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Ulysses S. Grant

2017-07-09T19:51:04Z

Johnnyfitz: writing style -- never start a new chapter with 'however'

{{Officeholder
|name=Ulysses S. Grant
|image=Ulysses S. Grant by LeClear.jpg
|party=[[Republican]]
|spouse=Julia Dent Grant
|religion=[[Methodist]]
|offices=
{{Officeholder/president
|country=the United States
|number=18th
|terms=March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877
|vp=[[Schuyler Colfax]] (1869–1873)<br/> [[Henry Wilson]] (1873–1875)<br/>None (1875–1877)
|preceded=[[Andrew Johnson]]
|former=y
|succeeded=[[Rutherford B. Hayes]]
}}
|military=y
|allegiance=United States Union
|branch=Union Army, [[US Army]]
|serviceyears=1839 –1854, 1861 –1869
|rank=General of the Army of the United States
|battles=[[Mexican-American War]]<br/>[[American Civil War]]
}}

'''Ulysses Simpson Grant''' was the 18th [[President of the United States of America]], serving from 1869 to 1877. won fame for his victories at Ft. Donaldson (1862), Shiloh (1862), and Vicksburg (1863), and his grueling but successful war of attrition against [[Robert E. Lee]]. who surrendered to Grant at Appomattox in April, 1865, ending the Civil War. As president he supported the [[Radical Republicans]] in the program for [[reconstruction]], defeated the [[Ku Klux Klan]], and supported civil rights for the Freedmen (freed slaves). In foreign policy he settled a major conflict with Britain regarding the Civil War. Although personally honest, Grant gave out patronage too generously to his loyalists, and protected senior corrupt officials. The [[Panic of 1873]] made his second term one of economic depression, and allowed the Democrats to regain control of the House in 1876. Grant made a celebrated tour around the world, but came back in 1880 to try for a third term and failed. His finances, ruined by a dishonest associate and while dying of throat cancer, wrote a brilliant memoir of his military service; it stands as one of the great monuments in military historiography, and his battlefield achievements rank him as one of the great generals in world history.

==Early career==
Grant was born April 27, 1822, in a two-room cabin at Point Pleasant, Ohio. His father, Jesse Root Grant, was descended from undistinguished Puritan forebears who had immigrated to Massachusetts in the early 17th century. His mother, Hannah Simpson Grant, was a typical hard-working and pious frontier woman. The elder Grant was a tanner who by hard work and native shrewdness managed to acquire a modest competence. Lacking much education himself, he was determined that his sons should have the best the community offered. From the time he was 6 until he was nearly 17, young Grant regularly attended school, first in Georgetown, Ohio, to which the family had moved soon after he was born, and later at nearby academies. While working on the family, he developed a fondness for horses almost amounting to a passion, and a liking for outdoor life that in after years stood him in good stead.

In 1839, his father obtained for him an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. In making out the necessary papers, the congressman erroneously wrote his name as '''Ulysses Simpson Grant''' (Simpson was his mother's name) instead of Hiram Ulysses Grant, the name with which he had been christened. His name was so entered on the rolls of the Military Academy. Grant never liked his old initials H.U.G. and took the new mane. Except for his horsemanship Grant did not distinguish himself at West Point, which had an engineering curriculum. Graduating in 1843, twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine, he was sent to the infantry instead of to the cavalry, his choice. He served at various posts in Missouri and Louisiana, but in 1845 he was ordered to accompany General [[Zachary Taylor]] to Texas and later served in the invasion of Mexico. Subsequently, he was transferred to General [[Winfield Scott]]'s army in time to participate in the march on Mexico City. Grant handled logistics, and did not have a combat role, but he was twice cited for gallantry under fire. He was an unusually keen observer of terrain, battle formations, and the actions of commanders, and by happenstance was involved in most of the major battles of the war. In later years he said it was an unjust war, but he did not say that at the time.

Stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, after the Mexican War, in August 1848 he married Julia Dent, daughter of a Missouri planter and slaveowner. Four years later, now a captain, Grant was transferred to the Fort Humboldt, in far northern California; his wife could not accompany him because of the hardships of the trip. Unhappy because of the loneliness and enforced separation, Grant, still a first lieutenant, started drinking. "I do nothing here but set in my room and read and occasionally take a short ride on one of the public horses," he wrote his wife. His commander, Lt Col Col. Robert C. Buchanan Buchanan, hated him and forced him to resign.<ref>There was no disgrace involved. In the 1860s Buchanan was repeatedly challenged on why he forced out the greatest soldier of the era, and came up with the drinking story. Grant drank less than the others at the remote post.</ref> The six years that followed were the most disappointing of his life. He tried farming on land in the St. Louis area owned by his wife's father. He failed at that, at selling real estate, and at clerking in a customs house. He owned one slave and voted Democratic. In financial straits, he finally turned to his own family and became a clerk in a Galena, Illinois, leather store owned by his two brothers.

==Civil War==
===1861-62===
As the demand for West Point graduates increased after the start of the Civil War, Grant rejoined the army. As the chief trainer of Illinois regiments he attracted immediate attention for his striking command skills and was soon given control of Union forces in southern Illinois.

After Grant's early [[American Civil War: 1862#Fort Henry|successes]], [[Henry Halleck]], his commanding general, became jealous and removed him from his command. Halleck's stopped trying to discredit Grant came when he and Grant found common cause in countering General John McClernand's independent efforts to preempt Grant's operations in the Mississippi Valley in October 1862 without Halleck's approval. Washington was watching closely and soon gave Grant another field command.

===Vicksburg===
In 1862-63, after a long arduous [[Vicksburg Campaign|campaign]] against five poorly coordinate Confederate armies, Grant captured [[Vicksburg]] on July 4, 1863, giving the Union control of the entire [[Mississippi River]], which permanently cut off Texas and Arkansas from the rest of the Confederacy.

In a major campaign in the Mississippi swamps, Grant defeated Confederate general [[John C. Pemberton]]'s army and freed the way for him to capture Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. Then, looping back, he forced Pemberton's army into Vicksburg in the Battle of Champion's Hill on 16 May 1863.<ref>http://www.civilwaralbum.com/vicksburg/ch.htm</ref> With help from Admiral [[David D. Porter]]'s gunboats, he captured Vicksburg after a month-long siege and bombardment which nearly ruined the city.<ref>http://www.civilwarhome.com/battleofvicksburg.htm</ref>

Late in the year, Lincoln [[American Civil War: 1864#Unity of Command|gave Grant command]] of the entire United States Army.

===1864-65===
====Strategy====
Grant took command of all the Union armies on March 9, 1864, and had to think out a war-winning strategy. He had already been discussing ideas with Halleck, the chief of staff based in Washington. Halleck was now subordinate to Grant and worked to implement Grant's ideas. Grant's strategy entailed complex coordination within and between theaters. He wanted not only to attack the enemy's armies, but also to sever their logistical ties. It was a bold plan that relied more on maneuver than bloody engagements.

In the West, Grant assigned the major thrust to his ablest general and good friend, [[William T. Sherman]]. Sherman was to use three armies and advance from Chattanooga against General Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate Army of Tennessee and push toward Atlanta, the region's vital railroad center. Grant made clear the campaign's primary objective: "You I propose to move against Johnston's army, to break it up and get into the interior of the enemy's country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage as you can against their war resources." The conduct of the operation Grant left to Sherman.

Grant wanted a joint army-navy expedition against Mobile, the Confederacy's remaining major port on the Gulf of Mexico. Lincoln, however, was concerned with [[Reconstruction]] and insisted on a movement up the Red River in Louisiana to strengthen the efforts of the state's Unionists' to create a new state government. Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, an officer with powerful political connections and a favorite of Lincoln's, commanded the movement, which was a major fiasco; Banks was defeated and narrowly managed to get his army out.

