Letters of Thomas Jefferson



Letter Index
1760
to
1775
  • A Youth of Sixteen,
    John Harvie, Jan 60
  • Old coke and young ladies,
    John Page, Dec 62
  • A Visit to Annapolis,
    John Page, May 66
  • The Study of Law,
    Thomas Turpin, Feb 69
  • A Gentleman’s Library,
    Robert Skip, Aug 71
  • The Subline Ossian,
    Charles McPherson, Feb 73
  • News From Boston,
    William Small, May 75
  • Reconciliation of Independence,
    John Randolph, Aug 75
1776
to
1779
  • Saxons, Normans, and Land Tenure,
    Edmund Pendleton, Aug 76
  • The Virginia Constitution,
    Edmund Pendleton, Aug 76
  • First Letter to John Adams,
    John Adams, May 77
  • The Favorite Passion of My Soul,
    Giovanni Fabbroni, June 78
  • A True Whig in Sceince,
    David Rittenhouse, July 78
  • War and Humanity,
    Patrick Henry, Mar 79
1780
to
1784
  • The Traitor Arnold,
    J. P. G. Muhlenberg, Jan 81
  • Welcome to the Marguis,
    Lafayette, Mar 81
  • Appeal to the Commander-in-Chief,
    George Washington, May 81
  • Limits of Public Duty,
    James Monroe, May 82
  • A Single Event. . .,
    Chastellux, Nov 82
  • Advice to a Young Daughter,
    Martha Jefferson, Nov 83
  • The Mammoth and Western Exploration,
    George Rogers Clark, Dec 83
  • More Advice,
    Martha Jefferson, Dec 83
  • American ‘Politics & Poverty’,
    Chastellux, Jan 84
  • Western Commerce,
    George Washington, Mar 84
  • The Society of the Cincinnati,
    George Washington, Apr 84
  • Hot Air Baloons,
    Dr. Philip Turpin, Apr 84
1785
  • Nil Desperandum,
    Richard Price, Feb 85
  • On American Degeneracy,
    Chastellux, June 85
  • Some Thoughts on Treaties,
    James Monroe, June 85
  • Royal Scandal and Third-rank Birds,
    Abigail Adams, June 85
  • A Statue of Washington,
    The Virginia Delegates in Congress, July 85
  • An Honest Heart . . . A Knowing Head,
    Peter Carr, Aug 85
  • Commerce and Sea Power,
    John Jay, Aug 85
  • Books for a Statesman,
    James Madison, Sept 85
  • Climate and American Character,
    Chastellux, Sept 85
  • This Beautiful Art,
    James Madison, Sept 85
  • Mars and Minerva,
    Abigail Adams, Sept 85
  • The Vaunted Scene,
    Charles Bellini, Sept 85
  • British Hostility, American Commerce,
    G. K. van Hogendorp, Oct 85
  • On European Education,
    John Banister, Jr., Oct 85
  • Property and Natural Right,
    James Madison, Oct 85
1786
  • Our Confederacy . . . the nest,
    Archibald Stuart, Jan 86
  • A roman temple for Virginia,
    William Buchanan and James Hay, Jan 86
  • The notes, Houdon, and the Encyclopedie,
    James Madison, Feb 86
  • British arts and British hatred,
    John Page, May 86
  • War on Barbary,
    John Adams, July 86
  • A crusade against ignorance,
    George Wythe, Aug 86
  • Education of a future son-in-law,
    Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr., Aug 86
  • Archaeology, Ledyard, a new invention,
    Ezra Stiles, Sep 86
  • Dialogue between my head & my heart,
    Maria Cosway, Oct 86
1787
  • Homer, New Jersey farmers, and the wheel,
    St. John de Crevecoeur, Jan 87
  • The people are the only censors . . .,
    Edward Carrington, Jan 87
  • Rebellion, Secession, and diplomacy,
    James Madison, Jan 87
  • The empty bustle of Paris,
    Anne Willing Bingham, Feb 87
  • A little rebellion now and then,
    Abigail Adams, Feb 87
  • The maison carree,
    Madame de Tesse, Mar 87
  • The rewards of travel,
    Lafayette, Apr 87
  • The grand recipe for felicity,
    Martha Jefferson, May 87
