Episodes
Jefferson Part I — Early Life and Virginia
Shadwell to the Declaration: the education, the rough draft, and the Virginia reforms.
Jefferson Part II — Paris and the Presidency
The French years, the first opposition party, Louisiana, and the documents of power.
Jefferson Part III — Retirement and the Final Record
Monticello, the Adams correspondence, the University, and July 4, 1826.
From the Record
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Thomas Jefferson · Declaration of Independence · July 4, 1776 · National Archives
Key Documents in the Archive
The Rough Draught of the Declaration — with the deleted slave trade passage
Library of Congress
The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom · 1786
Yale Avalon Project
Letter to the Danbury Baptists · January 1, 1802
Library of Congress
Monticello Research — Jefferson Papers and Spurious Quotations
Monticello · Thomas Jefferson Foundation
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The Full Archive →
52 episodes, 347 primary documents, 30 founders — browse by founder or topic.