Thomas Jefferson

1743 - 1826

Titles on this disk:

• translator: A Commentary and Review of Montesquieu’s ’Spirit of Laws’
• author: The Declaration of Independence: A Study on the History of Political Ideas
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 1 (Autobiography, Anas, 1760-1770)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 2 (Correspondence 1771-1779, Summary View, Declaration of Independence)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 3 (Notes on Virginia I, Correspondence 1780-1782)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 4 (Notes on Virginia II, Correspondence 1782-1786)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 5 (Correspondence 1786-1789)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 6 (Correspondence 1789-1792)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 7 (Correspondence 1792-1793)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 8 (Correspondence 1793-1798)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson vol. 9 (1799-1803)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 10 (Correspondence and Papers 1803-1807)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 11 (Correspondence and Papers 1808-1816)
• author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 12 (Correspondence and Papers 1816-1826)

Quotations:

• (7 December, 2009) Jefferson feared that it would only be a matter of time before the American system of government degenerated into a form of “elective despotism” (1785)
• (20 July, 2009) Thomas Jefferson on the Draft as "the last of all oppressions" (1777)
• (10 November, 2008) Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Taylor condemns the system of banking as “a blot” on the constitution, as corrupt, and that long-term government debt was “swindling” future generations (1816)
• (26 May, 2008) Jefferson tells Congress that since tax revenues are increasing faster than population then taxes on all manner of items can be “dispensed with” (i.e. abolished) (1801)
• (19 December, 2005) Thomas Jefferson opposed vehemently the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798 which granted the President enormous powers showing that the government had become a tyranny which desired to govern with "a rod of iron" (1798)
• (4 July, 2005) Less well known is Thomas Jefferson’s First Draft of the Declaration of Independence in which he denounced the slave trade as an “execrable Commerce” and slavery itself as a “cruel war against nature itself” (1776)
• (24 January, 2005) Thomas Jefferson boasts about having reduced the size of government and eliminated a number of “vexatious” taxes (1805)

About this person:

Jefferson, a Virginian, was the author of the American Declaration of Independence (1776), an active participant in the Revolution, Governor of Virginia (1779), member of Congress, Minister to France, Secretary of State under President Washington, and president of the United States (1800). He was a polymath who wrote on and was knowledgeable about science, architecture, music, agriculture, law, education, geography, and music.

For additional information about Thomas Jefferson see the following:

• in the Forum: Timeline on the Life and Work of Thomas Jefferson
• in the Forum: the Goodrich Seminar Room entry on The Declaration of Independence
• in the Library: Topic on The American Revolution and Constitution