184251Editorial Note: The Virginia Constitution (Jefferson Papers)
The three drafts of Jefferson’s proposed bill outlining the “fundamental constitutions of...
184252Editorial Note: The Declaration of Independence (Jefferson Papers)
A full analysis of the many textual changes made in the Declaration of Independence from the time...
184253Editorial Note: Notes and Proceedings on Discontinuing the Establishment of the Church of England (Jefferson Papers)
The importance of Jefferson’s legislative activity in 1776 in behalf of religious tolerance and...
184254Editorial Note: Bills for Dividing Fincastle County (Jefferson Papers)
The involved and at times impenetrable legislative history of these two Bills requires special...
184255Editorial Note: Drafts of Bills Establishing Courts of Justice (Jefferson Papers)
The remodeling of the judiciary was among Jefferson’s first objects as he embarked in Oct. 1776...
184256Editorial Note: The Petition of Thomas Johnson (Jefferson Papers)
The documents brought together in this grouping require special comment. The issue with which...
184257Editorial Note: Notes and Documents relating to the Transylvania and Other Claims for Lands under Purchases from the … (Jefferson Papers)
The documents here presented, together with many others in Jefferson’s papers concerning land...
184258Editorial Note: Bills for Establishing a Land Office and for Adjusting and Settling Titles (Jefferson Papers)
These two Bills, despite the attention they have received from careful historians, remain a...
184259Editorial Note: Revisal of the Laws 1776–1786 (Jefferson Papers)
It is an extremely difficult task to bring into proper focus, to say nothing of fully...
184260Editorial Note: Notes and Documents Relating to the British Invasions in 1781 (Jefferson Papers)
The documents here gathered together, though covering a long span of time, are so gathered and...
184261Editorial Note: The Case of Mace Freeland (Jefferson Papers)
This case, along with others that came to him during 1782, reveals Jefferson as turning seriously...
184262Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Contemplated Mission to Europe (Jefferson Papers)
The documents here grouped together have no special unity beyond the fact that all of them relate...
184263Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Proposed Revision of the Virginia Constitution (Jefferson Papers)
When Jefferson stopped off in Richmond in May on his way back to Monticello, his discussions with...
184264Editorial Note: Documents Concerning the Residence of Congress (Jefferson Papers)
Except for Document iii in this series, all of the notes and memoranda pertaining to the...
184265Editorial Note: George Washington’s Resignation as Commander-in-Chief (Jefferson Papers)
Washington’s surrender of his commission at a formal audience granted by Congress was a symbolic...
184266Editorial Note: The Connecticut-Pennsylvania Territorial Dispute (Jefferson Papers)
The far-reaching dispute between Connecticut and Pennsylvania over their conflicting charter...
184267Editorial Note: Report on the Powers of the Committee of the States (Jefferson Papers)
In his Autobiography Jefferson gave the following account of the steps leading to the creation of...
184268Editorial Note: The Virginia Cession of Territory Northwest of the Ohio (Jefferson Papers)
With the acceptance by Congress of the Virginia cession on 1 Mch. 1784, the national domain came...
184269Editorial Note: Plan for Government of the Western Territory (Jefferson Papers)
On 1 Mch. 1784, immediately after the acceptance of the Virginia Deed of Cession, Jefferson...
184270Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Notes on Coinage (Jefferson Papers)
Since Jefferson’s proposals concerning coinage in 1784 were in part inspired by a desire to...
184271Editorial Note: To G. K. van Hogendorp, with Papers (Jefferson Papers)
The papers that Hogendorp left with Jefferson when he departed from Annapolis for a visit to...
184272Editorial Note: Notes on Commerce of the Northern States (Jefferson Papers)
Among Jefferson’s well-ordered archives at Monticello was one category labeled “Rough draughts,...
184273Editorial Note: Jefferson’s “General Form” of a Treaty (Jefferson Papers)
“I am now to take my leave of the justlings of states,” Jefferson wrote Madison on the day he was...
184274Editorial Note: Documents Pertaining to the Mission of Barclay and Lamb to the Barbary States (Jefferson Papers)
The documents in this group were prepared by Adams and Jefferson during September and early...
184275Editorial Note: Negotiations for a Treaty of Amity and Commerce with Portugal (Jefferson Papers)
The articles of the proposed treaty with Portugal were drawn up, as Jefferson later declared,...
