Sheri Edwards's List: thomasjefferson

• By 1814 when the British burned the nation's Capitol and the Library   of Congress, Jefferson had acquired the largest personal collection   of books in the United States. Jefferson offered to sell his library   to Congress as a replacement for the collection destroyed by the   British during the War of 1812. Congress purchased Jefferson's   library for $23,950 in 1815. A second fire on Christmas Eve of   1851, destroyed nearly two thirds of the 6,487 volumes Congress   had purchased from Jefferson.

• 1816. (George Flower). "I found Mr. Jefferson at his Poplar-Forest estate, in the western part of the State of Virginia. His house was built after the fashion of a French chateau. Octagon rooms, floors, floors of polished oak, lofty ceilings, large mirrors, betokened his French taste, acquired by his long residence in France. Mr. Jefferson's figure was rather majestic: tall (over six feet), thin, and rather high-shouldered; manners, simple, kind, and courteous. His dress, in color and form. was quaint and old-fashioned, plain and neat-dark pepper-and-salt coat, cut in the old quaker fashion, with a single row of large metal buttons, knee-breeches, gray-worsted stockings, shoes fastened by large metal buckles-such was the appearance of Jefferson when I fist made his acquaintance, in 1816.

• 1789 January 8. (to Richard Price) "...wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government..."^[5]

• "I cannot live without books; but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object."
   - Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 10 June 1815^[1]

• "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every
   form of tyranny over the mind of man." --Thomas Jefferson*
• *The famous quotation at the top of this page is from a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush of September 23, 1800. ME 10:173

• Mrs. Adams once called Jefferson "one of the choice ones of the earth," and Mr. Adams wrote Jefferson that "intimate Correspondence with you . . . is one of the most agreable Events in my Life."

• He was a staunch believer in the separation of church and state.
• The letter was the subject of intense scrutiny by Jefferson, and he consulted a couple of New England politicians to assure that his words would not offend while still conveying his message: it was not the place of the Congress or the Executive to do anything that might be misconstrued as the establishment of religion.
• The letter contains the phrase "wall of separation between church and state," which led to the short-hand for the Establishment Clause that we use today: "Separation of church and state."
• The letter was the subject of intense scrutiny by Jefferson, and he consulted a couple of New England politicians to assure that his words would not offend while still conveying his message: it was not the place of the Congress or the Executive to do anything that might be misconstrued as the establishment of religion.

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• When discussing the role of science in his life, Jefferson often   commented, "Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my   supreme delight." This philosophy becomes overwhelmingly apparent as we analyze not only   Jefferson's inventions themselves but also his unique attitude toward invention as a science.
• MOLDBOARD PLOW OF LEAST RESISTANCE
• invent   a new moldboard based on pure mathematical principles, namely,   the right angle.
• never tried to patent it. Believing that invention   should be solely for the good of the people and not for the   advancement of the inventor, Jefferson encouraged public use of   this easily duplicated invention
• The wheel cipher consisted of twenty-six cylindrical   wooden pieces which each had a hole bored into its center so that they   could then be threaded onto an iron spindle. On the edge of each   wheel, all twenty-six letters of the alphabet was inscribed. By using the   cipher, a person could scramble and unscramble letters in order to   code messages.
• Jefferson constructed his sundial in conjunction with Benjamin H.   Latrobe in 1809
• most visible inventions, the Great Clock,   dominates the entrance hall of    Monticello. Cannonballs from the   Revolution, powered by gravity, hang along both sides of the   doorway, and onlookers can read the day of the week and the time   from markings on the wall. In another of Jefferson's insights,   the Great Clock's face can be seen from both inside and outside  to encourage exercise and productivity.
• For repairs to the Great Clock, Jefferson invented a mahogany   ladder that folded up into almost a pole for storage. This   ladder, which Jefferson also recommended for pruning trees, was   the first of its kind in the United States and, in the late 1800's,   became prevalent in U.S. libraries.
• Jefferson invented the portable copying press when his overseas travel called for a compact version of the copying press previously invented by James Watt.
• Jefferson designed a lap desk which would hold all the essentials of his day, from a thermometer to pencils to a nightcap, as well as his portable copying press. With his wide-ranging intellect, Jefferson examined not just the pure science of an invention but also its practicality and aesthetics.

