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Tag: thomas jefferson

  • 1805 Letter Penned by Thomas Jefferson Goes on Sale

    A July 24, 1805 letter written by United States Founding Father and President Thomas Jefferson went on sale for $35,000 in Philadelphia.

    The Raab Collection is handling the transaction, after an anonymous private collector came forth with the one-page historical note, which had never before been seen by the public, or examined by scholars.

    The letter was penned by Jefferson when he was 62, and was sent to his friend and estate manager, regarding the appraisal of the president’s Poplar Forest Plantation in Virginia. The president wanted to commence dividing parts of his acreage to leave to his grandchildren. Jefferson had six children with wife Martha Wayles Skelton, though only two lived into adulthood.

    Raab Collection president Nathan Raab commented, “This important historical discovery shows our nation’s third President as family man, looking to ensure that he would be able to leave something of value to his grandchildren.”

    Jefferson, April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826, was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and served two terms as the third President of the United States between 1801 and 1809. During the American Revolution, Jefferson served as the Governor of Virginia between 1779 and 1781. From 1784 he was a U.S. diplomat stationed in Paris, and in May, 1785, he became the U.S. Minister to France. Jefferson was a polymath who spoke five languages and had a keen interest in science, invention, architecture, religion and philosophy.

    Here is a condensed biography on Jefferson:

    Raab added, “This letter is an important contribution to the historical record. Such discoveries of Thomas Jefferson letters are uncommon particularly when the topic is so important and gives such a rare glimpse into the personal and family lives of people we only know from their public persona.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • 1805 Letter by Thomas Jefferson For Sale: $35,000

    Ever want to own a letter written by Thomas Jefferson? Here’s your chance.

    The Associated Press reported that the Raab Collection of Philadelphia is selling a letter written by the former president for the low, low price of $35,000. Previously, it belonged to an unknown collector, far from the eyes of scholars or the public.

    As published on the Raab Collection’s website, The letter discusses the fate of the Poplar Forest plantation, owned by Jefferson, after his death. Addressed to the plantation’s former overseer, Bowling Clark, Jefferson writes “the time is now approaching when I shall wish to be parceling off some of my lands here to my grandchildren.”

    The Raab Collection calls the letter “a significant find”, since no information has ever been seen before now that suggests Jefferson had any interest in providing for his grandchildren.

    Then again, $35,000 may be a bargain after all. Back in 2011, according to the Examiner, another letter from 1805 was auctioned off by the Nate D. Sanders Auction house in Santa Monica, California for $226,870

    The 1805 letter is only the latest written by Jefferson to be shown off by Raab. Just last week, another letter was tweeted out, from 1809, detailing Jefferson’s relationship with Harvard University:

    According to its website, the Raab Collection was founded by attorney, author, and collector Steven Raab three decades ago as “an outlet for his love of history”. Since then, it has “discovered and carried some of the most important historical documents, advising public and private clients worldwide.”

    The find may be important, but will these letters show up in a miniseries like John Adams? We’ll just have to wait and see.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • David Barton Gets Called Out By Jon Stewart

    David Barton is a “historical reclamationist”, which means he takes things from our nation’s history and “reclaims” them; in other words, changes them around to his liking. He recently wrote a book called The Jefferson Lies: Exposing The Myths You’ve Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson, and went on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart to promote it. What resulted was a very interesting discussion, not only about Jefferson and his beliefs, but about Barton’s claims and the fact that he is not a “historian” in the technical sense of the word.

    Barton said in the interview that one of the biggest misconceptions about Jefferson is that he was an atheist–although some who are versed on the topic say they don’t recall that ever being an issue–and the entire point of his book seems to be geared towards proving Jefferson wasn’t an atheist, but rather approved of the mixture of religion and public life.

    The first part of the interview deals with this subject, but Stewart steers the conversation towards religion and the integration/separation of it and state. As he talks, Barton gets more and more political, which causes some to believe political motivation is the entire reason he does what he does, rather than a genuine interest in history. Stewart calls Barton out several times for going back on previous statements and making false claims, which Barton brushes off.

    The interview is quite long–about 40 minutes–but if you have the time, watch the entire thing.