of Jefferson's life, work, or impact. For example, instead of writing a general essay on Thomas Jefferson's presidency, you could focus on a specific policy or event during his time in office, such as the Louisiana Purchase or the Embargo Act of 1807.

In addition to these considerations, a good essay topic on Thomas Jefferson should also be well-researched and supported by credible sources. Before finalizing your topic, make sure that there is enough scholarly literature, primary sources, and reliable information available to support your arguments and analysis.

Best Thomas Jefferson Essay Topics

Looking for inspiration for your Thomas Jefferson essay? Here are some creative and stand-out essay topics that go beyond the ordinary and offer a fresh perspective on the life and legacy of this influential figure:

• Thomas Jefferson's views on education and the founding of the University of Virginia
• The role of Thomas Jefferson in shaping American democracy and individual rights
• Thomas Jefferson's complex relationship with slavery and his legacy as a slave owner
• The impact of Thomas Jefferson's foreign policy on the United States' global standing
• Thomas Jefferson's contributions to the field of architecture and his influence on American design
• The legacy of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and its relevance in modern society
• The political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson and its influence on American politics
• Thomas Jefferson's role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the exploration of the American West
• The personal and public life of Thomas Jefferson: a study in contradictions
• Thomas Jefferson's interest in science, technology, and innovation
• The relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton: conflict and cooperation
• Thomas Jefferson's vision for the future of America and its relevance today
• The impact of Thomas Jefferson's agricultural innovations on American farming practices
• Thomas Jefferson's role as a diplomat and ambassador to France
• The legacy of Thomas Jefferson's writings and correspondence
• Thomas Jefferson's influence on American literature and the arts
• The portrayal of Thomas Jefferson in popular culture and historical memory
• Thomas Jefferson's legacy as a champion of religious freedom and separation of church and state
• The impact of Thomas Jefferson's presidency on the expansion of the United States
• Thomas Jefferson's vision for the relationship between government and the governed

These essay topics offer a wide range of opportunities to explore different aspects of Thomas Jefferson's life, work, and impact from a fresh and unique perspective.

Thomas Jefferson essay topics Prompts

Looking for some creative prompts to spark your imagination and inspire your Thomas Jefferson essay? Here are five engaging and thought-provoking prompts to get you started:

• Imagine you are having a conversation with Thomas Jefferson. What questions would you ask him, and what topics would you want to discuss?
• Write a letter to Thomas Jefferson, sharing your thoughts on his contributions to American democracy and individual rights.
• Create a fictional dialogue between Thomas Jefferson and another historical figure, exploring their differing views on a specific issue or event.
• Imagine you are a reporter covering a significant moment in Thomas Jefferson's life or presidency. Write a news article or feature story capturing the essence of the event.
• Choose a specific aspect of Thomas Jefferson's life or legacy and create a multimedia presentation (such as a podcast, video, or digital exhibition) to showcase its significance and relevance today.

These prompts are designed to encourage creative and critical thinking, as well as provide an opportunity to engage with Thomas Jefferson's life and legacy in a dynamic and interactive way. Have fun exploring these prompts and discovering new insights into the world of Thomas Jefferson.

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Thomas Jefferson

Scholars in general have not taken seriously Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) as a philosopher, perhaps because he never wrote a formal philosophical treatise. Yet Jefferson was a prodigious writer, and his writings were suffuse with philosophical content. Well-acquainted with the philosophical literature of his day and of antiquity, he left behind a rich philosophical legacy in his declarations, presidential messages and addresses, public papers, numerous bills, letters to philosophically minded correspondents, and his only book, Notes on the State of Virginia . Scrutiny of those writings reveals a refined political philosophy as well as a systemic approach to a philosophy of education in partnership with it. Jefferson’s political philosophy and his views on education were undergirded and guided by a consistent and progressive vision of humans, their place in the cosmos, and the good life that owed much to ancient philosophers like Epictetus, Antoninus, and Cicero; to the ethical precepts of Jesus; to coetaneous Scottish empiricists like Francis Hutcheson and Lord Kames; and even to esteemed religionists and philosophically inclined literary figures of the period like Laurence Sterne, Jean Baptiste Massillon, and Miguel Cervantes. In one area, however, he was behindhand: his views on race, the subject of the final section.

1. Life and Writings

2.1 the cosmos, 2.2 nature and society, 3.1 religion and morality, 3.2 the moral sense, 4.1 the “mother principle”, 4.2 the “natural aristoi ”, 4.3 usufruct and constitutional renewal, 4.4 revolution, 5.1 a system of education, 5.2 education and human thriving, primary literature, secondary literature, other internet resources, related entries.

From 1752 to 1757, Jefferson studied under the Scottish clergyman, Rev. William Douglas, “a superficial Latinist” and “less instructed in Greek,” from whom he learned French and the rudiments of Latin and Greek. With the death of his father in 1757, Jefferson earned a substantial inheritance—some £2,400 and some 5,000 acres of land to be divided between him and younger brother, Randolph—and then began to study under Rev. James Maury, “a correct classical scholar” ([Au], p. 4).

From 1760 to 1762, Jefferson attended William and Mary College and there befriended Professor William Small. He wrote in his Autobiography, “It was my great good fortune, and what probably fixed the destinies of my life that Dr. Wm. Small of Scotland was then professor of Mathematics, a man profound in most of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of communication, correct and gentlemanly manners, & an enlarged & liberal mind.” Small, Jefferson added, had become attached to Jefferson, who became his “daily companion when not engaged in the school.” From Small, Jefferson learned of the “expansion of science & of the system of things in which we are placed” ([Au], pp. 4–5). Small introduced Jefferson to lawyer George Wythe, who “continued to be my faithful and beloved Mentor in youth, and my most affectionate friend through life,” and under whom Jefferson would soon be apprenticed in law—and Wythe introduced Jefferson to Governor Francis Fauquier, governor of Virginia from 1758 till his death ([Au], pp. 4–5). Small and Wythe especially would prove to be cynosures to the young man.

Upon leaving William and Mary (1762) and to the time he began his legal practice (1767), Jefferson, under the tutelage of Wythe ([Au: 5), undertook a rigorous course of study of law, which comprised for him study of not just the standard legal texts of the day but also anything of potential practical significance to advance human affairs. For Jefferson, a lawyer, having a mastery of all things except metempirical subjects and fiction, would be a human encyclopedia of useful knowledge. Advisory letters to John Garland Jefferson (11 June 1790) and to Bernard Moore (30 Aug. 1814) show a lengthy and full course of study, involving physical studies, morality, religion, natural law, politics, history, belle lettres, criticism, rhetoric, and oratory. Thereby, a lawyer would be fully readied for any turn of events in a case. As lawyer, Jefferson’s focus, David Konig notes, was cases involving property—e.g., the legal acquisition of lands and the quieting of titles—and that, adds Konig, shaped his political thinking on the need of the relative equal distribution of property among all male citizens for sound Republican government.

As lawyer, Jefferson took up six pro bono cases of slaves, seeking freedom. In the case of slave Samuel Howell in Howell v. Netherland (Apr. 1770), Jefferson argued, in keeping with sentiments he would include years later in his Declaration of Independence, “Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own will.” The case was awarded to Netherland, before his lawyer, George Wythe, could present his case (Catterall, 90–91).

Jefferson would practice law till August 11, 1774, when he passed his practice to Edmund Randolph at the start of the Revolutionary War.

In 1769, Jefferson gained admittance to the Virginian House of Burgesses. Delegates’ minds were, he said, “circumscribed within narrow limits by an habitual belief that it was our duty to be subordinate to the mother country in all matters of government” ([Au], p. 5). Jefferson’s thinking inclined otherwise. The experience in the House of Delegates substantially shaped his revolutionary spirit.

On February 1, 1770, Jefferson lost most of the books of his first library when a fire razed his house at Shadwell. Of the loss of his books, he wrote to boyhood friend John Page (21 Feb. 1770), “Would to god it had been the money [that the books cost and not the books]; then had it never cost me a sigh!” He was to have two other libraries at Monticello in his life, which, because of his passion for learning, centered on books. When he built his residence at Poplar Forest early in the nineteenth century, he kept there a number of books—focused on philosophy, history, and religion—for his own enjoyment.

Jefferson took as his wife Martha Wayles Skelton on January 1, 1772. In that same year, daughter Martha was born. In 1778, daughter Mary was born.

Upon retirement from law in 1774, Jefferson wrote Summary View of the Rights of British America—“an humble and dutiful address” of complaints addressed to King George III of England. The complaints concerned numerous American rights, contravened, and aimed at “some redress of their injured rights” ([S], 105). Due to its trenchant tone, it earned Jefferson considerable reputation among congressmen as a gifted writer and as a revolutionist.

Jefferson was elected to the Continental Congress in 1775 as its second youngest member. He was soon invited to participate in a committee with John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Livingston to draft a declaration on American independence. It was decided that Jefferson himself should compose a draft. As John Adams writes to Timothy Pickering (6 Aug. 1822) concerning his reasons for Jefferson being the sole drafter of the document: “Reason 1st. You are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason 2nd. I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular; You are very much otherwise. Reason 3rd. You can write ten times better than I can” (Adams). For over two weeks, Jefferson worked on the Declaration of Independence in an upper-floor apartment at Seventh Street and Market Street in Philadelphia.

The document was intended to be “an expression of the American mind” and was put forth to the “tribunal of the world.” Jefferson’s draft listed certain “sacred & undeniable” truths: that all men are created “equal & independent”; that “from that equal creation,” all have the rights “to the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness”; that governments, deriving their “just powers from the consent of the governed,” are instituted to secure such rights; and that the people have a right to abolish any government which “becomes destructive of these ends” and to institute a new government, by “laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness” ([D], 19).

Rigorous debate followed. Excisions and changes were made to reduce Jefferson’s draft to three-quarters of its original length, though the basic structure and the argument therein—a tightly structured argument that begins with rights, turns to duties of government, and moves to a justification for revolutionary behavior when citizens’ rights are consistently transgressed by government—was unaltered. Thus, the Declaration contained the rudiments of a political philosophy that would be fleshed out in the decades that followed. The document, not thought to be significant at the time, was approved on July 4, 1776, and it would become one of the most significant political writings ever composed.

Not long after Jefferson finished the Declaration on Independence, he was appointed to a committee to revise the outdated laws of Virginia, as a result of a bill introduced to the General Assembly of Virginia. That was a hefty task, which Jefferson—as part of a committee comprising also Thomas Ludwell Lee, George Mason, Edmund Pendleton, and George Wythe—began in 1776. Of the five, Lee and Mason excused themselves, and revision, comprising 126 bills, was undertaken by Jefferson, Wythe, and Pendleton. Revision was completed in 1779, a period of not quite three years. Notable among the bills Jefferson drafted, were Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge and Bill for Religious Freedom. The latter was passed while Jefferson was in France as Minister Plenipotentiary; the former, requiring educative reforms that demanded a system of public education, did not pass.

From 1779 to 1781, Jefferson began tenure as governor of Virginia. During his governorship, he reformed the curriculum of William and Mary College by “abolishing the Grammar school,” eliminating the professorships in Divinity and Oriental languages, and supplanting them with professorships in Law and Police; Anatomy, Medicine, and Chemistry; and Modern Languages ([Au], p. 5). He also began his only book, Notes on the State of Virginia , in which he described the geography, climate, and people of Virginia and their laws, religions, manners, and commerce, among other things. The book, in general, was well received by his Enlightenment friends and did even more to enhance his reputation as a gifted writer.

Jefferson’s wife Martha died on September 6, 1782. Overwhelmingly distraught, he found some consolation in an invitation to function as Minister to France—he needed to be away from Monticello—which he did from 1784 to 1789. He ended the post at the bidding of George Washington, who asked him to be his Secretary of State—a post he held till 1793. Political disagreements between Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton on political issues resulted in formation of the Republican and Federalist parties—the former, championing small, unobtrusive government and strict constructionism; the latter, larger, strong government and a less strict interpretation of the Constitution. After a brief retirement, he was elected Vice-President of the United States for one term that ended in 1801, and then President of the United States, which lasted two terms. His presidency, which began triumphantly with his conciliatory First Inaugural Address, was highlighted by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which doubled the size of the country; the subsequent Lewis and Clark Expedition, which ended in 1806; and the failed Embargo Act of 1807, which aimed, among other things, to punish England during its war with France, by prohibiting exchange of goods. During his tenure as president, his daughter Maria died (1804).

In retirement, Jefferson resumed his domestic life at Monticello, continued as president of the American Philosophical Society (a position he held for nearly 20 years), and began activities that would lead to the birth of the University of Virginia, which opened one year before his death. Irretrievably saddled with debt throughout his retirement, he sold his library, approximately 6,700 books, to Congress in 1815 to pay off some of that debt. He died, as did John Adams, on July 4, 1826. On his obelisk, there was written, upon his request ([E]: 706):

Here was buried Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of American Independence Of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom & Father of the University of Virginia.

Jefferson wrote prodigiously. He penned some 19,000 letters. He published Notes on the State of Virginia (English version) in 1787. He wrote key declarations such as Summary View of the Rights of British Americans (1774), Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775), and the Declaration of Independence (1776); authored numerous bills; and wrote his Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States, a modified copy of which was still in use till 1977. He put together two harmonies, The Philosophy of Jesus (1804)—no copies are known to survive—and The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (1820), by extracting passages from the New Testament. Last, Jefferson undertook late in life an autobiography (never completed), “for my own ready reference & for the information of my family” ([Au]: 3).

2. Deity, Nature, and Society

Like many other contemporaries he read—e.g., Hutcheson, Kames, Bolingbroke, Tracy, and Hume—Jefferson was an empiricist, and in keeping with Isaac Newton, a dyed-in-the-wool materialist. To John Adams (15 Aug. 1820), he writes, “A single sense may indeed be sometimes decieved, [ 1 ] but rarely: and never all our senses together, with their faculty of reasoning.” Jefferson continues: “‘I feel: therefore I exist.’ I feel bodies which are not myself: there are other existencies then. I call them matter. I feel them changing place. This gives me motion. Where there is an absence of matter, I call it void, or nothing, or immaterial space.” Given matter and motion, everything else, even thinking, is explicable. As all loadstones are magnetic, matter too is merely “an action of a particular organization of matter, formed for that purpose by it’s creator.” Even mind and god are material. “To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings.”

To Massachusetts politician Edward Everett (24 Feb. 1823), Jefferson says that observed particulars are found to be nothing but concretizations of atoms. He cautions, “By analyzing too minutely we often reduce our subject to atoms, of which the mind loses hold.” That suggests a sort of pragmatic atomism— viz ., atoms being merely arbitrary epistemological stopping points in the analysis of matter to keep the mind from entertaining the dizzying thought of dividing without end.

Jefferson, however, was not a metaphysical atomist of the Epicurean sort, but a nominalist like philosopher John Locke (1690). To New Jersey politician Dr. John Manners (22 Feb. 1814), he says:

Nature has, in truth, produced units only through all her works. Classes, orders, genera, species, are not of her works. Her creation is of individuals. No two animals are exactly alike; no two plants, nor even two leaves or blades of grass; no two crystallizations. And if we may venture from what is within the cognizance of such organs as ours, to conclude on that beyond their powers, we must believe that no two particles of matter are of exact resemblance.

Humans categorize out of need, for the “infinitude of units or individuals” outstrips the capacity of memory. There is grouping and subgrouping until there are formed classes, orders, genera, and species. Yet such grouping is man’s doing, not nature’s. [ 2 ] Jefferson begins with biota—the system he questions is the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus’—and works his way down to “particles of matter.”