  • Affairs of diplomacy,
    John Adams, July 87
  • A peep . . . into elysium,
    Maria Cosway, July 87
  • The homeage of reason,
    Peter Carr, Aug 87
  • Revolt of the nobles,
    John Adams, Aug 87
  • A moose from New Hampshire,
    Buffon, Oct 87
  • The new Constitution,
    William S. Smith, Nov 87
  • More on the Constitution,
    John Adams, Nov 87
  • Objections ot the Constitution,
    James Madison, Dec 87
1788
  • A strategy on ratification,
    Alexander Donald, Feb 88
  • A son of nature,
    Maria Cosway, Apr 88
  • Amazons and angels,
    Anne Willing Bingham, May 88
  • The crumbs of science,
    Rev. James Madison, July 88
  • A monopoly on despotism,
    St. John de Crevecoeur, Aug 88
  • Commerce, war, and revolution,
    George Washington, Dec 88
1789
  • Convening the estates general,
    Richard Price, Jan 89
  • Bacon, Locke and Newton,
    John Trumbull, Feb 89
  • Neither Federalist nor Antifederalist,
    Francis Hopkinson, Mar 89
  • A Bill of Rights,
    James Madison, Mar 89
  • Science and Liberty,
    Joseph Willard, Mar 89
  • A report from Versailles,
    John Jay, May 89
  • A charter for France,
    Rabout de St. Etienne, June 89
  • The first chapter . . . of European Liberty,
    Diodati, Aug 89
1790
to
1791
  • Adieu to France,
    Madame d'Enville, Apr 90
  • Reading the law,
    John Garland Jefferson, June 90
  • Whippoorwills and strawberries,
    Mary Jefferson, Jun 90
  • Rice from Timor and Africa,
    Samuel Vaughan, Jr., Nov 90
  • A scolding letter,
    Martha Jefferson Randolph, Dec 90
  • A heretical sect,
    George Mason, Feb 91
  • Monuments of the past,
    Ebenezer Hazard, Feb 91
  • Memories of Franklin,
    Rev. William Smith, Feb 91
  • Capitol on the Potomac,
    Major L'Enfant, Apr 91
  • A note on Indian policy,
    Charles Carroll, Apr 91
  • Burke, Paine and Mr. Adams,
    President Washington, May 91
  • A northern tour,
    Thomas Mann Randolph, June 91
  • Breach of a friendship,
    John Adams, July 91
  • Hope for “our black brethren”,
    Benjamin Banneker, Aug 91
  • Strengthening the State governments,
    Archibald Stuart, Dec 91
1792
to
1793
  • A stepping stone to monarchy,
    President Washington, May 92
  • The monster aristocracy,
    Lafayette, June 92
  • The rights of man,
    Thomas Paine, June 92
  • The conflict with Hamilton,
    President Washington, Sept 92
  • The will of the nation,
    U.S. Minister to France, Morris, Dec 92
  • Paean to the French revolution,
    William Short, Jan 93
  • Peaceable coercion,
    James Madison, Mar 93
  • The gallant genet,
    James Madison, May 93
  • The debt of service,
    James Madison, June 93
  • My family, my farm, and my books,
    Mrs. Church, Nov 93
1794
to
1796
  • Lucerne and potatoes,
    Tench Coxe, May 1, 1794
  • Whiskey rebels and democratic societies,
    James Madison, Dec 94
  • Farming,
    John Taylor, Dec 94
  • The Geneva Academy,
    Fransois D'Ivernois, Feb 95
  • Abjuring the Presidency,
    James Madison, Apr 95
  • A nail-maker,
    Jean Nicolas Demeunier, Apr 95
  • Rogues and a treaty,
    Mann Page, Aug 95
  • The laws of Virginia,
    George Wythe, Jan 96
  • An age of experiments,
    John Adams, Feb 96
  • The boisterous sea of Liberty,
    Philip Mazzei, Apr 96
1797
to
1799
  • An entente with Adams,
    James Madison, Jan 97
  • Enclosure to Adams,
    Dec 96
  • Perfectly neutral and independent,
    Elbridge Gerry, May 97
  • Peace and Commerce,
    Thomas Pinckney, May 97
  • Domestic Affections,
