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The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Modern Library
"Jefferson aspired beyond the ambition of a nationality,
and embraced in his view the whole future of man."
--Henry Adams
and embraced in his view the whole future of man."
--Henry Adams
800 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1944
20 people are currently reading
445 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Jefferson
1,625 books696 followersThomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Following the American Revolutionary War and prior to becoming president in 1801, Jefferson was the nation's first U.S. secretary of state under George Washington and then the nation's second vice president under John Adams. Jefferson was a leading proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, and produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels. His writings and advocacy for human rights, including freedom of thought, speech, and religion, served as substantial inspirations to the American Revolution and subsequent Revolutionary War in which the Thirteen Colonies succeeded in breaking from British America and establishing the United States as a sovereign nation.
During the American Revolution, Jefferson represented Virginia at the Second Continental Congress and served as the second governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781. In 1785, Congress appointed Jefferson U.S. minister to France, where he served from 1785 to 1789. President Washington then appointed Jefferson the nation's first secretary of state, where he served from 1790 to 1793. During this time, in the early 1790s, Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the nation's First Party System. Jefferson and Federalist John Adams became both friends and political rivals. In the 1796 U.S. presidential election between the two, Jefferson came in second, which made him Adams' vice president under the electoral laws of the time. Four years later, in the 1800 presidential election, Jefferson again challenged Adams, and won the presidency. In 1804, Jefferson was reelected overwhelmingly to a second term.
As president, Jefferson assertively defended the nation's shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies, promoted a western expansionist policy with the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the nation's geographic size, and was able to reduce military forces and expenditures following successful negotiations with France. In his second presidential term, Jefferson was beset by difficulties at home, including the trial of his former vice president Aaron Burr. In 1807, Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act to defend the nation's industries from British threats to U.S. shipping, limiting foreign trade and stimulating the birth of the American manufacturing industry. Presidential scholars and historians praise Jefferson's public achievements, including his advocacy of religious freedom and tolerance, his peaceful acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France, and his leadership in supporting the Lewis and Clark Expedition; they give radically differing interpretations of his views on and relationship with slavery.
Jefferson is ranked by both scholars and in public opinion among the upper-tier of American presidents.
During the American Revolution, Jefferson represented Virginia at the Second Continental Congress and served as the second governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781. In 1785, Congress appointed Jefferson U.S. minister to France, where he served from 1785 to 1789. President Washington then appointed Jefferson the nation's first secretary of state, where he served from 1790 to 1793. During this time, in the early 1790s, Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the nation's First Party System. Jefferson and Federalist John Adams became both friends and political rivals. In the 1796 U.S. presidential election between the two, Jefferson came in second, which made him Adams' vice president under the electoral laws of the time. Four years later, in the 1800 presidential election, Jefferson again challenged Adams, and won the presidency. In 1804, Jefferson was reelected overwhelmingly to a second term.
As president, Jefferson assertively defended the nation's shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies, promoted a western expansionist policy with the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the nation's geographic size, and was able to reduce military forces and expenditures following successful negotiations with France. In his second presidential term, Jefferson was beset by difficulties at home, including the trial of his former vice president Aaron Burr. In 1807, Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act to defend the nation's industries from British threats to U.S. shipping, limiting foreign trade and stimulating the birth of the American manufacturing industry. Presidential scholars and historians praise Jefferson's public achievements, including his advocacy of religious freedom and tolerance, his peaceful acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France, and his leadership in supporting the Lewis and Clark Expedition; they give radically differing interpretations of his views on and relationship with slavery.
Jefferson is ranked by both scholars and in public opinion among the upper-tier of American presidents.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 3, 2018
Like Monticello, many of these writings are unfinished rough drafts for a larger autobiography that was never finished. As such, the prose stylings are more like notations and detailing of proper nouns and events than an attempt at narration. Nonetheless, it is an important collection of personal and journalistic accounts of events in Jefferson's life.
October 9, 2012
The 1944 edition is a relic all on its own, and worth the five stars from the stellar introduction by Koch and Peden. If you're trying to figure out what kind of man Jefferson was, the introduction, the autobiography, and the letters really give a three-dimensional look.
October 18, 2022
The rating is for the historical relevance and prose quality. If I were to evaluate all of the ideas, I'd have to give it four stars. Jefferson's thought is both better and worse than I remembered. It is worse because he was not as consistent an advocate of freedom as I remembered; he used "democracy" in an honorific context and endorsed the will of the majority (with no further context or elaboration). It is better because he explicitly advocated the Enlightenment advocacy of reason that, consistently practiced, leads to individual liberty (and not the majority rule of a democracy). (Metaphysically, he was less consistent and more Deist than I thought.) Adrienne Koch and William Peden's notes are instructive, highlighting passages struck from the Declaration of Independence and elaborating on Jefferson's correspondents.
July 10, 2021
If, because Jefferson was flawed, you discredit his accomplishments or if, because he was an intellectual giant, you pretend that he had no mistaken ideas, this is the book for you. I learned so much about botany, the English language, the French Revolution, the true character of other prominent Americans, and even the origins of the song "Mac the Knife" from this book that reading it enriched my life.
February 12, 2021
I enjoyed reading this text. Jefferson was without doubt the most eloquent and literate founding father, and the best writer among them.
April 24, 2008
Copywright 1944, with Koch and Peden as the primary editors, my copy is also graced with a hand-typed glue in card made by Freda H. Barton stating how Judy Barton bought the book in her first year of college at the University of Texas in Austin. Freda states how she would never buy a book published by Random House because they are too far left for her taste.