In Jefferson’s cosmos, which is Stoic-like in etiology, all events are linked. The hand of deity is manifestly behind the etiological arrangements. Jefferson writes to Adams (11 Apr. 1823):

I hold (without appeal to revelation) that when we take a view of the universe; in it’s parts general or particular, it is impossible for the human mind not to percieve and feel a conviction of design, consummate skill, and indefinite power in every atom of it’s composition. The movements of the heavenly bodies, so exactly held in their courses by the balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces; the structure of our earth itself, with its distribution of lands, waters, and atmosphere; animal and vegetable bodies, each perfectly organized whether as insect, man or mammoth; it is impossible not to believe, that there is in all this, design, cause and effect, up to an ultimate cause, a Fabricator of all things from matter and motion, their preserver and regulator while permitted to exist in their present forms, and their regenerator into new and other forms.

The language of perception is in keeping with his empiricism; the language of feel, with his appropriation of philosophers Destutt de Tracy’s (1818/1827: 164) and Lord Kames’ (1758: 250) epistemology. Appeal to an ultimate cause implies a demiurge, of whose nature little can be known other than its superior intelligence and overall beneficence. [ 3 ] There is nothing here or in any other cosmological letters to suggest that deity privileges human life any more than, in David Hume’s words, “that of an oyster” (1755 [1987]: 583).

Jefferson continues in his 1823 letter to Adams. Deity superintends the cosmos. Some stars disappear; others come to be. Comets, with their “incalculable courses”, deviate from regular orbits and demand “renovation under other laws.” Some species of animal have become extinct. “Were there no restoring power, all existences might extinguish successively, one by one, until all should be reduced to a shapeless chaos.”

What precisely does divine superintendence entail?

William Wilson argues that the “‘cut’ of Jefferson’s mind” demands theism—divine interpositionism. He writes:

Calling him a deist registers great misunderstanding of that mind. But the root of his thinking remained Newtonian, including its belief in an omnipresent divine activity in nature. The God of deism from this point of view would be a complete abstraction. As the statistician reduces a person of flesh and blood to a mere integer, so the deist reduces God to a functionary of no real description who abandons nature to a well-ordered dust. (Wilson 2017, 122)

Holowchak thinks that it is unlikely that divine superintendence—i.e., extinction and restoration—implies supernatural intervention in the natural course of events (e.g., TJ to Francis Adrian Van der Kemp, 25 Sept. 1816, and TJ to Daniel Salmon, 15 Feb. 1808). It is probable, thinks Holowchak, that a natural capacity for restoration exists in certain types of matter in the same way that mind, for Jefferson, is in certain types of matter (2013a). Deity’s superintendence is likely the capacity for pre-established cosmic self-regulation comparable in some sense to the work of a thermostat in regulating the temperature of a building. [ 4 ] Following Lord Bolingbroke whose views from Philosophical Works he “commonplaced” early in life ([LCB]: 40–55), Jefferson believed that to posit that God needed to intervene in cosmic events to keep aright them (e.g., by sending down Jesus to save humanity) was to belie the capacities of deity. God, thought Bolingbroke, and Jefferson’s god owed more to Bolingbroke than to any other thinker, got things right the first time.

How for Jefferson does man leave the state of nature and enter into society? Jefferson appeals to nature in what one scholar calls a “middle landscape” manner (Marx 1964: 104–5). The happiest state for humans is one that seeks a middle ground between what is savage and what is “refined.” Jefferson’s vision, thinks Marx, is Arcadian. Jefferson’s aim, early writings indicate (e.g., TJ to James Madison, 20 Dec. 1787 and [NV]: 290–91), was for America to be a pastoral society that had the freedom of primitivism, because it was neither materialist nor manufacturing and it had an abundancy of land. America, because it was neither primitive nor uncultured, could have the trimmings of cultured societies, without their degenerative excesses.

Jefferson’s natural-law theory is Stoical, not Hobbesian or Rousseauian. For Jefferson, the basal laws of nature that obtain when man is in the state of nature are roughly the self-same laws that obtain in civil society. They are also roughly the same basal laws that obtain between states.

The moral duties which exist between individual and individual in the state of nature, accompany them into a state of society, and the aggregate of the duties of all the individuals composing the society constitutes the duties of that society towards any other; so that between society and society the same moral duties exist as did between individuals composing them, while in an unassociated state, and their maker not having released them from those duties on their forming themselves into a nation ([F]: 423).

The ideological frame that allows for social stability is in the Declaration of Independence, in which Jefferson lists two self-evident truths: the equality of all men and their endowment of unalienable rights.

“Equality” for Jefferson comprises equality of opportunity and moral equality. Equality of opportunity recognizes the differences between persons—e.g., talents, prior social status, education, and wealth—and seeks to level the playing field through republican reforms such as introduction of a bill to secure human rights; elimination of primogeniture, entails, and state-sanctioned religion; periodic constitutional renewal; and and educational reform for the self-sufficiency of the general citizenry. To remedy the unequal distribution of property, Jefferson advocates in his Draft Constitution for Virginia that 50 acres of property go to every male Virginian [ 5 ] ([CV]: 343). Moral equality recognizes that each human deserves equal status in personhood and citizenship, hence again the need of republican reforms of the sort listed above.

Rights are held to obtain, whether or not holders recognize them, and they have a moral dimension apart from their obvious legal dimension. There are, for instance, the moral obligations to obey the law and to recognize and uphold the rights of others. [ 6 ]

Jefferson, mostly following Locke, mentions three unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The right to life constitutes a right to one’s own personhood. The rights to liberty and pursuit of happiness (Locke lists property instead of happiness) entail self-determination through labor, art, industry, and self-governance. Government has no right to control the lives of its citizens or dictate a course of happiness. Therein lies the foundation of Jeffersonian liberalism.

There is also the right to revolution, which entails the right to abolish any tyrannical form of government, given long abuses.

3. Morality

The right to the pursuit of happiness implies too that all persons are free to worship as they choose. Since religion is a matter between a man and his deity (e.g., TJ to Miles King, 26 Sept. 1814), no one owes any account of his faith to another. Moreover, legislature should make “no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between church and state ([DB]: 510). [ 7 ]

Being personal, religion ought not to be politicized. When the clergy engraft themselves into the “machine of government,” they prove a “very formidable engine against the civil and religious rights of man” (TJ to Jeremiah Moor, 14 Aug. 1800). All people, Jefferson asserts, should follow the example of the Quakers: live without priests, be guided their internal monitor of right and wrong, and eschew matters inaccessible to common sense, for belief can only rightly be shaped by “the assent of the mind to an intelligible proposition” (TJ to John Adams, 22 Aug. 1813).

The true principles of morality are the “mild and simple principles of the Christian philosophy” (TJ to Gerry Elbridge, 29 Mar. 1801)—the principles common to all right-intended religions. Jefferson writes to Thomas Leiper (21 Jan. 1809):

My religious reading has long been confined to the moral branch of religion, which is the same in all religions; while in that branch which consists of dogmas, all differ, all have a different set. The former instructs us how to live well and worthily in society; the latter are made to interest our minds in the support of the teachers who inculcate them. [ 8 ]

Thus, the principles common to all religions are few, exoteric, and the true principles of morality. [ 9 ]

Though chary of sectarian religion due to the empleomania of sectarian clerics and a sharp critic of Christianity in his youth ([NR]), “Christianity,” deterged of its political trappings and metaphysical twaddle, in time became special to Jefferson (e.g., TJ to John Adams, 12 Oct. 1813 and 24 Jan. 1814). He states to Dr. Benjamin Rush (21 Apr. 1803):

I am a Christian, in the only sense [Jesus] wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to him every human excellence; & believing he never claimed any other.

Jesus’ teachings make up the greatest moral system, and Jesus is “the greatest of all the [religious] reformers.” [ 10 ] To Benjamin Waterhouse (26 June 1822), Jefferson writes:

The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the happiness of man. 1. That there is one only God, and he all perfect. 2. That there is a future state of rewards and punishments. 3. That to love God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself, is the sum of religion.

Consequently, Jesus’ message comprises love of god (being one, pace Calvin, not three), love of mankind, and belief in an afterlife of reward or punishment.

Yet much in the Bible, Jefferson thought, was redundant, hyperbolic, bathetic, absurd, and beyond the bounds of physical possibility (e.g., TJ to John Adams, 28 Oct. 1813). That was confirmed by inspection of a late-in-life “harmony” Jefferson constructed, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (1820), in which the virgin birth, miraculous cures, and resurrection were excised. Christ was neither the savior of mankind nor the son of God, but the great moral reformer of the Jewish religion([B]).

Even after he purged the Bible of its corruptions—in his own words, after he plucked, in an oft-used metaphor, the diamonds from the dungheap (TJ to John Adams, 12 Oct. 1813, and TJ to )—to try both to make plain Jesus’ true teachings and to give a credible account of the life of Jesus, Jefferson did not completely follow Jesus’ uncontaminated teachings. He did think love of God was needed for one to be of upstanding virtue, for each could see and feel the existence of deity in the cosmos. Thus, atheists, however ostensibly virtuous, suffered from a defect of moral sensibility. Yet when Jefferson expressed his own view on the branches of morality (true religion), he did not mention belief in an afterlife, as did Jesus. [ 11 ] His 1814 letter to Law (13 June) mentions belief in an afterlife merely as one of the correctives to lack of a moral sense, along with self-interest, the approbation of others upon doing good, and the rewards and punishments of laws. Given that, along with his out-and-out commitment to materialism and given the evidence of four letters that unequivocally express skepticism apropos of an afterlife, [ 12 ] and given that he and his wife wrote about the “eternal separation” they were about to make on her deathbed, it is probable, asserts one scholar, that he did not believe in an afterlife (Holowchak 2019a, pp. 128–2). So, belief in an afterlife, one of the chief teachings of Jesus, was likely not an essential part of morality for Jefferson. In contrast, Charles Sanford, noting that Jefferson appeals to the hereafter in several letters and addresses, offers a small-step argument in defense of belief in an afterlife. “‘The prospects of a future state of retribution for the evil as well as the good done while here’ [are] among the moral forces necessary to motivate individuals to live good lives in society.” He adds: “Jefferson had begun with the conviction that God had created in man a hunger for the rights of equality, freedom, and life and a desire to follow God’s moral law. It was only a small step further to believe that God had also created man with an immortal soul” (152). [ 13 ]

Finally, Jefferson later in life claimed to be a Unitarian. What did “Unitarianism” mean for him?

Jefferson finds the notion of three deities in one inscrutable, and therefore physically impossible. Here he falls back on his naturalism. He allows nothing inconsistent with the laws of nature, gleaned through experience. The sort of Unitarianism Jefferson promotes is not a religious sect, but instead a manner of approaching religion. Of his Unitarianism, Jefferson asserts to John Adams (22 Aug. 1813), “We should all then, like the Quakers, live without an order of priests, moralize for ourselves, follow the oracle of conscience, and say nothing about what no man can understand, nor therefore believe.” To Dr. Thomas Cooper (2 Nov. 1822), Jefferson contrasts Unitarians with sectarian preachers, so Unitarians can be grasped as persons living fully in accordance with the dictates of their moral sense faculty. To Benjamin Waterhouse (8 Jan. 1825), Jefferson states that Unitarianism is “primitive Christianity, in all the simplicity in which it came from the lips of Jesus.” Such letters show plainly that monotheism, incomplexity, and non-sectarianism are dependent issues. Jefferson made purchase of monotheism because it and benevolence were key tenets of Jesus’ uncorrupted teachings. Those two tenets, letters indicate, were the framework of his Unitarianism, or of any right religion.

For Jefferson, morality was not reason-guided, but dictated by a moral sense. Here he followed Scottish empiricists, [ 14 ] such as William Small (Hull 1997: 102–5 and [Au]: 4–5)—the only non-minister at William and Mary College—and Francis Hutcheson and especially Lord Kames. [ 15 ]

To nephew Peter Carr (19 Aug. 1785), Jefferson says that the god-given moral sense, innate and instinctual, is as much a part of a person’s nature as are the senses of hearing and seeing, or as is a leg or arm. Jefferson’s comparisons to hearing and sight invite depiction of the moral sense tied to a bodily organ, like the heart (TJ to Maria Cosway, 12 Oct. 1785). Like strength of limbs, it too is given to persons in a greater or lesser degree, and can be made better or worse through exercise or its neglect.

A letter to daughter Martha (11 Dec. 1783) suggests the moral sense works spontaneously, without any input of reason. The language of “feel” is critical.

If ever you are about to say any thing amiss or to do any thing wrong, consider before hand. You will feel something within you which will tell you it is wrong and ought not to be said or done: this is your conscience, and be sure to obey it. [ 16 ]

One ought to resist the temptation to act viciously in circumstances when vice will not be detected. He tells Carr (19 Aug. 1785) to act always and in all circumstances as if everyone in the world were looking at him. Jefferson bids grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph (24 Nov. 1808) to appeal to moral exemplars before acting, and he lists Small, Wythe, and Peyton Randolph. “I am certain that this mode of deciding on my conduct, tended more to correctness than any reasoning powers I possessed.” Thus, one can use the moral sense unerringly, or relatively so, if one disregards the intrusions of reason and assumes that all of one’s actions are under the scrutiny of cynosures—i.e., there will be no temptation to act from the pressure of peers. In another letter to Carr (10 Aug. 1787), Jefferson disadvises his nephew to attend lectures on moral philosophy and appeals counterfactually to a ham-handed creator. “He who made us would have been a pitiful bungler if he had made the rules of our moral conduct a matter of science.” Here and elsewhere, [ 17 ] Jefferson is explicit that reason is uninvolved in moral “judgments.”

Not everyone possesses a moral sense. Napoleon, he tells Adams (25 Feb. 1823), is an illustration. To Thomas Law (13 June 1814), Jefferson says that want of the moral sense can somewhat be rectified by education and employment of rational calculation, but such educative remedies are blandishments not aimed to encourage morally correct action, because that is impossible without a moral sense, but to discourage actions with pernicious consequences. In short, one without a moral sense can be induced or shaped to behave as if having a moral sense, though such actions would merely be consistent with morally correct actions, not be morally correct actions.

Finally, the function of reason, he says in his 1787 letter to Carr, is “in some degree” to oversee the exercise of the moral faculty, “but it is a small stock which is required for this”. Reason might function, thinks one scholar, (1) to encourage or reinforce morally correct action, [ 18 ] (2) to keep the moral sense vital and vigorous, (3) to instill the first elements of morality in children through exposure to history, (4) to allow for cultural sensitivity to morally retarded cultures, (5) to continue moral advance through reading history as adults, (6) to help make plain the rights (especially derivative rights) of humans, (7) to form general rules to serve as rough guides human action, [ 19 ] and (8) to encourage moral improvement through breeding for morality (Holowchak 2014b, 177–80). None of those functions, however, directly involves reason in moral “judgments.”

Jefferson also believed, following the lead of many thinkers of his day—e.g., Francis Ferguson, John Millar, Lord Kames (1798 and 1774), William Robertson, Claude Adrien Helvétius, the Marquis de Condorcet, and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot—that humans were morally progressing over time (e.g., TJ to John Adams, 11 Jan. 1816, and TJ to P.S. Dupont de Nemours, 24 Apr. 1816). There were, however, periodic glitches—periods of moral stagnation or decline. The belligerence between England and France in Jefferson’s later years was to him evidence of such decline. Still, such moral declinations, considered overall, were temporary setbacks or “retrogradations,” not genuine declinations. In a letter to Adams (1 Aug. 1816), he writes that the Americas will show Europe the path to moral advance.

