Grumpa Joe's Place

I always wondered about Thomas Jefferson, and what kind of man he was. My first exposure to him came when I watched a movie titled 1776. The first time I visited Washington D.C. I was in a hurry and short cut visiting the Jefferson memorial because it was too far off the Mall. Then I began reading his biographies, and learned a lot. My final exposure came when I visited Monticello Jefferson’s home in Virginia. Monticello blew me away with information, and I bought another biography. All I can say is that we are lucky to have had such a learned and wise man involved in the founding of the United States of America.

Here is a list of Jefferson accomplishments. For all the Liberals who read this, please forget about making him a racist for owning slaves and for having a black slave mistress. Those facts are all a matter of public record, and his relationships with slaves were totally acceptable at the time. We are two hundred and forty years away from those events and certainly evolution has changed the way we handle black and white relationships. If you still harbor ill feeling toward the man it can only be because you are too immature to move forward in a positive manner.

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THOMAS JEFFERSON, SOMETHING WE SHOULD ALL KNOW!
How many people even have a clue about this man in today’s world? Not just the personal information but what he did for this country, and most of all what he foresaw in the future for this country. You may ask yourself; How could he foresee what would happen in the future? Very basic answer; he knew history and had experienced history, and he understood mankind!
So read this and see for yourself, then forward so hopefully some more people will get enlightened.
There are two parts.
Be sure to read the 2nd part (RED).
Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.
At 5, he began studying under his cousin’s tutor.
At 9, he studied Latin, Greek and French.
At 14, he studied classical literature and several languages.
At 16, he entered the College of William and Mary.
Also he could write in Greek with one hand while writing the same in Latin with the other.
At 19, he studied law for 5 years under George Wythe.
At 23, he started his own law practice.
At 25, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
At 31, he wrote the widely circulated “Summary View of the Rights of British America” and retired from his law practice.
At 32, he was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
At 33, he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
At 33, he took three years to revise Virginia’s legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.
At 36, he was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.
At 40, he served in Congress for two years.
At 41, he was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.
At 46, he served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
At 53, he served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
At 55, he drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.
At 57, he was elected the third president of the United States.
At 60, he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation’s size.
At 61, he was elected to a second term as President.
At 65, he retired to Monticello.
At 80, he helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
At 81, he almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.
At 83, he died, along with John Adams, on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
He understood actual history, the nature of God, His laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today.
Jefferson really knew his stuff.
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time.
He made this statement: “This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.” –Thomas Jefferson
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” — Thomas Jefferson
“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.” — Thomas Jefferson
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” –Thomas Jefferson
“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” –Thomas Jefferson
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” –Thomas Jefferson
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” — Thomas Jefferson
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” — Thomas Jefferson
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” — Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. 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 the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Filed under: Biography, Conservative, Election, Government | Tagged: Declaration of Independence, Monticello, slavery, Thomas Jefferson | 3 Comments »