Life, Liberty, and Happiness

Welcome to the Hall of Imagination, and episode. 628 - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

During this week of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States, I would like to devote the episodes for Monday, Wednesday and Friday to Thomas Jefferson–the author of the declaration of independence.

Episode 1: The young Jefferson and the writing of the Declaration.
Episode 2: The President Thomas Jefferson
Episode 3: The elder Jefferson, the University of Virginia, reflections on the future—even artificial intelligence—and then his death on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration.

Transcript

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This podcast blends history and imagination. Real historical figures appear alongside fictional situations and imagined conversations. While based on historical research, portions of the program are dramatized for storytelling purposes. Welcome to the Hall of Imagination and episode 628, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. During this week, the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States, I would like to devote the episodes for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence. Now a rundown is Episode 1, The Young Jefferson and the Writing of the Declaration, Episode 2, on Wednesday, The President Thomas Jefferson, and Episode III on Friday, The Elder Jefferson, the University of Virginia, Reflections on the Future, even Artificial Intelligence, and then his death on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration. Well, hello, President Jefferson. This is indeed an honor, and it certainly is an honor for me to be able to talk to someone about my life. And please call me Mr Jefferson. Permit me to start with the beginning. I was born in 1743 on my family's plantation, Shadwell, in central Virginia. As you know, Virginia was one of the thirteen colonies belonging to Great Britain. Now I don't know if it is of any importance, but by the calendar that was used then, my birth date was April the second. By today's calendar, my birth date is April the thirteenth. Well, could you tell me a little bit about your family? Certainly. I was third in a family of ten children. Unfortunately, two of the children did not survive infancy, so I grew up with two older sisters, four younger sisters, and a younger brother. Well, what could you tell us about your mother and father? First, historians do not know a great deal about my mother. Fortunately, much more is known about my father. His name was Peter Jefferson, and he was a very successful farmer who owned quite a few slaves. My father was also a surveyor and served in Virginia's legislature. And I thought my father was the smartest and strongest man alive. In fact, it was said that Peter Jefferson once raised two barrels of tobacco that had been lying on their sides to an upright position, and each barrel was said to weigh almost a thousand pounds. My father also loved to read books and frequently read Shakespeare and other authors. Now I have a faint memory of learning how you associated with cousins called Randolph at an early age. You are quite correct, Mr. Bartley. I had cousins named Randolph who lived in Eastern Virginia. Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Randolph died with within a few years of each other. After that, my parents helped raise the three Randolph children. I believe my first memory was of moving to my cousin's home about 50 miles away when I was just two years old. And for much of my childhood, I went back and forth with my family between my home at Shadwell and Tuckahoe, the Randolph estate. Well, Mr. Jefferson, could you tell us a bit more about your earliest memories? You must remember that Shadwell was at the edge of wilderness land, and my father taught me to ride, swim, fish, and hunt there. I also went to dances and learned to dress and behave like a proper English gentleman. Mr Jefferson, as I understand it, some of the Randolphs were your cousins. Yes, this is true, quite true, and a boy cousin, also named Tom, bullied me a great deal. However, these events came to an end because when I was nine, someone else took charge of my cousins, and the majority of my immediate family returned to Shadwell. However, I must admit that I was disappointed when my family went home in 1752 because I was sent to study with Reverend William Douglas near Tuckahoe. Well, Mr. Jefferson, what did you learn under Reverend Douglas? Oh, I lived with Reverend Douglas for five years and he taught me Latin, Greek, and French. And the only time I returned to Shadwell was for vacations. You know, Mr. Jefferson, I'm getting a feeling that you really enjoyed school work. This was often quite true, but I greatly enjoyed reading on my own. Sometimes I became so immersed in my books that I read for fifteen hours without stopping. And I also loved music. In fact, I practiced violin three hours a day. So Mr. Jefferson, how would you describe yourself at this stage of your life? Ah, Mr. Bartley, by the age of thirteen, I was comparatively tall, thin, and a red-headed boy whose face was covered with whose face was was was covered with freckles. I was well on my way to my full height of six feet two inches. Now you must remember that this was an age when the average man stood five sooks tall. In fact, I must have resembled a giant to many people. In reality, my nickname was Tall Tom. Well, Mr. Jefferson, as I understand it, you were home for the summer of 1757. Yes, you see, my father had become quite ill, and he unfortunately died that August. I was most crushed to lose my father. He was my hero, and as the oldest son, I inherited much of my father's estate, including about 2,500 acres of land and about 30 