Thomas Jefferson had the best vision of the American Dream. He did more than any other president in bringing that about. There is a definite contrast between Thomas Jefferson and Joe Biden.
The American dream promises freedom and equality. The ideals of the American dream are motivating, including the freedom to be in charge of one’s own life.
Jefferson clearly understood God’s gift of “Agency” (free choice) for all of his children. On the other hand, Joe Biden and many other presidents have diminished our God-given agency through mandates and imposing laws that restrict our freedoms. I share highlights here for why I believe Jefferson to be the father of the American Dream, and what we can do to counter those who are trying to take away our liberty.
Immortal Words, Penned by Jefferson
The immortal words, penned by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, introduced the World’s most successful revolution. His words are inscribed in the hearts of every freedom-loving American.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We…solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states…and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
The American dream was the heart of his motivation, and no man in this or any other country in the Western world–excepting only Leonardo da Vinci–ever matched Jefferson in the range of his activities, in the fertility of his thinking, and in the multiplicity of his interests. The number of things Jefferson did or knew how to do still astonishes many.
Jefferson’s Illustrious and Amazing Resume
He was a mathematician, surveyor, architect, paleontologist, prosodist, lawyer, philosopher, farmer, fiddler, and inventor. He set up an educational system; he built a university; he founded a great political party; he helped design the national capital; he was instrumental in establishing America’s coinage; he doubled the territory of the United States. He could converse and read several languages. Everything interested him; nothing was alien to his mind.
In brilliant letters, his total correspondence runs into 18,000 pieces of mail. Jefferson formulated his ideas with depth and beauty unexcelled by any other president. He was a passionate champion of the rights, freedom, and dignity of man. Young Jefferson adopted his motto: “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”
Jefferson, as a US foreign ambassador, could not be in Philadelphia in 1787, but he had trained James Madison in great detail with his thinking–plus they were very close in their political philosophies. Madison’s major lead in the constitutional convention was in large measure representing Jefferson. However, when TJ read the constitution, he was upset because it lacked the Bill of Rights, which thankfully was corrected later.
His integrity led him to not improve his estate while serving in public life so that his decisions would not be compromised. He went into personal debt as a result of keeping his integrity.
He championed the cause of the common people and spoke in their name. He not only formulated their inarticulate hopes but also believed in their intelligence, trusted their judgment, respected their character. Jefferson wanted every man to have a chance for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—respecting the sovereignty of each individual.
More Attributes and was Erroneously Attacked
He was attacked as an infidel because he did not go to church, but his studies have shown his understanding of the true teachings of Christ. He spoke of the great need for a restoration of these divine truths. I have a copy of his personal Bible he made of the teachings of Jesus. He was a very devout believer in Christ and practiced the gospel teachings better than almost any man.
Jefferson abhorred the idea of the big national debt. It was clear that debt meant interest, interest called for higher taxes, and higher taxes involved a reduction in the standard of living of the common people. As President, Jefferson inherited a national debt of over $80,000,000. …by the end of his administration–despite the purchase of Louisiana Territory and losses due to the Embargo–the national debt was decreased by $27,000,000.
He loved America as a wise father proud of his offspring, not as an anxious lover jealous of his mistress. He wanted his land to be a beacon of freedom to mankind… a haven for the world’s oppressed. He won an overwhelming second term and was beloved by the people.
Life and Spiritual Harmony
He had philosophical balance and spiritual harmony. He said of himself. “My temperament is sanguine. I steer my bark with Hope in the head, leaving Fear astern.”
Margaret Bayard Smith wrote: “There is a tranquility about him, which an inward peace alone could bestow… his manners–how gentle, how humble, how kind…” Jefferson confided in her that his whole life was a conflict between private inclination and public duty. He incurred great debt while serving as President, but did it because of his integrity to the principles he believed in.
He told Charles Thomson regarding the words of Jesus he had pasted in a special creedo book which he had personally made: “A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen, it is a document in proof that I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” He told Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse–a famous medical scientist from Boston: “The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all the happiness of man.”