We are destined to be a barrier against the returns of ignorance and barbarism. Old Europe will have to lean on our shoulders, and to hobble along by our side, under the monkish trammels of priest and kings, as she can.

Thus, moral progress is movement, prompted by embrace of liberty and respect for humans’ rights, toward the ideals of love of deity and love of humanity through beneficence—the ideals taught best by Jesus. [ 20 ]

4. Political Philosophy

In his First Inaugural Address (1801), Jefferson lists the “essential principles of our Government” in 15 doctrines—perhaps his first attempt at a definition of republicanism ([I 1 ]: 494–95).

• Equal and exact justice to all men, irrespective of political or religious persuasion;
• peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, without entangling alliances to any;
• Federal support in the rights of states’ government;
• preservation of constitutional vigor of the Federal government;
• election by the people;
• absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority;
• a well-disciplined militia;
• supremacy of the civil over the military authority;
• light taxation;
• ready payment of debts;
• encouragement of agriculture and commerce;
• the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason;
• freedom of the press;
• protection by habeas corpus and trial by juries impartially selected; and
• freedom of religion.

Fifteen years later in a series of letters, Jefferson again grapples with a definition of “republicanism.” To P.S. Dupont de Nemours (24 Apr. 1816), Jefferson lists nine “moral principles” upon which republican government is grounded.

I believe with you that morality, compassion, generosity, are innate elements of the human constitution; that there exists a right independent of force; that a right to property is founded in our natural wants, in the means with which we are endowed to satisfy these wants, and the right to what we acquire by those means without violating the similar rights of other sensible beings; that no one has a right to obstruct another, exercising his faculties innocently for the relief of sensibilities made a part of his nature; that justice is the fundamental law of society; that the majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society; that action by the citizens in person, in affairs within their reach and competence, and in all others by representatives, chosen immediately, and removable by themselves, constitutes the essence of a republic; that all governments are more or less republican in proportion as this principle enters more or less into their composition; and that a government by representation is capable of extension over a greater surface of country than one of any other form.

Among the nine principles, the seventh

Action by the citizens in person, in affairs within their reach and competence, and in all others by representatives, chosen immediately, and removable by themselves, constitutes the essence of a republic.

comes closest to the essence of republicanism. To John Taylor (28 May 1816), Jefferson attempts a “precise and definite idea” of republicanism:

A government by its citizens in mass, acting directly and personally, according to rules established by the majority.

Every other government is more or less republican, in proportion as it has in this composition more or less of this ingredient of the direct action of the citizens.

To Samuel Kercheval (12 July 1816), Jefferson gives his “mother principle”:

Governments are republican only in proportion as they embody the will of their people, and execute it.

A government is republican in proportion as every member composing it has his equal voice in the direction of its concerns (not indeed in person, which would be impracticable beyond the limits of a city, or small township, but) by representatives chosen by himself, and responsible to him at short periods).

Such writings suggest the following “barebones” definition of “republic” for Jefferson, or a “Jeffersonian republic”:

A government is a Jeffersonian republic if and only if it allows all citizens ample opportunity to participate politically in affairs within their reach and competency; it employs representatives, chosen and recallable by the citizenry and functioning for short periods, for affairs outside citizens’ reach and competency; it functions according to the rules (periodically revisable) established by the majority of the citizens; and it guarantees the equal rights, in person and property, of all citizens.

The definition is barebones for several reasons. First, it does not fully capture the normative essence of Jefferson’s description of what is “proper for all conditions of society” in his letter to Dupont de Nemours. Yet it is not normatively neutral, as it speaks of equality of opportunity for each citizen to participate in government and it guarantees equal rights. Second, the definition ignores the partnership of politics and science, which is part of Jefferson’s conception of a republic. Jefferson insisted on periodic revisions of the Constitution at conventions to accommodate changes in the peoples’ will, when suitably informed. Such changes were not arbitrary, but dictated mostly by advances in science. [ 21 ] Jefferson writes to Samuel Kercheval (12 July 1816), “The laws and constitutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind.” Thus, a republic for Jefferson is essentially progressive and scientific, not static and conservative.

Thus, Jeffersonian republicanism is a schema for government by the people, not any particular system of governing. It is not wedded to any particular constitution—constitutions, Jefferson is clear, are merely provisional representations of the will of the people at the time of their drafting (TJ to George Washington, 7 Nov. 1792)—but to the principle of government representing the will of the people, suitably informed. That is why Jefferson says in his First Inaugural Address that for the will of the majority to be reasonable, it must be rightful ([I 1 ]: 493). [ 22 ] Thus, Jeffersonian republicanism is essentially in partnership with science.

Jefferson’s attempts at defining “republic” and his nine moral principles “proper for all conditions of society” shows that republicanism is a political philosophy. For Jefferson, republican governing is essentially progressive, and being government of and for the people, it aims at involving all citizens to their fullest capacity. Over the centuries, he recognized, human potentiality had been stifled by coercive governments. Instantiation of republican governing, thus, was an attempt to impose the minimal political structure needed to maximize human liberty, free human potentiality, and ensure the political ascendency of the “natural aristoi, ” the talented and virtuous, and not the “artificial aristoi, ” the wealthy and wellborn.

Jefferson’s republicanism was both democratic and meritocratic. It was democratic in that it aimed roughly to have no person disadvantaged at the start of life. That would be the same for Blacks, who were the equals of all others in moral sensibility—hence, their desert of equal rights and equal opportunities. Democratic republicanism demanded recognition of moral equality and equality of opportunity. Yet Jefferson realized that each person’s dreams, intelligence, and talents varied greatly. Thus, Jeffersonian republicanism was also meritocratic in that all persons were allowed to do with their life what they saw fit to do with it, so long as in doing so they did not disallow others the opportunity of doing what they saw fit to do. The most talented and virtuous, he assumed, would naturally strive to exercise fully their talents and virtue through politics and science.

Jefferson recognized two classes of people: laborers and learned (TJ to Peter Carr, 7 Sept. 1814). His distinction, however, was not determined by birth or wealth, as it was by most others of his day, but by merit. To John Adams (28 Oct. 1813), Jefferson writes:

There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents.

There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents; for with these it would belong to the first class.

What Jefferson claimed here was that the traditional, centuries-old class distinction, founded on birth or wealth, was in effect politically obsolete. What made men “best” was talent (i.e., skill, ambition, and genius) and virtue.

Jefferson then tells Adams that the natural aristoi comprise “the most precious gift of nature for the instruction, the trust, and government of society.” He adds that that government is best which allows for “a pure selection of these natural aristoi into the offices of government.” Through “instruction, trust, and government,” the natural aristoi will be not only political officials, but also teachers, trustees, and practitioners or patrons of science. [ 23 ]

To ensure that political offices will be held by the natural aristoi , there must be, inter alia , public access to general education and free presses for dissemination of information to the citizenry. With the citizenry generally educated, one has, Jefferson continues to Adams, merely “to leave to the citizens the free election and separation of the aristoi from the pseudo- aristoi, ” and “in general they will elect the real good and wise.” [ 24 ] That is much preferable to the centuries-old method of allowing the wealthy and wellborn to govern at the expense of the people.

For Jefferson, constitutions, unlike the rights of men, are alterable, in conformance to the level of progress of a state. Thus, constitutions are to be replaced, altered, or renewed pursuant to humans’ intellectual, political, and moral progress.

To James Madison (6 Sept. 1789), Jefferson writes:

The question Whether one generation of men has a right to bind another … is a question of such consequences as not only to merit decision, but place also, among the fundamental principles of every government. [ 25 ]

Beginning with the evident proposition—“the earth belongs in usufruct to the living”—Jefferson aims to prove that the deeds of each generation, defined by a nineteen-year period, [ 26 ] ought to be independent (or relatively so) of each other. Moreover, “usufruct” implies that each generation has an obligation to leave behind their property to the subsequent generation at least in the same condition in which it was received. For instance, any debts one incurs while owning some land are not to be inherited by another who obtains possession of that land after the former passes. What applies to individuals applies to any collection of individuals.

To instantiate the principle, there must be a period of adjustment. Present debts will be a matter of honor and expediency; future debts will be constrained by the principle. To constrain future debts, a constitution ought to stipulate that a nation can borrow no more than it can repay in the span of a generation. Temperate borrowing would “bridle the spirit of war,” inflamed much by the neglect of repayment of debts.

Usufruct theoretically fits neatly with Jefferson’s notions of political progress and of periodic constitutional renewal. Concerning the latter, he writes to C.F.W. Dumas (10 Sept. 1787):

No society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law. … Every constitution, then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19. years. If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force and not of right.

At the end of nineteen years, there will be a constitutional convention, at which defects in laws can be addressed and changes can be made. [ 27 ] Should the principle of usufruct be adopted, republican government would have a built-in mechanism for obviating revolutions. [ 28 ] Without the debts and wars of one generation passed on to the next in a Jeffersonian republic and with that republic’s constitution being renewed each generation to accommodate the needs and advances of the next generation, Jefferson thinks, the stage is set for political progress.

James Madison wrote a lengthy letter several months later (4 Feb. 1790) in reply to Jefferson’s usufruct letter, and politely proffered “some very powerful objections.” Jefferson never answered that letter, though he never renounced generational sovereignty.

Even well-intended governments can still go astray. Jefferson writes in his Declaration of Independence,

Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it’s foundation on such principles, & organizing it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness ([D]: 19).

However, long-standing governments ought not to be changed “for light & transient causes,” otherwise one risks supplantation of a corrupt government with another that is equally or more corrupt. Yet

when a long train of abuses & usurpations pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is [citizens’] right, it is their duty to throw off such government, & to provide new guards for their future security ([D]: 19).

In his Summary View of the Rights of British America, Jefferson states that for revolution to occur, there needs to be “many unwarrantable encroachments and usurpations” ([S]: 105). He adds,

Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate and systematical plan of reducing us to slavery ([S]: 110).

Therefore, a government becomes destructive when its abuses and usurpations are (1) many and long, (2) directed to the same end, and (3) clearly indicative of despotism.

For Jefferson, some amount of turbulence is one of the consequences of liberty. The manure of blood is needed for healthy governing because those governing will tend over time, Jefferson says to William S. Smith (13 Nov. 1787), to govern in their own interests, if not carefully watched. Moreover, those governed will assume mistakenly that rights once granted will be rights always granted. So, rebellion is the mechanism whereby those governing, Jefferson tells James Madison (30 Jan. 1787), are periodically reminded that government in a Jeffersonian republic is of and for the people—that is, that the will of the majority, fittingly educated, is the standard of justice.

The turbulence of which Jefferson speaks in the letters to Smith and Madison are illustrations of rebellion, says Holowchak (2019a, 73–76), not revolution. In contrast, revolution for Jefferson, following his Declaration, is a complex phenomenon. Unlike a rebellion, it is never to be undertaken for slight reasons or because of singular cases of governmental abuse. The difference, for Holowchak, is one of scope, size, and persistency. Rebellions, often violent, are generally quick signals to government concerning abuses, usually parochial. Revolutions, essentially violent, are long-term, well-planned, complex attempts at overthrowing a government, deemed habitually abusive.

One thing is clear. Revolutions or elitist rebellions, for Jefferson, are larger, more persistent, and more complex than rebellions or populist rebellions. To John Adams (4 Sept. 1823), Jefferson writes of the beginning, sustainment, and resolution of revolutions. “The generation which commences a revolution can rarely compleat it. Habituated from their infancy to passive submission of body and mind to their kings and priests, they are not qualified, when called on, to think and provide for themselves, and their inexperience, their ignorance and bigotry make them instruments often, in the hands of the Bonapartes and Iturbides to defeat their own rights and purposes.” Revolutions cannot be expected to establish a sustainable, free government in the first effort.

Moreover, the revolutionary generation is generally suited to begin and sustain the revolution, Jefferson continues in the letter to Adams, but not to resolve it. It is, for Jefferson, incapable of fixing a viable republican constitution. There are, thus, generational responsibilities for a Jeffersonian revolution to succeed. The role of the first generation is inchoation. Subsequent generations must sustain and complete the initial effort to usurp the coercive government. In the final stage, there is implementation of a constitution, reflective of and beholden to the will of the people.

It is because of the complexity and cost, in terms of human lives, that Jefferson maintained that revolutions ought only to be undertaken in cases of extreme, consistent despotism. As he writes in his Declaration ([D]: 19), “When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them [the people] under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” Still, he thought that they were “mechanisms” needed in republican governments, for there is a human tendency for those in power to be seduced by that power (TJ to Spencer Roane, 9 Mar. 1821).

5. Philosophy of Education

Jefferson’s views on education fit hand in glove with his political philosophy. [ 29 ] To facilitate a government of and for the people, there must be educational reform to allow for the general education of the citizenry for fullest political participation, to enable citizens to carry on daily affairs without governmental intervention, and to funnel the most talented and virtuous to a first-tier institution like the University of Virginia.

The sources of Jefferson’s views on education were many. From the French, Jefferson learned that education ought to be equalitarian, secular, and philosophically grounded (Arrowood 1930 [1970]: 49–50). He likely studied the works of Condorcet, La Chalotais, Diderot, Charon, and Turgot, and was influenced by men such as Lafayette, Correa de Serra, Cuvier, Buffon, Humboldt, and Say. Moreover, Jefferson corresponded with or read the works of Britons and Americans such as John Adams, Priestley, Locke, Thomas Cooper, Pictet, Stewart, Tichnor, Richard Price, William Small, Wythe, Fauquier, Peyton Randolph, and Patrick Henry (Holowchak 2014a, 69). That education ought to be scientific and useful was emphasized by William Small at William and Mary College as well as his uptake of the empirical philosophers of his day and their disdain of metempirical squabbling.

Jefferson’s educational views are spelled out neatly in four bills proposed to the General Assembly of Virginia (1779), in his Bill for Establishing a System of Public Education (1817), in his Rockfish Gap Report (1818), and in key letters to correspondents—e.g., Carr, Banister, Munford, Adams, Cabell, Burwell, Brazier, and Breckinridge.

When Jefferson, Pendleton, and Wythe undertook the task of revising the laws of Virginia in 1776, Jefferson drafted four significant bills—Bills 79 to 82.

I consider 4 of these bills … as forming a system by which every fibre would be eradicated of ancient or future aristocracy; and a foundation laid for a government truly republican. [ 30 ] ([WTJ5]: 44)

Bill 79 proposed to create wards or hundreds, each of which would have a school for general education in which “reading, writing, and common arithmetic should be taught” ([BG]). Virginia was to be subdivided in twenty-four districts, each of which would have a school for “classical learning, grammar, geography, and the higher branches of numerical arithmetic” ([BG]). Bill 80 proposed to secularize William and Mary College and add to its curriculum by enlarging its “sphere of science” ([BWM]). [ 31 ] Bill 81 proposed to create a public library for Virginia for scholars, elected officials, and inquisitive citizens ([BL]). Bill 82, the only bill that would eventually pass (1786), proposed to disallow state patronage of any particular religion ([BR]; [Au]: 31–44).

Jefferson made it clear (TJ to George Wythe, 13 Aug. 1786) that Bill 79—concerning implementation of wards and ward schools—was “the most important bill of our whole code”, as it was the “foundation … for the preservation of freedom and happiness” in a true republic. It was the key to engendering the sort of reforms needed for Jeffersonian republicanism—reforms aimed at an educated and thriving citizenry.

It is an axiom in my mind that our liberty can never be safe but in the hands of the people themselves, and that too of the people with a certain degree of education,

he says to George Washington (4 Jan. 1786). “Wherever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government,” he writes to philosopher Richard Price (8 Jan. 1789). [ 32 ]

Yet Jefferson’s trust in the people was not unconditional. He never asserted categorically that government for and of the people must, or even can, work. Experience had shown him that governments in which officials were not elected by and beholden to the people did not work—i.e., they were ultimately unresponsive to the needs of the people—and so he often called republicanism an “experiment” or “great experiment” (TJ to John Adams, 28 Feb. 1796, and WTJ5: 484). If citizens’ rights were to be respected and defended and if governors were not to govern in their own best interest but as stewards f the citizenry, all citizens needed a basic education—hence, the indispensability of ward-school education.

Given two classes of citizens, the laborers and the learned, Jefferson recognized two levels of education ([R]: 459–60). The laborers—divided roughly into husbandmen, manufacturers, and craftsmen—needed to conduct business to sustain and improve their domestic affairs. Thus, they needed access to primary education. The learned needed access to college-level (Jefferson’s intermediary grammar schools) and university-level education. To Peter Carr (7 Sept. 1814), Jefferson writes,

It is the duty of [our country’s] functionaries, to provide that every citizen in it should receive an education proportioned to the conditions and pursuits of his life.

Needs are not all personal. People are, for Jefferson, social creatures, republics are progressive, and thus, citizens have political duties. Education is critical. “If the condition of man is to be progressively ameliorated, as we fondly hope and believe,” writes Jefferson to the French revolutionary Marc Antoine Jullien (6 Oct. 1818), “education is to be the chief instrument in effecting it.” To fit and function in a stable, thriving democracy, all citizens are expected to know and assume a participatory role to the best of their capacities.

To promote both fullest political participation and moral progress, Jefferson realized that educational reform had to be systemic. In a letter to Senator Joseph C. Cabell (9 Sept. 1817), Jefferson outlines six features of that system.

• Basic education should be available to all.
• Education should be tax-supported.
• Education should be free from religious dictation.
• The educational system should be controlled at the local level.
• The upper levels of education should feature free inquiry.
• The mentally proficient should be enabled to pursue education to the highest levels at public expense.

Only a system could offer all citizens an education proportioned to their needs: the laborers, a broad, general education; the learned, an education suited to their idiosyncratic needs (Bowers 1943: 243 and Walton 1984: 119). Jefferson gets across that point to academician George Ticknor (25 Nov. 1817) in the manner of Bacon by limning the important truths—“that knowledge is power, that knowledge is safety, and that knowledge is happiness.” That knowledge is useful, data-driven.

Overall, observation showed that human capacities were greatly underdeveloped (TJ to William Green Munford, 17 June 1799). Consequently, education needed to tap into untapped human potential in morally responsible ways.

As well might it be urged that the wild and uncultivated tree, hitherto yielding sour and bitter fruit only, can never be made to yield better; yet we know that the grafting art implants a new tree on the savage stock, producing what is most estimable both in kind and degree. Education, in like manner, engrafts a new man on the native stock, and improves what in his nature was vicious and perverse into qualities of virtue and social worth ([R]: 461).

Human perfectibility, for Jefferson, was a matter of improved efficiency of living, which implied not merely progress in the fields of human health and human productivity through discoveries and labor-saving inventions, but also and especially moral improvement. Moral improvement was much more important than exercise of rationality (e.g., TJ to Maria Cosway, 12 Oct. 1786). Pure rationality was a matter of humans abstracting from reality; moral sensibility was a matter of humans immersed in reality.

Still Jefferson thought courses in morality were unneeded, if not injurious. “I think it lost time to attend lectures in this branch,” Jefferson writes to Carr (10 Aug. 1787), for moral conduct is not a matter of reason. That of course was consistent with the empiricism of his day—e.g., Lord Kames and David Hume. Nonetheless, Jefferson in Notes on the State of Virginia has a role for education in moral development. The first stage of education is not the time to encourage critical engagement with material like the Bible, for human rationality is not sufficiently developed, but instead a time when children should store historical facts to be used critically later in life. While doing so, the “elements of morality” can be instilled. Such elements teach children, says Jefferson in Aristotelian fashion, that

their own greatest happiness … does not depend on their condition in life in which chance has placed them, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation [i.e., industry], and freedom in all just pursuits ([NV]: 147).

Moral “learning” is, thus, less a matter of ingesting and digesting moral principles to apply to circumstances—there were no inviolable principles for Jefferson, as morality was a matter of sensing the right thing to do in circumstances—but of placing faith in the capacity of one’s moral sense to “decide” the right course of action without the corruptive influence of reason or peer pressure (TJ to Martha Jefferson, 11 Dec. 1783, TJ to Peter Carr, 19 Aug. 1785 and 10 Aug. 1787).

Because of the subordination of rationality to morality, education must be useful. It must engender effective, participatory citizenry and political stability. Jefferson always insisted on the practicality of education, because his take on knowledge was Baconian. [ 33 ] Consider what Jefferson says to scientist and physician Edward Jenner (14 May 1806) on behalf of the “whole human family” for his discovery of a vaccine for small pox.

Medecine has never before produced any single improvement of such ability. Harvey’s discovery of the circulation of the blood was a beautiful addition to our knowledge of the animal economy, but on a review of the practice of medicine before & since that epoch, I do not see any great amelioration which has been derived from that discovery, you have erased from the Calendar of human afflictions one of it’s greatest. Yours is the comfortable reflection that mankind can never forget that you have lived.

Yet every scientific discovery is potentially fruitful. “No discovery is barren; it always serves as a step to something else” (TJ to Robert Patterson, 17 Apr. 1803).

“Useful” for Jefferson was broad and with normative implications. [ 34 ] A complete education for Jefferson would produce men who were

in all ways useful to society—useful because intelligent, cultured, well-informed, technically competent, moral (this particularly), capable of earning a living, happy, and fitted for political and social leadership (Martin: 37).

Useful implied socially and politically active. Male citizens of greatest virtue and greatest genius would contribute by participation in science and in the most politically prominent positions. Lesser citizens would contribute more modestly and mostly at local levels through, for illustration, jury duty, participation in militia, and voting for and overseeing elected representatives.

Finally, education for Jefferson was a way of living. Its aim was to give persons the tools they would need to make them socially and politically involved, free, self-sufficient, and happy. As Karl Lehmann (201–2) notes:

To Thomas Jefferson, school would never be a ‘finishing’ agency. From each stage, man would have to move on in a never ending process of self-education…. The narrow professional who had but a technical knowledge of his little vocational area was a curse to him. Education had to be broad in order to assure the freedom and happiness of man.

Jefferson’s views on race have been the focus of considerable discussion in the secondary literature. [ 35 ] Those views, which would be considered today as racist, were likely influenced by the views of the leading naturalists of his day. In that regard, he was the product, not ahead, of his time.

Most of the discussion of Jefferson’s views on Blacks concerns his Notes on the State of Virginia. In Query XIV, Jefferson writes, “In memory [Blacks] are equal to the whites” ([NV]: 139). “In reason,” Jefferson says, “[Blacks are] much inferior [to Whites], as I think one could scarcely be found capable of tracing and comprehending the investigations of Euclid” ([NV]: 139). He adds, “Never yet could I find that a black had uttered a thought above the level of plain narration” ([NV]: 140). “In imagination [Blacks] are dull, tasteless, and anomalous,” and that is evident in their art. In music, Blacks have accurate ears “for tune and time,” are generally more gifted than Whites, and are capable of a “small catch,” as illustrated by their talent with the “Banjar,” a guitar-like instrument “brought … from Africa.” “Whether they will be equal to the composition of a more extensive run of melody, or of complicated harmony, is yet to be proved.” Despite their misery, which “is often the parent of the most affecting touches of poetry,” they have “no poetry” ([NV]: 40–41 and 288n10).

Inferiority of mind and imagination, he adds, is also confirmed, in Jefferson’s estimation, by “the improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites,” and that “has been observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not the effect merely of their condition of life” ([NV]: 141). Here he may be referencing “observations” in scientific texts of his day in his library.

In morality, Jefferson admits, Blacks are the equals of all others.

We find among them numerous instances of the most rigid integrity, and as many as among their better instructed masters, of benevolence, gratitude, and unshaken fidelity.

What he takes to be their “disposition to theft,” Jefferson explains thus: “The man, in whose favour no laws of property exist, probably feels himself less bound to respect those made in favour of others.” Might not a slave “justifiably take a little from one, who has taken all from him” ([NV]: 142).

All such conclusions, Jefferson says, are provisional: They have the confirmation of observation, but Blacks as well as “red men” hitherto have not been the subjects of natural history.

The opinion, that they are inferior in the faculties of reason and imagination, must be hazarded with great diffidence. To justify a general conclusion, requires many observations, even where the subject may be submitted to the Anatomical knife, to Optical glasses, to analysis by fire or by solvents. How much more then where it is a faculty, not a substance, we are examining; where it eludes the research of all the senses; where the conditions of its existence are various and variously combined; where the effects of those which are present or absent bid defiance to calculation; let me add too, as a circumstance of great tenderness, where our conclusion would degrade a whole race of men from the rank in the scale of beings which their Creator may perhaps have given them. To our reproach it must be said, that though for a century and a half we have had under our eyes the races of black and of red men, they have never yet been viewed by us as subjects of natural history. I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks … are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind ([NV]: 143).

Though he stated that Blacks and Native Americans had not been the subjects of natural history, there was a large body of literature by leading naturalists of his day—e.g., Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus ([1758] 1808), Oliver Goldsmith ([1774] 1823), and “Georges” Cuvier ([1817] 1831)—to which Jefferson had access and which he doubtless assimilated. That literature viewed Blacks and Native Americans as inferior to white Europeans, and the overall tendency was to associate darker skin with increased inferiority. [ 36 ] Prominent philosophers like David Hume (1755 [1987]: 208n10), Adam Smith (1759 [1982]: 208), and C.F. de Volney in (1802 [2010]: 68) also asserted the inferiority of Blacks and Native Americans.

This smattering of the “science” of Jefferson’s time shows that some of the most esteemed scientists held that Blacks and Native Americans, considering each as a race or subspecies of humans, were regarded as inferior or defective. [ 37 ] Jefferson owned and was informed by most of that literature, since he tended to be aware of recent developments in all of the sciences. Thus Jefferson’s “observations” were tainted by the “observations” or prejudgments of the authorities of his day. Despite his view of them as inferior, he recognized Blacks, as moral equals of all others, had the same rights as all other men. He writes to Bishop Grégoire (25 Feb. 1809):

Whatever be [Blacks’] degree of talent it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person or property of others.

Nonetheless, Jefferson’s view of Native Americans was inconsistent with those naturalists who viewed them too as a race inferior to Europeans, and that requires some explanation. In Query XIV of his Notes on the State of Virginia , Jefferson offers a brief analysis of Native Americans as a race. Not having had the “advantages” of exposure to European culture that Blacks have had, still Native Americans “often carve figures on their pipes not destitute of design and merit” ([NV]: 140). Their carvings and drawings “prove the existence of a germ in their minds which only wants cultivation.” [ 38 ] He continues,

They astonish you with strokes of the most sublime oratory; such as prove their reason and sentiment strong, their imagination glowing and elevated. ([NV]: 140)

One may wonder how much “advantage” Jefferson imagines Blacks should demonstrate on account of their exposure to the “culture” of their oppressors while enslaved. But Jefferson maintains that though “most of [the Blacks in America] have been confined to tillage, to their own homes, and their own society” and have had little direct exposure to sciences and the arts,

many have been so situated, that they might have availed themselves of the conversation of their masters; many have been brought up to the handicraft arts, and from that circumstance have always been associated with the whites. Some have been liberally educated, and all have lived in countries where the arts and sciences are cultivated to a considerable degree, and have had before their eyes samples of the best works from abroad ([NV]: 139–40).

Thus, Jefferson’s assessment of Blacks differs from his assessment of Native Americans. It is unclear whether that difference is natural or nurtural. The intimation in Notes on the State of Virginia and in a letter to Edmund Coles (25 Aug. 1814) is natural, though in other letters (e.g., TJ tp Benjamin Banneker, 30 Aug. 1791, and TJ to Bishop Grégoire, 25 Feb. 1809), the suggestion is nurtural, though deficiencies are so pronounced that there can be no rapid change of situation. With Native Americans, the scenario is otherwise.

There is also a sentiment commonly expressed in the secondary literature (e.g., Risjord 2002: 50–1, and Holowchak 2012, 243–48) that Jefferson had a personal, or political, interest in defending Native Americans that he did not have for Blacks. Buffon—perhaps the greatest naturalist of his day—argued that since the continent of North America was colder and wetter than that of Europe, [ 39 ] its biota, Native Americans included, were inferior ([NV]: 48). Consequently, “the savage” was feeble, glabrous, passionless, and compared to Europeans, was sexually less potent, less sensitive, and more timid, among other things ([NV]: 58). Abbé Raynal said more. What was true of Native Americans would eventually prove true of any Europeans transplanted in America ([NV]: 64). Jefferson put considerable effort into refuting Buffon and Raynal ([NV]: 60–64), which he did, as most scholars concede (e.g., Peden 1954: xxiii), with remarkable success, though his aim was further, open discussion more than it was refutation ([NV]: 54).

One thing seems clear, however. His mistaken views of Blacks and his views of Native Americans shaped his political thinking. Jefferson’s political vision was of an American nation that was wedded to liberty, happiness, and mostly agrarian living, that instantiated irenic republican governance, and that would in time serve as a model for other parts of the globe (Holowchak 2017b, 131–51). That vision, for success, required in his eyes the fullest cultivation of genius and morality in the youthful nation (McCoy 1980: 136). Native Americans, it seems, passed on both accounts. Blacks, however, were to him wanting in genius. Thus, only Native Americans could be integrated into the fledgling nation, which held the prospect of covering, as an “empire for liberty,” the North American continent (TJ to James Madison, 27 Apr. 1809) and perhaps even the South American continent (TJ to James Madison, 24 Nov. 1801). In Jefferson’s view, Blacks could not be integrated, for any admixture of black blood with white blood would taint the offspring, and thereby threaten the success of Jefferson’s republican experiment. So, every slave would eventually have to be “removed beyond the reach of mixture” ([NV]: 137–38 and 143). Thus, he thought everyone would be best served if Blacks were educated, emancipated, and expatriated; so too would Whites.

Jefferson’s views on race of course have been roundly refuted by modern science, which shows that race biologically is an empty category.

What, however, of Jefferson’s views and actions on the elimination of slavery?

We do know that Jefferson consistently spoke out loudly against the institution of slavery and that, as lawyer and politician, he worked hard toward its eradication. He, for instance, undertook six pro bono cases on behalf of slaves, seeking freedom, and never defended the rights of a slaveholder. He crafted spirited declamations of slavery in his Summary View ([S] 115–16), initial draft of the Declaration of Independence ([Au] 22), his Notes on the State of Virginia ([NV]: 162–63), and in several letters.

Nonetheless, he did little in retirement, when he could have tried to do more.

Yet as he matured, Jefferson did little to advance the issue, because he believed that that effort might be more harmful than beneficial. The time, he consistently said, was not right. As early as 1805 (TJ to William Burwell, Jan. 28), he expresses skepticism concerning the eradication of slavery.

There are many virtuous men who would make any sacrifices to effect it, many equally virtuous who persuade themselves either that the thing is not wrong, or that it cannot be remedied, and very many with whom interest is morality [i.e., those who recognize its immorality, but think sympathy is equivalent to action]. The older we grow, the larger we are disposed to believe the last part to be.

To Edward Coles (25 Aug. 1814), he writes of the “general silence” on slavery as indicative of public apathy among younger generations.

I have overlived the generation with which mutual labors & perils begat mutual confidence and influence. This enterprise [abolition of slavery] is for the young; for those who can follow it up, and bear it through to its consummation.

He even castigates Coles when the latter considers emancipation of his own slaves—a precipitous act.

The laws do not permit us to turn them loose, if that were for their good: and to commute them for other property is to commit them to those whose usage of them we cannot control. I hope then, my dear sir, you will reconcile yourself to your country and its unfortunate condition.

Jefferson’s mistaken views on Blacks and his refusal upon retirement to do more to eliminate the institution of slavery have prompted considerable critical discussion in the secondary literature (see fn. 38). On the one hand, most see Jefferson as racist. McColley (1964), Cohen (1969), Miller (1977), and Dawidoff (1993) argue that Jefferson’s racial views were hypocritical rationalizations for his slaveholding and large living. Finkelman (1994), O’Brien (1996), and Magnis (1999) state that Jefferson was driven by a profound hatred of Blacks. On the other hand, Levy (1963), Mayer (2001), Burstein (2005), and Holowchak (2013b and 2020a) argue that though Jefferson held false views concerning Blacks, it is anachronistic to call him a racist, as ignorance concerning racial differences by commoners and scientists was at the time rife. Jefferson, ultimately, was a product of the ignorance and prejudgments of his time.

• WTJ1: The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being his Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private: Published by the Order of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from the Original Manuscripts, Deposited in the Department of State , 9 vols., H.A. Washington (ed.), Washington: Taylor & Maury, 1853–54.
• WTJ2: The Works of Thomas Jefferson , 12 vols., P.L. Ford (ed.), New York: Putnam, 1902.
• WTJ3: The Writings of Thomas Jefferson , Definitive Edition , 20 vols., A.A. Lipscomb and A.E. Bergh (ed.), Washington: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1907.
• WTJ4: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , 42 Vols. (to date), J. Boyd et al. (ed.), Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950–present.
• WTJ5: Thomas Jefferson: Writings , M.D. Peterson (ed.), New York: Library of America, 1984.
• WTJ6: Early History of the University of Virginia , J.W. Randolph (ed.), Richmond, VA: C.H. Wynne, 1856.

Specific Works

• [An] The Anas, in Thomas Jefferson, The Complete Anas of Thomas Jefferson , Franklin B. Sawvel (ed.), New York: The Round Table Press, 1903.
• [Au] Autobiography, in WTJ5: 1–101.
• [BG] Bill 79: Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, 1779, in WTJ5: 365–73. [ BG available online ]
• [BL] Bill 81: A Bill for Establishing a Public Library, 1779, WTJ4: 544–45. [ BL available online ]
• [BP] Bill for Establishing a System of Public Education, 1817, in WTJ6: 413–27.
• [BR] Bill 82: Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, 1779, in WTJ5: 346–48. [ BR available online ]
• [BWM] Bill 80: A Bill for Amending the Constitution of the College of William and Mary, and Substituting More Certain Revenues for Its Support, 1779, WTJ4: 535–43. [ BWM available online ]
• [CV] Draft Constitution for Virginia, 1776, in WTJ5: 336–45.
• [D] Declaration of Independence, 1776, in WTJ5: 19–24.
• [DB] Letter to Danbury Baptist Association, 1802, in WTJ5: 510.
• [DP] Draft Declaration and Protest of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in WTJ5: 482–86.
• [E] Epitaph, in WTJ5: 706.
• [F] Opinion on the French Treaties, 1793, in WTJ5: 442–43. [ [F] available online ]
• [I 1 ] Inaugural Address, 1801, in WTJ5: 492–96. [ I 1 available online ]
• [I 2 ] Second Inaugural Address, 1805, in WTJ5: 518–23.
• [J] Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth , 1820, in WTJ4, Second Series, vol. 1, pp. 125–314.
• [K] Draft of the Kentucky Resolutions, in WTJ5: 449–56.
• [L] Letters, in WTJ1, WTJ2, WTJ3, WTJ4 or WTJ5: 711–1517.
• [M] Memorandum: Services to My Country, in WTJ5: 702–4.
• [NV] Notes on the State of Virginia , 1785, in Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia , William Peden (ed.), Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1954.
• [R] Rockfish Gap Report, 1818, in WTJ5: 457–73. [ [R] available online ]
• [S] Summary View of the Rights of British America, 1774, in WTJ5: 103–22.
• [TJ] Travel Journals, in WTJ5: 623–58.
• Adams, J., “John Adams to Timothy Pickering, 6 August 1822,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed September 29, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-7674.
• Arrowood, C.F., 1930 [1970], Thomas Jefferson and Education in a Republic , New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc..
• Binger, C., 1970, Thomas Jefferson: A Well-Tempered Mind , New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
• Bolingbroke, H., 1752, Reflections concerning Innate Moral Principles , London: S. Blandon.
• Bowers, C., 1943, “Jefferson and the Freedom of the Human Spirit”, Ethics , 53(4): 237–45.
• Burstein, A., 2005, Jefferson’s Secrets , New York: Basic Books.
• Catterall, Helen Tunnicliff, ed., 1968, Judicial Cases Concerning American Slavery and the Negro, Vol. 1, New York: Octagon Books, Inc.
• Chinard, G., 1929, Thomas Jefferson: The Apostle of Americanism , Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 1962.
• Cohen, W., 1969, “Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Slavery”, Journal of American History , 3: 503–26.
• Cunningham, N.E., 1987, In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson , Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
• Cuvier, G., 1817, The Animal Kingdom, Arranged in Conformity with Its Organization , vol. 1, H. M’Murtrie (trans.), New York: G & C & H Carvill, 1831.
• Dawidoff, R., 1993, “The Jeffersonian Option”, Political Theory , 21(3): 434–52.
• Destutt de Tracy, A.L.C., 1818/1827, Éléments d’Ideologie , vol. 5, Bruxelles: Courcier.
• Dixon, R., 2013, “Thomas Jefferson: A Lawyer’s Path to a Legal Philosophy”, in Holowchak 2013d: 15–39.
• Erikson, E., 1974, Dimensions of a New Reality: Jefferson Lectures 1973, New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
• Ferguson, A., 1767, An Essay on the History of Civil Society , London.
• Finkelman, P., 1994, “Thomas Jefferson and Antislavery: The Myth Goes On”, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography , 102(2): 193–228.
• Gaustad, E.S., 1984, “Religion”, in Peterson 1984: 277–93.
• Gish, D., and D. Klinghard, 2017, Thomas Jefferson and the Science of Republican Government: A Political Biography of Notes on the State of Virginia , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Goldsmith, O., 1774, An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature , 8 vols., Philadelphia: Edward Poole, 1823.
• Greene, J.C., 1958, “Science and the Public in the Age of Jefferson”, Isis , 49(1): 13–25.
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• Helvétius, C.A., 1810, Treatise on Man: His Intellectual Faculties and his Education , W. Hooper, M.D. (trans.), London: Albion Press.
• Holowchak, M.A., 2012, Dutiful Correspondent: Philosophical Essays on Thomas Jefferson, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
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• –––, 2019c, Jefferson’s Bible: Text with Introduction and Critical Commentary , Berlin: DeGruyter, 2019.
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• Hull, G., 1997, “William Small 1734–1775: No Publications, Much Influence”, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine , 90(2): 102–5.
• Hume, D., 1755 [1987], Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary , Eugene F. Miller (ed.), New York: Liberty Fund, 1987.
• Hutcheson, F., 1726, Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue , Wolfgang Leidhold (ed.), Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2004. [ Hutcheson 1758 available on line ]
• James, M., 2012, “Race”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = < https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/race/ >.
• Jordan, W., 1969, White over Black: American Attitudes toward the Negro, 1550–1812 , Baltimore: Penguin Books.
• Kames, Lord (Henry Home), 1758, Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion , London, 2 nd edition.
• –––, 1774, Sketches of the History of Man , vol. 3, Edinburgh, 1813.
• –––, 1798, The Gentleman Farmer, being an Attempt to Improve Agriculture by Subjecting It to the Test of Rational Principles , Edinburgh, 4 th edition.
• Kukla, John, 2007, Mr. Jefferson’s Women, New York: Vintage Books.
• Lehmann, K., 1965, Thomas Jefferson: American Humanist , Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1994.
• Levy, L., 1963, Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side , Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Linné, C. (Linnaeus), 1808, A General System of Nature , vol. 1, William Turton (trans.), London: Lackington, Allen, and Co., 1858.
• Locke, J., 1690 [1964], Essay concerning Human Understanding , A.D. Woozley (ed.), New York: New American Library.
• Magnis, N., 1999, “Thomas Jefferson and Slavery: An Analysis of His Racist Thinking as Revealed by His Writings and Political Behavior”, Journal of Black Studies , 29(4): 491–509.
• Malone, Dumas, 1948, Jefferson the Virginian , Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
• –––, 1951, Jefferson and the Rights of Man , Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
• –––, 1962, Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty , Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
• –––, 1970, Jefferson the President: First Term, 1801–1805 , Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
• –––, 1974, Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805–1809 , Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
• –––, 1981, The Sage of Monticello , Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
• Martin, E.T., 1952, Thomas Jefferson: Scientist , New York: H. Schuman.
• Marx, L., 1964, The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Mayer, D.N., 2001, “The Thomas Jefferson-Sally Hemings Myth and the Politicization of American History: Individual Views of David N. Mayer concurring with the Majority Report of the Scholars Commission on the Jefferson-Hemings Matter”, < available online >.
• McColley, R., 1964, Slavery in Jeffersonian Virginia , Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
• McCoy, D., 1980, The Elusive Republic: Political Economy in Jeffersonian America , Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
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• Millar, J., 1806, The Origins of the Distinction of Ranks: Or, An Inquiry into the Circumstances which Give Riser to Influence and Authority, in the Different Members of Society , Edinburgh, 4 th edition.
• Miller, J.C., 1977, The Wolf by the Ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery , Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
• Montesquieu, 1758, The Spirit of Laws , Thomas Nugent (trans.), London, 3 rd edition.
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• O’Brien, C.C., 1996, The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution, 1785–1800 , Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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• –––, 2007, Mind of Thomas Jefferson , Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
• Peden, W., 1954, “Introduction”, Notes on the State of Virginia , in Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia , William Peden (ed.), Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press: xi–xxv.
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• –––, 1965, “Thomas Jefferson and the National Purpose”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , 105(6): 517–20.
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Thomas Jefferson by Kevin J. Hayes LAST REVIEWED: 14 January 2022 LAST MODIFIED: 24 July 2018 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199827251-0180

A chronological list of the various positions Thomas Jefferson held over the course of his lengthy public career can serve as a rough outline of his life: member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, delegate to the Continental Congress, member of the Virginia House of Delegates, governor of Virginia, minister to France, US secretary of state, president of the American Philosophical Society, US vice president, US president, and founder and rector of the University of Virginia. All these positions do not touch upon the numerous other roles Jefferson played in his life: architect, author, bookman, farmer, father, grandfather, lawyer, scientist, and traveler. As an author, for example, Jefferson is best known for the Declaration of Independence and Notes on the State of Virginia , but he wrote much else, as well. He is one of the finest and most prolific letter writers in American literature. He wrote an autobiography; a secular life of Jesus of Nazareth; the Manual of Parliamentary Practice ; numerous acts of legislation; and many pamphlets, including Observation on the Whale Fishery , Proceedings and Report of the Commissioners for the University of Virginia , and Summary View of the Rights of British America ; and The Anas , a compilation of conversation recorded while he was a member of George Washington’s cabinet. Students interested in nearly any topic about American history, literature, or culture can look to Thomas Jefferson to find an exciting subject for research. The works listed here are designed to provide useful starting points for research in many different fields of study. The list of primary texts provides works written by Jefferson, but they all contain detailed introductions and annotations to help put Jefferson’s writings into their biographical, cultural, and historical contexts. The remainder of this article is devoted to secondary works, that is, writings about Thomas Jefferson. Discussed are reference books, biographies, and volumes devoted to the following major topics: books and reading, critical studies, political science, race and gender, and science. Collections of critical and historical essays are grouped together, as are works that view Jefferson’s enduring influence on the nation and the world.

Primary Texts

The primary bibliography that constitutes this section is subdivided into four parts. One section lists the two separate series of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson , the First Series and the Retirement Series. The Second Series of the Papers , which is composed of stand-alone works, gets its own section. Other book-length works that have not been or will not be included in the Papers of Thomas Jefferson are listed in the third section, and the fourth section provides a highly selective list of Jefferson’s letters.

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Thomas Jefferson: The Author of America Essay

Introduction, the main themes, jefferson’s style, the significance of jefferson’s writings, works cited.

Thomas Jefferson is one of the most remarkable political leaders of the 18 th and 19 centuries. He is mostly known as an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States for two terms in 1801-1809. Thomas Jefferson had a fascinating political career, but he was also a profound author of his time. His words and ideas have both inspired, confused, and horrified readers for over 200 years. Jefferson coined out the official writing style and brought excellence to political and government papers.

His major contributions to american literature are the Declaration of Independence , the Notes on the State of Virginia , and his letters. In his works, Jefferson mostly touched upon the values of political and moral equality and the complexity of nature and society. Thomas Jefferson’s writings are crucial for understanding the themes and values of American literature and history of the 18-19 centuries, as they have tremendous political, social, and literary value.

Thomas Jefferson is a philosopher of his era since he touches upon many universal issues that are central at all times. Jefferson ponders upon the nature of humans and states that the happiest state for people is between what is savage and what is refined (Holowchak). The writer also draws parallels between natural laws and the laws that should guide a civil society. These basic beliefs are framed into the Declaration of Independence , which rests upon the principles of all men being equal by nature and by rights. It is worth mentioning that by the word “equality” Jefferson referred to the equality of opportunity and moral equality (Holowchak). In brief, the American Founding Father shows in his writings that the laws of nature are crucial for understanding what civil society principles should be.

Other pivotal themes of Jefferson’s writings include religion and morale. The natural human right to pursue his or her happiness implies that all persons are free to worship as they choose (Holowchak). However, according to Jefferson, religion should stay personal and avoid interfering with the government’s affairs (Holowchak). Such interventions may result not only in restricting the civil rights of the US citizens but also in restraints of religious freedoms. Jefferson saw similarities in the political tasks of tearing down the old forms of authority and the intellectual tasks of eliminating superstition (Klinghard and Gish 18).

Consequently, he believed that moral is God-given and that is similar to human senses like sight and hearing. Holowchak states that Thomas Jefferson thought the sense of virtue to be tied to an organ, like a heart. Hence, morality can be made better or worse depending on the actions a person performs. In short, while not opposing the church, Jefferson practiced a rational approach towards the questions of religion and morale.

While contemplating the eternal questions, Jefferson provided a significant base for the abolitionists while discussing the problem of slavery. While Jefferson remained a slave owner, he insisted on all men being created equal and, consequently, on abolishing slavery (Crow 151). However, Holowchak points out that Jefferson considered African Americans being equal only by moral, as the slaves were not intellectually comparable with the white population. Jefferson insisted that the abolition of slavery should be a steady process, as it could only be possible by a gradual transformation of the states’ policies and the people’s minds (Klinghard and Gish 60). In summary, Jefferson in his works created the legal and moral basis for the future elimination of slavery in the United States.

Thomas Jefferson published only one full-length book, The Notes on the State of Virginia , during his lifetime, while the central portion of his literature heritage consists of letters and notes. Thomas Jefferson’s works are rhetorical and belong to the epistolary genre (Hitchens 115).