In the East, Grant first planned to invade North Carolina and cut off Richmond. Lincoln insisted that Richmond had to be the target, so Grant decided on a three-pronged offensive in Virginia. The main Union combat army (nominally under George Meade, but with Grant in actual control) would attack the Confederacy's premier force — General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Simultaneously Grant ordered separate forces to cut Lee's railroads (a partial success), and to destroy Lee's supply base by laying waste to the farms in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley (a major success). He sent Major General Benjamin F. Butler, to cut the rail lines leading into Richmond from the South, but Butler failed badly.

====1864-65 campaigns====

Beginning with the [[Battle of the Wilderness]] in summer 1864, Grant pressed the Confederate Army through a series of battles that made up the [[Overland Campaign]]. By June, the two armies were settled in entrenchments around the important city of Petersburg, Virginia. After a long siege, Grant successfully broke the Confederate supply lines, forcing them to retreat in the [[Appomattox Campaign]]. [[Robert E. Lee]] eventually surrendered at [[Appomattox Court House]]. Following the conclusion of the war, Grant remained on active duty and was promoted to become the first [[four-star general]] in the history of the United States Army. Commanding the entire Army, Grant was responsible for operations in the Western U. S. against [[Native Americans]] until he resigned his commission to become President in early March 1869.

==Washington Politics 1865-68==
[[File:Ulysses grant.jpg|thumb|left|Grant as President]]
With the assassination of Lincoln as the war ended, Grant had enormous military and political authority, but he was slow to use it. President [[Andrew Johnson]] tried, especially during the elections for Congress in 1866, to use Grant's prestige to bolster the faltering presidency. Grant, sympathetic to his black soldiers, moved toward the [[Radical Republicans]] who were determined to block Johnson's lenient policy toward the South. The Radicals put Grant's army back in control of the South in 1867, as [[Reconstruction|Radical reconstruction]] began. Grant enormous prestige made his the nearly unanimous choice for the Republican presidential nomination in 1868, and he easily defeated Horatio Seymour, the Democrat who ran on a white supremacy platform.
==Presidency: First Term 1869-73==
Grant, a superb general, lacked political skills. He had a tin ear for public opinion regarding corruption, he was excessively loyal to his old army friends, he had a weak staff system in the White House, and he had too narrow a range of advisers. His first cabinet appointments were personal friends and men of wealth, and they had a steep learning curve on their jobs. Many had to be replaced. Grant assumed that he could order subordinates to do this or that, but he did not have a system for following up his orders and planning was poor. Grant lacked the skills of persuasiveness, tact, and the insight into character that astute politicians relied upon; he relied too much on his own enormous military prestige.

Grant took firm stands, right or wrong, and rarely compromised. He was firm for sound currency and opposed inflation as a means of paying the war debt. He supported the Freedmen and Carpetbaggers in the South, despite growing disgust with news of widespread corruption. He helped Congress pass the Enforcement Acts, which entangled the army in local affairs in the South. Grant's notorious hostility toward the principles of civil service and merit disgusted reformers who demanded efficiency in government, rather than payoffs to old buddies. Most of all he refused to recognize that Reconstruction was a success, and that further use of the army violated the principles of [[Republicanism]]. By 1872 many leading Republicans—including many of the founding fathers of the parties—were thoroughly alienated and they formed the [[Liberal Republican]] movement.<ref>"Liberal" in the 1870s is nore similar to "libertarian" in the 21st century and has little in common with current liberalism.</ref> Its main goals were to block the reelection of Grant, to end reconstruction and facilitate the peaceful reintegration of the South, to suspend high protective tariffs, and to replace the patronage-ridden system of giving out government jobs with a merit-based civil service. The Liberal Republicans failed to defeat Grant's reelection, running a weak oddball candidate in [[Horace Greeley]]. Grant scored a landslide.
===Foreign policy===
In 1870, President Grant recommended to Congress that the United States annex the predominantly black [[Dominican Republic]] for political and economic reasons. Annexation was also supported by elements within the Dominican government who saw it as a way of dealing with a Haiti-inspired rebellion. Massachusetts senator [[Charles Sumner]], chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee was strenuously opposed. Sumner complained it threatened Haitian sovereignty, but also promised a major setback to abolitionist dreams of nonwhite countries asserting and maintaining political independence. Sumner believed that races are uniquely designed for particular habitats and that whites were not suited to colonize areas like the Dominican Republic. Sumner averred that American expansion was only appropriate in temperate zones. Sumner did sytop the annexation, which never happened. Sumner also broke with the Republican Party and supported the Liberal Republicans, along with about a fourth of the former abolitionists. Grant retaliated by having his allies in the Senate strip Sumner of his powerful chairmanship.
===Evaluation===
Grant's first term ranks him among the ablest presidents, with a series of major achievements regarding energetic enforcement of the rights of freedmen combined with conciliation of former Confederates, destruction of the KKK, passage of the 15th Amendment, reform in Indian policy, successful negotiation of the Alabama Claims with Britain and easing tensions with Britain, and for an era of peace and prosperity. Unfortunately Grant was elected to a second term.

==Presidency: Second Term 1873-77==
Grant's second term was a series of disasters that ruined his political reputation. Most reformers had broken with him and joined the Liberal Republican movement, leaving the president surrounded by the most corrupt elements of the Republican party. The [[Panic of 1873]] was a major nationwide economic depression that (temporarily) ruined the railroad industry and halted expansion. For the first time workers engaged in large-scale violent strikes that soured the atmonsphere. The Democrats took control of the House, but not the Senate, leading to a political stalemate in Washington. The pietistic reformers who had formed the core of the Republican party now turned to other reforms, especially temperance (prohibition of the sale of liquor), and no longer provided a moral base for the party in Washington. Indeed, the Democrats now took on the mantle of reformers, as the conservative, pro-business [[Bourbon Democrats]], led by New York Governor [[Samuel Tilden]] destroyed the Tweed Ring in New York City and led the attack on the spoilesmen around the president.

Round after round of scandals were exposed, with Grant usually siding with the villains and fighting the whistle-blowers.

==Retirement==

==Legacy==
His death and funeral became an occasion for a religiously tinged emotional and political reconciliation of North and South and as such is a critical event in the history of the political culture of the United States. "I am sorry General Grant is dead," proclaimed ex-Confederate general and pallbearer [[Simon Bolivar Buckner]], "but his death has yet been the greatest blessing the country has ever received, now, reunion is perfect."<ref>Joan Waugh, "'Pageantry of Woe': The Funeral of Ulysses S. Grant." - ''Civil War History''. 51#2 (2005) PP 151+ [http://www.questia.com/read/5009672487 online edition].</ref>

The Ulysses S. Grant Association, with help from Southern Illinois University, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, is in the process of publishing an exhaustive, annotated series of volumes of Grant documents. Also in the works is a scholarly edition of the ''Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant''.<ref>http://twister.lib.siu.edu/projects/usgrant/</ref>

Throughout the 20th century Grant was considered one of the two or three worst presidents, because of the corruption he tolerated, his misplaced loyalty to old comrades, his disdain for good government and rejection of good advice, his Reconstruction policies that favored the Republican party at the expense of the [[Republicanism, U.S.|republican principles on which the party as founded]], and the economic disaster that struck the nation in the panic of 1873, making his second term a period of hardship.

In recent years Grant's reputation as president has improved somewhat. Smith (2002)<ref>Jean Edward Smith, ''Grant'' (2002)</ref> is typical in that it acknowledges Grant's flaws, but portrays him as a man of character and as the ultimate pragmatist, a man whose virtues and achievements far outweighed the faults and scandals often associated with his career.