It was my impression that the book did a good job of giving the reader an idea of how Jefferson thought and of his character. The book dragged a bit in the middle where the editors inserted large chunks of Jefferson's interest in the evolution of the Anglo-Saxon language becoming English, and his diggings into Indian archeology near his property in Virginia. Politically, the greatest emphasis was on Jefferson's great support of the Republicans and populist interest in governing, in opposition to the one-term presidency of John Adams and Alexander Hamilton promoting a Federalist leaning of interpreting the constitution, which was elitist and did not trust the vote of the people. Apparently the influence of the public vote favored Jefferson, as he served two terms for a total of eight years in the presidency, after John Adams was "turned out" after four years. It would have been delicious if more details of the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton which ended the life of Alexander Hamilton in 1802, and the subsequent alienation and conspiracy of Aaron Burr against the United States had been included, but such was not provided by the choice of the editors. Also, there was not really much summary details of Jefferson's presidency, and what was there was in his own words, his feeling of greatest accomplishment being his negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase, and the development of national naval defense militias in all of the 13 states waterways, in preparation for the later occurring war with Great Britain.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the experience of reading this book. It was not light reading in its 730 pages, but had a lot of substance for thought.
Bart Conrad
It was my impression that the book did a good job of giving the reader an idea of how Jefferson thought and of his character. The book dragged a bit in the middle where the editors inserted large chunks of Jefferson's interest in the evolution of the Anglo-Saxon language becoming English, and his diggings into Indian archeology near his property in Virginia. Politically, the greatest emphasis was on Jefferson's great support of the Republicans and populist interest in governing, in opposition to the one-term presidency of John Adams and Alexander Hamilton promoting a Federalist leaning of interpreting the constitution, which was elitist and did not trust the vote of the people. Apparently the influence of the public vote favored Jefferson, as he served two terms for a total of eight years in the presidency, after John Adams was "turned out" after four years. It would have been delicious if more details of the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton which ended the life of Alexander Hamilton in 1802, and the subsequent alienation and conspiracy of Aaron Burr against the United States had been included, but such was not provided by the choice of the editors. Also, there was not really much summary details of Jefferson's presidency, and what was there was in his own words, his feeling of greatest accomplishment being his negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase, and the development of national naval defense militias in all of the 13 states waterways, in preparation for the later occurring war with Great Britain.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the experience of reading this book. It was not light reading in its 730 pages, but had a lot of substance for thought.
Bart Conrad
September 4, 2010
"Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong."
- Notes on Virginia 1782
"Few châteaux; no farm-houses, all the people being gathered in villages. Are they thus collected by that dogma of their religion, which makes them believe, that to keep the Creator in good humor with His own works, they must mumble a mass every day?"
- Travel Journals 1787
"On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect, in nothing bad, in few points indifferent; and it may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him in the same constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an everlasting remembrance. For his was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the establishment of its independence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a government, new in its forms and principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history of the world furnishes no other example."
- The Character of George Washington 1814
- Notes on Virginia 1782
"Few châteaux; no farm-houses, all the people being gathered in villages. Are they thus collected by that dogma of their religion, which makes them believe, that to keep the Creator in good humor with His own works, they must mumble a mass every day?"
- Travel Journals 1787
"On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect, in nothing bad, in few points indifferent; and it may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him in the same constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an everlasting remembrance. For his was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the establishment of its independence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a government, new in its forms and principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history of the world furnishes no other example."
- The Character of George Washington 1814
February 4, 2014
While challenging to read in the writing style of the 1700-1800's, it would have been a disservice to paraphrase as the text gives insight into the thinking of this man beyond the words. It amazed me at how many of his observations on government during the formative years are spot-on in many of today's current issues.
Some of his letters expressed his fear and forboding of the development of a governmental aristocratic class, and it seems in some ways we have that today.
This is an excellent exploration into the mind of one or our most influential Framers.
Some of his letters expressed his fear and forboding of the development of a governmental aristocratic class, and it seems in some ways we have that today.
This is an excellent exploration into the mind of one or our most influential Framers.
July 15, 2016
Provides a greater insight into his views, in the form of letters to a wide variety of persons, including John Adams.
His views on blacks expressed in letters on p.544 and p.586 contradict the opinions of negativists who superficially view Jefferson and jump to conclusions.
The Notes on Virginia is a geographical treatise on the state, p.177 on.
Even his autobiography is included in this book.
It should be required reading for all college students, to gain insight and background into a founder.
His views on blacks expressed in letters on p.544 and p.586 contradict the opinions of negativists who superficially view Jefferson and jump to conclusions.
The Notes on Virginia is a geographical treatise on the state, p.177 on.
Even his autobiography is included in this book.
It should be required reading for all college students, to gain insight and background into a founder.
February 7, 2017
The more I read about Jefferson, the more I got to like him. His story and writing style are both quite interesting, but as it got on I found my interest waning once past the autobiography and into the various short documents of the public papers and letters.
July 1, 2014
Jefferson is one of my heroes. I've become an expert of sorts having 10 volumes on this great American. The only thing this Renaissance man seemed to lack was humor. This book has a selection of letters and writings that are quintessential to understanding the man rather than the myth.
July 26, 2008
Excellent. Oh, the beauty of the prose! Includes the "Summary View of the Rights of British America", "Notes on Virginia", his letters, and others.
February 27, 2010
I bought this book in Monticello. Its a great book
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews