If there be any among us how would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.

—Thomas Jefferson, March, 1800

As much as any man in history, Thomas Jefferson believed in the power of reason. The tutored human intellect, he felt, was capable of addressing life's challenges so as to provide the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Yet he understood, as he expressed in his famous dialogue between head and heart, that there is indeed more to life than mere reason can understand. His influence on American thought is profound.

Summaries

US Democracy 1800
America & Napoleon
President Madison
War of 1812
Era of Good Feelings
American Economy
US Democracy 1828
Jefferson's Writings

Jefferson and John Adams—co-conspirators of the American Revolution, later bitter political enemies, and finally old friends—died on the same day, July 4, 1826, one of history's most remarkable coincidences. On his death bed Adams is supposed to have said, “Jefferson lives.” Adams was wrong in the particular, for Jefferson had died hours before, but in the larger sense Adams was correct, for Jefferson still lives in the minds of anyone who cherishes liberty. His famous words are a constant reminder of the need to guard and protect our freedoms.

Jefferson' America gave way to Jacksonian Democracy in 1828.