Grant's military reputation stands very high indeed, except in the one area of moral judgment, whether he sacrificed thousands of lives in a meat grinder war of attrition. Smith (2002) highlights the pragmatic Grant, willing to violate the orthodoxies of military strategy as he learned what the battlefield taught and forgot what the old textbooks said. For Grant warfare was an end in itself, a kind of brutal game among rival commanders. Smith (2002) wants to challenge what he sees as a common historical image of Grant as a general whose victories may be attributed to a simple willingness to sacrifice troops in battle, but he still presents a Grant remarkably willing to sacrifice troops in a conflict he defined as, ultimately, a war of attrition.

Princeton professor Sean Wilentz contends that "although slandered since his death, Grant, as general and as president, stood second only to Abraham Lincoln as the vindicator of those principles in the Civil War era."<ref>Sean Wilentz, ''Who’s Buried in the History Books?'', [[New York Times]] opinion editorial, March 14, 2010</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Gallery of American Heroes]]

==Bibliography==
===Biography ===
* Bunting III, Josiah. ''Ulysses S. Grant'' (2004), 208pp ISBN 0-8050-6949-6 [http://www.amazon.com/Ulysses-S-Grant-American-Presidents/dp/0805069496/ref=sr_1_4/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194128306&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search], popular military biography
* Catton, Bruce. ''U. S. Grant and the American Military Tradition'' (1954), brief, incisive, and highly readable biography
*Garland, Hamlin. ''Ulysses S. Grant: His Life and Character'', (1898), 524pp [http://books.google.com/books?id=AEIOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:grant+inauthor:Garland+inauthor:Hamlin&num=30&as_brr=1 full text online]
* Korda, Michael. ''Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero'' (2004) 161 pp, popular military biography
* Longacre, Edward G. ''Ulysses S. Grant: The Soldier And the Man'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Ulysses-S-Grant-Soldier-Man/dp/030681269X/ref=pd_bbs_8/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194128125&sr=8-8 excerpt and text search]
* McFeely, William S. ''Grant: A Biography'', (1981), ISBN 0-393-01372-3, Pulitzer prize, but hostile toward Grant. [http://www.amazon.com/Grant-Biography-William-S-McFeely/dp/0393323943/ref=pd_bbs_9/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194128125&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]
* Mosier, John., ''Grant'', (2006), 224pp; [http://www.amazon.com/Grant-Great-Generals-John-Mosier/dp/1403971366/ref=sr_1_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194127420&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Simpson, Brooks D. ''Ulysses S. Grant: Triumph Over Adversity, 1822-1865'', (2000), first volume of major scholarly biography [http://www.amazon.com/Ulysses-S-Grant-Adversity-1822-1865/dp/0395659949/ref=sr_1_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194129060&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
*Smith, Jean Edward, ''Grant'', (2002), 781pp; ISBN 0-684-84927-5. [http://www.amazon.com/Grant-Jean-Edward-Smith/dp/0684849275/ref=pd_bbs_11/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194128125&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search]

===Historiography===
* Rafuse, Ethan S. "Still a Mystery? General Grant and the Historians, 1981-2006," ''The Journal of Military History'' 71 #3 (July 2007): 849-874. in [[Project Muse]]
* Skidmore, Max J. "The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: a Reconsideration." ''White House Studies'' (2005)
* Waugh, Joan. "U.S. Grant, Historian," in ''The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture,'' ed, by Alice Fahs and Joan Waugh (2004), 5-38, on writing the memoirs
* Wilson, Edmund. ''Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War'' (1962) pp 131–73, on the ''Memoirs''

===Military===
* Badeau, Adam. ''Military History of Ulysses S. Grant, from April, 1861, to April, 1865''. 3 vols. 1882. [http://books.google.com/books?id=JeUDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Badeau+inauthor:Adam&num=30&as_brr=0 full text online]
* Catton, Bruce, ''U. S. Grant and the American Military Tradition'' (1954)
* Conger, A. L. ''The Rise of U.S. Grant'' (1931) [http://www.questia.com/read/3949344 online edition]
* Lewis, Lloyd. ''Captain Sam Grant'' (1950), ISBN 0-316-52348-8, Mexican War
* Williams, Kenneth P. ''Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War'' (5 vol 1959)
* Williams, T. Harry, ''McClellan, Sherman and Grant''. 1962.
* Wilson, Edmund. '' Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War'' (1962) pp 131–73, literary analysis of Grant's ''Memoirs''

====Western front: 1861-1863====
*Ballard, Michael B., ''Vicksburg, The Campaign that Opened the Mississippi'', (2004), ISBN 0-8078-2893-9.
* Bearss, Edwin C., ''The Vicksburg Campaign'', 3 volumes, 1991, ISBN 0-89029-308-2.
* Carter, Samuel III, ''The Final Fortress: The Campaign for Vicksburg, 1862-1863'' (1980)
* Catton, Bruce, ''Grant Moves South'', 1960, ISBN 0-316-13207-1; * Gott, Kendall D., ''Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign, February 1862'', 2003, ISBN 0-8117-0049-6.
* McDonough, James Lee, ''Shiloh: In Hell before Night'' (1977).
* McDonough, James Lee, ''Chattanooga: A Death Grip on the Confederacy'' (1984).
* Martin, David G. ''The Vicksburg Campaign: April 1862-July 1863'' (1994) [http://www.amazon.com/Vicksburg-Campaign-April-1862-July-Campaigns/dp/0938289373/ref=sr_1_3/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194128607&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Miers, Earl Schenck., ''The Web of Victory: Grant at Vicksburg.'' 1955.

====Eastern front: 1864-65====
* Catton, Bruce. ''Grant Takes Command'' (1968)
* Cavanaugh, Michael A., and William Marvel, ''The Petersburg Campaign: The Battle of the Crater: "The Horrid Pit," June 25-August 6, 1864'' (1989)
* Davis, William C. ''Death in the Trenches: Grant at Petersburg'' (1986).
* Fuller, Maj. Gen. J. F. C., ''Grant and Lee, A Study in Personality and Generalship'',
* Gallagher, Gary W. ed. ''The Wilderness Campaign'' (1997) [http://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Campaign-Military-Campaigns-Civil/dp/0807823341/ref=sr_1_7/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194127507&sr=1-7 excerpt and text search]
* McWhiney, Grady, ''Battle in the Wilderness: Grant Meets Lee'' (1995)
* Maney, R. Wayne, ''Marching to Cold Harbor. Victory and Failure, 1864'' (1994).
* Matter, William D., ''If It Takes All Summer: The Battle of Spotsylvania'' (1988) [http://www.amazon.com/If-Takes-All-Summer-Spotsylvania/dp/0807817813/ref=sr_1_4/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194128725&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
* Miller, J. Michael, ''The North Anna Campaign: "Even to Hell Itself," May 21–26, 1864'' (1989).
* Rhea, Gordon C., ''The Battle of the Wilderness May 5–6, 1864'', (1994) ISBN 0-8071-1873-7. [http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Wilderness-May-5-6-1864/dp/0807130214/ref=sr_1_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194127507&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Rhea, Gordon C., ''The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7–12, 1864'', (1997), ISBN 0-8071-2136-3. [http://www.amazon.com/Battles-Spotsylvania-Court-Yellow-Tavern/dp/0807121363/ref=sr_1_3/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194127507&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
* Rhea, Gordon C., ''To the North Anna River: Grant and Lee, May 13–25, 1864'', (2000), ISBN 0-8071-2535-0. [http://www.amazon.com/North-Anna-River-Grant-13-25/dp/0807125350/ref=sr_1_4/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194127507&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* Rhea, Gordon C., ''Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26 – June 3, 1864'', (2002), ISBN 0-8071-2803-1. [ excerpt and text search]
* Simpson, Brooks D, "Continuous Hammering and Mere Attrition: Lost Cause Critics and the Military Reputation of Ulysses S. Grant," in Gary Gallagher and Alan T. Nolan, eds., ''The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History,'' (2000)
* Trudeau, Noah. ''Bloody Roads South: The Wilderness to Cold Harbor, May–June 1864'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Roads-South-Wilderness-May-June/dp/0807126446/ref=sr_1_11/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194127507&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]

