The Road From Monticello

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The Road to Monticello

Author : Kevin J. Hayes
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199758484
Total Pages : 750 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

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Book Synopsis The Road to Monticello by : Kevin J. Hayes

Download or read book The Road to Monticello written by Kevin J. Hayes and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-07-01 with total page 750 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Jefferson was an avid book-collector, a voracious reader, and a gifted writer--a man who prided himself on his knowledge of classical and modern languages and whose marginal annotations include quotations from Euripides, Herodotus, and Milton. And yet there has never been a literary life of our most literary president. In The Road to Monticello, Kevin J. Hayes fills this important gap by offering a lively account of Jefferson's spiritual and intellectual development, focusing on the books and ideas that exerted the most profound influence on him. Moving chronologically through Jefferson's life, Hayes reveals the full range and depth of Jefferson's literary passions, from the popular "small books" sold by traveling chapmen, such as The History of Tom Thumb, which enthralled him as a child; to his lifelong love of Aesop's Fables and Robinson Crusoe; his engagement with Horace, Ovid, Virgil and other writers of classical antiquity; and his deep affinity with the melancholy verse of Ossian, the legendary third-century Gaelic warrior-poet. Drawing on Jefferson's letters, journals, and commonplace books, Hayes offers a wealth of new scholarship on the print culture of colonial America, reveals an intimate portrait of Jefferson's activities beyond the political chamber, and reconstructs the president's investigations in such different fields of knowledge as law, history, philosophy and natural science. Most importantly, Hayes uncovers the ideas and exchanges which informed the thinking of America's first great intellectual and shows how his lifelong pursuit of knowledge culminated in the formation of a public offering, the "academic village" which became UVA, and his more private retreat at Monticello. Gracefully written and painstakingly researched, The Road to Monticello provides an invaluable look at Jefferson's intellectual and literary life, uncovering the roots of some of the most important--and influential--ideas that have informed American history.

Journey Through Hallowed Ground

Author : David Lillard
Publisher : Capital Books
ISBN 13 : 9781933102245
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis Journey Through Hallowed Ground by : David Lillard

Download or read book Journey Through Hallowed Ground written by David Lillard and published by Capital Books. This book was released on 2006 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For history buffs - visit more than 100 historical sites down The Old Carolina Road (US Route 15) from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania through Maryland to Charlottesville, Virginia PLUS where to stay and where to eat along the way.

The Hemingses of Monticello

Author : Annette Gordon-Reed
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393337766
Total Pages : 800 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (933 download)

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Book Synopsis The Hemingses of Monticello by : Annette Gordon-Reed

Download or read book The Hemingses of Monticello written by Annette Gordon-Reed and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2009-08-25 with total page 800 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historian and legal scholar Gordon-Reed presents this epic work that tells the story of the Hemingses, an American slave family and their close blood ties to Thomas Jefferson.

My Monticello

Author : Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
Publisher : Henry Holt and Company
ISBN 13 : 1250807166
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (58 download)

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Book Synopsis My Monticello by : Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

