Thomas
Jefferson
This
is amazing. There are two parts. Be sure to read the 2nd
part (in
RED).
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 Religious
Freedom.
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."
"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."
"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."
"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 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."
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