===Politics===
* Hesseltine, William B. ''Ulysses S. Grant, Politician'' (2001) ISBN 1-931313-85-7 [http://www.questia.com/library/book/ulysses-s-grant-politician-by-william-b-hesseltine.jsp online edition]
* Mantell, Martin E. ''Johnson, Grant, and the Politics of Reconstruction'' (1973) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=89815306 online edition]
* Nevins, Allan. ''Hamilton Fish: The Inner History of the Grant Administration'' (1936) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=94934148 online edition], covers the diplomatic and some political history of his administration
* Rhodes, James Ford., ''History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the McKinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896.'' Volume: 6 and 7 (1920) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=24644891 vol 6]
* Scaturro, Frank J. ''President Grant Reconsidered'' (1998). [http://www.amazon.com/President-Grant-Reconsidered-Frank-Scaturro/dp/1568331320/ref=sr_1_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194128306&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Simpson, Brooks D. ''Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868'' (1991). [http://www.amazon.com/Let-Have-Peace-Reconstruction-1861-1868/dp/0807819662/ref=sr_1_4/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194129060&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
* Simpson, Brooks D. ''The Reconstruction Presidents'' (1998)
* Skidmore, Max J. "The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: a Reconsideration." ''White House Studies'' (2005)
===Primary sources===
* Grant, Ulysses S. ''Memoirs'' (1885) [http://www.bartleby.com/1011/ online edition]
* Grant, Ulysses S. ''Memoirs and Selected Letters'' (Mary Drake McFeely & William S. McFeely, eds. [http://www.loa.org The Library of America], 1990) ISBN 978-0-94045058-5
* Johnson, R. U., and Buel, C. C., eds., ''Battles and Leaders of the Civil War''. 4 vols. (1887–88); essays by leading generals of both sides; often reprinted; [http://ehistory.osu.edu/USCW/library/books/battles/index.cfm online edition]
* Porter, Horace, ''Campaigning with Grant'' (1897, reprinted 2000) [http://books.google.com/books?id=mC8OAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:Campaigning+intitle:with+intitle:Grant+inauthor:porter&num=30&as_brr=0 complete online edition]
* Sherman, William Tecumseh, ''Memoirs of General William T. Sherman''. 2 vols. 1875. [http://books.google.com/books?id=dJ9xewVWT2wC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Sherman+inauthor:William+inauthor:Tecumseh&num=30&as_brr=1&sig=RgyMUtns3vXKf_aQeHsdUpfoVJE complete edition online]
* Simon, John Y., ed., ''The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant'', Southern Illinois University Press (1967- ) [http://www.siu.edu/~siupress/titles/f99_titles/simon_grant23.htm multivolume complete edition of letters to and from Grant.] As of 2007, vol 1-28 covers through September 1878; two more volumes are forthcoming
** vol. 1: 1837-1861 [http://www.questia.com/read/105369696 online edition]
** vol. 2: April, 1861 - September 1861 [http://www.questia.com/read/105371859 online edition]
** vol, 3: October 1, 1861 - January 7, 1862 [http://www.questia.com/read/104963439 online edition]
** vol, 4: January 8 - March 31, 1862 [http://www.questia.com/read/104964344 online edition]
** vol. 5: April 1, 1862 - August 31, 1862 [http://www.questia.com/read/104965170 online edition]
** vol, 6: September 1, 1862 - December 8, 1862 [http://www.questia.com/read/105373823 online edition]
** vol, 7: December 9, 1862 - March 31, 1863 [http://www.questia.com/read/104968241 online edition]
** vol. 8: April 1, 1863 - July 6, 1863 [http://www.questia.com/read/104969178 online edition]
** vol, 9: July 7, 1863 - December 31, 1863 [http://www.questia.com/read/104971137 online edition]
** vol. 10: January 1 - May 31, 1864 [http://www.questia.com/read/104970154 online edition]
----

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://librivox.org/author/296 Works by Ulysses S. Grant - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]

{{USPresidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Ulysses S.}}

[[Category:American Civil War Commanders]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:American war heroes]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Reconstruction]]
[[Category:Corruption]]
[[Category:Abolitionists]]

Thomas Jefferson

2012-03-31T21:03:29Z

Johnnyfitz: /* Early Career */ grammar

{{Officeholder
|name=Thomas Jefferson
|image=TCJJ.jpg
|party=
|spouse=Martha Wayles Skelton
|religion=Deist
|offices=
{{Officeholder/president
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|number=3rd
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|former=y
|succeeded=[[James Madison]]
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{{Officeholder/vice president
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|terms=March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801
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{{Officeholder/governor
|number=2nd
|state=Virginia
|terms=June 1, 1779 – June 3, 1781
|preceded=[[Patrick Henry]]
|former=y
|succeeded=William Fleming
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{{Officeholder/ambassador
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|to=France
|president=(none)
|terms=May 17, 1785 – September 26, 1789
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|former=y
|succeeded=[[William Short]]
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{{Officeholder/secretary (cabinet)
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|terms=March 22, 1790 – December 31, 1793
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|former=y
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}}
'''Thomas Jefferson''' (1743-1826), was one of early proponents of a [[Constitutional Republic]] in world history and one of the [[Founding Fathers]] of the [[United States]]. He was the primary author of the [[Declaration of Independence]] (1776), the first Secretary of State (1789-1793), the founder of one of the world's two first political parties, the [[Democratic-Republican Party|Jeffersonian Republican Party]] (1793) in opposition to the [[Federalist Party]] of his arch-rival [[Alexander Hamilton]]. He "distrusted the federal government because he knew it would grow too large, become disconnected from the people, and be heir to the arrogance, insolence and prideful haughtiness that is the lot of the unrestrained ..."<ref> [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/16/pruden-winning-the-war-against-civility/ PRUDEN: Winning the war against ‘civility’] - Editorial in the [[Washington Times[[</ref>

A friend of France and the French Revolution, and a bitter enemy of Britain in the 1790s, Jefferson soured on France after [[Napoleon]] came to power and ended democracy there. As President (1801-1809) Jefferson purchased Louisiana in 1803, but relations with Britain soured after 1805, leading to the [[War of 1812]]. Jefferson is best known as political theorist who helped redefine [[republicanism]] and promoted democracy and equal rights, while fighting aristocracy and established religion.

==Early Career==
Jefferson was the third child born to a well-connected tobacco planter family of moderate wealth in Goochland County on Virginia's western frontier. His father, Peter Jefferson (1707-57), of Welsh descent, owned slaves and was a county magistrate who was elected to the House of Burgesses (the colonial legislature). His mother, Jane Randolph, belonged to the leading family in the British colony. Peter taught the boy farming; they hunted and fished together. His formal education began under two Anglican ministers. He became proficient in Latin and Greek and had later became proficient in French. He was also tutored in dancing, became polished on the violin, learned chess, avoided cards, and was a fearless and accomplished horseman. His father died in 1757 leaving him some slaves and 2,750 acres of undeveloped farmland.<ref>Merrill D. Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography'' (1975) ch. 1</ref>

Jefferson was well educated at [[William and Mary College]] (class of 1762), and studied law. He was a polymath who read voraciously in history, politics, philosophy, linguistics, architecture and natural science. He studied science with Dr. William Small, who introduce him to Gov. Francis Fauquier and to George Wythe, the leading legal expert of the day in Virginia, who directed Jefferson's reading in law. He was a well-disciplined student who ignored the gambling and horse-racing of his peers to immerse himself in science law and history. He lost his Anglican religion along the way. He mastered the common law treatises of Sir [[Edward Coke]], and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767. He was successful but did not enjoy the tasks and gave up his practice by 1774. However the lawyerly style reappears in his famous state papers where he acts the advocate pleading a cause and buttressing it with precedents. Jefferson was never a good speaker, but he excelled in learning and industry and in precision and clarity of writing. His written arguments are powerful; his "Declaration of Independence" remains the touchstone for powerful argumentation.

