Great Americans: Thomas Jefferson (1980)

e [Music] Mr Jefferson Mr edin Right Jr to see you sir thank you Charles send him in Please Mr Jefferson oh yes of course I am Edmund Wright Jr publisher of the independent Chronicle and Boston Patriot independent Chronicles and Boston Patriot the papers merged 8 years ago your paper has a fine reputation in the Republican press Mr wri I can remember when John Hancock and Samuel Adams contributed to the independent Chronicle in 1776 but then that was a little before your time oh yes I'm afraid so oh John Adams and I are the only founding fathers left I was writing him just now as a matter of fact oh I hope I'm not disturbing you I can come back later on that's nonsense Adams writes me so often I can't begin to keep up with him well it is indeed an honor to meet you in person Mr Jefferson I was thinking it would be unique to come here and visit you and then to take back to my paper your personal story this being the 50th anniversary of the birth of this great country yes that is a rather novel idea but I never dreamed Montello to be so large you built it yourself didn't you Mr yes and the building is still going on it's a lifelong passion of I can remember being told I was crazy for building so near the summit then I wanted the view and the feeling of wilderness from up here it is spectacular and this library of yours is so extensive yes it's my third Library really I had no idea I sold my last collection of books to the government to form the main body of the Library of Congress well that is wonderful I can still remember the first first Library I studied in M of the Reverend James Mari I was 15 at the time his library of 400 books was the most I'd ever seen in one place my school Chum used to tease me because I always had a book in my hand but then as I've always said Mr wri knowledge is power it most certainly is is there anything in particular that your paper would like to know about me well there are a few notes that my editor and I put together before I I left uh would you mind yes uh of course you've come a long way well let's see ah yes how did you get so heavily involved in politics well I suppose it was an outgrowth of my education you see I studied law at William and Mary at Williamsburg my association with the aristocracy there led to my first appointment with the colonial legislature and then I wrote my first major essay in titled it's been a long while Mr wri oh yes a summary view of the rights of British America it proved I had pretty good logic and writing ability so when delegates were selected to represent Virginia in their second continental congress I was elected to go and that's what this Jubilee year is all about 50 years ago you wrote the Declaration of Independence you couldn't have been very old no as a matter of fact I was one of the youngest members of the Congress only 32 years old that is remarkable would you mind telling me how it all happened well a committee was appointed with five men Benjamin Franklin John Adams Robert Livingston Roger Sherman and I served as chairman when I asked John Adams to write the document he refused saying I could write much better than he so I consented Adams and Franklin made only a few edits but Congress made several changes I squirmed under the ordeal and I remember Franklin saying he made it a rule whenever in his power to avoid becoming the draftsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body but the document survived and on the evening of July 4th in 1776 the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed and what an impact it's had the document is truly a monument to human Liberty thank you Mr rice did you use any sources when writing it well the ideas of the Declaration of Independence were not necessarily new ideas or original I felt it my responsibility to write an expression of the American mind to give it the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion the thing unique about the situation was that this was the first time such ideas set forth in a document were to be acted upon by an entire nation what did you do during the revolution well Washington was fighting on the battlefield I was fighting for freedom in another way instead of artillery I used the pen as my ammunition let me show you something in October of 1776 I returned to the Virginia legislature and started a comprehensive reform of all of its laws and institutions my bill for land distribution discouraged property from falling into the hands of a few aristocrats the educational system I proposed created lower schools providing providing education for the entire population and then I wrote a law for Religious Freedom allowing separation of church and state giving man his freedom of religion without fear of persecution but you certainly aren't an atheist are you Mr Jefferson on the contrary Mr wri I'm a student of the scriptures I've even written an analysis of the Bible you're a man of many talents and interests Mr Jefferson well thank you Mr R what did you do after Independence was won I represented our country in France after I was there for several months I replaced Benjamin Franklin as United States minister to France or life in the French society was very enjoyable but it was difficult for me to understand how so good a people with so good a king could create a government causing so much human Misery the climate of revolt was in the air but the French Revolution would turn out to be much different than the American Revolution I returned home to a country with a new Constitution and a new President George Washington asked me to be in his cabinet and I served as Secretary of State there were no political parties at the time and President Washington wanted to include all opinions in his cabinet but unfortunately Alexander Hamilton who was Secretary of the Treasury didn't agree with me on a single issue how soon did you realize that you and Hamilton couldn't work together very soon I didn't trust Hamilton or the Federalists I believed he wanted to create a government that would favor the rich the Federalists accused you of favoring the French when the Federalists under President Adams threatened to go to war against France I opposed them and then I believed some of the measures they had adopted such as the alien and Sedition Acts threatened America's basic Liberties so I was pleased when my friends formed the second party the Republicans and asked me to be the candidate for president what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment as president probably the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 this would make land available to Farmers for generations to come I was anxious to find out about the land that would double the size of the country so I immediately sent out the exploration party of Lewis and Clark they returned with stories and artifacts that prove to me that this land is as fantastic as I imagine it is my hope that this nation will continue to expand B creating an Empire of more free and equal States until it shall fill the entire continent do you think all men will ever be free and equal what about the Negro Mr Jefferson many people in the north are upset about slavery during the revolution you were an eloquent spokesman for abolishing slavery and in the 1780s you helped keep it out of the Northwest but lately you seem to support its extension across the Mississippi I wish I had an answer for you but I don't I do think slavery is wrong and as president I help to Outlaw the slave trade but I could not continue to live here at monachello without slaves and I find it difficult to see how the black man can fit into our society I continue to hope that future Generations will find a way to end slavery but in my old age I have decided to work on a project I could do something about so for the past several years I've been working to build a university is it that handsome structure I saw on the way here it most certainly is the University of Virginia has become a reality it has always been my theory that we must qualify the citizens to understand their rights and maintain them if a nation expects to be ignorant and to be free also it expects what never was and never will be you know Mr Wright I think we will yet form an aristocracy of talents would you care to go riding with me get a closer view of the campus well I don't know well you look as if you could use a bit of exercise Mr rites I go riding every day now on our way down the mountain I can show you some of my experimentations in the field a scientific new method of crop rotation that will be interesting and when we return I will show you a few of my household inventions that will be Splendid your readers in Boston will get a view of Thomas Jefferson theyve never known before [Music] la of [Music]