Person

Thomas Jefferson

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Lithograph of Thomas Jefferson

Hero or Villain, Both and Neither: Appraising Thomas Jefferson, 200 Years Later

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

Jefferson’s Monticello Finally Gives Sally Hemings Her Place in Presidential History

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

Mr. Jefferson’s Books & Mr. Madison’s War

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

Thomas Jefferson and Us

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

Charlottesville: Why Jefferson Matters

Annette Gordon-Reed explores the ways in which the many paradoxes of Jefferson make him a potent figure for racists and anti-racists alike.
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What Would Jefferson Say About White Supremacists Descending Upon his University?

Jefferson had a complicated relationship with white supremacy.

Historians Uncover Slave Quarters of Sally Hemings at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello

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

The Immigration-Obsessed, Polarized, Garbage-Fire Election of 1800

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

Jefferson: Hero or Villain? It’s Complicated.

An interview with Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf.
Albert Bierstadt painting of American Indians in a forest.

Thomas Jefferson's Quest to Prove America's Natural Superiority

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.

How the Rivalry Between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton Changed History

Read an excerpt from TIME's special edition about Alexander Hamilton.
Rembrandt Peale's portrait of Thomas Jefferson wearing a simple black coat.

Dressing Down for the Presidency

Thomas Jefferson's republican simplicity.
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson.

That Government is Best...

Did Thomas Jefferson really believe, “That government is best which governs least?”
A drawing of John Adams.

John Adams Is Bald and Toothless

A brief history of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Man surrounded by water fountain, refrigerator, and other modern appliances.

We Live Like Royalty and Don’t Know It

Introducing “How the System Works,” a series on the hidden mechanisms that support modern life.
A painting of a group of Puritans walking through a snowy forest, with the men carrying rifles.

The Puritans Were Book Banners, But They Weren’t Sexless Sourpusses

From early New England to the present day, censors have acted out of fear, not prudishness.
John Locke

Review of "America's Philosopher: John Locke in American Intellectual Life"

We see what we want to see from philosophers such as Locke not because he wrote for our time (or “all time”) but because we imagine he did.
An artistic collage juxtiposing a transatlantic slave ship with a tenement in Harlem.

How the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Continues to Impact Modern Life

A new Smithsonian book reckons with the enduring legacies of slavery and capitalism.
Drawing of the Constitutional Convention, by John W. Winkler.
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Strange Political Bedfellows

The origins of the Electoral College are entwined with slavery, but not in the way that recent accounts have suggested.
Eyes looking through the stripes on an American flag as if they were window blinds.

How Conspiracy Theory Made America

Americans are seized by conspiracy theories, and as a result, democracy is in peril—so conventional wisdom holds.