A special thanks to Wendell Erwin for not just recommending this book, but for giving me a hardcover copy with a personal dedication by the author, a professor at Rice University. Boles is a graduate of the University of Virginia and seeks a middle ground in analyzing our most complex president, doing so in the context of his times.
Peter Jefferson purchased the land that would become Monticello a decade before his son Thomas' birth in 1843. In 1760, Thomas went to Williamsburg and spent two years at the College of William and Mary. He then undertook the study of the law and was admitted in 1765. A few years later, he was elected to the Burgesses and on New Years day in 1772, he married Martha Wayles. As political matters with the UK deteriorated, Jefferson gained some notoriety for penning a manuscript known as 'A Summary View of the Rights of British America', earning himself the sobriquet 'the pen of the American Revolution.' He was sent to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. Virginia instructed its delegates to vote for independence. Before the drafting of the Declaration, Jefferson was working on a draft constitution for Virginia in which he proposed near universal male suffrage, the banning of the slave trade and the disestablishment of the Anglican Church. He was appointed the lead writer for the committee on the Declaration and fully ninety percent of its text is his. Perhaps the most famous words ever penned were published in his handwriting on July 4, 1776. For the next three years, he worked to build Monticello and the laws and structure of the new state of Virginia. He authored 'The Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom' which, although not adopted until 1786, he considered one of the most important accomplishments his life. The war came to Virginia in 1781 and by then Jefferson was Governor, a position he held for two years. At war's end, he retired from politics and public service intent on mending his financial affairs and attending to his family. However, on Sept. 6, 1782, Martha died after asking that he never remarry and impose a stepmother on her daughters. He accepted a position in the new Congress and two years later, at the age of 41, joined by his 11 year old daughter, Martha and a few slaves, he departed as minister plenipotentiary for Paris.
Jefferson spent five years in Paris working on behalf of the US and indulging his life-long curiosity and relentless pursuit of knowledge. He paid particular attention to architectural and agrarian matters, as he accumulated ideas for the improvement of Monticello. During his stay, he published 'Notes On The State Of Virginia' in which he deplored slavery, applauded the yeoman farmer and continued his arguments for religious freedom of conscience. He was absent throughout the Constitutional Convention and was only able to offer his ideas in writing, often long after the fact. In France, he saw the emerging revolution first hand before he returned to America in late 1789. He wanted to take his daughters to Virginia so they could learn the necessary skills to run an American household. Both James Hemings, a trained French chef and his sister, Sally, the girl's bilingual ladies maid, and, certainly by then, Jefferson's lover, received certain promises from Jefferson to assure their return. In Sally's instance, it was that any children she should have would be freed at their maturity.
Upon his return, he was offered and accepted the position of Secretary of State. In the first months, he brokered the deal between Madison and Hamilton that led to the assumption by the US of the states' debts in exchange for the removal of the capitol to the Potomac. Washington's first term became a battleground between Jefferson and Hamilton, who were almost always diametrically opposed on the issues facing the new nation. Longing for Monticello, he resigned at the end of 1793. He was home for the next three years, fathering his first two children with Sally, experimenting continually with the farming operation and expanding and building Monticello, which was not 'completed' until 1809. His idyll ended when he was elected Vice-President and returned to Philadelphia in March, 1797. His goal was to limit his activities to his constitutional role as president of the Senate. However, the Sedition Act of 1796 forced him to argue against the centralizing policies of the Federalists, in particular Hamilton's sponsorship of a standing army. As the election of 1800 approached, he was the leading light of the Republicans and actively pursued the presidency. In a bizarre election, he and fellow Republican, Aaron Burr tied in the electoral college. After thirty-seven votes in the House, Jefferson prevailed and became our third president. His goals were to prove he was no Jacobin radical and to stem the incredibly virulent partisanship of the day.
Although be believed in a less centralized state than many in the Federalist party, he did pursue a more active role than his predecessors by actually suggesting legislation, meeting often with his cabinet and generally, spending more time in the capital and working very hard. In some correspondence early in his term, he used the phrase "a wall of separation between Church and State." He suggested the creation of West Point as a military academy with a focus on engineering and was instrumental in establishing the Library of Congress. He prosecuted an undeclared war for four years against the Barbary pirates. The year 1803 saw both the completion of the Louisiana Purchase and the departure of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, perhaps the two most memorable events of his presidency. The following year, he was re-elected in an electoral landslide. His second term was marred by Aaron Burr's plot to raise a rebellion in the west and America's struggle to maintain a neutral stance in the latest European conflagration. Britain's harsh treatment of American shipping led to Jefferson and Congress closing American ports to European trade. The Embargo was both ineffective and unpopular. When the time came to step down, he eagerly left Washington behind and returned to Monticello.
In retirement, his focus was his farm and his family. Martha had eleven children who lived to adulthood, all residing at Monticello, and providing Jefferson with love and affection throughout his retirement. In 1812, he and John Adams reconciled and took up their legendary correspondence that would continue until their deaths in 1826 on July 4th. They exchanged 158 letters discussing religion, personal matters, their health, and politics.
The author addresses that great paradox of Jefferson and slavery. He was considered opposed to slavery, yet lived off the efforts of slaves and had a four decade relationship with Sally Hemings. The only slaves he ever freed were her children and her siblings. To some extent, a 1792 Virginia law allowing slaves freed by men in debt to be re-enslaved, and an 1806 law requiring freed slaves to leave the sate tied his hands. Jefferson could not square his beliefs with his circumstances and "believed that in God's good time, emancipation
would somehow be effected."
This is a delightful book, extremely well-written and a pleasure to read. It is always helpful to be reintroduced to the era and the Founders. I tend to prefer American history from the 1840's on, and do not regularly seek out this era. The topics of tariffs, internal improvements, the bank, impressment on the seas, and the vicious factionalism about sometimes befuddling issues all add up to a difficult read for me. But it is helpful to be reminded that these men were writing on a blank sheet of paper. They created a country and a system that, although at times troubled, remains the finest ever.
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