Thomas Jefferson

1743–1826

Nationality: American

Historical Period: The 18th Century

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 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.

See the Liberty Matters online discussion on Understanding Jefferson: Slavery, Race, and the Declaration of Independence

For additional information about Thomas Jefferson see the following:

• Timeline on the Life and Work of Thomas Jefferson
• Topic on The American Revolution and Constitution

See Quotes from Thomas Jefferson:

• Thomas Jefferson condemns the system of banking
• Thomas Jefferson on the opposition of the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798
• Thomas Jefferson on having reduced the size of government
• Thomas Jefferson on whether the American Constitution is binding
• Thomas Jefferson on Slavery and Liberty
• Thomas Jefferson and Adams reflect on the Revolution and the future of liberty
• Thomas Jefferson on the inevitability of revolution in England only after which there will be peace on earth
• Thomas Jefferson on Taxes and the General Welfare
• Thomas Jefferson on the right to change one’s government
• Thomas Jefferson’s preference for “newspapers without government” over “government without newspapers”
• Thomas Jefferson’s list of objections to the British Empire in his first draft of the Declaration of Independence
• Thomas Jefferson on how Congress misuses the inter-state commerce and general welfare clauses to promote the centralization of power
• Thomas Jefferson’s fear the American system of government degenerated into a form of “elective despotism”
• Thomas Jefferson on the Draft as “the last of all oppressions”
• 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
• Thomas 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)
• 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”
• Thomas Jefferson boasts about having reduced the size of government and eliminated a number of “vexatious” taxes

Titles from Thomas Jefferson:

• Author: BOLL 40: Thomas Jefferson, “The Declaration of Independence” (1776)
• 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: Extract from The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia (Illustrations and Topical index)
• Author: The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia
• Author: Outlines of American Political Economy, in a series of letters (1827)
• Translator: A Treatise on Political Economy (LF ed.)
• Author: The Works of Thomas Jefferson, 12 vols.