It’s my understanding that in those days, debts were inheritable. His father’s estate debt, to be specific. That’s why Jefferson was so far in debt. That, and the fact that at some point, loans borrowed in scrip were later made payable only in specie (gold) that nobody had.
What I noticed in “public education” U.S. history classes, Jefferson’s voluminous utterings on the danger of public debt were always, always dismissed with his personal debt situation, to brand him as hypocritical, but of course (surprise) leaving out the true facts of the matter.
Sounds to me like the “liberal” version of Jefferson is a bit skewed. Hm.
I don’t think it is accurate to blame TJ’s financial problems on debts inherited from his father.
Pop died in 1773, TJ lived to 1826. His financial situation at death surely can’t be blamed on what happened 50+ years earlier.
I’m not sure your claims about payment of debts incurred in scrip by gold are correct. Early America, largely due to Hamilton, generally had a stable currency. The scrip era was mostly during colonial and revolutionary days.