Posted on 02/18/2014 7:26:42 AM PST by Paul46360
This is amazing history. Be sure to read the quotes in BOLD at the end. Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped. At 5, began studying under his cousin's tutor.
At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.
At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
At 16, entered the College of William and Mary. Also could write in Greek with one hand while writing the same in Latin with the other.
At 19, studied law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
At 23, started his own law practice.
At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America" and retired from his law practice.
At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence.
At 33, took three years to revise Virginia's legal code and wrote a public education bill and a statute for religious freedom.
At 36, was elected the second governor of Virginia, succeeding Patrick Henry.
At 40, served in Congress for two years.
At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams.
At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
At 57, was elected the third president of the United States.
At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation's size.
At 61, was elected to a second term as President. At 65, retired to Monticello.
At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.
At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams.
Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, His laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. Jefferson really knew his stuff. A voice from the past to lead us in the future.
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps an assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House, with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe."
-- Thomas Jefferson "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
-- Thomas Jefferson "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which, if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world."
-- Thomas Jefferson "I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them."
-- Thomas Jefferson "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."
-- Thomas Jefferson "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
-- Thomas Jefferson "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson "To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
-- Thomas Jefferson "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." -- Thomas Jefferson
I wish we could get this out to every American! I'm doing my part. Now do yours….
BTTT
Thanks. Bookmarked.
Free Masons all honoring their Great God of the Universe.
He was, however, not even close to standing head and shoulders above his peers.
The notion that he did was not something that could be advanced until the generation that had known the founders had passed away.
All of the founders are well worth studying. Truly a phenomenal group of people.
Good stuff
And of particular relevance in this day when our Courts have divorced themselves from the Constitution all Judges are under our Constitution sworn to defend —”Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding,and should, therefore be construed to the ordinary rules of common sense.Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties,which may make anything mean everything ,or nothing at pleasure.” earlier in this same letter to Justice Wm.Johnson June 12,1823 Jefferson wrote “On every question of construction,carry ourselves back to when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates,and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text,or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” Jefferson never sat on the US supreme Court. But his sentiments concerning our Constitution seem reflected in the third edition of the Commentaries on the Constitution by Joseph Story p. viii
as quoted by John Eidsmoe Christianity and the Constitution , Baker Books paperback,1995 p.393 “I have not the ambition to be the author of any new plan of interpreting the theory of the Constitution,or enlarging or narrowing its powers, by ingenious subtleties and learned doubts....it has always appeared to me that metaphysical refinements are out of place. a Constitution of Government is addressed to the common sense of the people and never was designed for trials of logical skill, or visionary speculation.”
Is there any doubt how Jefferson would respond to current abuse of the First amendment?The confusion of the term “congress” with any agent employed by any government dept.—or the grave abuse of the notion of separation of church and state?
Do you have a link for this or did you write it yourself?
I’d like save it in my TJ file if possible but want the proper acknowledgements.
My favorite president would probably be John Adams (Silent Cal is a close second).
My 2nd biggest hero, right after George Washington.
Such a shame the schools are allowed to diminish his character and accomplishments, but how else are they going to push for wholesale communism but to denigrate all the Founders as greedy, evil, power mad old white men.
Image courtesy of John Trumbull/Wikimedia Commons
It’s a simple question—perhaps so basic that it’s been overlooked: How old were the leaders of the American Revolution?
As it turns out, many Founding Fathers were younger than 40 years old in 1776, with several qualifying as Founding Teenagers or Twentysomethings. And though the average age of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was 44, more than a dozen of them were 35 or younger.
“We tend to see them as much older than they were,” said John Adams biographer David McCullough in a 2005 speech. “Because we’re seeing them in portraits by Gilbert Stuart and others when they were truly the Founding Fathers—when they were president or chief justice of the Supreme Court and their hair, if it hadn’t turned white, was powdered white. We see the awkward teeth. We see the elder statesmen. At the time of the revolution, they were all young. It was a young man’s–young woman’s cause.”
A list of ages of important American Revolution characters seems elementary enough, and certainly easy to assemble, yet I wasn’t able to find such a list anywhere I looked. And I don’t recall ever stumbling upon such an appendix while researching my book, so I figured I’d just make one. This is a list of ages, from youngest to oldest, of key American Revolution figures, providing their age as of July 4, 1776. An asterisk signifies that the individual was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. A double asterisk means that there is evidence that the person’s age is not precise, or only a birth year is known. If you spot any corrections or recommend any additions, let me know in the comments and I’ll continue modifying the original list.
This piece is reprinted from Journal of the American Revolution.
Todd Andrlik is the author of Reporting the Revolutionary War and editor of Journal of the American Revolution.
bkmk
Jefferson attended church regularly his whole life.
As an adult he served on the Vestry of the Anglican church.
He attended the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches.
Jefferson regularly tithed to the church.
While Washington & Adams ended their Presidential Papers with “In the Year of our Lord”, Jefferson ended his Presidential Papers with “In the year of our Lord Christ 18__”.
As President he attended the largest church in the nation which held their services in the House Chambers of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.
Jefferson was not pleased with the music, so he ordered the Marine Band to come to church on Sundays.
Mark A. Beliles has assembled an impressive list of some of Jefferson’s actions as president.
Promoted legislative and military chaplains.
Established a national seal using a biblical symbol.
Included the word “God” in our national motto.
Established official days of fasting and prayer at the state level.
Punished Sabbath breakers.
Punished marriages contrary to biblical law.
Punished irreverent soldiers.
Protected the property of churches.
Required that oaths be phrased by the words “So help me God” and be sworn on the Bible.
Granted land to Christian schools.
Allowed government property and facilities to be used for worship.
Used the Bible and nondenominational religious instruction in the public schools. He was involved in three different school districts, and the plan in each required that the Bible be taught in our public schools.
Allowed and encouraged clergymen to hold public office.
Funded religious books for public libraries.
Funded salaries for missionaries.
Exempted churches from taxation.
Established professional schools of theology.
Wrote treaties requiring other nations to guarantee religious freedom, including religious speeches and prayer in official ceremonies.
http://www.free2pray.info/TJefferson.html
At least two of these quotes are spurious.
http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/democracy-will-cease-to-exist-quotation
http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/private-banks-quotation
Quite possibly more of them are also spurious.
Here’s an interesting article about how to spot probable spurious Jefferson quotes.
http://www.monticello.org/site/blog-and-community/posts/how-to-spot-fake
That a claimed Jefferson quote was never actually said by him does not mean that the sentiment is untrue, of course, merely that it is not Jeffersonian.
it should also be noted for better comparison, life expectancies in 1776 were a lot shorter than they are today, by about roughly half.
also note that due to the nature of just surviving and living back then compared to now, an average 40 year old man back then was physically a lot more worn out than an average man of 40 today.
Those three paragraphs should be required reading in every school in America.
William Flax
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