Download or read book My Monticello written by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A badass debut by any measure—nimble, knowing, and electrifying.” —Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Nickel Boys and Harlem Shuffle "...'My Monticello' is, quite simply, an extraordinary debut from a gifted writer with an unflinching view of history and what may come of it." — The Washington Post Winner of the Weatherford Award in Fiction A winner of 2022 Lillian Smith Book Awards A young woman descended from Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings driven from her neighborhood by a white militia. A university professor studying racism by conducting a secret social experiment on his own son. A single mother desperate to buy her first home even as the world hurtles toward catastrophe. Each fighting to survive in America. Tough-minded, vulnerable, and brave, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s precisely imagined debut explores burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging. Set in the near future, the eponymous novella, “My Monticello,” tells of a diverse group of Charlottesville neighbors fleeing violent white supremacists. Led by Da’Naisha, a young Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, they seek refuge in Jefferson’s historic plantation home in a desperate attempt to outlive the long-foretold racial and environmental unravelling within the nation. In “Control Negro,” hailed by Roxane Gay as “one hell of story,” a university professor devotes himself to the study of racism and the development of ACMs (average American Caucasian males) by clinically observing his own son from birth in order to “painstakingly mark the route of this Black child too, one whom I could prove was so strikingly decent and true that America could not find fault in him unless we as a nation had projected it there.” Johnson’s characters all seek out home as a place and an internal state, whether in the form of a Nigerian widower who immigrates to a meager existence in the city of Alexandria, finding himself adrift; a young mixed-race woman who adopts a new tongue and name to escape the landscapes of rural Virginia and her family; or a single mother who seeks salvation through “Buying a House Ahead of the Apocalypse.” United by these characters’ relentless struggles against reality and fate, My Monticello is a formidable book that bears witness to this country’s legacies and announces the arrival of a wildly original new voice in American fiction.

Jefferson and Monticello

Author : Jack Mclaughlin
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780805014631
Total Pages : 496 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (146 download)

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Book Synopsis Jefferson and Monticello by : Jack Mclaughlin

Download or read book Jefferson and Monticello written by Jack Mclaughlin and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 1990-10-15 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, a National Book Award nominee in 1988, is the life of Thomas Jefferson as seen through the prism of his love affair with Monticello. With a sure command of sources and skilled intuituve understanding of Jefferson, McLaughlin crafts and uncommon portrait of this exceptional man--and of daily life in COlonial and Federal America. Line drawings and black-and-white photographs.

Thomas Jefferson at Monticello

Author : Leslie Greene Bowman
Publisher : Rizzoli Publications
ISBN 13 : 0847865223
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (478 download)

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Book Synopsis Thomas Jefferson at Monticello by : Leslie Greene Bowman

Download or read book Thomas Jefferson at Monticello written by Leslie Greene Bowman and published by Rizzoli Publications. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This visually stunning volume explores Monticello, both house and plantation, with texts that present a current assessment of Jefferson’s cultural contributions to his noteworthy home and the fledgling country. Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States, designed his Virginia residence with innovations that were progressive, even unprecedented, in the new world. Six acclaimed arts and cultural luminaries pay homage to Jefferson, citing his work at Monticello as testament to his genius in art, culture, and science, from his adaptation of Palladian architecture, his sweeping vision for landscape design, his experimental gardens, and his passion for French wine and cuisine to his eclectic mix of European and American art and artifacts and the creation of the country’s seminal library. Each writer considers the important role, and the painful reality, of Jefferson’s enslaved workforce, which made his lifestyle and plantation possible. This book, illustrated with superb photography by Miguel Flores-Vianna, is a necessary addition to the libraries of those who love historical architecture and landscape design, art and cultural history, and the lives of prominent Americans.

Flight from Monticello:Thomas Jefferson at War

Author : Michael Kranish
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195374622
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis Flight from Monticello:Thomas Jefferson at War by : Michael Kranish

Download or read book Flight from Monticello:Thomas Jefferson at War written by Michael Kranish and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2010-02-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Thomas Jefferson wrote his epitaph, he listed as his accomplishments his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia statute of religious freedom, and his founding of the University of Virginia. He did not mention his presidency or that he was second governor of the state of Virginia, in the most trying hours of the Revolution. Dumas Malone, author of the epic six-volume biography, wrote that the events of this time explain Jefferson's "character as a man of action in a serious emergency." Joseph Ellis, author of American Sphinx, focuses on other parts of Jefferson's life but wrote that his actions as governor "toughened him on the inside." It is this period, when Jefferson was literally tested under fire, that Michael Kranish illuminates in Flight from Monticello.Filled with vivid, precisely observed scenes, this book is a sweeping narrative of clashing armies--of spies, intrigue, desperate moments, and harrowing battles. The story opens with the first murmurs of resistance to Britain, as the colonies struggled under an onerous tax burden and colonial leaders--including Jefferson--fomented opposition to British rule. Kranish captures the tumultuous outbreak of war, the local politics behind Jefferson's actions in the Continental Congress (and his famous Declaration), and his rise to the governorship. Jefferson's life-long belief in the corrupting influence of a powerful executive led him to advocate for a weak governorship, one that lacked the necessary powers to raise an army. Thus, Virginia was woefully unprepared for the invading British troops who sailed up the James under the direction of a recently turned Benedict Arnold. Facing rag-tag resistance, the British force took the colony with very little trouble. The legislature fled the capital, and Jefferson himself narrowly eluded capture twice.Kranish describes Jefferson's many stumbles as he struggled to respond to the invasion, and along the way, the author paints an intimate portrait of Jefferson, illuminating his quiet conversations, his family turmoil, and his private hours at Monticello. "Jefferson's record was both remarkable and unsatisfactory, filled with contradictions," writes Kranish. As a revolutionary leader who felt he was unqualified to conduct a war, Jefferson never resolved those contradictions--but, as Kranish shows, he did learn lessons during those dark hours that served him all his life.

Monticello in Mind

Author : Lisa Russ Spaar
Publisher : University of Virginia Press
ISBN 13 : 0813939216
Total Pages : 147 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (139 download)

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Book Synopsis Monticello in Mind by : Lisa Russ Spaar

Download or read book Monticello in Mind written by Lisa Russ Spaar and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2016-02-09 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Jefferson was a figure both central and polarizing in his own time, and despite the passage of two centuries he remains so today. Author of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, yet at the same time a slaveholder who likely fathered six children by one of his slaves, Jefferson has been seen as an embodiment of both the best and the worst in America’s conception and in its history. In Monticello in Mind, poet Lisa Russ Spaar collects fifty contemporary poems--most original to this anthology--that engage the complex legacy of Thomas Jefferson and his plantation home at Monticello. Many of these poems wrestle with the history of race and freedom at the heart of both Jefferson’s story and America’s own. Others consider Jefferson as a figure of Enlightenment rationalism, who scrupulously excised evidence of the supernatural from the gospels in order to construct his own version of Jesus’s moral teachings. Still others approach Jefferson as an early colonizer of the West, whose purchase of the Louisiana territory and launch of the Lewis and Clark expedition anticipated the era of Manifest Destiny. Featuring a roster of poets both emerging and established--including Lucille Clifton, Rita Dove, Claudia Emerson, Terrance Hayes, Robert Hass, Yusef Komunyakaa, Tracy K. Smith, Natasha Tretheway, Charles Wright, and Kevin Young--this collection offers an aesthetically and culturally diverse range of perspectives on a man whose paradoxes still abide at the heart of the American experiment.

Jefferson's White House

Author : James B. Conroy
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 153810847X
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (381 download)

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Book Synopsis Jefferson's White House by : James B. Conroy

Download or read book Jefferson's White House written by James B. Conroy and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-10-23 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the first president to occupy the White House for an entire term, Thomas Jefferson shaped the president’s residence, literally and figuratively, more than any of its other occupants. Remarkably enough, however, though many books have immortalized Jefferson’s Monticello, none has been devoted to the vibrant look, feel, and energy of his still more famous and consequential home from 1801 to 1809. In Monticello on the Potomac, James B. Conroy, author of the award-winning Lincoln’s White House offers a vivid, highly readable account of how life was lived in Jefferson’s White House and the young nation’s rustic capital.

