“Two seraphs await me long shrouded in death; I will bear them your love on my last parting breath.”
We conclude our Jefferson 101 biographical series by discussing his final days at Monticello, his legacy, and the deaths of both Jefferson and John Adams on July 4th, 1826 — the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Further Reading
- Library of Congress: "A death-bed Adieu. Th:J to MR."
- University of Michigan, Abraham Lincoln to Henry L. Pierce and Others: "But soberly, it is now no child's play to save the principles of Jefferson from total overthrow in this nation."
- Founders Online: From Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 17 February 1826
- Library of Congress: From Thomas Jefferson to Roger Weightman, 24 June 1826
- Internet Archive: The Life of Thomas Jefferson by Henry Stephens Randall (1865)
An End to Jefferson 101
The Jefferson Watch
The whole purpose of America is to build a civilization where the greatest number of individuals can thrive—or at least have a dignified sufficiency—with the least possible government intrusion. That’s Thomas Jefferson. How can we maximize liberty and yet insist upon some meaningful principle of equality? How can we make sure that America doesn’t just serve the privileged, but everyone who is willing to work hard and play by the rules?
Read this week's Jefferson Watch essay, "An End to Jefferson 101."
What Would Jefferson Do?
“A republic doesn’t expect people to serve for life or to have career politicians or permanent bureaucrats.”
Tune in to your local public radio or join the 1776 Club to hear this episode of What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?
This week, Clay Jenkinson discusses Jefferson’s first inaugural address with regular guest Lindsay Chervinsky. The speech, inaudibly delivered on March 4, 1801, is regarded as one of the top five in American history.
This week, Clay Jenkinson interviews frequent guest Beau Breslin of Skidmore College about the most famous decision in Supreme Court history.
Professor Beau Breslin of Skidmore College returns to the Thomas Jefferson Hour to talk about important passages that were edited out of key American documents of the Founding Era, including the famous anti-slavery passage of the Declaration of Independence.
This week's episode of the Thomas Jefferson Hour was recorded live at Radford University in Radford, Virginia in February 2023.