Even his only book is more a collection of works concerning politics, religion, and human nature rather than a book in a conventional way of understanding (Crow 132). However, “the rhetorical style of the Notes weaves connections between and among these seemingly disparate essays in knowledge, inviting readers to explore, examine, and discover” (Klinghard and Gish 84). In short, Jefferson preferred writing in the form of essays and letters rather than in belles-lettres.

Jefferson’s language seems to be complicated and exalt for a contemporary reader, however, in comparison with other authors of the time, his works are concise and coherent (Klinghard and Gish 73). This is especially true for the Notes on the State of Virginia, and for the Declaration of independence, as these works were aimed at a wider audience than his letters. The American Founding Father believed that all literary Americans should understand political principles, as it is central for organizing a republic. In short, while Jefferson’s word may appear to be comprehensive for a present-day reader, it is a notable step towards the overall apprehensibility of the legal language in the United States.

The importance of Jefferson’s works can be hardly overstated as he provided the theoretical, political, and moral basis for the future development of civil society in the US. First, the American Founding Fathers provided the theory for authors to base upon in their philosophical searches. For instance, most abolitionists mention Jefferson’s notes on the State of Virginia in one way or another while promoting the elimination of slavery in the United States (Klinghard and Gish 109).

Jefferson is one of the pioneers in proclaiming that slavery is outdated; thus, he created a political and philosophical ground for future writers to ponder upon the issue. In short, Thomas Jefferson set up central themes for the forthcoming generation of writers and politicians.

Second, Thomas Jefferson penned the main portion of the Declaration of Independence that is central for the American nation is it was the first official document of the United States. Apart from having an obvious political significance, the Declaration of Independence implies great literary importance, as it sets the gold standard for the style of future legal and political documents. While being eloquent and somewhat wordy in comparison with the contemporary literature, Jefferson set the norm for official documents to be concise, precise, and easy to comprehend (Klinghard and Gish 73).

Thomas Jefferson is an outstanding politician and ideologist of the American way of life. Moreover, Jefferson is a prodigious writer who left a rich philosophical legacy in his letters, messages, bills, and public papers. He wrote about every philosophical aspect of life including religion, morality, human rights, and slavery. These themes became central in the works of his followers and set the basis for the abolitionists’ movements. Jefferson’s tone establishes the standard for the official style of the US political and legal documents. In conclusion, Jefferson as a writer is equally significant for American history as Jefferson as a politician, as he made an immense contribution towards all the spheres of American life.

Crow, Matthew. Thomas Jefferson, Legal History, and the Art of Recollection . Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Hitchens, Christopher. Thomas Jefferson: The Author of America . Atlas & Co., 2009.

Holowchak, Andrew. “ Thomas Jefferson ”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . 2015. Web.

Klinghard, Daniel, and Dustin Gish. Thomas Jefferson and the Science of Republican Government: A Political Biography of Notes on the State of Virginia. Cambridge University Press, 2017.

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Thomas Jefferson

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 22, 2022 | Original: October 29, 2009

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president, was a leading figure in America’s early development. During the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), Jefferson served in the Virginia legislature and the Continental Congress and was governor of Virginia. He later served as U.S. minister to France and U.S. secretary of state and was vice president under John Adams (1735-1826). 

Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican who thought the national government should have a limited role in citizens’ lives, was elected president in 1800. During his two terms in office (1801-1809), the U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory and Lewis and Clark explored the vast new acquisition. Although Jefferson promoted individual liberty, he also enslaved over six hundred people throughout his life. After leaving office, he retired to his Virginia plantation, Monticello, and helped found the University of Virginia.

Thomas Jefferson’s Early Years

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, a plantation on a large tract of land near present-day Charlottesville, Virginia . His father, Peter Jefferson (1707/08-57), was a successful planter and surveyor and his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson (1720-76), came from a prominent Virginia family. Thomas was their third child and eldest son; he had six sisters and one surviving brother.

Did you know? In 1815, Jefferson sold his 6,700-volume personal library to Congress for $23,950 to replace books lost when the British burned the U.S. Capitol, which housed the Library of Congress, during the War of 1812. Jefferson's books formed the foundation of the rebuilt Library of Congress's collections.

In 1762, Jefferson graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he reportedly enjoyed studying for 15 hours, then practicing violin for several more hours on a daily basis. He went on to study law under the tutelage of respected Virginia attorney George Wythe (there were no official law schools in America at the time, and Wythe’s other pupils included future Chief Justice John Marshall and statesman Henry Clay ). 

Jefferson began working as a lawyer in 1767. As a member of colonial Virginia’s House of Burgesses from 1769 to 1775, Jefferson, who was known for his reserved manner, gained recognition for penning a pamphlet, “A Summary View of the Rights of British America” (1774), which declared that the British Parliament had no right to exercise authority over the American colonies .

Marriage and Monticello

After his father died when Jefferson was a teen, the future president inherited the Shadwell property. In 1768, Jefferson began clearing a mountaintop on the land in preparation for the elegant brick mansion he would construct there called Monticello (“little mountain” in Italian). Jefferson, who had a keen interest in architecture and gardening, designed the home and its elaborate gardens himself. 

Over the course of his life, he remodeled and expanded Monticello and filled it with art, fine furnishings and interesting gadgets and architectural details. He kept records of everything that happened at the 5,000-acre plantation, including daily weather reports, a gardening journal and notes about his slaves and animals.

On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton (1748-82), a young widow. The couple moved to Monticello and eventually had six children; only two of their daughters—Martha (1772-1836) and Mary (1778-1804)—survived into adulthood. In 1782, Jefferson’s wife Martha died at age 33 following complications from childbirth. Jefferson was distraught and never remarried. However, it is believed he fathered more children with one of his enslaved women, Sally Hemings (1773-1835), who was also his wife’s half-sister .

Slavery was a contradictory issue in Jefferson’s life. Although he was an advocate for individual liberty and at one point promoted a plan for the gradual emancipation of slaves in America, he enslaved people throughout his life. Additionally, while he wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal,” he believed African Americans were biologically inferior to whites and thought the two races could not coexist peacefully in freedom. Jefferson inherited some 175 enslaved people from his father and father-in-law and owned an estimated 600 slaves over the course of his life. He freed only a small number of them in his will; the majority were sold following his death.

Thomas Jefferson and the American Revolution

In 1775, with the American Revolutionary War recently underway, Jefferson was selected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. Although not known as a great public speaker, he was a gifted writer and at age 33, was asked to draft the Declaration of Independence (before he began writing, Jefferson discussed the document’s contents with a five-member drafting committee that included John Adams and Benjamin Franklin ). The Declaration of Independence , which explained why the 13 colonies wanted to be free of British rule and also detailed the importance of individual rights and freedoms, was adopted on July 4, 1776.

In the fall of 1776, Jefferson resigned from the Continental Congress and was re-elected to the Virginia House of Delegates (formerly the House of Burgesses). He considered the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which he authored in the late 1770s and which Virginia lawmakers eventually passed in 1786, to be one of the significant achievements of his career. It was a forerunner to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution , which protects people’s right to worship as they choose.

From 1779 to 1781, Jefferson served as governor of Virginia, and from 1783 to 1784, did a second stint in Congress (then officially known, since 1781, as the Congress of the Confederation). In 1785, he succeeded Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) as U.S. minister to France. Jefferson’s duties in Europe meant he could not attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787; however, he was kept informed of the proceedings to draft a new national constitution and later advocated for including a bill of rights and presidential term limits.

Jefferson's Path to the Presidency

After returning to America in the fall of 1789, Jefferson accepted an appointment from President George Washington (1732-99) to become the new nation’s first secretary of state. In this post, Jefferson clashed with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1755/57-1804) over foreign policy and their differing interpretations of the U.S. Constitution. In the early 1790s, Jefferson, who favored strong state and local government, co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose Hamilton’s Federalist Party , which advocated for a strong national government with broad powers over the economy.

In the presidential election of 1796, Jefferson ran against John Adams and received the second-highest amount of votes, which, according to the law at the time, made him vice president.

Jefferson ran against Adams again in the presidential election of 1800, which turned into a bitter battle between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Jefferson defeated Adams; however, due to a flaw in the electoral system, Jefferson tied with fellow Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr (1756-1836). The House of Representatives broke the tie and voted Jefferson into office. In order to avoid a repeat of this situation, Congress proposed the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which required separate voting for president and vice president. The amendment was ratified in 1804.

Jefferson Becomes Third U.S. President

Jefferson was sworn into office on March 4, 1801; he was the first presidential inauguration held in Washington, D.C. ( George Washington was inaugurated in New York in 1789; in 1793, he was sworn into office in Philadelphia, as was his successor, John Adams, in 1797.) Instead of riding in a horse-drawn carriage, Jefferson broke with tradition and walked to and from the ceremony.

One of the most significant achievements of Jefferson’s first administration was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million in 1803. At more than 820,000 square miles, the Louisiana Purchase (which included lands extending between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico to present-day Canada) effectively doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson then commissioned explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the uncharted land, plus the area beyond, out to the Pacific Ocean. (At the time, most Americans lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean.)  Lewis and Clark’s expedition , known today as the Corps of Discovery, lasted from 1804 to 1806 and provided valuable information about the geography, American Indian tribes and animal and plant life of the western part of the continent.

In 1804, Jefferson ran for re-election and defeated Federalist candidate Charles Pinckney (1746-1825) of South Carolina with more than 70 percent of the popular vote and an electoral count of 162-14. During his second term, Jefferson focused on trying to keep America out of Europe’s Napoleonic Wars (1803-15). However, after Great Britain and France, who were at war, both began harassing American merchant ships, Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of 1807. 

The act, which closed U.S. ports to foreign trade, proved unpopular with Americans and hurt the U.S. economy. It was repealed in 1809 and, despite the president’s attempts to maintain neutrality, the U.S. ended up going to war against Britain in the War of 1812. Jefferson chose not to run for a third term in 1808 and was succeeded in office by James Madison (1751-1836), a fellow Virginian and former U.S. secretary of state.

Thomas Jefferson’s Later Years and Death

Jefferson spent his post-presidential years at Monticello, where he continued to pursue his many interests, including architecture, music, reading and gardening. He also helped found the University of Virginia, which held its first classes in 1825. Jefferson was involved with designing the school’s buildings and curriculum and ensured that unlike other American colleges at the time, the school had no religious affiliation or religious requirements for its students.

Jefferson died at age 83 at Monticello on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Coincidentally, John Adams, Jefferson’s friend, former rival and fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, died the same day . Jefferson was buried at Monticello. However, due to the significant debt the former president had accumulated during his life, his mansion, furnishing and enslaved people were sold at auction following his death. Monticello was eventually acquired by a nonprofit organization, which opened it to the public in 1954.

Jefferson remains an American icon. His face appears on the U.S. nickel and is carved into stone at Mount Rushmore . The Jefferson Memorial, near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth.

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Thomas Jefferson: Life in Brief

Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, spent his childhood roaming the woods and studying his books on a remote plantation in the Virginia Piedmont. Thanks to the prosperity of his father, Jefferson had an excellent education. After years in boarding school, where he excelled in classical languages, Jefferson enrolled in William and Mary College in his home state of Virginia, taking classes in science, mathematics, rhetoric, philosophy, and literature. He also studied law, and by the time he was admitted to the Virginia bar in April 1767, many considered him to have one of the nation's best legal minds.

Shaping America's Political Philosophy

Jefferson was shy in person, but his pen proved to be a mighty weapon. His pamphlet entitled "A Summary View of the Rights of British America," written in 1774, articulated the colonial position for independence and foreshadowed many of the ideas in the Declaration of Independence, the work for which he is most famous. By 1774, Jefferson was actively involved in organizing opposition to British rule, and in 1776, he was appointed to the Second Continental Congress. As a powerful prose stylist and an influential Virginia representative, Jefferson was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. This document is a brilliant assertion of fundamental human rights and also serves as America's most succinct statement of its philosophy of government.

Before becoming the nation's third President, Jefferson served as delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he drafted legislation that abolished primogeniture, the law that made the eldest son the sole inheritor of his father's property. He also promoted religious freedom, helping to establish the country's separation between church and state, and he advocated free public education, an idea considered radical by his contemporaries.

During the Revolution, Jefferson served two years as governor of Virginia, during which time he barely escaped capture by British forces by fleeing from Monticello, his home. He was later charged with being a coward for not confronting the enemy. After the war, Jefferson served as America's minister to France, where he witnessed firsthand the dramatic events leading up to the French Revolution.

While abroad, Jefferson corresponded with members of the Constitutional Convention, particularly his close associate from Virginia, James Madison. He agreed to support the Constitution and the strong federal government it created. Jefferson's support, however, hinged upon the condition that Madison add a bill of rights to the document in the form of ten amendments. The rights that Jefferson insisted upon—among them were freedom of speech, assembly, and practice of religion—have become fundamental to and synonymous with American life ever since.

Presidential Politics

Jefferson served as secretary of state under Washington, but quarrels with Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton over his vision of a centralized national bank caused Jefferson to resign his post in 1793. In the election of 1796, Jefferson was the favorite of Democratic-Republican opponents of the Washington administration. He came in second to Federalist John Adams in Electoral College votes and became Adams's vice president.

In 1800, however, the political tide had turned against the Federalist Party of Adams and Hamilton. After a bitterly contested election, a tie vote in the Electoral College, and a protracted deadlock in the House of Representatives, Jefferson finally emerged as the winner—thanks, in part, to the three-fifths clause of the Constitution, which gave states with large slave populations additional votes. In his inaugural address, Jefferson pled for national unity in an attempt to heal the wounds of a vicious campaign and to gain support from the Federalist-controlled Congress. Due to a relatively placid first term, prosperity, lower taxes, and a reduction of the national debt, Jefferson won a landslide victory in 1804.

Defining the Powers of the Government

Jefferson believed in a "wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another" but which otherwise left them free to regulate their own affairs. In an effort to minimize the influence of the central government, he reduced the number of government employees, slashed Army enlistments, and cut the national debt. Similar to his predecessor, John Adams, Jefferson had to deal with the political war waged between his Republican Party and the Federalists. The battles were focused on the nation's judiciary branch. The landmark ruling in Marbury v. Madison, which established the independent power of the Supreme Court, was handed down during Jefferson's presidency.

Foreign affairs dominated his day-to-day attentions while President, often pushing him toward Federalist policies that contrasted with his political philosophy. To ensure the safety of American ships on the high seas, Jefferson attempted to put an end to the bribes that the United States had been paying to the Barbary states for many years. This resulted in a war with Tripoli, in which Jefferson was forced to use his navy and to rethink his policy of reducing the U.S. military. While the United States at first enjoyed an economic boom due to the war between England and France, the British navy's practice of forcing American sailors into British service led to Jefferson's disastrous suspension of trade with both France and England. This trade war devastated the economy, alienated the hard-hit mercantile Northeast, and propelled America into war with England.

His brilliant negotiation and ties to France led to the Louisiana Purchase for $15 million, doubling the size of the nation. Nonetheless, the deal troubled Jefferson, who did not wish to overstep the central government's powers as outlined by the Constitution, which made no mention of the power to acquire new territory. It was Jefferson who authorized the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806), led by Meriwether Lewis, a military officer who was Jefferson's clerk at the White House.