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings

Author : Annette Gordon-Reed
Publisher : University of Virginia Press
ISBN 13 : 0813933560
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (139 download)

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Book Synopsis Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings by : Annette Gordon-Reed

Download or read book Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings written by Annette Gordon-Reed and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 1998-03-29 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Annette Gordon-Reed's groundbreaking study was first published, rumors of Thomas Jefferson's sexual involvement with his slave Sally Hemings had circulated for two centuries. Among all aspects of Jefferson's renowned life, it was perhaps the most hotly contested topic. The publication of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings intensified this debate by identifying glaring inconsistencies in many noted scholars' evaluations of the existing evidence. In this study, Gordon-Reed assembles a fascinating and convincing argument: not that the alleged thirty-eight-year liaison necessarily took place but rather that the evidence for its taking place has been denied a fair hearing. Friends of Jefferson sought to debunk the Hemings story as early as 1800, and most subsequent historians and biographers followed suit, finding the affair unthinkable based upon their view of Jefferson's life, character, and beliefs. Gordon-Reed responds to these critics by pointing out numerous errors and prejudices in their writings, ranging from inaccurate citations, to impossible time lines, to virtual exclusions of evidence—especially evidence concerning the Hemings family. She demonstrates how these scholars may have been misguided by their own biases and may even have tailored evidence to serve and preserve their opinions of Jefferson. This updated edition of the book also includes an afterword in which the author comments on the DNA study that provided further evidence of a Jefferson and Hemings liaison. Possessing both a layperson's unfettered curiosity and a lawyer's logical mind, Annette Gordon-Reed writes with a style and compassion that are irresistible. Each chapter revolves around a key figure in the Hemings drama, and the resulting portraits are engrossing and very personal. Gordon-Reed also brings a keen intuitive sense of the psychological complexities of human relationships—relationships that, in the real world, often develop regardless of status or race. The most compelling element of all, however, is her extensive and careful research, which often allows the evidence to speak for itself. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy is the definitive look at a centuries-old question that should fascinate general readers and historians alike.

"Those who Labor for My Happiness"

Author : Lucia C. Stanton
Publisher : University of Virginia Press
ISBN 13 : 0813932238
Total Pages : 440 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (139 download)

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Book Synopsis "Those who Labor for My Happiness" by : Lucia C. Stanton

Download or read book "Those who Labor for My Happiness" written by Lucia C. Stanton and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our perception of life at Monticello has changed dramatically over the past quarter century. The image of an estate presided over by a benevolent Thomas Jefferson has given way to a more complex view of Monticello as a working plantation, the success of which was made possible by the work of slaves. At the center of this transition has been the work of Lucia "Cinder" Stanton, recognized as the leading interpreter of Jefferson's life as a planter and master and of the lives of his slaves and their descendants. This volume represents the first attempt to pull together Stanton's most important writings on slavery at Monticello and beyond. Stanton's pioneering work deepened our understanding of Jefferson without demonizing him. But perhaps even more important is the light her writings have shed on the lives of the slaves at Monticello. Her detailed reconstruction for modern readers of slaves' lives vividly reveals their active roles in the creation of Monticello and a dynamic community previously unimagined. The essays collected here address a rich variety of topics, from family histories (including the Hemingses) to the temporary slave community at Jefferson's White House to stories of former slaves' lives after Monticello. Each piece is characterized by Stanton's deep knowledge of her subject and by her determination to do justice to both Jefferson and his slaves. Published in association with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

Twilight at Monticello

Author : Alan Pell Crawford
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 1588368386
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (883 download)

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Book Synopsis Twilight at Monticello by : Alan Pell Crawford

Download or read book Twilight at Monticello written by Alan Pell Crawford and published by Random House. This book was released on 2008-11-19 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twilight at Monticello is something entirely new: an unprecedented and engrossing personal look at the intimate Jefferson in his final years that will change the way readers think about this true American icon. It was during these years–from his return to Monticello in 1809 after two terms as president until his death in 1826–that Jefferson’s idealism would be most severely, and heartbreakingly, tested. Based on new research and documents culled from the Library of Congress, the Virginia Historical Society, and other special collections, including hitherto unexamined letters from family, friends, and Monticello neighbors, Alan Pell Crawford paints an authoritative and deeply moving portrait of Thomas Jefferson as private citizen–the first original depiction of the man in more than a generation.

