Fwd: Thomas Jefferson

Subject: Fwd: Thomas Jefferson
 


 
Subject: Thomas Jefferson


 


 
                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.

                      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 Ben
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 the 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

                     Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
                     “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.”

                      I wish we could get this out to everyone!!!

                      I'm doing my part.  Please do yours......

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jefferson was also distrustful of organized religion and openly doubted the divinity of Jesus, going so far as to create his own version of the bible with all such references removed. I wonder why that didn't get mentioned here...

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the
propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical


Jefferson is talking about the need for a Seperation of Church and State. He is saying that to give public moneys to a church is a wicked thing which is to be avoided in a free society.

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time
to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”


Says the man who never served in any military force. The only blood he ever spilled was with a lash.

Jefferson was indeed a great intellect. He was also able to live so well because he stole by force the labor of hundreds of other people. He was a philanderer who enslaved his own offspring. He was also terrible with money and the orginator of dirty politics in Presidential elections.

All of these things make him an interesting person to study, but he was no saint. You have to take the good with the bad.

Marc with a C said...

Um, Jefferson is not the kind of guy you want to idolize on your side, wingers.

In 1802, at age 59 he wrote his "wall of separation" letter, arguing for a separation of church and state.

In 1803, at age 60, he authored the Jefferson Bible, a text which simply crossed out or removed any portions of the Bible with which he disagreed.

Between 1795 and 1808 he fathered six children with a black woman, Sally Hemmings.

And that's just off the top of my head.

ferschitz said...

Wingers like to cherry-pick "history" just like how they cherry-pick Bible verses. They pick out the verses or aphorisms or sentiments or even historical facts that *accord* with some mythical fairy tale belief system that rightwingers hold dear.

Then wingers use their very carefully cherry-picked notions to brow-beat others with it and/or to point how very "right" they are, and "wrong" everyone else is.

It's a mug's game, but works for them. Pointing out facts and reality will have no effect on this crowd. They'll cling to their cherished mythical "beliefs" in the same way that they cling to their guns.

Hooray4Us said...

Jefferson had sex with an African American woman and had kids with her. How does that accord with wingnut racist bigoted philosophy? Oh yeah, Sally Hemmings was Jefferson's slave and so were the kids they had together.

Why that IS a rightwinger's version of "heaven" after all, amirite?

Hooray4US said...

P.S. I might point out that Jefferson never married Sally Hemmings, either. Isn't this sinful and despicable according to the rightwing belief system?

Oh wait, I'm being all fact-y now.

Anonymous said...

If Jefferson was Pres now, would Republicans vote to impeach him for having sex with "that" woman? Inquiring minds need to know! Where is Ken Starr when we need him?

Anonymous said...

At 267, Thomas Jefferson had never existed, by vote of the Texas board of education because he said a few inconvenient things.

Honus said...

To say Jefferson was the active head "Republican" party is also a gross distortion. Jefferson was a member of the Democratic Republicans, which was the party of small farmers and the working class, and which is the same party known today as the Democratic party. They changed their name when the Republican party was formed in 1840 because they did not to be associated or confused with the new party. The republican party had chosen its name in a cynical effort to confuse democratic republican voters and loyalists.

Anonymous said...

I love how this Jefferson hageography starts out by emphasizing all of the studying he did - and not just any studying, but useless, liberal arts subjects, including dead languages, literature, law, and French. Then it goes on to mention his travels to France, and his support of public education and religious freedom.

Can you imagine the screeching condemnation from today's right wing noise machine, if a politician presented that sort of elite liberal-arts education, "old Europe" travel experience, and support of public spending and "secularism"?

 
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