A Private Portrait of Contradictions

Jefferson preferred to live a simple lifestyle during his time in office, often greeting his dinner guests in old homespun clothes and a pair of worn bedroom slippers. Having lost his beloved wife, Martha Wayles Skelton, in 1782 to childbirth, Jefferson relied on his two married daughters and the wife of his secretary of state, Dolley Madison, as his official hostesses. Although he disliked pomp and circumstance, Jefferson knew how to live well; his wine bill upon leaving the presidency exceeded $10,000. In 1809, Jefferson retired to his Virginia plantation home, Monticello, where he continued pursuing his widely diverse interests in science, natural history, philosophy, and the classics. Jefferson also devoted himself to founding the University of Virginia.

Contemporary debates continue to rage—as they did during Jefferson's own lifetime—concerning his relationship with Sally Hemings, one of Jefferson's slaves, after Martha's death. Recent DNA evidence presents a convincing case that Jefferson was indeed the biological father of Heming's children, and most historians now believe that Jefferson and Hemings had a long-term sexual relationship. Jefferson was ambivalent about slavery throughout his career. As a young politician, he argued for the prohibition of slavery in new American territories, yet he never freed his own slaves. How could a man responsible for writing the sacred words "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal" have been a slave owner? He never resolved his internal conflict on this issue.

After carrying on a long and fascinating correspondence with John Adams while both men were in the twilight of their lives, Jefferson died on July 4, 1826—exactly fifty years to the day from the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Professor of History University of Virginia

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Thomas Jefferson: Significant Facts and Brief Biography

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Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States. Perhaps Jefferson's greatest accomplishment was the drafting of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, decades before he became president.

Thomas Jefferson

Life span: Born: April 13, 1743, Albemarle County, Virginia Died: July 4, 1826, at his home, Monticello, in Virginia.

Jefferson was 83 at the time of his death, which occurred on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which he had written. In an eerie coincidence, John Adams , another Founding Father and early president, died on the same day.

Presidential terms: March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1809

Accomplishments:  Jefferson's greatest accomplishment as president was probably the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase . It was controversial at the time, as it was unclear if Jefferson had the authority to buy the enormous tract of land from France. And, there was also a question of whether the land, much of it still unexplored, was worth the $15 million Jefferson paid.

Because the Louisiana Purchase doubled the territory of the United States, it is viewed to have been a very shrewd move, and Jefferson's role in the purchase a great triumph.

Jefferson, though he did not believe in a permanent military, dispatched the young U.S. Navy to fight the Barbary Pirates . And he had to contend with a number of problems related to Britain, which harassed American ships and engaged in the impressment of American sailors .

His response to Britain, the Embargo Act of 1807 , was generally thought to be a failure which only postponed the War of 1812 .

Political Affiliations

Supported by:  Jefferson's political party was known as the Democratic-Republicans, and his supporters tended to believe in a limited federal government.

Jefferson's political philosophy was influenced by the French Revolution. He preferred a small national government and a limited presidency.

Opposed by:  Though he served as the vice president during the presidency of John Adams, Jefferson came to oppose Adams. Believing that Adams was accumulating too much power in the presidency, Jefferson decided to run for the office in 1800 to deny Adams a second term.

Jefferson was also opposed by Alexander Hamilton, who believed in a stronger federal government. Hamilton was also aligned with northern banking interests, while Jefferson aligned himself with southern agricultural interests.

Presidential Campaigns

When Jefferson ran for president in the  election of 1800  he received the same number of electoral votes as his running mate,  Aaron Burr  (the incumbent, John Adams, came in third). The election had to be decided in the House of Representatives, and the Constitution was later amended to avoid that scenario from ever being repeated.

In 1804 Jefferson ran again and easily won a second term.

Spouse and Family

Jefferson married Martha Waynes Skelton on January 1, 1772. They had seven children, but only two daughters lived to adulthood.

Martha Jefferson died on September 6, 1782, and Jefferson never remarried. However, there is evidence that he sexually assaulted Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman who was the half-sister of his wife, regularly. Scientific evidence indicates that on one of the occasions that Jefferson raped her, Sally Hemings became pregnant.

Jefferson was rumored to be "involved" with Sally Hemings during his lifetime, meaning that he likely forced her into sexual relations without her consent. And political enemies spread rumors about "illegitimate" children Jefferson might have had as a result of raping Hemings.

The rumors about Jefferson never entirely disappeared, and, in fact, in recent decades they have come to be accepted as credible. In 2018, administrators at Monticello, Jefferson's estate, unveiled new exhibits focused on the lives of the people Jefferson enslaved. And the role of Sally Hemings in Jefferson's life has been highlighted. The room in which she is believed to have lived has been restored.

Education:  Jefferson was born into a family living on a Virginia farm of 5,000 acres, and, coming from a privileged background, he entered the prestigious College of William and Mary at the age of 17. He was very interested in scientific subjects and would remain so for the rest of his life.

However, as there was no realistic opportunity for a scientific career in the Virginia society in which he lived, he gravitated to the study of law and philosophy.

Early career:  Jefferson became a lawyer and entered the bar at the age of 24. He had a legal practice for a time, but abandoned it when the movement toward independence of the colonies became his focus.

Later Career

After serving as president Jefferson retired to his plantation, where he enslaved many people to work for him, in Virginia, Monticello. He kept a busy schedule of reading, writing, inventing, and farming. He often faced very serious financial problems, but still lived a comfortable life.

Unusual Facts

Unusual facts:  Jefferson's great contradiction is that he wrote the Declaration of Independence, declaring that "all men are created equal," but he enslaved hundreds of people throughout his lifetime.

Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C., and he began the tradition of inaugurations being held at the U.S. Capitol. To make a point about democratic principles and being a man of the people, Jefferson chose not to ride in a fancy carriage to the ceremony. He walked to the Capitol (some accounts say he rode his own horse).

Jefferson's first inaugural address was considered  one of the best  of the 19th century. After four years in office, he gave an  angry and bitter inaugural address  considered one of the worst of the century.

While living in the White House he was known to keep gardening tools in his office, so he could step out and tend the garden he kept on what is now the mansion's south lawn.

Death and funeral:  Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, and was buried in the graveyard at Monticello on the following day. There was a very simple ceremony.

Legacy:   Thomas Jefferson is considered one of the great Founding Fathers of the United States, and he would have been a notable figure in American history even if he had not been president.

His most important legacy would be the Declaration of Independence, and his most enduring contribution as president would be the Louisiana Purchase.

• Biography of Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States
• 10 Things to Know About Thomas Jefferson
• John Adams: Significant Facts and Brief Biography
• Martha Jefferson
• Thomas Jefferson's Life as an Inventor
• Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson
• Early American Presidents
• Presidential Election of 1800 Ended in a Tie
• Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase
• Biography of John Adams, 2nd President of the United States
• What Was Foreign Policy Like Under Thomas Jefferson?
• Timeline from 1800 to 1810
• John Quincy Adams: Significant Facts and Brief Biography
• Biography of James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States
• Top 10 Things to Know About John Adams
• US Presidents Who Were Enslavers

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

• Research & Education
• Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

Editions of Jefferson's Writings

Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies: 4 volumes (1829, 1830).

The Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies: From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson  was the first publication of Thomas Jefferson's papers after his death, and the only one available until Henry A. Washington's edition was published in 1853-1854. It was initially published by F. Carr in Charlottesville in 1829, with subsequent editions published in London, Boston, and Paris. The documents included were selected, transcribed, and edited by  Thomas Jefferson Randolph  (Thomas Jefferson's oldest grandson), with the help of his  mother  and sisters, in an effort to take control of their grandfather's legacy and as a means to relieve some of the  debt  they'd been left with upon Jefferson's death. They were somewhat successful in the first endeavor and not very successful in the second. The Memoir contains only a tiny portion of Jefferson's total body of correspondence and other papers, and was carefully edited by his family to avoid controversial subjects; they also made occasional errors in their transcriptions.

Availability

• Print: See  this title's record  in Open WorldCat to locate a set of the  Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies  in a library near you.

H. A. (HENRY AUGUSTINE) WASHINGTON EDITION: 9 VOLUMES (1853-1854)

Titled  The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private: Published by the Order of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from the Original Manuscripts, Deposited in the Department of State , this was the first major edition of Jefferson writings, published by Taylor & Maury in Washington, D.C. It included only papers resident at the Library of Congress, and of those, only letters and documents considered to be "public" by staff at the Library of Congress. Unfortunately, this edition was done in a relatively hasty manner and the end product suffers from flawed transcriptions. Washington was also known to bowdlerize Jefferson's writings.

• Print: See  this title's record  in Open WorldCat to locate a set of the Washington edition in a library near you.

FORD EDITION: 10 VOLUMES (1892) AND 12 VOLUMES (1904)

Paul Leicester Ford's  Writings of Thomas Jefferson , first published in New York and London by Putnam in 1892, was a relatively high-quality presentation of Jefferson's writings, especially given the documentary editing standards of the time. Ford included not only manuscripts from the Library of Congress, but also documents from other repositories. Some annotations are included. A commemorative edition of this work, titled  The Works of Thomas Jefferson , was published (also in New York and London by Putnam) in 12 volumes after Ford's murder in 1902. The commemorative edition presents the same content as the earlier 10-volume edition, but wider margins necessitated two more volumes.

• Print: See the records for the  10-volume  and  12-volume  editions of Ford in Open WorldCat to locate a set in a library near you.

LIPSCOMB-BERGH EDITION: 20 VOLUMES (1903-1907)

The Writings of Thomas Jefferson , sometimes known as the "Lipscomb-Bergh" edition, was sponsored by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association [1] and published between 1903 and 1907. It represented something of a step backward from Ford in terms of editorial quality. Edited by Andrew Adgate Lipscomb and Albert Ellery Bergh, this edition used the 1853-1854 Washington edition of Jefferson's writings as a basis, and so suffers from many of the same editorial flaws. It also contains little to no annotation or other supporting information for the documents.

The Lipscomb-Bergh edition has several different imprints, including the  Memorial Edition  (1903-1904),  Library Edition  (1903-1904), and the Definitive Edition ( 1905 ,  1907 ). These imprints are not known to differ from each other in content.

The Lipscomb-Bergh edition does offer the interesting feature of an original essay in each volume, by various authors including Thomas Jefferson Coolidge and William Jennings Bryan, and examines topics such as "Jefferson's Contribution to a Free Press" and "Jefferson as a Geographer." 

• Print: See  this title's record  in Open WorldCat to locate a set in a library near you.

PRINCETON EDITION: 45 VOLUMES TO DATE (1950- )

The Princeton edition, titled  The Papers of Thomas Jefferson , represents by far the most comprehensive and scholarly edition of Jefferson's writings. The project was conceived at the time of the bicentennial celebration of Jefferson's birth in 1943, and the first volume was published in 1950. This edition attempts to print all incoming and outgoing correspondence, and also includes other types of Jefferson documents according to the editors' discretion.

Unlike earlier editions, the Princeton edition presents faithful transcriptions of the documents (although in the early years of the project, some minor "corrections" of Jefferson's capitalization and punctuation were routinely included). This edition is also well-annotated, including information about extant copies of the documents, their locations, and contextual information that may help the reader better understand the documents. In the early years of its publication, and increasingly as the project progressed, the Princeton edition included long editorial notes accompanying certain documents or groups of documents. These "notes" amounted, in many cases, to scholarly essays by Julian Boyd and his staff.

In 2004, a companion editorial project,  The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series  (18 volumes to date) was founded at Monticello to work simultaneously on editing Jefferson's retirement-era correspondence (1809-1826). Both projects are expected to be complete between 2025 and 2030, having published a total of approximately 80 volumes.

• Print: See the records for the  main series  and  retirement series  in Open WorldCat to locate a set in a library near you. 

FURTHER SOURCES

• Boyd, Julian P.   Report to the Thomas Jefferson Bicentennial Commission: On the Need, Scope, Proposed Method of Preparation, Probable Cost, and Possible Means of Publishing a Comprehensive Edition of the Writings of Thomas Jefferson .  Washington, D.C., 1943.
• Cogliano, Francis D. "Jefferson's Papers." In  Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy .  Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006.
• Ford, Worthington Chauncey. "The Jefferson Papers." In  Thomas Jefferson, Architect , by Fiske Kimball, 3-9. Boston: Riverside Press, 1916.
• Sifton, Paul G. Introduction to  Index to the Thomas Jefferson Papers , vii–xvii. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1976.  Text available online . Provides an excellent overview of how many of Thomas Jefferson's papers came to be at the Library of Congress.
• ^ The Thomas Jeffersom Memorial Association (not to be confused with the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, later the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and operates Monticello) was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1903 to raise funds for a Jefferson monument. See Francis D. Cogliano,  Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy  (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006), 85.

ADDRESS: 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway Charlottesville, VA 22902 GENERAL INFORMATION: (434) 984-9800

Background Essay: The Declaration of Independence

Background Essay: Declaration of Independence

Guiding Question: What were the philosophical bases and practical purposes of the Declaration of Independence?

• I can explain the major events that led the American colonists to question British rule.
• I can explain how the concepts of natural rights and self-government influenced the Founders and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

Essential Vocabulary

Directions: As you read the essay, highlight the events from the graphic organizer in Handout B in one color. Think about how each of these events led the American colonists further down the road to declaring independence. Highlight the impacts of those events in another color.

In 1825, Thomas Jefferson reflected on the meaning and principles of the Declaration of Independence. In a letter to a friend, Jefferson explained that the document was an “expression of the American mind.” He meant that it reflected the common sentiments shared by American colonists during the resistance against British taxes in the 1760s and 1770s The Road to Independence

After the conclusion of the French and Indian War, the British sought to increase taxes on their American colonies and passed the Stamp Act (1765) and Townshend Acts (1767). American colonists viewed the acts as British oppression that violated their traditional rights as English subjects as well as their inalienable natural rights. The colonists mostly complained of “taxation without representation,” meaning that Parliament taxed them without their consent. During this period, most colonists simply wanted to restore their rights and liberties within the British Empire. They wanted reconciliation, not independence. But they were also developing an American identity as a distinctive people, which added to the anger over their lack of representation in Parliament and self-government.

After the Boston Tea Party (1773), Parliament passed the Coercive Acts (1774), punishing Massachusetts by closing Boston Harbor and stripping away the right to self-government. As a result, the Continental Congress met in 1774 to consider a unified colonial response. The Congress issued a declaration of rights stating, “That they are entitled to life, liberty, & property, and they have never ceded [given] to any sovereign power whatever, a right to dispose of either without their consent.” Military clashes with British forces at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill in Massachusetts showed that American colonists were willing to resort to force to vindicate their claim to their rights and liberties.

In January 1776, Thomas Paine wrote the best-selling pamphlet Common Sense which was a forceful expression of the growing desire of many colonists for independence. Paine wrote that a republican government that followed the rule of law would protect liberties better than a monarchy. The rule of law means that government and citizens all abide by the same laws regardless of political power.

The Second Continental Congress debated the question of independence that spring. On May 10, it adopted a resolution that seemed to support independence. It called on colonial assemblies and popular conventions to “adopt such government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce [lead] to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular and America in general.”

Five days later, John Adams added his own even more radical preamble calling for independence: “It is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said Crown should be totally suppressed [brought to an end].” This bold declaration was essentially a break from the British.

“Free and Independent States”

On June 7, Richard Henry Lee rose in Congress and offered a formal resolution for independence: “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved [set free] from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.” Congress appointed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence, while states wrote constitutions and declarations of rights with similar republican and natural rights principles.