Master of the Mountain

Author : Henry Wiencek
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 1466827785
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (668 download)

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Book Synopsis Master of the Mountain by : Henry Wiencek

Download or read book Master of the Mountain written by Henry Wiencek and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2012-10-16 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is there anything new to say about Thomas Jefferson and slavery? The answer is a resounding yes. Master of the Mountain, Henry Wiencek's eloquent, persuasive book—based on new information coming from archaeological work at Monticello and on hitherto overlooked or disregarded evidence in Jefferson's papers—opens up a huge, poorly understood dimension of Jefferson's world. We must, Wiencek suggests, follow the money. So far, historians have offered only easy irony or paradox to explain this extraordinary Founding Father who was an emancipationist in his youth and then recoiled from his own inspiring rhetoric and equivocated about slavery; who enjoyed his renown as a revolutionary leader yet kept some of his own children as slaves. But Wiencek's Jefferson is a man of business and public affairs who makes a success of his debt-ridden plantation thanks to what he calls the "silent profits" gained from his slaves—and thanks to a skewed moral universe that he and thousands of others readily inhabited. We see Jefferson taking out a slave-equity line of credit with a Dutch bank to finance the building of Monticello and deftly creating smoke screens when visitors are dismayed by his apparent endorsement of a system they thought he'd vowed to overturn. It is not a pretty story. Slave boys are whipped to make them work in the nail factory at Monticello that pays Jefferson's grocery bills. Parents are divided from children—in his ledgers they are recast as money—while he composes theories that obscure the dynamics of what some of his friends call "a vile commerce." Many people of Jefferson's time saw a catastrophe coming and tried to stop it, but not Jefferson. The pursuit of happiness had been badly distorted, and an oligarchy was getting very rich. Is this the quintessential American story?

Sally of Monticello

Author : N. M. Ledgin
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781479132416
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (324 download)

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Book Synopsis Sally of Monticello by : N. M. Ledgin

Download or read book Sally of Monticello written by N. M. Ledgin and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2012-09-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teenaged Sally Hemings, mixed-race slave and sister-in-law to widower Thomas Jefferson, captured his heart while serving his daughters in Paris where he was U.S. Minister. It was there a 38-year relationship began.The historical novel, Sally of Monticello: Founding Mother, by Jefferson lecturer N.M. Ledgin, portrays a bright, assertive woman. She resolved his "inner conflict," according to historian Winthrop D. Jordan, by ridding him of "high tension concerning women and Negroes." Ledgin based the novel's timeline on Jefferson's precise recordkeeping and collection of letters.Controversy over the affair and over recent DNA findings continues to fuel books and articles. Sally decided voluntarily to return with Jefferson from slavery-free France to Virginia. They had several children who went free, and they left a mixed-race legacy now woven into the fabric of the nation.This novel is an illuminating take on history. It is filled with emotion and adventure in the voice of a self-educated, sacrificing woman, whose passionate love and devotion helped guide one of our founding fathers.

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 8

Author : Thomas Jefferson
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 140084004X
Total Pages : 833 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 8 by : Thomas Jefferson

Download or read book The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, Volume 8 written by Thomas Jefferson and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-29 with total page 833 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume Eight of the project documenting Thomas Jefferson's last years presents 591 documents dated from 1 October 1814 to 31 August 1815. Jefferson is overjoyed by American victories late in the War of 1812 and highly interested in the treaty negotiations that ultimately end the conflict. Following Congress's decision to purchase his library, he oversees the counting, packing, and transportation of his books to Washington. Jefferson uses most of the funds from the sale to pay old debts but spends some of the proceeds on new titles. He resigns from the presidency of the American Philosophical Society, revises draft chapters of Louis H. Girardin's history of Virginia, and advises William Wirt on revolutionary-era Stamp Act resolutions. Jefferson criticizes those who discuss politics from the pulpit, and he drafts a bill to transform the Albemarle Academy into Central College. Monticello visitors Francis W. Gilmer, Francis C. Gray, and George Ticknor describe the mountaintop and its inhabitants, and Gray's visit leads to an exchange with Jefferson about how many generations of white interbreeding it takes to clear Negro blood. Finally, although death takes his nephew Peter Carr and brother Randolph Jefferson, the marriage of his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph is a continuing source of great happiness. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

