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Thomas Jefferson
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a god," Thomas Jefferson asserted, «because if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.» America's third president regarded Jesus as a moral guide rather than a divinity, and in The Jefferson Bible, he highlights Christ's ethical teachings from the Gospels. Discarding the scriptures' supernatural elements and dogma, this volume reflects the deist view of religion, focusing on Jesus' message of absolute love and service.Jefferson undertook his self-appointed task in 1794, consulting not only the King James Bible but also Greek, French, and Latin versions. He selected verses from the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and arranged them in chronological order to form a single narrative. Although Jefferson shared his interpretation with friends and family, he declined to publish it, in keeping with his conviction that religion is a private matter—and also to avoid providing his political enemies with ammunition. Not until the turn of the twentieth century did the book appear in print, when it became a tradition to present it to new members of Congress. Unique and influential, this volume reflects not only the thinking of one of the nation's most brilliant statesmen, but also the ideology of the Enlightenment era.
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“The Jefferson Bible” or “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” as it was originally entitled is an extraction of biblical passages constructed by Thomas Jefferson sometime around 1819. In an 1803 letter Jefferson remarks that he first conceived of the idea of writing his interpretation of the “Christian System” sometime during 1788-89. He first accomplishes it in a more limited fashion in 1804 with “The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth” which he describes in an 1813 letter to John Adams as follows: “In extracting the pure principles which [Jesus] taught, we should have to strip off the artificial vestments in which they have been muffled by priests, who have travestied them into various forms, as instruments of riches and power to themselves… There will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.” The work is notable in the absence of any reference to the supernatural aspects of Jesus’ life including the divine birth and the resurrection. According to Jefferson “Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God” and he believed that “the day [would] come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, [would] be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” Presented here is the 1904 Government Printing Office edition presented to members of Congress with the original introduction by Cyrus Adler.
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Written in 1821, «The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson» is not as intimate of a look at the life of one of America's founding fathers as we might have hoped for, however it provides some interesting insights into the life of America's third President. Jefferson begins the work thusly, «At the age of 77, I begin to make some memoranda and state some recollections of dates & facts concerning myself, for my own more ready reference & for the information of my family.» While we gain some quick insight into his parents, his childhood, and the time before the revolution, much of the narrative focuses on his work on the Declaration of Independence and subsequently his political dealings in the newly formed republic. Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment who, along with the other founding fathers, made a bold endeavor to create a new nation free from the British aristocracy. His lasting impact upon democracy cannot be overstated and «The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson» is a compelling closer look into his life, values, and political ideals.
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In 1821, at the age of seventy-seven, Thomas Jefferson decided to «state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself.» His ancestors, Jefferson writes, came to America from Wales in the early seventeenth century and settled in the Virginia colony. Jefferson's father, although uneducated, possessed a «strong mind and sound judgement» and raised his family in the far western frontier of the colony, an experience that contributed to his son's eventual staunch defense of individual and state rights. Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary, entered the law, and in 1775 was elected to represent Virginia at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, an event that propelled him to all of his future political fortunes. Jefferson's autobiography continues through the entire Revolutionary War period, and his insights and information about persons, politics, and events—including the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, his service in France with Benjamin Franklin, and his observations on the French Revolution—are of immense value to both scholars and general readers. Jefferson ends this account of his life at the moment he returns to New York to become secretary of state in 1790. Complementing the other major autobiography of the period, Benjamin Franklin's, The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson , reintroduced for this edition by historian Michael Zuckerman, gives us a glimpse into the private life and associations of one of America's most influential personalities. Alongside Jefferson's absorbing narrative of the way compromises were achieved at the Continental Congress are comments about his own health and day-to-day life that allow the reader to picture him more fully as a human being. Throughout, Jefferson states his opinions and ideas about many issues, including slavery, the death penalty, and taxation. Although Jefferson did not carry this autobiography further into his eventual presidency, the foundations for all of his thoughts are here, and it is in these pages that Jefferson lays out what to him was his most important contribution to his country, the creation of a democratic republic.
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The Declaration of Independence is the usual name of a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they formed a new nation—the United States of America. John Adams was a leader in pushing for independence, which was unanimously approved on July 2. A committee of five had already drafted the formal declaration, to be ready when Congress voted on independence. The term «Declaration of Independence» is not used in the document itself.
Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document,[3] which Congress would edit to produce the final version. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The national birthday, Independence Day, is celebrated on July 4, although Adams wanted July 2.
After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as the printed Dunlap broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The source copy used for this printing has been lost, and may have been a copy in Thomas Jefferson's hand.[4] Jefferson's original draft, complete with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and Jefferson's notes of changes made by Congress, are preserved at the Library of Congress. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This engrossed copy was ordered by Congress on July 19, and signed primarily on August 2.
The sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry. The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural and legal rights, including a right of revolution. Having served its original purpose in announcing independence, references to the text of the Declaration were few for the next four score years. Abraham Lincoln made it the centerpiece of his rhetoric (as in the Gettysburg Address of 1863), and his policies. Since then, it has become a well-known statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
This has been called «one of the best-known sentences in the English language», containing «the most potent and consequential words in American history». The passage came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive. This view was notably promoted by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and argued that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted.
It provided inspiration to numerous national declarations of independence throughout the world. Historian David Armitage, after examining the influence of the American «Declaration» on over 100 other declarations of independence, says:
The American Revolution was the first outbreak of the contagion of sovereignty that has swept the world in the centuries since 1776. Its influence spread first to the Low Countries and then to the Caribbean, Spanish America, the Balkans, West Africa, and Central Europe in the decades up to 1848. Declarations of independence were among the primary symptoms of this contagion of sovereignty.
Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document,[3] which Congress would edit to produce the final version. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The national birthday, Independence Day, is celebrated on July 4, although Adams wanted July 2.
After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as the printed Dunlap broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The source copy used for this printing has been lost, and may have been a copy in Thomas Jefferson's hand.[4] Jefferson's original draft, complete with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and Jefferson's notes of changes made by Congress, are preserved at the Library of Congress. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This engrossed copy was ordered by Congress on July 19, and signed primarily on August 2.
The sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry. The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural and legal rights, including a right of revolution. Having served its original purpose in announcing independence, references to the text of the Declaration were few for the next four score years. Abraham Lincoln made it the centerpiece of his rhetoric (as in the Gettysburg Address of 1863), and his policies. Since then, it has become a well-known statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
This has been called «one of the best-known sentences in the English language», containing «the most potent and consequential words in American history». The passage came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive. This view was notably promoted by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and argued that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted.
It provided inspiration to numerous national declarations of independence throughout the world. Historian David Armitage, after examining the influence of the American «Declaration» on over 100 other declarations of independence, says:
The American Revolution was the first outbreak of the contagion of sovereignty that has swept the world in the centuries since 1776. Its influence spread first to the Low Countries and then to the Caribbean, Spanish America, the Balkans, West Africa, and Central Europe in the decades up to 1848. Declarations of independence were among the primary symptoms of this contagion of sovereignty.
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United States Declaration of Independence, the original PG edition by Thomas Jefferson libreka classics – These are classics of literary history, reissued and made available to a wide audience. Immerse yourself in well-known and popular titles!
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