Thomas Jefferson, America’s Writer

Thomas Jefferson’s name is synonymous with America. He is, next to George Washington, the most famous Founding Father, known for his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and the stirring proposition that “all men are created equal” with rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Jefferson is also condemned as a hypocrite, a man who recognized the moral depravity of slavery, sought to limit its expansion, yet was a slaveholder all his life. We tend to think of Jefferson as a flawed man but a soul of genius who never lived up to his highest ideals. Rarely, though, do we have much awareness of the intellectual and personal contours that influenced his most famous writings—until now.