184276Editorial Note: The Article on the United States in the Encyclopédie Méthodique (Jefferson Papers)
On 25 Oct. 1786 William Short wrote to William Nelson: “You speak of the Encyclopedia. It will be...
184277Editorial Note: Polytype and Other Methods of Printing (Jefferson Papers)
New discoveries and inventions in the arts and sciences had a powerful appeal for Jefferson...
184278Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Comments on François Soulés’ Histoire (Jefferson Papers)
The assistance that Jefferson gave to the French historian François Soulés (1748–1809) was...
184279Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Proposed Concert of Powers against the Barbary States (Jefferson Papers)
This remarkable proposal, which ran counter to the realities of 18th century political and...
184280Editorial Note: Documents on the American Tobacco Trade (Jefferson Papers)
The documents in this group reveal what a powerful ally Jefferson had in Simon Bérard and the...
184281Editorial Note: Further Documents Concerning American Trade (Jefferson Papers)
The preceding letter and the following documents present further aspects of the thoroughgoing...
184282Editorial Note: The Consular Convention of 1788 (Jefferson Papers)
The Consular Convention of 1788 was the last of nine treaties to be signed by authority of the...
184283Editorial Note: Proposals for Funding the Foreign Debt (Jefferson Papers)
The documents here presented are a part of the neglected story of Jefferson’s insistent appeals...
184284Editorial Note: Documents Concerning the Whale Fishery (Jefferson Papers)
Jefferson’s review of the American whale fishery as a political institution is a classic example...
184285Editorial Note: The Mirabeau Incident (Jefferson Papers)
More than once Jefferson expressed, with obvious sincerity, the same characteristic feeling that...
184286Houdon: Proposal I (Jefferson Papers)
Mr. Houdon requires for the execution of an Equastrian Statue of General Washington in Bronze the...
184287James Madison to Wilson Cary Nicholas, 2 August 1789 (Jefferson Papers)
Note: The letter from James Madison of 2 August 1789, published in Volume 15 of the letterpress...
184288Editorial Note: The Earth Belongs in Usufruct to the Living (Jefferson Papers)
Sometime during the first week in September, Jefferson suffered an incapacitating illness of six...
184289Editorial Note: Documents on the Rice Trade (Jefferson Papers)
When Jefferson wrote Washington a conditional letter of acceptance of the office of secretary of...
184290Editorial Note: The Debt to Farell & Jones and the Slave Ship The Prince of Wales (Jefferson Papers)
Most of the documents presented in this group were discovered recently among the Ended Cases of...
184291Editorial Note: Notes on American Medals Struck in France (Jefferson Papers)
Among the several attributes of sovereignty that Congress assumed during the period of...
184292Madison on “The Earth Belongs to the Living” (Jefferson Papers)
I. TEXT AS RECEIVED BY JEFFERSON, 1790 II. TEXT AS REVISED BY MADISON LATE IN LIFE EDITORIAL NOTE...
184293Editorial Note: The Holy Cause of Freedom (Jefferson Papers)
It is surprising that, except for contemporary newspaper publication, the text of this lofty...
184294Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Alliance in 1790 with Fenno’s Gazette of the United States (Jefferson Papers)
In the summer of 1790 Washington told the Comte de Rochambeau that Americans had learned to...
184295Editorial Note: Report on Copper Coinage (Jefferson Papers)
On Wednesday, 7 Apr. 1790, a “member from South Carolina presented to the House a letter...
184296Editorial Note: Jefferson’s Policy Concerning Presents to Foreign Diplomats (Jefferson Papers)
Soon after taking office, Jefferson was obliged to address himself to the task of terminating...
184297Editorial Note: Cabinet Opinions on the Resolutions Concerning Arrearages in Soldiers’ Pay (Jefferson Papers)
This, as Alexander Hamilton stated, was “a case of inconsiderable magnitude.” In respect to the...
184298Editorial Note: Documents on American Commercial Policy (Jefferson Papers)
The documents printed below were employed by Jefferson and Madison in a renewal of the bitter...
184299Editorial Note: Report on Weights and Measures (Jefferson Papers)
Jefferson’s report on weights and measures is an almost perfect embodiment of his dual allegiance...
184300Editorial Note: The War Crisis of 1790 (Jefferson Papers)
On 1 May 1790 Gouverneur Morris reported to Washington his most recent discussion with the...