On June 12, for example, the Virginia Convention issued the Virginia Declaration of Rights , a document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the natural rights that all people are entitled to. The document was based upon the ideas of Enlightenment thinker John Locke about natural rights and republican government. It read: “That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights … they cannot by any compact, deprive or divest [take away] their posterity [future generations]; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”

The Continental Congress’s drafting committee selected Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence because he was well-known for his writing ability. He knew the ideas of John Locke well and had a copy of the Virginia Declaration of Rights when he wrote the Declaration. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were also members of the committee and edited the document before sending it to Congress.

Still, the desire for independence was not unanimous. John Dickinson and others still wished for reconciliation. On July 1, Dickinson and Adams and their respective allies debated whether America should declare independence. The next day, Congress voted for independence by passing Lee’s resolution. Over the next two days, Congress made several edits to the document, making it a collective effort of the Congress. It adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The document expressed the natural rights principles of the independent American republic.

The Declaration opened by stating that the Americans were explaining the causes for separating from Great Britain and becoming an independent nation. It stated that they were entitled to the rights of the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”

The Declaration then asserted its universal ideals, which were closely related to the ideas of John Locke. It claimed that all human beings were created equal as a self-evident truth. They were equally “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” So whatever inequality that might exist in society (such as wealth, power, or status) does not justify one person or group getting more natural rights than anyone else. One way in which humans are equal is in possession of certain natural rights.

The equality of human beings also meant that they were equal in giving consent to their representatives to govern under a republican form of government. All authority flowed from the sovereign people equally. The purpose of that government was to protect the rights of the people. “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The people had the right to overthrow a government that violated their rights in a long series of abuses.

The Declaration claimed the reign of King George III had been a “history of repeated injuries and usurpations ” [illegal taking] of the colonists’ rights. The king exercised political tyranny against the American colonies. For example, he taxed them without their consent and dissolved [closed down] colonial legislatures and charters. Acts of economic tyranny included cutting off colonial trade. The colonists were denied equal justice when they lost their traditional right to a trial by jury in special courts. Acts of military tyranny included quartering , or forcing citizens to house, troops without consent; keeping standing armies in the colonies; waging war against the colonists; and hiring mercenaries , or paid foreign soldiers, to fight them. Repeated attempts by the colonists to petition king and Parliament to address their grievances were ignored or treated with disdain, so the time had come for independence.

In the final paragraph, the representatives appealed to the authority given to them by the people to declare that the united colonies were now free and independent. The new nation had the powers of a sovereign nation and could levy war, make treaties and alliances, and engage in foreign trade. The Declaration ends with the promise that “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Americans had asserted their natural rights, right to self-government, and reasons for splitting from Great Britain. They now faced a long and difficult fight against the most powerful empire in the world to preserve that liberty and independence.

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America's Founders looked to the lessons of human nature and history to determine how best to structure a government that would promote liberty. They started with the principle of consent of the governed: the only legitimate government is one which the people themselves have authorized. But the Founders also guarded against the tendency of those in power to abuse their authority, and structured a government whose power is limited and divided in complex ways to prevent a concentration of power. They counted on citizens to live out virtues like justice, honesty, respect, humility, and responsibility.

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Essay Questions And Answers About Thomas Jefferson

Written by Dan

Last updated January 6, 2024

If you’re looking for an engaging way to teach your students about Alexander Hamilton and American history more broadly, consider incorporating essay questions into your lesson plans! As one of the Founding Fathers and a key contributor to our nation’s founding documents, it can be challenging to figure out how best to bring his legacy alive in the classroom.

That’s why we’ve put together this post. Here, we’ll provide some essay questions and answers to help teachers create dynamic educational experiences around Alexander Hamilton with which their students will connect.

Related : For more, check out our article on  How To Teach About Thomas Jefferson  here.

Table of Contents

Five Essay Questions About Thomas Jefferson

1. How did Thomas Jefferson’s background and experiences shape his political beliefs and vision for America?

2. What were the key challenges that Thomas Jefferson faced during his presidency, and how did he navigate them?

3. How did Thomas Jefferson’s views on education and science influence his presidency and legacy?

4. What was Thomas Jefferson’s role in developing the American political system, and how did his ideas shape the country’s early history?

5. How did Thomas Jefferson’s views on Native American rights and relations with Indigenous nations shape his presidency and legacy?

How Thomas Jefferson’s Background and Experiences Shaped His Political Beliefs and Vision for America

Introduction.

Thomas Jefferson, one of the United States Founding Fathers, was a man whose background and experiences shaped his political beliefs and vision for America. Jefferson’s life was filled with various experiences that helped shape his views, including his family background, education, and political affairs. This essay will explore how Jefferson’s background and experiences shaped his political beliefs and vision for America.

Jefferson’s Family Background

Thomas Jefferson was born in Virginia to a wealthy family of landowners. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a surveyor, and his mother, Jane Randolph, was a member of a prominent Virginia family. Jefferson’s family was deeply involved in Virginia’s political and social life, and his upbringing exposed him to many of the ideas that would later influence his political beliefs.

Jefferson’s family was part of the Virginia gentry, comprised mainly of wealthy plantation owners. The gentry held a high social status and believed in the importance of individual rights and republican ideals. These beliefs would significantly impact Jefferson’s political views and vision for America.

Jefferson was highly educated, and his academic background also played a crucial role in shaping his political beliefs. He attended the College of William and Mary in Virginia, where he studied law and became interested in philosophy and political theory.

While at college, Jefferson was exposed to the ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, such as John Locke and Montesquieu. These philosophers believed in the importance of individual rights and freedoms, the separation of powers, and the rule of law. These ideas helped to shape Jefferson’s political beliefs and vision for America.

Political Experiences

Jefferson’s political experiences also played a crucial role in shaping his beliefs and vision for America. He was part of the Virginia House of Burgesses and played a significant role in the struggle for American independence. He was a critical author of the Declaration of Independence, which outlined the principles and ideals guiding the new nation.

During his time as Secretary of State under President George Washington, Jefferson developed a strong belief in states’ rights. He believed that the federal government should be limited in its powers and that state governments should have more authority.

This belief would later influence his presidency when he worked to limit the federal government’s power and strengthen state governments.

Vision for America

Thomas Jefferson’s background and experiences helped shape his vision for America, a decentralized government that respected individual rights and freedoms.

He believed in the importance of the rule of law and the principles of republicanism. Jefferson also believed in the importance of a strong agrarian society, and he saw the future of America as one that was based on agriculture rather than industry.

In conclusion, Thomas Jefferson’s background and experiences were crucial in shaping his political beliefs and vision for America. His upbringing in the Virginia gentry exposed him to ideals of individual rights and freedoms that would guide him throughout his life.

His education and exposure to Enlightenment philosophy helped to solidify those beliefs and provide a framework for his ideas. Ultimately, Jefferson’s vision for America emphasized individual freedom and the importance of a decentralized government, a legacy still resonates today.

Jefferson’s political experiences also played a crucial role in shaping his beliefs and vision for America. He was part of the Virginia House of Burgesses and played a significant role in the struggle for American independence. He was a key author of the Declaration of Independence, which outlined the principles and ideals guiding the new nation.

During his time as Secretary of State under President George Washington, Jefferson developed a strong belief in states’ rights. He believed that the federal government should be limited in its powers and that state governments should have more authority. This belief would later influence his presidency when he worked to limit the federal government’s ability and strengthen state governments.

Thomas Jefferson’s background and experiences helped shape his vision for America, a decentralised government that respected individual rights and freedoms. He believed in the importance of the rule of law and the principles of republicanism. Jefferson also believed in the importance of a stable agrarian society, and he saw the future of America as one that was based on agriculture rather than industry.

How Thomas Jefferson’s Views on Education and Science Influenced His Presidency and Legacy

Thomas Jefferson is known for his numerous accomplishments as the third President of the United States. However, one of his lesser-known contributions is his impact on education and science in America.

Jefferson believed education and science were vital drivers of human progress and democracy. This essay will explore how Jefferson’s views on education and science influenced his presidency and legacy.

Jefferson strongly advocated for education, believing it was essential for a healthy democracy. As a result, he sought to ensure that education was accessible to everyone, not just the wealthy. He believed that public education, which would be available to all citizens, was the key to ensuring that the people were well-informed and aware of their rights.

Jefferson worked with Congress during his presidency to establish a public education system. He believed that education should be decentralized, with each state responsible for verifying its system of public schools. In his view, this would ensure that instruction was tailored to the individual needs of each state and community.

In addition to establishing public education, Jefferson strongly advocated for higher education. He founded the University of Virginia in 1819, designed to be a public university focused on providing a liberal arts education to all citizens. His vision for the university was to provide an education that emphasized critical thinking, science, and the humanities.

Jefferson was also a strong advocate for science and scientific research. He believed science was essential for human progress and could help solve many of society’s most pressing problems. As a result, he supported the work of scientists and sought to increase funding for scientific research during his presidency.

Jefferson’s most significant scientific contribution was his support for the Lewis and Clark expedition. In 1803, he commissioned Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory.

This expedition was important for mapping and understanding the country’s geography but was also essential for scientific research. The tour collected data on plants, animals, and other natural resources, which helped to further our understanding of the continent.

Jefferson’s views on education and science have had a lasting impact on America. His emphasis on public education helped to ensure that all citizens had access to education, regardless of their financial means. His vision for the University of Virginia helped to establish a model for public universities that emphasized critical thinking, the humanities, and science.

Jefferson’s support for science also had a lasting impact. The data collected during the Lewis and Clark expedition helped to lay the groundwork for further scientific research in the country. Jefferson’s support for scientific research also helped to establish science as a respected and valued field of study in America.

In conclusion, Thomas Jefferson’s views on education and science significantly influenced his presidency and legacy. His commitment to public education helped ensure that all citizens had access to education, regardless of their means.

His support for higher education resulted in the founding of the University of Virginia, which established a model for public universities in America. Jefferson’s support for scientific research also helped to establish science as a respected and critical field of study in the country. Jefferson’s contributions to education and science continue to influence American society today.

What Was Thomas Jefferson’s Role in Developing the American Political System, and How Did His Ideas Shape the Country’s Early History?

Thomas Jefferson played a vital role in the development of the American political system. He was a Founding Father and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson’s contributions to the early history of the United States are significant, and his ideas shaped the country’s values and political ideology.

This essay will explore Jefferson’s role in developing the American political system and how his ideas shaped the United States early history.

Jefferson’s Ideology

Jefferson was a proponent of small government and states’ rights. He believed that the federal government should be limited in power and that individual states should have more control over their affairs. Jefferson’s ideas were rooted in his belief that government is best when it governs least. Additionally, Jefferson strongly advocated for individual rights and freedoms, which he believed were essential to a healthy democracy.

The Declaration of Independence

Jefferson’s most significant contribution to the development of the American political system was the writing of the Declaration of Independence. The document declared the colony’s independence from Great Britain and set forth the moral and political principles guiding the new nation.

The Declaration of Independence outlined Jefferson’s vision for America, a country based on individual rights, democracy, and freedom.

The Declaration of Independence’s central ideas were a mighty rallying cry for the colonies, which united against the British Empire. The document’s principles would shape American political thought, becoming the foundation of the country’s political values and beliefs.

Jefferson’s Role in the American Revolution

Jefferson played a significant role in the American Revolution, working to rally support for the cause of independence. He was a member of the Second Continental Congress, where he advocated for the colonies’ rights and freedoms.

Jefferson’s influential role in shaping the political ideology of the American Revolution can be seen in his Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. The document affirmed the separation of church and state, declaring religious opinions and beliefs outside the purview of the civil authority.

Jefferson’s Vision for America

Jefferson’s vision for America emphasized individual rights, democracy, and freedom. He believed in a decentralized government allowing local communities and states to govern their affairs. Jefferson envisioned a society where the government would protect the rights of individuals and where the rule of law would be applied equally to all people.

The Jeffersonian vision of America emphasized the importance of education, science, and intellectual pursuits. Jefferson’s support for education would help to establish a public education system in America that emphasized critical thinking and political literacy.

In conclusion, Thomas Jefferson’s ideas and contributions to American political thought were central to the development of the American political system. Jefferson’s belief in democracy, individual rights, and states’ rights shaped the country’s early history and core principles.

The Declaration of Independence set the foundation for American political thought, and Jefferson played a significant role in laying the groundwork for a politically literate and engaged society. As a result, Jefferson’s contributions to the American political system continue to be valued and celebrated, as his ideas continue to shape American political thought today.

How Thomas Jefferson’s Views on Native American Rights and Relations with Indigenous Nations Shape His Presidency and Legacy

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, is known for his contributions to American political thought and leadership during a critical time in American history. However, his views on Native American rights and relations are less well-known. This essay will examine how Thomas Jefferson’s views on Native American rights and relations with Indigenous nations shaped his presidency and legacy.

Jefferson’s Views on Native American Rights

Jefferson’s views on Native American rights varied over time, reflecting the changes in politics and society during his presidency. Initially, Jefferson believed in the assimilation of Indigenous nations into American society. He believed that education and economic opportunity would allow Native Americans to become part of mainstream American society.

However, Jefferson’s views changed as relations with Indigenous nations deteriorated. By the end of his presidency, Jefferson believed that the United States should respect the sovereignty of native tribes and honor their right to self-determination. He thought it was essential to establish treaties that would protect Indigenous land rights and that the United States should not attempt to interfere in the affairs of Indigenous nations.

Relations with Indigenous Nations

Many challenges in Indigenous relations marked Jefferson’s presidency. One of the most significant was the Tecumseh War, fought in Ohio and Indiana between 1811 and 1813. The war was fought between Indigenous nations, led by Tecumseh and the Shawnee, and white settlers. Jefferson’s policies towards Indigenous countries contributed to the start of the conflict, as he encouraged white settlers to expand their territory into Native land.

Despite this, Jefferson also worked to establish a more positive relationship with Indigenous nations. He advocated for establishing trading posts in what is now the western United States to promote peaceful relations between the two groups. Jefferson also authorized the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1803 to gather information about the land and the people who lived there, including Indigenous groups.

Thomas Jefferson’s views on Native American rights and relations with Indigenous nations have impacted American history. His early beliefs about the assimilation of Indigenous nations into American society contributed to the forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their land and the destruction of their culture.

However, his later views about respecting Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination helped set the stage for a more equitable relationship between Indigenous nations and the United States.

Jefferson’s policies towards Indigenous nations also highlight the complex nature of American history and the relationship between the United States and its Indigenous populations. His legacy includes his contributions to American political thought and his role in shaping American policies towards Indigenous nations.

In conclusion, Thomas Jefferson’s views on Native American rights and relations with Indigenous nations shaped his presidency and legacy. His early beliefs about assimilation contributed to the devastation of Indigenous cultures and the forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their land.

However, his later views about respecting Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination helped set the stage for a more equitable relationship between Indigenous nations and the United States. Jefferson’s legacy includes both the contributions he made to American political thought and his role in shaping American policies towards Indigenous populations. This gift continues to shape American society today.

We’ve covered a lot of ground on our journey exploring Thomas Jefferson and the world he lived in. His achievements are still standing tall for many to admire today, and his vision for what the United States should be continues to be an inspiring part of our culture.

From his genius ideas to his scandalous private life, there is no denying that he was an influential figure and a true American patriot. We’re grateful for having learned so much about him and happy that he shared his intelligence with the world. If you’d like to learn more about this inspiring man, come and check out our other articles about amazing people who helped shape history!

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About The Author

I'm Dan Higgins, one of the faces behind The Teaching Couple. With 15 years in the education sector and a decade as a teacher, I've witnessed the highs and lows of school life. Over the years, my passion for supporting fellow teachers and making school more bearable has grown. The Teaching Couple is my platform to share strategies, tips, and insights from my journey. Together, we can shape a better school experience for all.

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