Thomas Jefferson

Political Science
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Thomas Jefferson

His portrait is on the $2.00 Dollar Bill.

This is amazing. There are two parts to this.

Be sure to read the 2nd part.

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 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 the 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 it’s 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.”

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The 2nd Part:

“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

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So much wisdom…and to think there would be a group of “woke” students somewhere that would demand that his portrait be taken down.

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Liberal snowflakes seem to think that if we remove physical representations of American history that do not comply with today’s politically correct agenda, and shun the learning of historical facts concerning our founding and development into our present condition, all will be well.

First they want statues and portraits removed. Then they will want history books removed. What they want is a homogeneous blank canvas upon which to repaint a pleasing but invalid picture of our past.

When America was founded, slavery was legal. One would expect that many of our original leaders and citizens were slave holders. If we erase the part of history wherein slavery was legal, it makes insignificant the fact that we abolished slavery as related to ownership of people.

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Thomas Jefferson is one of the most amazing figures in US history. Here is his 2nd Inaugural Address. They just don’t speak like this anymore. Even if they did, half of the country would still be glued to their ‘smartphones’ and not pay attention to what was being said anyhow.

Almost every word is pertinent to the current state of the union. If you’ve never read/heard it, I highly recommend it. How creepy, so many years later and we’re still working on it. I guess that’s the point.

Written and spoken word:

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Arguably the greatest intellectual in American history. He was America’s Da Vinci and it was insane everything he created and was involved with in his life.

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Jefferson was arguably the most radical political thinker against centralized government in US history. He hated the concept of large government and would probably stage a revolt if he saw what his creation had become.

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That speech was initially delivered in a time when the vast majority of adult citizens listened to (and read) with great interest the goings on of the government and especially the words of our Presidents. There were no sound systems, no audio recordings, no videos, no radios…no way to hear it again…just words spoken one time and printed copies of them.

Today we have thousands, if not millions of adult age citizens who are not even aware of who the current President is or how our government works. As long as they have their boom boxes, their subwoofers, their video games, their jive ass music and other entertainment options, there is no need of concern with government.

Someday this video may become unavailable because, as you know…despite his greatness, Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner. The very mention of his name triggers anxiety in snowflakes.:roll_eyes:

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Monticello is an amazing estate to visit. He and the other founders realized a democracy was not an ideal form of government. It really frosts me when I hear so-called conservative (and other) politicians and pundits call the U.S.A. a democracy. [/rant]

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Plato said democracy is the lowest form of government.
At Monticello I was told everything including the building was designed by Jefferson himself.
The can-do spirit founded the US.

He had a great collection of wines, which alas was all drunk by his slaves. (Slaves in those days were not what we think they were.)

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Next the Snowflakes will want him off Mt. Rushmore.

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He was great in so many ways.

One warning he had, not listed above was his warning about banking becoming the defacto power.

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Hell no, we’re not taking any of them off Mt. Rushmore…

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Jefferson was somewhat of a botanist and scientist as well. When he commissioned the Corp of Discovery to survey the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase, amongst the many responsibilities of captains Lewis and Clark was to collect all manor or flora and fauna. There are species of plants growing at Montecello that were sent back by the captains along the way. I think even a couple of animals unknown in the East arrived alive for Jefferson. With only one exception the captains followed Jefferson’s instructions which very nearly cost Lewis his life. The journals of Lewis, Clark and the few others that had instructions to keep them are indispensable. And IMO, the best collaboration of them are compiled in the fantastic read, Undaunted Courage…

Jefferson was a politician though, and not perfect, but then who is. He was deceptive with Congress on the cost of the COD’s expedition and couldn’t fund it properly. Lewis was told to write IOU’s along the way while procuring men and supplies along the route to the western most US outpost, St Louis. Jefferson told him that the good faith of the US government stood behind them. But they didn’t. It’s not likely that we’ll ever know with any certainty why Lewis killed himself or became addicted to opium. But it may have factored in. There was another underlying factor as well.

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Jefferson had black slaves in his mansion to whom he failed to keep social distancing, as a result of which you have black and white descendants of Jefferson who don’t talk to each other.

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It is sad the race-baiters still adhere to the “one drop rule” for who is black. It was implemented so slave holders could still control mulattoes even to 1/1024th [sic] Negro.

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Not a nice thing to say about one of your founding fathers.

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A few of our Founding Fathers were slave-holders as was the norm across the world before the 17th Century. Today, we still have slavery around the world especially in Islamic controlled nations/areas and in the sex-slave trade.

  • It was illegal before 1865 to educate slaves. Today the public education system does not offer a quality education, especially in the inner city to keep folks uneducated.

  • Before 1865 slaves were housed in terrible conditions. Today we see the same situation in the tenement housing and slums that never improve.

  • Before 1865 slaves health care was fully taken care of, just like the current system which some want to expand to everyone.

  • Internal violence was incited in the slave communities to ‘keep them in line’. Same, same now.

  • Fathers in the slave communities were separated and replaced with ‘massar’ as the so-called head of the family. A parallel to today with 70% of black kids born out of wedlock replaced with the Federal gub’mint massar.

  • Slaves were given benefits and not harassed if they did as they were told. Today people will ‘behave’ by voting for the people who offer them the most immediate perceived benefits and do not harass them.

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The best slave is he who thinks he is free.
von Goethe

Many in Christian and communist countries think they are free.

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A country can not be a Christian. Only individuals can. There is no Christian theocracy anywhere.