==Patriot==
Jefferson had absorbed both the latest ideas of the [[Enlightenment]] and the precepts of [[republicanism]] as taught by the pamphlets of the British "country party", which had long been out of power. Jefferson became committed to the ancient rights of Englishmen possessed by Virginians; he was outraged that parliament would threaten those rights.

As the storms of the 1770s broke young Jefferson had never fully exercised his powerful intellect or fluent pen; he was known as a promising lawyer in a land of great lawyers, a successful planter in a slave society, and a lover of books, science, and music in a land of horse-racing. He was a loyal subject of King [[George III]]. From 1768 to 1775 Jefferson was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses for Albemarle.
==Congress==
In 1773, following the lead of Massachusetts, Jefferson helped establish Virginia's Provincial Committee of Correspondence to keep in touch with the other 12 colonies and operate as a shadow government in defiance of the governor. In 1774 he drew up resolutions that were published by the first Virginia convention as "A Summary View of the Rights of British America."<ref> see [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/jeffsumm.htm for text]</ref> This pamphlet, issued in four editions that year, argued that Parliament had no right to legislate for the colonies and that the British Empire was bound together solely by allegiance to the king. It proved one of the most influential statements of the patriot position and was widely read.

In 1775 Jefferson was elected to the Second [[Continental Congress]], meeting in Philadelphia. He drafted the resolution rejecting the conciliatory proposals of the British minister, [[Lord North]]. He was appointed county lieutenant in September and did not return to Congress until May 1776. He drafted a proposed constitution for the state of Virginia which was adopted in part.
===Declaration of Independence===
As a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] he and [[John Adams]] of Massachusetts took the lead in pushing for independence. On June 7, 1776, [[Richard Henry Lee]] of the Virginia delegation proposed independence. Congress appointed a committee of five men to draw up a suitable public declaration. Jefferson was selected to write it because he was a Virginian, a recognized writer, and a zealous committeeman. He incorporated ideas and phrases from many sources to arrive at a consensus statement that all patriots could agree upon. His colleagues [[Benjamin Franklin]] and Adams made small changes in his draft text and Congress made more. The finished document, which both declared independence and proclaimed a philosophy of government, was singly and peculiarly Jefferson's.<ref> See [http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html "Declaration of Independence"]</ref>

The opening philosophical section is closely based on [[George Mason]]'s "Declaration of Rights," a notable summary of current revolutionary philosophy.<ref> see [http://gunstonhall.org/documents/vdr.html "The Virginia Declaration of Rights," Final Draft,12 June 1776]</ref>
Mason wrote:
::That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
Jefferson rewrote it:
::We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Jefferson himself did not believe in absolute human equality, and, though he had no fears of revolution, he preferred that the "social compact" be renewed by periodical, peaceful revisions. That government should be based on popular consent and secure the "inalienable" rights of man, among which he included the pursuit of happiness rather than property, that it should be a means to human well-being and not an end in itself, he steadfastly believed. He gave here a matchless expression of his faith.

The charges against King [[George III]], who is singled out because the patriots denied all claims of parliamentary authority, represent an improved version of charges that Jefferson wrote for the preamble of the Virginia constitution of 1776. Relentless in their reiteration, they constitute a statement of the specific grievances of the revolting party, powerfully and persuasively presented at the bar of public opinion.

The Declaration is notable for both its clarity and subtlety of expression, and it abounds in the felicities that are characteristic of Jefferson's best prose.<ref> See Carl Becker, ''The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas'' (1922) ch. 5, [http://books.google.com/books?id=VC5nCgcUmjsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:declaration+intitle:of+intitle:independence&lr=&num=30&as_brr=1 online edition]; Garry Wills, ''Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.'' (1978); Pauline Maier, ''American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence.'' (1997)</ref> More impassioned than any other of his writings, it is eloquent in its sustained elevation of style and remains his noblest literary [[monument]].

The concepts of natural law, of inviolable rights, and of government by consent were drawn from the [[Republicanism|republican tradition]] that stretched back to ancient Rome and was neither new nor distinctively American. However it was unprecedented for a nation to declare that it would be governed by these propositions. It was Jefferson's almost religious commitment to these republican propositions that is the key to his entire life. He was more than the author of this statement of the national purpose: he was a living example of its philosophy, accepting its ideals as the controlling principles of his own life. Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776, which became the birthday of the independent nation.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 2</ref>

When the Declaration was signed, all British forces had been driven out of the 13 colonies, which now became the 13 states. However King [[George III]] refused to give up and of "his" possessions, so the war dragged on until the final American victory at Yorktown in 1781 caused Parliament to change the government in London and sue for peace.
====World impact====
The Declaration immediately sparked serious discussion in Europe and Latin America about the legitimacy of empires. By the 21st century, over 100 countries had their own declarations of independence, modeled in part on the very first one by Jefferson in 1776.<ref> Historians discount the influence of previous declarations. David Armitage, ''The Declaration of Independence: A Global History'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Declaration-Independence-Global-History/dp/0674022823/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212623939&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]</ref>

==Reforming Virginia==
In September 1776 Jefferson left the national capital in Philadelphia and spent the rest of the war in Virginia, where he took control of the legislature and had a significant impact in shaping the laws of the new state.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 3</ref> In the House of Delegates he proposed a series of major reforms--almost unparalleled in scope and unequaled as the work of a single legislator. Of 126 bills he proposed, four-fifths were enacted in some form; and Jefferson drew up almost half the total. In 1779 he proposed "The Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom," which was adopted in 1786.<ref> see [http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwedo/k12/bor/vsrftext.htm text]</ref> Its goal was complete separation of church and state and declared the opinions of men to be beyond the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate. He asserted that the mind is not subject to coercion, that civil rights have no dependence on religious opinions, and that the opinions of men are not the concern of civil government, became one of the American charters of freedom. This elevated declaration of the freedom of the mind was hailed in Europe as "an example of legislative wisdom and liberality never before known."<ref> See Richard Price to Sylvanus Urban,, July 26, 1786, in [http://books.google.com/books?id=fPQfNx2TQLAC&pg=RA1-PA45&lpg=RA1-PA45&dq=%22an+example+of+legislative+wisdom+and+liberality+&source=web&ots=Z8wRAaAAty&sig=1ytdIIZ6IjyzlbESYVtGAPWy40E&hl=en Richard Price, ''The correspondence of Richard Price,'' (1991) vol. 2, p. 45 online]</ref>

Jefferson put forth numerous proposals to reform public education, but they failed at this time. He did manage to abolish the professorships of Hebrew, theology, and ancient languages at the College of William and Mary, and instead set up professorships of anatomy and medicine, law, and modern languages, the two latter being the first of their kind in America. His proposals to gradually end slavery were not reported out of committee.

His laws on inheritance ended the practice of primogeniture, whereby the eldest son inherited the entire estate, so as to spread out wealth more evenly and open up opportunities for more young men.

