Author: Hannah Spahn Publisher: University of Virginia Press ISBN: 0813931681 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 305
Book Description
Beginning with the famous opening to the Declaration of Independence ("When in the course of human events..."), almost all of Thomas Jefferson's writings include creative, stylistically and philosophically complex references to time and history. Although best known for his "forward-looking" statements envisioning future progress, Jefferson was in fact deeply concerned with the problem of coming to terms with the impending loss or fragmentation of the past. As Hannah Spahn shows in Thomas Jefferson, Time, and History, his efforts to promote an exceptionalist interpretation of the United States as the first nation to escape from the "crimes and calamities" of European history were complicated both by his doubts about the outcome of the American experiment and by his skepticism about the methods and morals of eighteenth-century philosophical history. Spahn approaches the conundrum of Jefferson's Janus-faced, equally forward- and backward-oriented thought by discussing it less as a matter of personal contradiction and paradox than as the expression of a late Newtonian Enlightenment, in a period between ancient and modern modes of explaining change in time. She follows Jefferson in his creation of an influential narrative of American and global history over the course of half a century, opening avenues into a temporal and historical imagination that was different from ours, and offering new assessments of the solutions Jefferson and his generation found (or failed to find) to central moral and political problems like slavery.
Author: Hannah Spahn Publisher: University of Virginia Press ISBN: 0813932041 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 417
Book Description
Beginning with the famous opening to the Declaration of Independence ("When in the course of human events..."), almost all of Thomas Jefferson’s writings include creative, stylistically and philosophically complex references to time and history. Although best known for his "forward-looking" statements envisioning future progress, Jefferson was in fact deeply concerned with the problem of coming to terms with the impending loss or fragmentation of the past. As Hannah Spahn shows in Thomas Jefferson, Time, and History, his efforts to promote an exceptionalist interpretation of the United States as the first nation to escape from the "crimes and calamities" of European history were complicated both by his doubts about the outcome of the American experiment and by his skepticism about the methods and morals of eighteenth-century philosophical history. Spahn approaches the conundrum of Jefferson’s Janus-faced, equally forward- and backward-oriented thought by discussing it less as a matter of personal contradiction and paradox than as the expression of a late Newtonian Enlightenment, in a period between ancient and modern modes of explaining change in time. She follows Jefferson in his creation of an influential narrative of American and global history over the course of half a century, opening avenues into a temporal and historical imagination that was different from ours, and offering new assessments of the solutions Jefferson and his generation found (or failed to find) to central moral and political problems like slavery.
Author: Natalie S. Bober Publisher: University of Virginia Press ISBN: 9780813927329 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 384
Book Description
A biography of the author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States who was also a noted inventor, architect, farmer, statesman, and educator.
Author: Brandon Marie Miller Publisher: Chicago Review Press ISBN: 1569769427 Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 146
Book Description
Drawing heavily from the original letters and papers of Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries, this resource chronicles the world of the Founding Father who wrote the Declaration of Independence. From his early critiques of the colonial policies of Great Britain and King George III to his governmental roles as the first secretary of state, the minister to France, and the third president of the United States, Jefferson's groundbreaking achievements are described in historical context. The contradictions in Jefferson's character--most notably the fact that he owned 600 slaves in his lifetime despite penning the immortal phrase "all men are created equal"--are also explored, giving kids a full picture of this skilled politician. Creative activities that invite children to experience Jefferson's colonial America include designing a Palladian window, building a simple microscope, painting a "buffalo robe," and dancing a reel.
Author: Annette Gordon-Reed Publisher: University of Virginia Press ISBN: 0813933560 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 324
Book Description
When Annette Gordon-Reed's groundbreaking study was first published, rumors of Thomas Jefferson's sexual involvement with his slave Sally Hemings had circulated for two centuries. Among all aspects of Jefferson's renowned life, it was perhaps the most hotly contested topic. The publication of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings intensified this debate by identifying glaring inconsistencies in many noted scholars' evaluations of the existing evidence. In this study, Gordon-Reed assembles a fascinating and convincing argument: not that the alleged thirty-eight-year liaison necessarily took place but rather that the evidence for its taking place has been denied a fair hearing. Friends of Jefferson sought to debunk the Hemings story as early as 1800, and most subsequent historians and biographers followed suit, finding the affair unthinkable based upon their view of Jefferson's life, character, and beliefs. Gordon-Reed responds to these critics by pointing out numerous errors and prejudices in their writings, ranging from inaccurate citations, to impossible time lines, to virtual exclusions of evidence—especially evidence concerning the Hemings family. She demonstrates how these scholars may have been misguided by their own biases and may even have tailored evidence to serve and preserve their opinions of Jefferson. This updated edition of the book also includes an afterword in which the author comments on the DNA study that provided further evidence of a Jefferson and Hemings liaison. Possessing both a layperson's unfettered curiosity and a lawyer's logical mind, Annette Gordon-Reed writes with a style and compassion that are irresistible. Each chapter revolves around a key figure in the Hemings drama, and the resulting portraits are engrossing and very personal. Gordon-Reed also brings a keen intuitive sense of the psychological complexities of human relationships—relationships that, in the real world, often develop regardless of status or race. The most compelling element of all, however, is her extensive and careful research, which often allows the evidence to speak for itself. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy is the definitive look at a centuries-old question that should fascinate general readers and historians alike.