    Martha Jefferson Randolph, June 97
  • Patience and the reign of witches,
    John Taylor, June 98
  • Wild Horses,
    Philip Nolan, June 98
  • Sufferance of Calumny ,
    Samuel Smith, Aug 98
  • A profession of political faith,
    Elbridge Gerry, Jan 99
  • The Spirit of 1776,
    Thomas Lomax, Mar 99
  • Freedom of mind,
    William Green Munford, June 99
  • Common law and the will of the nation,
    Edmund Randolph, Aug 99
1800
to
1801
  • Ideas for a university,
    Dr. Joseph Priestley, Jan 1800
  • A sublime Luxury,
    Dr. Joseph Priestley, Jan 1800
  • The 18th Brumaire,
    John Breckinridge, Jan 1800
  • Illuminatism,
    Bishop James Madison, Jan 1800
  • A few plain duties,
    Gideon Granger, Aug 1800
  • I have sworn upon the altar of God . . .,
    Dr. Benjamin Rush, Sep 1800
  • “Philosophical vedette” at a distance,
    William Dunbar, Jan 1801
  • The revolution of 1800,
    John Dickinson, Mar 1801
  • Something new under the sun,
    Dr. Joseph Priestley, Mar 1801
  • Wisdom and Patriotism,
    Moses Robinson, Mar 1801
  • Reconciliation and reform,
    Elbridge Gerry, Mar 1801
  • Free ships make free goods,
    U.S. Minister to France Livingston, Sept 1801
  • Interchangeable parts,
    James Monroe, Nov 1801
  • African colonization,
    Governor of Virginia Monroe, Nov 1801
1802
to
1803
  • Limits of the practicable,
    P. S. Dupont de Nemours, Jan 1802
  • To be loved by every body,
    Anne Cary, Thomas Jefferson, and Ellen Wayles Randolph, Mar 1802
  • The progress of reform,
    General Thaddeus Kosciusko, Apr 1802
  • The affair of Louisiana,
    U.S. Minister to France Livingston, Apr 1802
  • Dry-docking the Navy,
    Benjamin H. Latrobe, Nov 1802
  • A noiseless course,
    Thomas Cooper, Nov 1802
  • Crisis on the Mississippi,
    Special Envoy to France Monroe, Jan 1803
  • Civilization of the Indians,
    Benjamin Hawkins, Feb 1803
  • Machiavellian benevolence and the Indians,
    Governor William H. Harrison, Feb 1803
  • Jesus, Socrate, and others,
    Dr. Joseph Priestley, Apr 1803
  • The morals of Jesus,
    Dr. Benjamin Rush, Apr 1803
  • Expedition to the Pacific,
    Instructions to Captain Lewis, June 1803
  • A national agricultural society,
    Sir John Sinclair, June 1803
  • Peace founded on interest,
    the Earl of Buchan, July 1803
  • Philosophy and blasted hopes,
    Pierre J. G. Cabanis, July 1803
  • The Louisiana Purchase,
    John C. Breckinridge, Aug 1803
  • A Constitutional Amendment,
    Wilson Cary Nicholas, Sept 1803
1804
to
1806
  • Jesus, Louisiana, and Malthus,
    Dr. Joseph Priestley, Jan 1804
  • Malthus and the new world,
    Jean Baptiste Say, Feb 1804
  • Grief and grievances,
    Abigail Adams, June 1804
  • Freedom of the press,
    Judge John Tyler, June 1804
  • The office of hangman,
    Larkin Smith, Nov 1804
  • Blueprint of the University,
    Littleton Waller Tazewell, Jan 1805
  • The two-term precedent,
    John Taylor, Jan 1805
  • Climate, Fevers, and the polygraph,
    C. F. de C. Volney, Feb 1805
  • News of Captain Lewis,
    C. F. de C. Volney, Feb 1806
  • A national academy,
    Joel Barlow, Feb 1806
  • A tribute of gratitude,
    Dr. Edward Jenner, May 1806
  • Schism and the majority leadership,
    Barnabas Bidwell, July 1806
  • Gardens for Monticello,
    William Hamilton, July 1806
1807
  • Discontents in the West,
    John Dickinson, Jan 1807
  • Laws of Virginia,
    William Waller Hening, Jan 1807
  • Lessons of the Burr conspiracy,
    Governor William C. C. Claiborne, Feb 1807