In 1779 he was elected to succeed [[Patrick Henry]] as governor of Virginia for a one year term. Everything went wrong. British invasions by land and sea, Indian raids in the west, fiscal shortfalls, militia problems, profiteering, personal rivalries, and the shift of the main theater of war to Virginia created more challenges than he could solve. Re-elected in 1780, he saw the main British army under Cornwallis enter from the South in 1781; the Continental Army commander, General Von Steuben, was outmaneuvered. Jefferson quit office before his successor was named and the legislature had fled; he was almost captured when the British raided Monticello looking for him. Fortunately Washington arrived with the American and French armies and trapped Cornwallis at Yorktown, where the entire British army surrendered. Later the legislature investigated his administration and vindicated him, but Jefferson was embarrassed. Jefferson was an efficient, systematic, indefatigable administrator with a knack for getting men to work together smoothly, but his militia could not match the British army. He coped with these problems with a degree of success or failure that remains controversial among scholars. <ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 4</ref>

He suffered an irreparable loss when his beloved wife Martha died in 1782 and he gave up all idea of ever marrying again; they had three surviving daughters—Martha (1772–1836), Mary (1778–1804), and Lucy (1782–1784).
===''Notes on the State of Virginia''===
In 1780-83, Jefferson wrote his only book, ''Notes on the State of Virginia.''<ref> See [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JEFFERSON/toc.html for complete text of ''Notes on the State of Virginia'']</ref> It was written in the form of answers to questions about the geography, natural resources, Indians, government and economy of Virginia, based on his own research. The book was first published in French in Paris in 1785 (and in English in 1787), and immediately Jefferson's scientific reputation in Europe, while debunking some outlandish theories, especially those of the eminent naturalist the [[Comte de Buffon]], to the effect that animals regressed to smaller size in the new world. Jefferson's coup came with the mammoth, the giant extinct animal, five times bigger than an elephant, whose tusks, grinders, and bones had been recently dug up in the western part of the state.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) pp 242-52; Thomas O. Jewett, [http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2000_fall/jefferson_paleon.html "Thomas Jefferson Paleontologist," ''Early America Review'', Fall 2000 online]</ref>

==Confederation Congress==
In 1783 Jefferson returned to Congress, became its leader, and launched another intensive legislative effort. His major achievement was conceptualizing a solution for territorial government in the land north of the Ohio River. Virginia ceded its land claims to the national government, Jefferson proposed a checkerboard system of land surveys, which avoided the terrible confusion that caused endless lawsuits over land ownership south of the river. One section in every sixteen was set aside to support public schools. Statehood was promised once a territory reached a certain population. Jefferson would not allow slavery in the territories. Many of Jefferson's ideas were passed into law after he left Congress, notably in the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) pp 274-85</ref>

Jefferson's report on coinage established the decimal dollar as the unit of money, though he failed then and later to secure a system of uniform weights and measures based on decimal notation.

==Minister to France==
[[File:Thomas Jefferson.jpg|thumb|An American in Paris.]]
He succeeded [[Benjamin Franklin]] as minister to France (1785-89), and so was not present when the Constitution was written and ratified.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 6</ref>

==1790s==

Jefferson returned from France in 1789 and became the first Secretary of State (1789-1793) in the cabinet of President [[George Washington]]. With his close ally [[James Madison]] (a member of the House) Jefferson opposed the Hamiltonian programs for national finance, especially assumption of state wartime debts and the [[First National Bank]]. Jefferson and Madison and created a new party the Republicans, (called the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] by historians) to oppose Hamilton's [[Federalist party]]. These were the first two modern political parties in the world (that is the first to reach out to the voters for support). Jefferson and his Republicans supported the French Revolution (from 1793 to 1800), while the Federalists favored Britain. President Washington managed to maintain neutrality in the war between Britain and France. Hamilton had more influence than Jefferson, even in foreign policy, as shown by Hamilton's success in securing the [[Jay Treaty]] of 1795 that opened ten years of friendly trade with Britain.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 7</ref>

Jefferson was defeated for president in the election of 1796 by [[John Adams]], but became Vice President. When the [[Quasi War]] (that is undeclared war) with France broke out in 1798 and Federalists passed the [[Alien and Sedition laws]], Jefferson and Madison protested by secretly writing the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] of 1798. They argued the right of state governments to nullify federal laws considered unconstitutional; this was the start of the [[States Rights]] theory that played a role in the coming of the [[American Civil War]] in 1861 and still plays a role in Constitutional debates.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 8</ref>

==President: Successful first term, 1801-1805==
Jefferson defeated Adams and was elected President in 1800, in what his supporters called the [[Revolution of 1800]]. In his first term Jefferson negotiated the [[Louisiana Purchase]] with France. then sent [[Lewis and Clark]] to explore the vast new lands. He set up a territorial system for the Louisiana purchase. He promoted reservations for Indians to settle them on fixed parcels of land and teach them farming (instead of hunting and raiding).<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 9</ref>

Jefferson removed many Federalist office holders in order to balance the civil service between parties. Bitterly opposed to strong judges, he had Congress abolish the lower courts the Federalists had created, and tried to impeach and remove two Federalist judges. He succeeded in removing one [[John Pickering|incompetent figure]] but was defeated when he tried to remove Supreme Court Justice [[Samuel Chase]]. Jefferson never dared attack Chief Justice [[John Marshall]], a Federalist who made the Supreme Court a bastion of nationalism, much to Jefferson's disgust.
==President: Troubled second term, 1805-1809==
Jefferson's second term was marked by escalating tensions with both Britain and France (which were at war with each other). Jefferson's use of economic warfare, especially the [[Embargo of 1807]], failed, as he tried to crack down on New England merchants who defied laws that restricted their trade. Jefferson opposed building up the army or navy, insisting that the militia would suffice, aided by small gunboats.

Most historians judge his military policies a major disaster, for they failed badly when the [[War of 1812]] with Britain came three years after he left office.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 10</ref>

Jefferson left the White House under a cloud and never ran for office again.

==Retirement==
In political retirement Jefferson helped create and design the [[University of Virginia]], which he considered a major accomplishment. He believed that republican government depends on an informed citizenry; that education is a duty of the state; and that, while all should be given learning sufficient to enable them to understand their rights and duties as citizens, the "natural aristocracy" of virtue and talent should be drawn forth from the general mass and given every opportunity of public education. He continued through life to advocate this philosophy of education.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 11</ref>

Jefferson died on July 4th, [[Independence Day]], in 1826. It was the same day as the death of [[John Adams]]. They had been close friends until the political wars of the 1790s drove them apart, then resumed their friendship with a brilliant correspondence.

==Image and memory==
The modern [[Democratic Party]] claims direct descent from Jefferson -- a minor exaggeration because the Jeffersonian party died in the mid-1820s and the modern party was formed in the 1830s. Jefferson has been commemorated in the names of many counties and schools. Conservative commentator [[George Will]] has called Jefferson the "Man of the Millennium" -- that is the most influential person in world history over the last 1000 years. His musical passion became a source of inspiration for contemporary american rock band Jefferson Airplane.