George Washington: A Life in Books

Author : Kevin J. Hayes
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190456698
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (94 download)

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Book Synopsis George Washington: A Life in Books by : Kevin J. Hayes

Download or read book George Washington: A Life in Books written by Kevin J. Hayes and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-03 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When it comes to the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton are generally considered the great minds of early America. George Washington, instead, is toasted with accolades regarding his solid common sense and strength in battle. Indeed, John Adams once snobbishly dismissed him as "too illiterate, unlearned, unread for his station and reputation." Yet Adams, as well as the majority of the men who knew Washington in his life, were unaware of his singular devotion to self-improvement. Based on a comprehensive amount of research at the Library of Congress, the collections at Mount Vernon, and rare book archives scattered across the country, Kevin J. Hayes corrects this misconception and reconstructs in vivid detail the active intellectual life that has gone largely unnoticed in conventional narratives of Washington. Despite being a lifelong reader, Washington felt an acute sense of embarrassment about his relative lack of formal education and cultural sophistication, and in this sparkling literary biography, Hayes illustrates just how tirelessly Washington worked to improve. Beginning with the primers, forgotten periodicals, conduct books, and classic eighteenth-century novels such as Tom Jones that shaped Washington's early life, Hayes studies Washington's letters and journals, charting the many ways the books of his upbringing affected decisions before and during the Revolutionary War. The final section of the book covers the voluminous reading that occurred during Washington's presidency and his retirement at Mount Vernon. Throughout, Hayes examines Washington's writing as well as his reading, from The Journal of Major George Washington through his Farewell Address. The sheer breadth of titles under review here allow readers to glimpse Washington's views on foreign policy, economics, the law, art, slavery, marriage, and religion-and how those views shaped the young nation.. Ultimately, this sharply written biography offers a fresh perspective on America's Father, uncovering the ideas that shaped his intellectual journey and, subsequently, the development of America.

Martha Jefferson Randolph, Daughter of Monticello

Author : Cynthia A. Kierner
Publisher : Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN 13 : 080788250X
Total Pages : 371 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (78 download)

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Book Synopsis Martha Jefferson Randolph, Daughter of Monticello by : Cynthia A. Kierner

Download or read book Martha Jefferson Randolph, Daughter of Monticello written by Cynthia A. Kierner and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2012-05-14 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the oldest and favorite daughter of Thomas Jefferson, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph (1772-1836) was extremely well educated, traveled in the circles of presidents and aristocrats, and was known on two continents for her particular grace and sincerity. Yet, as mistress of a large household, she was not spared the tedium, frustration, and great sorrow that most women of her time faced. Though Patsy's name is familiar because of her famous father, Cynthia Kierner is the first historian to place Patsy at the center of her own story, taking readers into the largely ignored private spaces of the founding era. Randolph's life story reveals the privileges and limits of celebrity and shows that women were able to venture beyond their domestic roles in surprising ways. Following her mother's death, Patsy lived in Paris with her father and later served as hostess at the President's House and at Monticello. Her marriage to Thomas Mann Randolph, a member of Congress and governor of Virginia, was often troubled. She and her eleven children lived mostly at Monticello, greeting famous guests and debating issues ranging from a woman's place to slavery, religion, and democracy. And later, after her family's financial ruin, Patsy became a fixture in Washington society during Andrew Jackson's presidency. In this extraordinary biography, Kierner offers a unique look at American history from the perspective of this intelligent, tactfully assertive woman.