  • The Burr trial,
    William Branch Giles, Apr 1807
  • History, Hume, and the press,
    John Norvell, June 1807
  • A subpoena for the President,
    George Hay, June 1807
  • Unlearned views of medicine,
    Dr. Caspar Wistar, June 1807
  • Torpedoes and submarines,
    Robert Fulton, Aug 1807
1808
to
1809
  • Religious freedom,
    Rev. Samuel Miller, Jan 1808
  • Subjects for a mad-house,
    Dr. Thomas Leib, June 1808
  • Bones for the national institute,
    Lacepede, July 1808
  • Ploughs,
    Monsieur Sylvestre, July 1808
  • Education of a grandson,
    Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Nov 1808
  • Sowing the upland rice,
    Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, Dec 1808
  • Last trial for peace,
    James Monroe, Jan 1809
  • The republic of science,
    John Hollins, Feb 1809
  • The Negro race,
    Henri Gregoire, Feb 1809
  • A prisoner, released from his chains,
    P. S. Dupont de Nemours, Mar 1809
  • A parting blessing,
    Mrs. Samuel H. Smith, Mar 1809
  • The potato and Harper’s Ferry,
    Horatio G. Spafford, May 1809
  • Circulating libraries,
    John Wyche, May 1809
  • The spirit of manufacture,
    P. S. Dupont de Nemours, June 1809
  • An edition of writings,
    John W. Campbell, Sept 1809
  • Indian vocabularies,
    Dr. Benjamin S. Barton, Sept 1809
1810
  • American Quakerism,
    Samuel Kercheval, Jan 1810
  • Nepotism and the Republic,
    John Garland Jefferson, Jan 1810
  • Prostration of Reason,
    Caesar A. Rodney, Feb 1810
  • The Book of Kings,
    Governor John Langdon, Mar 1810
  • An academical village,
    Messrs. Hugh L. White and Others, May 1810
  • A plan for the Merinos,
    President Madison, May 1810
  • Schools and “little republics,”
    John Tyler, May 1810
  • Home and Montesquieu,
    William Duane, Aug 1810
  • A law beyond the Constitution,
    John B. Colvin, Sept 1810
1811
  • Relations with Adams,
    Dr. Benjamin Rush, Jan 1811
  • The seeds of civilization,
    John Lynch, Jan 1811
  • The Executive Office,
    A. L. C. Destutt de Tracy, Jan 1811
  • The Latin American revolution,
    Alexander von Humboldt, Apr 1811
  • A young gardener,
    Charles Willson Peale, Aug 1811
  • Reprise: weights, measures and coins,
    Dr. Robert Patterson, Nov 1811
1812
  • Reconciliation,
    John Adams, Jan 1812
  • Concerning the Indians,
    John Adams, June 1812
  • War with England,
    General Thaddeus Kosciusko, June 1812
1813
  • A radical difference of political principle,
    John Melish, Jan 1813
  • Tyrants of land and sea,
    Madame de Stael, May 1813
  • Light and Liberty and the parties,
    John Adams, June 1813
  • Debt, taxes, banks, and paper,
    John Wayles Eppes, June 1813
  • No patents on ideas,
    Isaac McPherson, Aug 1813
  • A “ductile and copious” language,
    John Waldo, Aug 1813
  • The code of Jesus,
    John Adams, Oct 1813
  • The natural aristocracy,
    John Adams, Oct 1813
  • A hemisphere to itself,
    Alexander von Humboldt, Dec 1813
  • War and botanical exchanges,
    Madame de Tesse, Dec 1813
1814
  • The character of Washington,
    Dr. Walter Jones, Jan 1814
  • Christianity and the common law,
    Dr. Thomas Cooper, Feb 1814
  • Classification in natural history,
    Dr. John Manners, Feb 1814
  • The censorship of books,
    N. G. Dufief, Apr 1814
  • The moral sense,
    Thomas Law, June 1814
  • Bonaparte and Plato,
    John Adams, July 1814
  • Emancipation and the younger generation,
    Edward Coles, Aug 1814
  • A system of education,
