We Must Practice What He Preached

Posted on 13/02/2012 by Grumpa Joe
Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. with exc...

Image via Wikipedia

I love Thomas Jefferson. He is a model of conservatism. This list spells out his life and his wisdom. Every kid in the USA should memorize the brilliant quotes below. 

This is amazing. There are two parts. Be sure to read the 2nd part (in RED), which is his advice.

 Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.

At 5, began studying under his cousin’s tutor.

 At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.

 At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.

 At 16, entered the College of William and Mary.

 At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.

 At 23, started his own law practice.

 At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

 At 31, wrote the widely circulated “Summary View of the Rights of British America and retired from his law practice.

 At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

 At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence .

 At 33, took three years to revise Virginia ‘s legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for ReligiousFreedom.

 At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia , succeeding Patrick Henry.

 At 40, served in Congress for two years.

 At 41, was the American minister to France , and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.

 At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.

 At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.

 At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions, and became the active head of Republican Party.

 At 57, was elected the third president of the United States .

 At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase , doubling the nation’s size.

 At 61, was elected to a second term as President.

 At 65, retired to Monticello .

 At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.

 At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia , and served as its first president.

 At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, along with John Adams

 Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. 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. A voice from the past to lead us in the future:

 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.”

Related articles

Filed under: Conservative, Government, Society | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

In Pursuit of Reason

Posted on 08/05/2011 by Grumpa Joe

The signature of Thomas Jefferson, 3rd Preside...

Image via Wikipedia

During a recent vacation trip, Grandma Peggy and I visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. The visit is on my list of things to do and see sometimes called a “bucket list.”

We enjoyed every moment of our time there. I love touring mansions, and this house is definitely a mansion. Jefferson spent a lot of his energy and time designing and building Monticello. His ideas for the layout are definitely unique. The level of detail within the rooms is amazing. Jefferson loved science and incorporated many slick little features to make his dream house work for him. For example, the twin doors separating the living area from the main entry hall  has a unique feature. One has only to open a single door, and the matching unit swings open automatically. The right hand door is independently actuated by the one on the left. The mechanism is completely hidden from view. The door opens as if by magic. As we walked up the stairs to the entry, I noticed a dial on the ceiling rotating to and fro. The letters N,S,E,W encircled the dial. Above the porch, on the roof  a weather vane danced with the wind. The dial on the porch ceiling danced in unison. All the man had to do is to look out at his porch ceiling to find which direction the wind came from. Useful? Perhaps, but certainly novel.

During the tour of the house, A peculiar device jumped out at me. We were in his office. There, placed on his writing desk sat a pantograph. The guide explained that Jefferson wrote many letters and made a copy of everything he wrote. The pantograph was his copy machine. SInce he saved copies of his writings, Historians have a trove of material to research.

While in the museum bookstore, search the racks for a biography. Another item on my bucket list is to read the biographies of the presidents. I had started with Jefferson years ago, but the book wasn’t readable. It was one of few I never completed. There were many biographies on the rack. Choosing the right one seemed impossible. Grandma Peggy pulled one down, looked at the price and said, “how about this one?” I took it from her without examining the jacket. The book titled “The pursuit of Reason, The Life of Thomas Jefferson,” by Noble E. Cunningham, Jr. turned into one of my best historical reads.

Cunningham’s style and my reading taste coincided completely. I found reading easy and entertaining. The one negative is that the print is small. Even though the book is three-hundred and fifty pages it took me as long to read as a five-hundred page novel. One of the biggest impressions Cunningham left on me was the parallel between Jefferson’s problems, during his two terms in office as President, with those of current affairs. He served as the third president. Only Washington and Adams served before him, yet one of his major concerns was the effort by the Federalist party to disregard the Constitution. In fact, Jefferson himself had problems adhering rigidly to the Constitution. During his negotiations to buy Louisiana from France, he realized the need for an amendment.  At the same time, he knew an amendment would need two or more years to realize. He feared losing the deal, and took it upon himself  to use the executive power of the office to buy the land extending to the Mississippi.

Jefferson wrestled the slavery issue from the time he authored the Declaration throughout his political career, but in his personal life he owned slaves and did not emancipate them. His daughter inherited the slaves upon his death. He spoke of emancipation often, but always pushed the problem to a younger generation. In other words, he kicked the can down the road. Where have we heard that before?

I am glad I read this book. My respect for Thomas Jefferson increased by one-hundred fold. He is a bigger man than I imagined.

Related articles

Filed under: Book Review, Conservative, Government, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Are “We the People” Going to Stand for That?

Posted on 16/04/2011 by Grumpa Joe

According to my dictionary the word slavery defines a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them. When America rebelled against England  in 1776, slavery was legal. Landowners owned slaves. The founders struggled with the concept of keeping slaves while they defined the concept of “all men are created equal.”  Thomas Jefferson originally had words which included slaves in the Declaration of Independence. The southern colonies would not join the union if the declaration included slaves as equals. A long debate ensued and ultimately, the fathers concluded that a strong union of the thirteen colonies was most essential.  Jefferson wrote the last version of the Declaration of Independence as it stands today. The founders were the first to kick the  problem(slavery) down the road; thus setting a precedent for current congressional leaders to do the same with issues like Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid.

One hundred years later, Abraham Lincoln, founder of the Republican party, finally decided to end the can kicking and abolished slavery. The cost he incurred was huge both in dollars, and in human lives. He believed as did Jefferson (who was reportedly the founder of the Democrat party) that the slaves  must be included in the “all men are created equal,” phrase of the Declaration. Lincoln took a hard stand and signed the Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery in the USA. He chose to do the right thing and not to kick the can down the road.

I suggest that everyone review the Declaration of Independence. I did, and I if I didn’t know it was the Declaration, I would swear the writer described the same issues we face in our country today. The Declaration is a call to arms and gives the rationale for doing so. Today, citizens of the USA are  divided.  Half are on the side of the government (monarchy) while the other believes in the right to govern themselves. In 1774-76 the colonists made ready for armed revolution to take their country from the King of England. Today, we see a Tea Party who believes as the colonists, i.e. we have the right and moral obligation to govern ourselves. Instead of an armed revolution Tea Party people like myself believe in peaceful use of the existing process to win back the country.

Since Lincoln’s time, our leaders in Washington have invented new philosophies for governing. Some say, that it is the role of Government to take care of the people under the “Welfare” clause of the Constitution. There is a Jefferson quote carved in stone at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington that contradicts the philosophy that we are stupid, and need to be cared for;

“I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

Thomas Jefferson believed in man’s ability to think and care for himself. We do not  need another man to  Lord over us.

Thomas Jefferson foresaw that  if left unchecked, the government would rebel against the will of the people and revert to tyranny. He truly believed as did his compatriots, that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . . . .”

Obama’s speech this week to the GWU students clearly signaled his intention to stifle any effort by the people to take back their government and reverse exorbitant and  costly social programs.

Are We the People going to stand for that, or  will we allow him to lead us down the road to big government dependency and ultimately become tax-slaves to feed the monster?

Related Articles

Filed under: Cartoons, Conservative, Election, Government, liberals, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments »

Patriots Weep

Posted on 25/04/2009 by Grumpa Joe

Mount Rushmore Weeps
Where are you headed America?

Filed under: Conservative, economy, Election, family, Government, politics, Society | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

« Previous Page