Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia - Annotated Bibliography Example

According to Halliday, Jefferson’s life was full of contradictions. For instance, he wrote that people were created equal yet he owned several slaves. Moreover, he was afraid of mixing races but he fathered children with a black slave.

Brodie, McKay. Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History, W.W. Norton, 1999.Print.
In this text, Jefferson is not considered to be so bad. Barton explained that Jefferson was less thoroughly secular compared to the claim of other advocates of church separation and state. He claims that Jefferson neither wanted to remove all the religious expressions from public squares nor conceive Virginia University as a definitely secular organization of higher learning. The debate this article reveals can help to clarify Jefferson’s phrase, “wall of separation between church and state” and his personal views on religion.

Peterson, Merrill D. The Jefferson Image in the American Mind. Chicago University Press, 2000. Print.
In this text, Peterson reflected on his life by explaining the contradictions he had as his 250th birth anniversary approached. Wilson particularly talked about the enigma on its core that a holder of hundreds of slaves became the most powerful champion of equality in the nation. He further explained that to understand this is to be grateful for the dangers of presentism and troubles that can impede the assessment of the character and motive of history.

Sanford, Charles. The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson, University of Virginia Press, 2007. Print.
In the text, the author argues that Thomas Jefferson, compared to the other American founders, is the most associated with deism, which is the Enlightenment faith in a rational world governed by the law that is created by the supreme architect. According to the author, Jefferson and other statesmen of the revolutionary age expressed common deist sentiments. Peter claims that Jefferson was not covering a gap between enlightened deists and pious Christians in declaring independence. However, he explained that in his spiritual quest, Jefferson was foreseen on the crucial complementarities of science and faith.

Wilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy. W. W. Norton & Company, New York NY., 2008. Print.
This book includes the links to the main online collections of the writings of Jefferson that were made available by the University of Virginia together with other institutions. It also gives the online links of his quotations and other sources of information like bibliographies. Additionally, the article also provides information about Jefferson’s collections that are unavailable online but can be found on library. According to the author, Jefferson was the third president of the United States, he was an author of the Declaration of Independence, was the founder of University of Virginia and a figure of the whole world’s historical importance. The article also states that his writings are considered very important documents for the foundation of American history and the attempt of founders to put in practice the theories related to the 18th century Enlightenment. Finally, it illustrates that his concepts of democracy inspire many individuals today.
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