    Peter Carr, Sept 1814
  • A library for Congress,
    Samuel H. Smith, Sept 1814
  • A just but sad war,
    William Short, Nov 1814
1815
  • War, revolution, and resotration,
    Lafayette, Feb 1815
  • Library classification,
    George Watterston, May 1815
1816
  • Manufactures,
    Benjamin Austin, Jan 1816
  • A real christian,
    Charles Thomson, Jan 1816
  • Your prophecy and mine,
    John Adams, Jan 1816
  • The ward system,
    Joseph C. Cabell, Feb 1816
  • Hope in the head . . . fear astern,
    John Adams, Apr 1816
  • Constitutionally and conscientiously democrats,
    P. S. Dupont de Nemours, Apr 1816
  • Captain Lewis’ papers,
    Correa da Serra, Apr 1816
  • The test of republicanism,
    John Taylor, May 1816
  • Reform of the Virginia Constitution,
    Samuel Kercheval, July 1816
  • Never an infidel, if never a priest,
    Mrs. Samuel H. Smith, Aug 1816
1817
to
1818
  • Horizontal ploughing,
    Tristam Dalton, May 1817
  • Era of good feelings,
    Lafayette, May 1817
  • The flatteries of hope,
    Fransois de Marbois, June 1817
  • Female education,
    Nathaniel Burwell, Mar 1818
  • The classical press,
    Wells and Lilly, Apr 1818
1819
  • Inflation and demoralization,
    Nathaniel Macon, Jan 1819
  • Habits of “a hard student,”
    Dr. Vine Utley, Mar 1819
  • Setting the record straight,
    Samuel Adams Wells, May 1819
  • The value of classical learning,
    John Brazier, Aug 1819
  • Limits to judicial review,
    Judge Spencer Roane, Sept 1819
  • Greek pronunciation,
    Nathaniel F. Moore, Sept 1819
  • I too an am Epicurean,
    William Short, Oct 1819
1820
  • A fire bell in the night,
    John Holmes, Apr 1820
  • Jesus and the Jews,
    William Short, Aug 1820
  • The university, neology, and materialism,
    John Adams, Aug 1820
  • Judicial subversion,
    Thomas Ritchie, Dec 1820
  • The Missouri question,
    Albert Gallatin, Dec 1820
1821
to
1822
  • Bolingbroke and Paine,
    Francis Eppes, , Jan 1821
  • The university and the schools,
    General James Breckinridge, Feb 1821
  • A dangerous example,
    Jedidiah Morse, Mar 1822
  • A Unitarian creed,
    Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, June 1822
  • Seriatim opinions and the history of the parties,
    Justice William Johnson, Oct 1822
  • Religion and the University,
    Dr. Thomas Cooper, Nov 1822
1823
  • Calvin and cosmology,
    John Adams, Apr 1823
  • The Supreme Court and the Constitution,
    Justice William Johnson, June 1823
  • Rivers of blood must yet flow,
    John Adams, Sep 1823
  • The best letter that ever was written . . .,
    John Adams, Oct 1823
  • The Monroe Doctrine,
    President Monroe, Oct 1823
1824
  • A plan of emancipation,
    Jared Sparks, Feb 1824
  • Professors from abroad,
    Dugald Stewart, Apr 1824
  • Saxons, Constitutions, and a case of pious fraud,
    Major John Cartwright, June 1824
  • The progress of society,
    William Ludlow, Sept 1824
  • Return of the hero,
    Lafayette, Oct 1824
1825
to
1826
  • Counsel to a namesake,
    Thomas Jefferson Smith, Feb 1825
  • The object of the Declaration of Independence,
    Henry Lee, May 1825
  • The Anglo-Saxon language,
    Honorable J. Evelyn Denison, M.P., Nov 1825
  • A gift to a granddaughter,
    Ellen Randolph Coolidge, Nov 1825
  • Consolidation!,
    William Branch Giles, Dec 1825
  • Take care of me when dead,
    James Madison, Feb 1826
  • Nunc dimittis on slavery,
    James Heaton, May 1826
  • Apotheosis of Liberty,
    Roger C. Weightman, June 1826