==Jefferson's views==
===Slavery===
In ''Notes on the State of Virginia'' (1785) Jefferson deplored the despotic, lawless treatment of slaves, suggesting that the only remedy was to emancipate and remove Virginia's slaves and then declare them a free and independent people. Colonization to an unspecified destination was necessary because racial co-existence was impossible; emancipation otherwise would produce "convulsions which will probably never end but in the extermination of one or the other race." Differences between the two races were "fixed in nature", he said:
:"Comparing them by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, it appears to me, that in memory they are equal to the whites; in reason much inferior...and that in imagination they are dull, tasteless, and anomalous."<ref> Jefferson, [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/JEFFERSON/ch14.html ''Notes on the State of Virginia'' ch 14]</ref>

Jefferson believed that, eventually, all Americans had to be free. His goals for unlimited national improvement were incompatible with slaves in America. Both slavery and the slave trade would have to be ended in favor of free commerce and free labor. The key word for Jefferson was "amelioration," and it included several stages of national and moral development. First, Americans would abolish the slave trade. "Citizens," President Jefferson declared in 1806, should "withdraw . . . from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa" to promote "the morality, the reputation, and the best interests of our country."<ref> "Sixth Annual Message," December 2, 1806</ref> Second, the owners should raise up the moral and intellectual levels of their slaves. As masters established ties of reciprocal obligation and sympathy with their slaves, they would prepare themselves—and their slaves for the emancipation and repatriation of all Africans back to Africa. He in fact did secure the abolition by Congress of the international slave trade in 1808. He owned slaves--some 200 at one time or another--but despite his theoretical opposition to slavery he was always so much in debt he could never free them.<ref> Christa Dierksheide, "'The great improvement and civilization of that race': Jefferson and the 'Amelioration' of Slavery, ca. 1770–1826," ''Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal'' 6#1 Spring 2008, pp. 165-197. </ref>

Helo and Onuf (2003) have explored the logic of Jefferson's philosophical position against slavery in light of his ownership of slaves and his belief that the wholesale and immediate emancipation of slaves would threaten the new Republic. Heavily influenced by the writings of political philosophers Charles de Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, and especially Lord Kames, Jefferson grounded his position regarding slavery on the Kamesian principle that man was capable of moral development and, consequently, moral codes varied among different nations and progressed (or retrograded) over time in each nation. Kames posited that moral progress in a society, however, required a government. These concepts and others helped Jefferson shape his arguments in the Declaration of Independence, as rationale for the American Revolution. Moreover, they were the basis for his belief that slaves should be freed only when they could be assured of having their own government and a means, thereby, of self-determination as well as practical and moral education. Jefferson was convinced that emancipation on a large scale, before Virginia slaveholders and American society as a whole advanced morally, would precipitate racial violence and put the American experiment at risk.<ref>Ari Helo and Peter Onuf, "Jefferson, Morality, and the Problem of Slavery." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 2003 60(3): 583-614. Issn: 0043-5597 Fulltext: [[History Cooperative]] </ref>

===Religion===
Although he did not join a denomination, Jefferson was keenly interested in religion. He worked tirelessly to create a "wall of separation" between church and state, fearing that unifying the two would create tyranny over the free minds of people. He had a very negative view of the Roman Catholic Church, and succeeded in disestablishing the Anglican [[Church of England]] in Virginia during the Revolution.

Most scholars have concluded that Jefferson was a [[deist]],<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Deist_thinkers</ref> but Jefferson's own description of his views show more complexity.

In one of his writings now inscribed on the [[Jefferson Memorial]] in Washington, D.C., Jefferson said:

<blockquote>God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.</blockquote>

Jefferson's Second Inaugural Address implied that he believed in divine intervention:<blockquote>"I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old."</blockquote>

In an 1803 letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Jefferson declared that "I am a Christian," though his view of Christianity was different from most:
<blockquote>I then promised you that one day or other I would give you my views of [the Christian religion]. They are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from that anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed, but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others, ascribing to himself every human excellence, and believing he never claimed any other.<ref>Jefferson, Thomas, April 21, 1803: Letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush[http://www.angelfire.com/co/JeffersonBible/jeffbsyl.html]</ref></blockquote>

However, despite Jefferson's self-declared Christianity, many of his views would be considered heretical by most theologians. Most notably, he attempted to create the ''Jefferson Bible'' - an edited version of the ''New Testament'' that retained Christ's moral and practical teaching, while dropping supernatural elements.

Jefferson certainly believed Jesus to be a great teacher of morality, and believed the universe to be created by a God. Less clear is his views on subjects such as the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, sin and salvation. The ''Jefferson Bible'' suggests he rejects these ideas entirely, but is not definitive. Jefferson never had his Bible published during his lifetime. He did have this to say about Christianity and the message contained in the work that he created.

<blockquote>There will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.<ref>http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/jefferson_m_03.html</ref></blockquote>

Jefferson was also greatly interested in Eastern religions and Islam. In fact, in 2007, Representative Keith Ellison (the first Muslim elected to Congress) was sworn in on Jefferson's copy of the Koran.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301179.html</ref>

===The Right to Bear Arms===
"In a nation governed by the people themselves, the possession of arms to defend their nation against usurpers within and without was deemed absolutely necessary. This right is protected by the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. A gun was an everyday implement in early American society, and Jefferson recommended its use." <ref>[http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1500.htm#Arms Jefferson on Politics & Government: Civil Rights]</ref>

<blockquote>A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant companion of your walks. --Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1785. ME 5:85, Papers 8:407</blockquote>

<blockquote>The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that... it is their right and duty to be at all times armed. --Thomas Jefferson to John Cartwright, 1824. ME 16:45</blockquote>

<blockquote>One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them. --Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1796. ME 9:341</blockquote>

=== Architecture ===
[[Image:University of Virginia.jpg|thumb|The Rotunda of the University of Virginia. It was designed by Thomas Jefferson.]]

Jefferson was the founder of the University of Virginia and designer of ''his "academical village"''; he made the drawings for ''The Rotunda'' in 1819. Self-taught in architecture, read widely and studied the great structures of Europe firsthand. He , assisted [[Pierre L'Enfant]] in the design and layout of the new Federal City (Washington, D.C.) and designed the state capitol building in Richmond. Jefferson believed that "from architecture would flow education in taste, values, and ideals," and therefore constructed buildings that became ideas for America. '' <ref>[http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/jeff/jeffarch.html Jefferson and the Politics of Architecture]</ref>

<blockquote>
Jefferson believed that architecture was the heart of the American cause. In his mind, a building was not merely a walled structure, but a metaphor for American ideology, and the process of construction was equal to the task of building a nation. The architecture of any American building should express the American desire to break cultural--as well as political--ties to Europe. American architecture, Jefferson believed, would embody the fulfillment of the civic life of Americans, and he sought to establish the standards of a national architecture, both aesthetically and politically.
</blockquote>

Jefferson was an admirer of [[Andrea Palladio]]; the Palladian influece may be seen at Thomas Jefferson's estate Monticello (1768 - 1809).<ref> [http://www.oldandsold.com/articles10/famous-buildings-51.shtml Famous Buildings In America]</ref>

<blockquote>
[[Thomas Jefferson]] was among the many people who submitted a plan for the White House. His design, however, was not chosen. Instead, James Hoban, an Irish immigrant architect living in Charleston, [[South Carolina]], won the competition and a $500 prize, with a design modeled after Leister House in [[Dublin]], [[Ireland]]. <ref>[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/nation/whitehse_2 The White House.]</ref>
</blockquote>
{{cquote|
''"Whenever it is proposed to prepare plans for the Capitol, I should prefer the adoption of some one of the models of antiquity which have had the approbation of thousands of years; and for the President's house I should prefer the celebrated fronts of modern buildings which have already received the approbation of all good judges. Such are the Galerie du Louvre, the Garde Meubles; and two fronts of the Hotel de Salm."'' T. Jefferson. <ref> Thomas Jefferson to L'Enfant, April 10, 1791, in Saul K. Padover, ed., Thomas Jefferson and the National Capital (Washington, D. C.: US Government Printing Office, 1946), 59. </ref>
}}

