Thomas Jefferson Quotes
My confidence is that there will for a long time be virtue and good sense enough in our countrymen to correct abuses.
Jefferson, Thomas. "Letter to Edward Rutledge." 18 July 1788. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Julian P. Boyd, vol. 13, Princeton University Press, 1956, p. 378.
There was much anti-war sentiment in 1812. Reacting to anti-war literature in Boston bookstores:
“Societies” were volunteer community associations formed for the purpose of monitoring the public officials and legislatures and recommending things. They would invite speakers and exchange political knowledge. They performed many of the functions that think tanks and local political parties do in modern times, but generally they were totally non-partisan—hence they were “disinterested”.
Dr. Franklin, the oldest delegate, had written his speech but was feeling too weak to present it. The other Pennsylvania delegate, James Wilson, read his speech.
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
