Does Thomas Jefferson deserved to be considered an american hero??

Question

I always thought he was, but reading American Sphinx by Joseph J. Ellis I'm a bit confused.. any ideas?

Answer 1

Thomas Jefferson was, indeed, an American hero. He wrote the Declaration of Independence, which originally included a condemnation of slavery. From Wallbuilders.com: "Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration included a strong denunciation of slavery, declaring the king's perpetuation of the slave trade and his vetoing of colonial anti-slavery measures as one reason the colonists were declaring their independence:" and wallbuilders.com follows this with a quote from the original draft: "He [King George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere. . . . Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce."

He was the father of the University of Virginia and wrote the statute of Virginia for religious liberty. He made many improvements in farming and designed many things. He was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase (and the Lewis & Clark exploration), and he also stopped the Barbary pirates from kidnapping for ransom and killing Americans and Europeans. There are many, many other things he did.

Answer 2

Not only did Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence, but he included in it a section against slavery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#Differences_between_draft_and_final_versions which, unfortunately, could not have been agreed on by the colonies at that time - or even 100 years later.

Naturally, history has made our "founding fathers" out to be super-heroes, when in fact they were men. Nevertheless, Jefferson seems to be one person who did our country a lot of good and tried to do it even more good. Read the introduction here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_jefferson .

Jim, http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com

Answer 3

Thomas Jefferson deserves to be considered a hero of the United States of America. He was a "rational anarchist" who crafted all our basic civil liberties and protections of our freedoms in the USA.Like anybody else who is scrutinized carefully, especially at the distance of 200+ years, he may be shown to have "feet of clay", but his accomplishments are unchanged by any of his personal actions.

Answer 4

Jefferson is one of the greatest American heroes.

Answer 5

Jefferson was hot. He had an African/American mistress who obviously was way better then his White wife.

Go Tom Go Tom Go Tom

Answer 6

"pass"...Hehehe. i think of the radio character became attempting to stir debate, yet his comments have been specious. a million) i'm unsure what "hobnobbing with elitists" has to do with being a communist. in fact, communism supposedly abhors elitism and, in the process the chinese language "purge" elites & intellectuals have been killed or imprisoned. 2) i'm unsure the place that's been shown Jefferson "distrusted" cities...unsure the way you may desire to mistrust a city. He did oppose a centralized FEDERAL banking equipment (financiers) yet i'm unsure he disliked financiers in and of themselves. in fact, given his propensity to get funds to maintain including to Monticello, he looked as though it could have particularly a relationship with financiers. 3) Jefferson seems to have been a deist and did no longer look to settle for the mythology of prepared faith, yet he additionally known HIS ideals could are turning out to be him persecuted in different international locations and respected the ideals of others so he somewhat did no longer want a state-backed church. although, unlike communists, that did no longer recommend he reported banning faith outright. i'm hoping I got here out of the gate properly adequate in this one :-) playstation .....*blessed_*, wasn't Washington lifeless by the time Jefferson retired? i'm no longer saying he would possibly no longer have been satisfied in "heaven", i'm in basic terms sayin'....

Answer 7

He was a genius and a great help in the formation of our country.

Answer 8

of course he foresaw the disaster of party politics

Answer 9

No. Oprah suits better.

Answer 10

Yes, thought everyone has their bad side. he cheated one his wife and was racist. So, take your pick.