On Monday April 13th is Thomas Jefferson's birthday. I know we have many freedom loving individuals on this forum. So, I thought it might be neat to do something on Monday in our own way to remind people we meet to tell them that it is Tom Jefferson's birthday. It is sad but most people don't have a clue how much he meant to our country. He was not perfect but as he has said in his writings that the only perfection in the world is God Almighty. Personally I am going to fly the flag at home and hand out little flags that I have. I intention is not political but to remind my fellow citizens as Mr. Jefferson said, " the dirty little secret about freedom, is that you are on your own." Marty
When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson 3rd president of US (1743 - 1826) "Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not." Thomas Jefferson
Nice tid bit. Jefferson has a lot to do with our American history but he is less recognized than the others of his time. I've been to his home, he was quite the architect.
Thomas Jefferson was truly a great man - he , Ben Franklin and John Adams where probably the 3 whom we owe the most to as te great thinkers who established a lot of the concepts this country is founded on (+ GeorgeW. leading the fight)... However, he never said either one of those lines: http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/spurious-quotations there are lots of of quotes floating around the internet like this, attributed to founding fathers who never spoke them, else else taken radically out of context - like the Ben Franklin "He who would give up liberty for temporary safety"' line, which was acutally from the the time of the French and Indian complaining about colonial assemblies allowing the British army to set up frontier outposts to protect from Indian raids.
It's hard to truly know what the founding Fathers really DID say, sometimes.....but one things for certain.....if any of them was able to see the current state of our country they'd probably be quite upset at many things, on both sides of the debate. We went to war with England over a tax on tea.....look at what's taxed now!! Almost every single thing in your life! So, to stay "politically neutral", I will stop there..... One thongs for sure, he was a big part of our country coming to fruition, and I'll honor him on his birthday.
What frustrates me, is that I see often... and in the sake of fairness I am sure its done by people of all political slants... quotes attributed to the founding fathers presented out of context or even made up to associate one political position or another with said founding fathers in order to shut down opposing views. The thing that I find interesting however, is that the more you read of these great men, the more you realize that they are all very complex personalities, whom at times contradicted themselves. Take Jefferson... in many of his writings he was a staunch opponent of slavery and champion of equal rights for all; but yet owned over 200 slaves and never freed them. George Washington - leader of our fight for independence and most willing to stand up and take arms to defend his beliefs that a people can stand up and make their own country, yet what was one of his first act as president? - putting down the Whiskey rebellion (interestingly a rebellion over taxes, sound familiar?) by raising an army. Then you have John Adams, one of the earliest advocates for independence, and what did he do in his first term as president? instituted laws such as the Alien and Sedition Acts to suppress opposition to his own federalist party and strengthen central government control. The point being, that as much as we like to think the revolution was a time of great clarity and the founding fathers where perfect men fighting the good fight against old evil king George.... the fact was that it was a time of complex issues and hard to solve problems that we might not find all that unfamiliar. We look at the divisiveness in congress and think the founding fathers would turn over in their grave, forgetting that the time of the revolution and early years of this country where one in which actual fist fights broke out on the floor of congress and political disagreements where sometimes solved in a pistol duel! Far from making their accomplishment any less, I believe that understanding the true nature of these complex men and the complex time they lived through only serves to increase my respect and admiration for what they have accomplished. I believe if they could see the situation in this country today they might be frustrated, but at the same time thankful that they had the foresight to do things such as make the Constitution a living document that could evolve with changing times. Ive read a number of books about the revolution and early America, and call me crazy but of late Ive had a thought to actually pick up and read some of their original writings like the Federalst papers, to get the chance to cut through all the interpretations and see what these men really though first hand. In closing I shall say: Mr. Jefferson Mr. Washington both Mr. Adams Mr. Franklin Mr. Hamilton Mr. Monroe Mr. Hancock Mr. Jay Mr. Livingston Mr. Sherman and so on... I salute you all, and thank you for creating this greatest nation on earth that we are all lucky to call our home. Even if we dont always agree how to run it.
jharkin, Well said. I can see you are a student of history, as I am. Reading of the Federalist Papers is a chore but after awhile it will engulf you. Do it!! You will not regret it. My brother is a History Professor. He and I chat on Sunday nights so I will ask if he has any suggestions for readings regarding Jefferson. I believe David McCollugh from PBS - American Experience was thinking of doing a book on the founding fathers. I'll let you know 'The Professor's" recommendations.
Thanks Marty, I would look forward to those book recommendations. I love history in general, and my wife has always been interested in early America and the period has grown in my interest in the years we have lived in this old house. We have the star spangled banner flag flying out front today (the 15 star/15 stripe flag 1795-1818) which we fly often as its the appropriate time period to the house. Happens to be the flag that flew during Jefferson term as well
jharkin, The professor said he would like to think about recommendations and will get them to me shortly. I really like the touch of the 1795/1818 flag. I have got to locate one of those, what a conversation starter. Although, I must say three neighbors did ask why I was flying the flag today. The perfect lead in to the a good discussion. I couldn't tell if one of them was upset with me. The other two thought it was neat.
I got my flags here, I also have the 13 star. They have every single official US flag plus lots of other historical ones in various sizes http://www.usflagdepot.com/store/page8.html
I'm a big fan of Jefferson myself. As some of you may have noticed my signature includes my favorite Jefferson quote and it happens to be one of the lesser known quotes. My avatar is of another great American, Barry G. Have any of you ever been to Monticello in VA? I went with the wife a while back. It's a beautiful place and you can learn alot about Jefferson there. he was fiercly intellectually inquisitive.
Too bad Jefferson and a few of his colleagues couldn't return in time for the next election................
YUP......instead we'll just have another election where the choices are brown colored poo and green colored poo.........