Author: Peter Onuf Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell ISBN: 9781557869234 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 280
Book Description
This book analyzes Thomas Jefferson's conception of American nationhood in light of the political and social demands facing the post-Revolutionary Republic in its formative years.
Author: Peter S. Onuf Publisher: University of Virginia Press ISBN: 0813931827 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 329
Book Description
Thomas Jefferson read Latin and Greek authors throughout his life and wrote movingly about his love of the ancient texts, which he thought should be at the core of America's curriculum. Yet at the same time, Jefferson warned his countrymen not to look to the ancient world for modern lessons and deplored many of the ways his peers used classical authors to address contemporary questions. As a result, the contribution of the ancient world to the thought of America's most classically educated Founding Father remains difficult to assess. This volume brings together historians of political thought with classicists and historians of art and culture to find new approaches to the difficult questions raised by America's classical heritage. The essays explore the classical contribution to different aspects of Jefferson’s thought and taste, as well as examining the significance of the ancient world to America in a broader historical context. The diverse interests and methodologies of the contributors suggest new ways of approaching one of the most prominent and contested of the traditions that helped create America's revolutionary republicanism. Contributors:Gordon S. Wood, Brown University * Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia * Michael P. Zuckert, University of Notre Dame * Caroline Winterer, Stanford University * Richard Guy Wilson, University of Virginia * Maurie D. McInnis, University of Virginia * Nicholas P. Cole, University of Oxford * Peter Thompson, University of Oxford * Eran Shalev, Haifa University * Paul A. Rahe, Hillsdale College * Jennifer T. Roberts, City University of New York, Graduate Center * Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, University of Virginia
Author: Francis D. Cogliano Publisher: University of Virginia Press ISBN: 9780813927336 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 292
Book Description
"An exceptionally well-researched and persuasively written book [that] asks who Jefferson was in new and exciting ways. This is a book that needed to be written, and, happily, is one that was undertaken by an exceedingly thorough, judicious, open-minded, and creative historian."—Andrew Burstein, University of Tulsa, author of Jefferson’s Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello "Francis D. Cogliano’s splendid book demonstrates that history is indeed an argument between past and present about the future. Offering formidable research deployed with grace and skill in the service of a powerful and well-crafted argument, this study will be essential reading. It illuminates in myriad ways the history that Jefferson made and historians’ ongoing struggles to figure out what to make of Jefferson. Further, it enriches our understanding of the interactions between history and memory in American culture. It deserves a wide and enthusiastic readership, not just for the moment but for years to come."—R. B. Bernstein, New York Law School, author of Thomas Jefferson "Thomas Jefferson continues to enthrall, excite, and enrage academics, students, and members of the American public. This book provides a useful study of Jefferson’s construction of his own historical image, and the reconstructions of that image that have occurred over the past half-century."—Simon Newman, University of Glasgow In Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy Francis D. Cogliano looks at both the impact Jefferson had on his historical moment and the considerable lengths to which he went to secure his legacy. Beginning by locating Jefferson’s ideas about history within the context of eighteenth-century historical thought, Cogliano then considers the efforts Jefferson made to shape the way the history of his life and times—which he thought crucial to the success of the republican experiment—would be written. The second half of the book reflects on the mixed results, from his time to the present, of Jefferson’s efforts to shape historical writing, through his careful preservation of most of his personal and public papers, and through the institutions he left behind: his home, Monticello, and the University of Virginia. Engaging with recent scholarship’s attention toward Jefferson’s views on race, class, and gender, Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy is a must-read for anyone interested in Jefferson in his own time or the legacy he worked so hard to create. Francis D. Cogliano is a Reader in History at the University of Edinburgh. He is author of Revolutionary America, 1763–1815: A Political History. Jeffersonian America
Author: Hannah Spahn
Author: Hannah Spahn
Author: Natalie S. Bober
Author: Brandon Marie Miller
Author: Annette Gordon-Reed
Author: Peter Onuf
Author: Peter S. Onuf
Author: John Robert Irelan
Author: Henry Adams
Author: Francis D. Cogliano