Thomas
Jefferson
1743-1826
— 3rd President of the US (1801-1809)
. . . Delegate to second continental congress(1775-1776) . . . Served on committee
to draft Declaration of Independence. Except for minor revisions by Adams, Franklin
and others on the floor, the document was wholly his work . . . Pushed for a bill
(1796) for establishing religious freedom, grounded in the belief that the opinions
of man cannot be coerced.
Jefferson was a member of the vestry of his local Anglican church.[26]
As
an elected official in Virginia in the mid 1770s he authored "A bill for appointing
days for public fasting and thanksgiving." As Governor of Virginia in 1779 Jefferson
issued "A day of public and solemn prayer to almighty God."[48]
From
his "Second Inaugural Address" in 1805:
"[We are in the hands of] the God who ... led our fathers, as Israel of old,
from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries
and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with His providence and our
riper years with His wisdom and power, and to whose goodness I ask you to join
in supplications with me that He will so enlighten the minds of your servants,
guide their councils, and prosper their measures that whatsoever they do shall
result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship and approbation
of all nations."[26]
Addressed
to William Canby in 1813:
"Of
all systems of morality, ancient or modern, which have come under my observation,
none appear to be so pure as that of Jesus."[7]
"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever."[2]
"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time."[1,4]
"I hold the precepts of Jesus as delivered by Himself, to be the most pure, benevolent and sublime which have ever been preached to man..."[7]
"To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in the preference to all others."[9]
From
his last will and testament:
"I am a real
Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ."[9]