To Joseph Marx, a Jew, he said that the Jewish sect was “parent and basis of all those of Christendom,” That it had been singled out by Christians “for a persecution and oppression which proved they have profited nothing from the benevolent doctrines of him whom they profess to make the model of their principles and practice.”
In one of the letters to Adams, Jefferson wrote: “I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid, and I find myself much happier… I am on horseback three or four hours of every day… and I live in the midst of my grandchildren… I salute you with unchanged affection and respect.” His equivalent counsel to us today would be, “Turn off the TV, and don’t listen to the media; grab a good book instead!” The media and the internet are controlled in large measure by the globalist elite– using AI to take down what doesn’t agree with their paradigm of control and population reduction, most of whom are atheists.
A Respected Leader
President Monroe sought Jefferson’s wisdom. Jefferson was then past eighty. Monroe accepted Jefferson’s advice, and even his line of reasoning–out of which came the Monroe Doctrine. Like many other freedom issues of great magnitude, we see Jefferson as the supporter and even the author of most of them directly or indirectly.
He was very close friends with Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. General Lafayette helped us win the Revolutionary war.
Being strongly against slavery he fore-warningly said: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between Master and Slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free.”
Jefferson’s Personal life
His self-constructed home, Monticello (Italian for “Little Mountain”) is an architectural masterpiece. He developed an incredible library to help satisfy his insatiable appetite for learning. Yet he always liked to be known as a farmer. Indeed, it was the most beautiful farm in the area with a marvelous vegetable garden, all kinds of fruit trees, and a variety of nut trees, a most lovely flower garden.
He grew grapes and loved good wine–no hard liquor nor rich foods; he was basically vegetarian using meat more as a condiment. He believed one should always rise from the table just a little bit hungry. He invented the Malboro plow for efficient turning of the soil; it looks all the same as what is used today.
Jefferson approached death calmly. He read much from the Bible and from the Greek dramatists (in the original). His mind and speech were vivacious and animated to the end. He wrote his own epitaph, which is inscribed on a gray granite obelisk over his grave in the family cemetery at Monticello: “Here was Buried THOMAS JEFFERSON Author of the Declaration of American Independence…” In his humility, he did not include being President of the USA for eight enormously beneficial years for these United States.
He and John Adams died the same day, 4 July 1826, exactly fifty years after they had both signed the immortal Declaration of Independence. Divine validation.
The Contrast Between Jefferson and Bidon
Jefferson believed in the minimum federal government in contrast to Bidon and the globalists wanting to control everything and take away our personal freedoms.
Victor Davis Hanson is a Christian conservative in California, whose credentials make him extremely well qualified to tell us about our worst president, Joe Biden: Victor Davis Hanson – Wikipedia and Victor Davis Hanson: Biden is the most dangerously radical President in US history – YouTube. Hanson has over 1.6 million views on this video.
Faith – Focus – Energies
Unfortunately, the price of freedom is not in the memory of modern Americans. It is my prayer that our lives will reflect our deep and heartfelt appreciation for our heritage and blessings, and seek God-fearing leaders like Jefferson. May our faith, focus, and energies show the Lord the depth of our appreciation for our liberties. May we stand up for truth and freedom so that it may never be lost for it is eroding rapidly. The globalist elites with Biden are trying to move us to state sovereignty and the loss of our liberty, which Biblically is the gospel of Jesus Christ (James 1:25).
Our founding fathers and mothers laid the foundation for the restoration of the most important truths in the universe–how to gain the greatest of all the gifts of God (Eternal Life). The freedom established in this great land and vouchsafed by our inspired founding documents will be the basis of the Kingdom of God on earth when He whose right it is comes to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Let us be watchmen on the tower that we may do our part like Jefferson did, to defend liberty at all costs. May we also be willing to mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor? To seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). Then we have His promise, “…all these things shall be added unto you.”
Click the following link gives you additional details of Jefferson’s enormous contributions to the “American Dream.”
David W. Allan
Photo: CC Flickr – Thomas Jefferson