==Quotes==
*"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs."
*Speaking of great calamities, "There is yet one greater, submission to a government of unlimited powers." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=InAsAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA351&dq=submission+to+a+government+of+unlimited+powers.+Jefferson&ei=8CQrSqarK6CIzQTnpfyyBw The Writings of Thomas Jefferson : 1816-1826.‎ - Page 351] by Thomas Jefferson, Paul Leicester Ford</ref>
*"That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves." <ref name="Thomas">[http://books.google.com/books?id=HgM4tztnJFcC&pg=PA240&dq=government+big+enough+to+give+you+everything&ei=hhc5SoekCKeQyASNj4iLAw Civiliazation's quotes P.240] by Richard Alan Krieger </ref>
*"Government big enough to give you everything you need is government big enough to take away everything you have."<ref name="Thomas">[http://books.google.com/books?id=HgM4tztnJFcC&pg=PA240&dq=government+big+enough+to+give+you+everything&ei=hhc5SoekCKeQyASNj4iLAw Civiliazation's quotes P.240] by Richard Alan Krieger]</ref>
*In a letter to Philips Mazzei, "Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=W5MfcSfA_eUC&pg=PA147&dq=Timid+men+prefer+the+calm+of+despotism+to+the+tempestuous+sea+of+liberty.&ei=2x1ESu6iAZSuzQTJ5NDUDw Jefferson's second revolution P.147] By Susan Dunn</ref>
*"Let our countrymen know that the people alone can protect us against these evils of misgovernment." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Ak6TAAAAIAAJ&q=Let+our+countrymen+know+that+the+people+alone+can+protect+us+against+these+evils+of+misgovernment.&dq=Let+our+countrymen+know+that+the+people+alone+can+protect+us+against+these+evils+of+misgovernment.&ei=5OlOSqq4LoT0yAS8i8DeAg Thomas Jefferson, world citizen- Page 71] by Elbert Duncan Thomas</ref>

<blockquote>
Let me describe to you a man, not yet forty, tall, and with a mild and pleasing countenance. An American, who without ever having quitted his own country, is at once a musician, skilled in drawing, a geometrician, an astronomer, a natural philosopher, legislator, and statesman…. Sometimes natural philosophy, at others politics or the arts, were the topics of our conversation, for no object had escaped Mr. Jefferson; and it seemed as if from his youth he had placed his mind, as he has done his house, on an elevated situation, from which he might contemplate the universe.
</blockquote>
::::::: Description of a visit to Thomas Jefferson at Monticello in 1782, from Travels in North-America, in the Years 1780-81-82 by the Marquis de Chastellux. <ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/apr13.html]</ref>

*"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." <ref>Boyd, Julian P., Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, et al, eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950-. 33 vols.</ref> Though this quotation promotes the challenging of God, it is not necessarily an argument for atheism; Jefferson believed in a non-Christian God.<ref>"Jefferson believed in the existence of a Supreme Being who was the creator and sustainer of the universe and the ultimate ground of being, but this was not the triune deity of orthodox Christianity." [http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs Monticello.org on Jefferson's religious beliefs.]</ref>

==Fake quotes==
Dozens of false quotations have been attributed to Jefferson.<ref> See the 28 fakes listed at [http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Category:Spurious_Quotations Spurious Quotations]</ref>
* Jefferson did NOT say, “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine”. On the contrary, he was the foremost promoter of democracy in world history.
* In the 1960s leftwing activists invented another false quote: "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism".
* Jefferson did not like banks. He did NOT say, "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."
**Jefferson did say in 1816: "And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
*Jefferson did NOT say, "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." He rarely used the word "democracy".<ref> See[http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Category:Spurious_Quotations Spurious Quotations]</ref>
* A common misquote incorrectly attributed to Jefferson is, "Where the people fear the government you have tyranny. Where the government fears the people you have liberty." This was actually first said by John Basil Barnhill.<ref>[http://debs.indstate.edu/b262b3_1914.pdf Debate on Socialism], Page 34.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Embargo of 1807]], his failed foreign policy
* [[Democratic-Republican party]], the party he led
* [[First Party System]], how politics worked
* [[Albert Gallatin]]. his Treasury Secretary
* [[Jeffersonian Democracy]], his political coalition
* [[James Madison]], his Secretary of State

==Further reading==
* Banning, Lance. ''The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology'' (1978) [http://www.amazon.com/Jeffersonian-Persuasion-Evolution-Party-Ideology/dp/0801492009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195466092&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Bernstein, Richard B. ''Thomas Jefferson'' (2005) short biography [http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-R-B-Bernstein/dp/0195181301/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201550604&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Channing, Edward. ''The Jeffersonian System, 1801-1811'' (1906) [http://books.google.com/books?id=BQcOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:Jeffersonian+intitle:System+intitle:1801-1811&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0 full text online]* Cunningham, Noble E. Jr . ''In Pursuit of Reason: The Life of Thomas Jefferson'' (1988, short biography) [http://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-Reason-Life-Thomas-Jefferson/dp/0345353803/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203807419&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Ellis, Joseph J. ''American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'' (1998), interpretive essays [http://www.amazon.com/American-Sphinx-Character-Thomas-Jefferson/dp/0679444904/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197165858&sr=3 excerpt and text search]
* Ferling, John. ''Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800'' Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108219147 online edition]
* Hofstadter, Richard. ''The American Political Tradition'' (1948), chapter on TJ [http://www.historyebook.org/ online at ACLS e-books]
* Koch, Adrienne. ''Philosophy of Thomas Jefferson.'' (1943) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=90632012 online edition]
* Onuf, Peter S. ''The Mind of Thomas Jefferson.'' (2007). 281 pp.
* Onuf, P. S. "Jefferson, Thomas (1743–1826)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,'' (2004; online edn, May 2008; Onuf is a leading American scholar
* Peterson, Merrill D. ''The Jefferson Image in the American Mind'' (1960) [http://www.amazon.com/Jefferson-Image-American-Mind/dp/0813918510/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203807519&sr=8-10 excerpt and text search]
* Peterson, Merrill D. ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography'' (1986), long, detailed biography by leading scholar; [http://www.questia.com/library/book/thomas-jefferson-and-the-new-nation-a-biography-by-merrill-d-peterson.jsp online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-New-Nation-Biography/dp/0195019091/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203807519&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Peterson, Merrill D. ed. ''Thomas Jefferson: A Reference Biography.'' (1986), very good, encyclopedic essays
* Smelser, Marshall. ''The Democratic Republic: 1801-1815'' (1968) good one-volume history of TJ's presidency and Madison's;
===Primary sources===
* Jefferson, Thomas. ''Writings'' (1984, Library of America); includes Autobiography, ''Notes on the State of Virginia,'' Public and Private Papers, Addresses and Letters. 1600pp [http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Writings-Autobiography-Addresses/dp/094045016X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203807519&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Jefferson, Thomas. ''Political Writings,'' edited by Joyce Appleby and Terence Ball; Cambridge University Press, 1999 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107255488 online edition]
* Jefferson, Thomas. ''Jeffersonian Cyclopedia'' 9000 quotes, well arranged [http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/foley/ online]

==References==
<references/>

{{USPresidents}}
{{USVicePresidents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Thomas}}
[[Category: Founding Fathers]]
[[Category:American Revolution]]
[[Category:Conservatives]]
[[Category:Republicanism]]
[[Category:Early National U.S.]]
[[Category:Virginia Governors]]
[[Category:Enlightenment]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Political Theory]]
[[Category:Enlightenment]]
[[Category:Fiscal Conservatives]]
[[Category:Virginia]]
[[Category:Religion and Politics]]
[[Category:United States Secretaries of State]]

User:Johnnyfitz

2012-03-31T20:44:55Z

Johnnyfitz: User page create

Hello one and all,

I am interested in early American history, i.e. American Revolution to Civil War, mostly. [[User:Johnnyfitz|Johnnyfitz]] 16:44, 31 March 2012 (EDT)