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NEWS ABOUT: Thomas Jefferson

Declaration of Independence Was Illegal

At Philadelphia debate, British team makes the case against nationhood

(Newser) - Teams of British and American lawyers clashed in Philadelphia on Tuesday over the legitimacy of the United States of America. At the debate, sponsored by legal associations from both countries, lawyers for the former colonial power argued that America's Declaration of Independence in 1776 "was not only illegal,... More »

Misquoting Founders Is a Political Epidemic

You can't believe all you read online

(Newser) - Between the current interest in America’s founders and a “willingness to believe” the Internet, political misquotes are flying these days, writes David A. Fahrenthold in the Washington Post . A look over the past two years of C-SPAN and the Congressional Record shows that politicians—including congressmen, senators, and... More »

Jefferson Would've Joined, not Busted, Dancers

'Father of American dance' hailed

(Newser) - Fiddle-playing, freedom-loving Founding Father Thomas Jefferson would not have been happy with the heavy-handed arrest of dancers at the Jefferson Memorial , writes Sarah Kaufman. It's absurd to ban dancing in Jefferson's name because not only was the third president fond of dancing himself, America owes its dance heritage... More »

Thomas Jefferson's Last Books Turn Up in Library

St. Louis' Washington University now holds third-largest collection

(Newser) - About 70 books in the library at Washington University in St. Louis were once pored over by a voracious reader in early America—a guy by the name of Thomas Jefferson, the New York Times reports. The school just learned that the books were part of the last library Jefferson... More »

Sorry, Tea Partiers, You Don't Get All the Founders

Washington, Hamilton would have hated you

(Newser) - The Tea Party loves to claim solidarity with the founding fathers, as though they’d all endorse the current Republican agenda. (Remember this craziness ?) Well, not so fast, says historian Ron Chernow. “The truth is that the disputatious founders—who were revolutionaries, not choir boys—seldom agreed about... More »

'Declaration' Reveals Jefferson Slip-Up

Founding father wrote 'subjects,' then changed to 'citizens'

(AP) - Thomas Jefferson, even in the act of declaring independence from England, had trouble breaking free from monarchical rule. In an early draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote the word "subjects," when he referred to the American public. He then erased that word and replaced it with... More »

Put an Atheist on Supreme Court

(Newser) - President Obama should "absolutely" take into account the religious views of his next nominee for the Supreme Court, but not for the usual reasons, Marc Cooper says. "Clearly, the next person to take the bench should be an atheist," he writes for the Los Angeles Times . Having... More »

Virginia Is for Lovers (of Revisionist History)

States seems content to forget the facts, Collins says

(Newser) - Virginia might not be so much for lovers as for haters, writes Gail Collins—or at least crazy revisionists of history. Gov. Bob McDonnell's celebration of "Confederate History Month," which failed to acknowledge the existence of slavery in its "love affair with all things Confederate," is... More »

Our Sexiest Presidents

Ranking chief executives Nos. 1 through 43

(Newser) - With Valentine’s Day tomorrow and Presidents Day on Monday, Nerve ranks America’s chief executives, from Washington to Obama, on sex appeal. Richard Nixon—“Certainly the least sexy person connected in any way to Deep Throat”—is 43rd and last; here are the top five:
  • Theodore Roosevelt:
... More »

It's Un-American to Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

We aren't medieval subjects serving feudal lords and kings

(Newser) - Americans everywhere ought to applaud 10-year-old Will Phillips, who told his teacher to "go jump off a bridge" after doing what we all should do: criticizing the Pledge of Allegiance. Phillips argued that because gay marriage isn’t legal, there isn’t “liberty and justice for all”—... More »

200-Year-Old Presidential Code Cracked

Mathematician unravels cipher that stumped Jefferson

(Newser) - A code that stumped Thomas Jefferson and other cryptologists for over two centuries has finally been cracked, the Wall Street Journal reports. The cipher—sent to Jefferson in 1801 by mathematician Robert Patterson as an example of the perfect code—piqued the interest of defense cryptologist Lawren Smithline, who tackled... More »

Remember History: Give Pirates No Quarter...

How Jefferson would deal with Somalia

(Newser) - The US can learn from its 18th-century experience with piracy, Michael Oren writes in the Wall Street Journal. America had no Navy in 1785, so when the Barbary Pirates demanded a million-dollar tribute in exchange for free passage through the Mediterranean, America paid. That million dollars represented 10% of the... More »

Jefferson- Hemings History Wins National Book Award

Tome details founding father's slave family

(Newser) - The heart-wrenching and controversial history of Thomas Jefferson's secret family with slave Sally Hemings took the top prize for nonfiction at the National Book Awards last night, USA Today reports. Annette Gordon-Reed became the first African-American woman to win the prize for her detailed exploration of the lives of three... More »

Ranking the Dads-in-Chief

Carter among the best, FDR one of the worst

(Newser) - Enough with debates on Sarah Palin being a mommy and a vice president. A look at the best and worst fathers-in-chief, as compiled by Madeline Holler for Babble, starting with the worst:
  • Thomas Jefferson only acknowledged (the white) half of the "kajillion kids" he had.
  • FDR might have saved
... More »

'The Oracle' Forgot One Thing: We're Greedy

Founding fathers quickly figured out people couldn't be trusted to be selfless

(Newser) - If those who ignore history repeat it, Alan Greenspan must have slept through a few Constitutional history classes. In promoting the risky derivatives market, the former Federal Reserve chairman was depending on individuals' restraint and care for the greater good. But Americans just aren't that altruistic, as the Founding Fathers... More »

Mudslingers Today No Match for Jefferson

Dirty campaigning has always been a feature of American democracy

(Newser) - The 2008 presidential race is getting rough, but the combatants look well-mannered compared to mudslingers of the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was called an “infidel” and an “unbeliever,” while John Adams was accused of possessing a “hideous hermaphroditical character.” Although “everybody always assumes there... More »

The Real Loser at the Pastor Rick-Quisition: America

Warrren's examination of candidates' faith was absolutely un-American

(Newser) - Discussion of whether John McCain or Barack Obama "won" Saturday’s Saddleback inquisition misses the point, Kathleen Parker writes in the Washington Post. When the presidential candidates are publicly interrogated on their beliefs by a minister, even one as exemplary as Rick Warren, the only winner is the minister—... More »

The Gospel According to Jefferson

Founding Father cut and pasted his own personal Bible

(Newser) - Thomas Jefferson cut and pasted together his own New Testament, removing everything he refused to believe—like miracles and the resurrection of Jesus, the Los Angeles Times reports. Dubbed the Jefferson Bible, it reflects his deist belief that God created the universe and let it run on its own. But... More »

Bush Edits Jefferson on Religion

President leaves out phrase condemning 'monkish ignorance'

(Newser) - Thomas Jefferson may be a founding father, but that doesn’t stop President Bush’s speechwriters from editing his words as they see fit, Ed Brayton writes on his blog, Dispatches from the Culture Wars. In a July 4 speech, Bush recited a famous Jefferson quote on “the blessings... More »

A Weekend for 2 Nations to Celebrate

400th anniversary of Quebec City offers chance to reflect: historian

(Newser) - Tomorrow is Independence Day, but north of the border today marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, the first settlement of New France and one of the oldest cities in Canada. David Hackett Fischer, a historian writing in the New York Times, uses the occasion to explore... More »

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