Thomas Jefferson

Four new books show how different, and maybe also why.

It's a myth that the Founders opposed the regulation of deadly weapons.

One emphasized the freedom to think; the other, in effect, the freedom to pray.

A Pulitzer historian assesses what we are to make of UVA’s founder, 200 years hence.

New exhibits put slavery at the center of Monticello's story, and make it clear that Jefferson was the father of Hemings' children.

The burning of Washington presented an opportunity for Jefferson’s books to educate the nation by becoming a national library.

The resurgence of the debate over the Sage of Monticello's legacy: Is Jefferson the ultimate patriot or ultimate hypocrite?

Annette Gordon-Reed explores the ways in which the many paradoxes of Jefferson make him a potent figure for racists and anti-racists alike.

Jefferson had a complicated relationship with white supremacy.

Archaeologists have uncovered the slave quarters of Sally Hemings at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello mansion.

A madman versus a crook? Unexpected twists? Fake news? Welcome to the election of 1800.

An interview with Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf.

French theorists said that American native species were inferior to European ones—the former President went to great lengths to show that they were wrong.

Read an excerpt from TIME's special edition about Alexander Hamilton.

Thomas Jefferson's republican simplicity.

Did Thomas Jefferson really believe, “That government is best which governs least?”

We owe it to Americans of all ages to be honest about the country’s past, including its contradictions.

Restoring stability to American politics will require reviving an age-old concept: common ground.

How Charlottesville’s memorial landscape can help us understand — and combat — the White House’s violent plans to reshape the nation’s public spaces.

Telling the full story of the town’s past is an easy way to make a lot of people mad.