Thomas Jefferson 
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1/10/2020
Jefferson's Other Legacy: Religious Liberty
by Cameron Addis
Thomas Jefferson's critics have pointed out his ownership of slaves as reason to question his continued relevance as a symbol of freedom. But his commitment to religious liberty helped to prevent violent sectarian conflict and should be honored.
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SOURCE: Christianity Today
12/4/2020
Thomas Jefferson Tried to ‘Fix’ the Bible. He Only Succeeded in Making It Sad (Review)
A reviewer of Peter Manseau's new book "The Jefferson Bible" finds it a valuable account of Jefferson's position in the conflict between religious orthodoxy and freedom of conscience and belief, but was less impressed with TJ's editing job, which produced a joyless text.
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SOURCE: Made By History at The Washington Post
11/11/2020
A Diverse Cabinet will Make Joe Biden a Better President and Unify the Country
by Lindsay M. Chervinsky
"Over the past 230 years, presidents have followed Washington’s lead, making increased diversity and representation of religions, backgrounds, genders and races a central part of the cabinet story."
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SOURCE: Heather Cox Richardson
11/4/2020
Letters From an American: November 3, 2020
by Heather Cox Richardson
These injuries to our system have saddled us with an Electoral College that permits a minority to tyrannize over the majority. That systemic advantage is unsustainable in a democracy. One or the other will have to give.
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SOURCE: Smithsonian
9/8/2020
Why Thomas Jefferson Created His Own Bible
by Peter Manseau
The "Jefferson Bible," representing Thomas Jefferson's efforts to excise the supernatural and miraculous from the New Testament, is an important document of American religious culture. The story of its preservation by Cyrus Adler and John Fletcher Lacey is a remarkable tale as well that reflects changes in the political nature of American religion.
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SOURCE: Washington Post
8/13/2020
A Powerful New Memorial To UVA’s Enslaved Workers Reclaims Lost Lives And Forgotten Narratives
The memorial's design uses "memory marks" to stand in for the names of enslaved people whose labors built the university.
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SOURCE: Washington Post
8/13/2020
We Can Tear Down False Idols of History. Thomas Jefferson Did it to Jesus Christ
by Peter Manseau
"Considering “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” anew today, we might begin by asking whether Jefferson’s willingness to challenge convention gives the lie to a justification of his many failings as unavoidable for a man of his time."
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SOURCE: New York Times
7/6/2020
I’m a Direct Descendant of Thomas Jefferson. Take Down His Memorial.
by Lucian K. Truscott IV
it’s time to honor one of our founding mothers, a woman who fought as an escaped slave to free those still enslaved, who fought as an armed scout for the Union Army against the Confederacy — a woman who helped to bring into being a more perfect union after slavery, a process that continues to this day. In Jefferson’s place, there should be another statue. It should be of Harriet Tubman.
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SOURCE: History.com
6/29/2020
Why Thomas Jefferson's Anti-Slavery Passage Was Removed from the Declaration of Independence
To call slavery a “cruel war against human nature itself” may have accurately reflected the values of many of the founders, but it also underscored the paradox between what they said and what they did.
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6/14/2020
Tear Down that Statue, Mr. Macron!
by Marlene L. Daut
Four figures from French history whose statues could replace that of Jefferson in Paris.
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SOURCE: Paris Review
5/21/2020
America’s First Connoisseur
James Hemings, one of Thomas Jefferson's slaves, taught his fellow slaves at Monticello everything he knew about food, transmitting his influence down the generations, onto the tables of Virginia’s social elite.
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4/26/2020
Historic Houses Turn to Technology Amid COVID-19 Closures
by Hana Hancock
Historic home sites have responded to the COVID crisis by developing online exhibits. More work remains to be done, and many cultural and historical institutions are in financial peril from the crisis, reports HNN's Social Media Editor.
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4/19/2020
Thomas Jefferson, Yellow Fever, and Land Planning for Public Health
by M. Andrew Holowchak
Although Thomas Jefferson was generally an anti-urbanist, he did offer insight into the role of land use in helping towns and cities control epidemics and promote public health.
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2/23/20
The Myth of Thomas Jefferson’s Inscrutability
by M. Andrew Holowchak
Political discrepancies between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton centered on contradictory interpretations of the U.S. Constitution.
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2/2/20
Why Thomas Jefferson Was Really No Friend of Religious Freedom
by M. Andrew Holowchak
Thomas Jefferson, because of the passage of his Bill for the Establishment of Religious Freedom, is customarily viewed by scholars as a paladin of religious freedom. Yet there is reason to question that view.
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12/29/19
What a Line Deleted from the Declaration of Independence Teaches Us About Thomas Jefferson
by M. Andrew Holowchak
Congress deleted the line to avoid tackling issue of slavery.
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12/1/2019
Losing Sight of Jefferson and Falling into Plato
by M. Andrew Holowchak
Socratic Styled Teaching in Twenty-First Century American Classrooms
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SOURCE: Washington Post
November 1, 2019
Alan Taylor's Book Reviewed in the Washington Post: Thomas Jefferson’s Education
by Drew Faust
How slavery warped Jefferson’s vision for the University of Virginia.
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10/27/2019
Did Jefferson Think Humans Occupied a Privileged Position in the Cosmos?
by M. Andrew Holowchak
Just where did humans fit in the wondrous and gargantuan cosmos for Thomas Jefferson?
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10/6/19
On Weather and History
by M. Andrew Holowchak
Thomas Jefferson’s Climate-Induced “Philosophical Hangover” Explained.
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