July 4, 1776: Congress Adopts the Declaration of Independence

By |2020-07-03T15:41:32-05:00July 3rd, 2020|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, History, Independence Day, Thomas Jefferson|

The adoption of the Declaration of Independence of “the thirteen united States of America” on July 4, 1776 formally ended a process that had been set in motion almost as soon as colonies were established in what became British North America. The early settlers, once separated physically from the British Isles by an immense ocean, [...]

Thomas Jefferson, Whig Historian

By |2020-07-04T01:43:12-05:00June 12th, 2020|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Bradley J. Birzer, History, Senior Contributors, Thomas Jefferson|

Given how vital a role history placed in the English-speaking world of the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson’s own love of history should not be too shocking. Further, it should not be surprising that Jefferson embraced a rather Whiggish view of history, one that pervaded much of American political, social, cultural, and religious thought. It would [...]

“They Live Forever in the American Constellation”: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

By |2023-07-03T16:40:56-05:00February 10th, 2020|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Declaration of Independence, History, Independence Day, John Adams, Primary Documents, Thomas Jefferson|

Adams and Jefferson are no more. They are dead. But how little is there of the great and good which can die! To their country they yet live, and live for ever. Their stars have now joined the American Constellation. Beneath this illumination let us walk the course of life, and at its close devoutly [...]

Ten Rules for Good Living

By |2019-12-31T22:02:49-06:00December 31st, 2019|Categories: American Founding, Thomas Jefferson, Wisdom|

Thomas Jefferson wrote several lists of advice about the virtuous life to his children, grandchildren, and the children of friends. The final list, which he called “A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life,” was sent during his retirement years from his beloved home of Monticello to Thomas Jefferson Smith, the son of his [...]

A Jeffersonian Model of Citizenship

By |2020-05-13T15:40:15-05:00December 18th, 2019|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Citizen, Citizenship, Civil Society, Essential, Labor/Work, Liberal Learning, Thomas Jefferson|

The assumptions linked to the more deliberative, publicly responsible model of citizenship, though utopian and far-fetched at least within the perspective of modern, western society, can be thought of in a way that makes them seem more practical. Thomas Jefferson, for example, believed both that good government was possible only when those who governed were [...]

Proclamation Appointing a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer

By |2019-11-28T12:32:53-06:00November 27th, 2019|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Presidency, Religion, Thanksgiving, Thomas Jefferson|

Whereas the Honourable the General Congress, impressed with a grateful sense of the goodness of Almighty God, in blessing the greater part of this extensive continent with plentiful harvests, crowning our arms with repeated successes, conducting us hitherto safely through the perils with which we have been encompassed and manifesting in multiplied instances his divine care [...]

Was Thomas Jefferson a Philosopher?

By |2023-05-21T11:29:18-05:00October 22nd, 2019|Categories: American Founding, Declaration of Independence, E.B., Essential, Eva Brann, Great Books, In Honor of Eva Brann at 90 Series, Philosophy, Senior Contributors, St. John's College, Thomas Jefferson|

Thomas Jefferson is a kind of incarnate compendium of the Enlightenment. His remarkable openness to its spirit is the philosophical counterpart to his political sensitivity in making himself “a passive auditor of the opinions of others,” so as to catch the “harmonizing sentiments of the day” and to incorporate them into a document that would [...]

Four Things Every American Should Know About Independence Day

By |2023-07-03T16:32:08-05:00July 3rd, 2019|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Declaration of Independence, History, Independence Day, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson|

The need for understanding our roots is as timeless as the human story itself and explains why we cling to the Declaration of Independence. Most people know that the Fourth of July—Independence Day—is a celebration of America’s separation from Great Britain. July 4, 1776 marks the beginning of the United States. It’s like our national birthday. [...]

American Eden: The Rise and Fall of New World Man

By |2020-04-03T00:07:31-05:00June 30th, 2019|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Federalist Papers, James Madison, Literature, Mark Malvasi, Thomas Jefferson, Timeless Essays|

Americans transcribed the Edenic myth and heralded the supremacy of the New World over the Old. Yet, many could not suppress the fear that they were already losing their sense of purity, innocence, and power, and would in time come face to face with the disappointments of history, the sorrows of the human condition, and [...]

Ten Rules for Good Living

By |2019-09-02T10:53:04-05:00April 12th, 2019|Categories: Thomas Jefferson|

Editor's Note: Thomas Jefferson wrote several lists of advice about the virtuous life to his children, grandchildren, and the children of friends. The final list, which he called "A Decalogue of Canons for observation in practical life," was sent during his retirement years from his beloved home of Monticello to Thomas Jefferson Smith, the son [...]

From Union to Empire: Essays in the Jeffersonian Tradition

By |2021-04-22T18:17:31-05:00April 12th, 2019|Categories: American Founding, American Republic, Books, Clyde Wilson, Essential, Republicanism, Thomas Jefferson, Timeless Essays, W. Winston Elliott III|

From Union to Empire: Essays in the Jeffersonian Tradition by Clyde N. Wilson (356 pages, The Foundation for American Education, 2003) “To check power, to return the American empire to republicanism we do not need to resort to the drastic right of revolution nor to the destructive goal of anarchic individualism. We have in the [...]

What Is Still American in the Thought of Thomas Jefferson?

By |2020-06-04T14:56:43-05:00September 5th, 2018|Categories: American Republic, Conservatism, History, Thomas Jefferson|

Asked fifty or one hundred years ago, Americans would have identified Thomas Jefferson as a great hero, perhaps the great hero, of American history. As democrat, intellectual, and revolutionary penman, the man who made the case against George III and defeated Alexander Hamilton had lit the path toward American republican success. In recent years, however, the general [...]

Was Thomas Jefferson a Philosopher?

By |2023-05-21T11:30:25-05:00July 9th, 2018|Categories: American Founding, Declaration of Independence, E.B., Eva Brann, Great Books, Philosophy, Senior Contributors, St. John's College, Thomas Jefferson|

Thomas Jefferson is a kind of incarnate compendium of the Enlightenment. His remarkable openness to its spirit is the philosophical counterpart to his political sensitivity in making himself “a passive auditor of the opinions of others,” so as to catch the “harmonizing sentiments of the day” and to incorporate them into a document that would [...]

Natural Aristocracy

By |2021-04-26T16:36:08-05:00May 1st, 2018|Categories: American Founding, Aristocracy, Thomas Jefferson|

For I agree with you that there is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents. Formerly bodily powers gave place among the aristoi. But since the invention of gunpowder has armed the weak as well as the strong with missile death, bodily strength, like beauty, good humor, politeness and [...]

Go to Top