•   

       The polygraph, another letter copying device, was invented by an Englishman, John Hawkins, but was perfected by Thomas Jefferson.
• "AUTOMATIC" DOUBLE DOORS
• BOOKSTAND
• revolving stand with five adjustable   rectangular shaped rests for holding books.
• Jefferson designed   beds which lay in alcoves of rooms on a mesh of rope hung on hooks
• introduced an improved revolving Windsor chair   to the United States after seeing it in Europe. Combining the   Windsor chair with a writing arm and a leg rest in Monticello's   joinery, Jefferson, according to his own definition of invention,   created a new piece of furniture.

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• That he was the preeminent statesman of his day as today he is the dominating influence surviving from the first years of the republic, was not owing to a predilection for politics but to his answering the need for a great constructive and safely guiding genius at the beginning of our independent national life. He rejoiced, instead, at the prospect of the studious life. His letters abound in expressions of his desire to retire from the arena in which he was the most notable figure.
• Jefferson had a more or less scholarly acquaintance with mechanics, astronomy, meteorology, physics, civil engineering, surgical anatomy, geology, zoology, botany, economic entomology, aeronautics, and paleontology.

• His science enabled him to invent a plow, indeed the plow, to construct a barometer, a thermometer, a wind gage, a duplicating writing machine, and what not; to realize West Point for the nation and the National Observatory, to build the University of Virginia and inform it with a spirit and purpose hitherto disregarded.

   

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• A man of many talents, Thomas Jefferson explored many interests and gained high opinion for his quality as a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, inventor, and founder of the University of Virginia.
• Born on 13 April 1743 in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was the third of eight children of Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph. His father, who was of Welsh descent, was a ship’s captain and worked as a planter for sometime
• an avid learner of Greek, French and Latin.
• received a classical education and studied science and history. He enrolled at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg in 1760, where he studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy graduating with supreme honors in 1762. As a keen student, Jefferson took interest in learning different languages and throughout his students life he studied for fifteen hours a day.
• began practicing law in Virginia Bar in 1767.

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• (Born April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, Virginia; died July 4, 1826, Monticello)

   

  Thomas Jefferson -- author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia -- voiced the aspirations of a new America as no other individual of his era. As public official, historian, philosopher, and plantation owner, he served his country for over five decades.

   
• he owned about 200
• Jefferson freed two slaves in his lifetime and five in his will and chose not to pursue two others who ran away. All were members of the Hemings family; the seven he eventually freed were skilled tradesmen.
• Jefferson practiced law and served in local government as a magistrate, county lieutenant, and member of the House of Burgesses in his early professional life. As a member of the Continental Congress, he was chosen in 1776 to draft the Declaration of Independence, which has been regarded ever since as a charter of American and universal liberties.
• all men are equal in rights, regardless of birth, wealth, or status, and that the government is the servant, not the master, of the people.
• our years later, he defeated Adams and became president, the first peaceful transfer of authority from one party to another in the history of the youn
• the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and his support of the Lewis and Clark expedition
• most remembered for his efforts to maintain neutrality in the midst of the conflict between Britain and France; his efforts did not avert war with Britain in 1812.
• efferson embarked on his last great public service at the age of seventy-six, with the founding of the University of Virginia. He spearheaded the legislative campaign for its charter, secured its location, designed its buildings, planned its curriculum, and served as the first rector.
• HERE WAS BURIED
    THOMAS JEFFERSON
    AUTHOR OF THE
    DECLARATION
    OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
    OF THE
    STATUTE OF VIRGINIA
    FOR
    RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
    AND FATHER OF THE
    UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
    BORN APRIL 2, 1743 O.S.
    DIED JULY 4. 1826 

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