slaves. However, I was not to receive the majority of my inheritance until I turned 21. So, Mr. Jefferson, you were at home now. What did you do then? Remember that my father had wanted me to go to college. To prepare for it, I I lived and studied with another minister for a period of two years. To be honest, I did not really like this teacher, but at least I was close en well to spend weekends at home. So by 1760, I was sixteen years old and very eager to begin college. Well, Mr. Jefferson, now I'm eager to hear about your college years. Yes, my family moved to Williamsburg in the spring of 1760. This was an extremely convenient move because the city was Virginia's capital then and home to the College of William and Mary. Mr. Jefferson, did you enjoy college? To say that I enjoyed the college would be an understatement. I was most hungry for knowledge and enjoyed studying late into the night. In fact, one professor, Dr. William Small, introduced me to George Weith, a noted lawyer and Francis Fockwir, the colonial governor of Virginia for Great Britain. We often ate at the Governor's Palace, and uh I was often asked to play my violin for the governor. And I graduated in 1762 after just two years of study. So, Mr. Jefferson, I guess you had to think then about what career you wanted to enter. Yes, although law certainly appealed to me. And during my lifetime, young men studied with established attorneys, attorneys. Then they eventually took a law test, and the fortunate individual who passed became a lawyer. I then began studying under George With. Was he a good teacher? Extremely. During colonial times, lawyers generally had rather poor reputations. In fact, some colonies even had laws preventing lawyers from entering their borders. However, George With was extremely famous for his honesty. If he knew a person was lying or in the wrong, he refused to take the case. Well, that's something, Mr. Jefferson, that you certainly can't say about all lawyers today. And I must emphasize that George With was not an easy teacher. I studied with him for five years. In comparison, my friend Patrick Henry studied for just several months before becoming a lawyer. Well, Mr. Jefferson, why did you seem to have such a lengthy period of preparation? Perhaps one reason was because of George Wyth's vast understanding of legal knowledge, and I must admit that I liked and respected my law teacher very much. He was only seventeen years older than me, but I called him my second father. Anyway, I was to later begin my law career in the capital city of Williamsburg. Well, Mr. Jefferson, would you describe your practice as successful? Yes, I definitely would. I was only 24 years old, and in my first year as a lawyer, I handled 67 cases. This became 115 cases my second year and about 200 my third year. But I must admit that my problem was that I didn't press my clients to pay me. For example, in my first six years as an attorney, I only collected a small amount of the fees, and I also became interested in politics. And in 1769, I ran for and won a seat in the legislating body of Virginia, America's uh only oldest uh making oldest body made up of elected representatives. In fact, I served in the House of Burgesses until the American Revolution ended colonial government. Unfortunately, in 1770, I learned that my father's home, Shadwell, had burned down. I was in Charlottesville, Virginia at the time when a slave brought the news. After learning that my relatives were safe, I asked if all the property was lost. The slave answered Not all, Mr. Jefferson. We saved your fiddle. Well, mister Jefferson, unfortunately it sounds like you might have needed a new home. Precisely, and that very same year I began building a new home that I had designed. My slaves did the new work and a thirty five room mansion was built on the top of a hill near the towns of Shadwell and Charlottesville. Well, Mr. Jefferson, could this have been Monticello? It certainly was, a name that means little mountain in Italian. And I had the good fortune of falling in love with sixteen-year-old Rebecca Burwell. I carried a silhouette of Rebecca in my watch, but I was too shy to express my feelings.

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Mr.

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Jefferson, from what I understand, young women during your lifetime often married at 16 or 17, while men married at 20 or 21. One reason that the colonists married so early was that their average lifespan was less than 40 years. Yes, and I had the good fortune of meeting Rebecca a few weeks later. But I could only clumsily blurt out that I wanted to marry her someday. I guess that's not very much of a proposal. Sure enough, Rebecca married another man. Well, Mr. Jefferson, could you tell us about the progress of the building of Monticello? Ah, yes, yes, Mr. Bartley. The actual construction began in 1770 and continued into 1809. During this time I met a young beauty by the name of Martha Wales Skelton. We definitely shared our love of music. I would play love songs on the violin while Martha accompanied me on the harpsichord. And on New Year's Day of 1772, Martha and I were married. We had five daughters and a son, but all the two but two of them died before the age of three. Only two daughters grew to adulthood. Well, Mr. Jefferson, from what I understand, the thirteen colonies were becoming extremely restless under a British rule. Yes, Mr. Bartley, England had been trying to tax the colonists, but the Americans refused to pay. Britain's Tea Act of 1773 worsened this. On December the 16th, a group of people in Boston, Massachusetts protested this tax by boarding three ships and dumping more than 300 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. As punishment, Britain closed the harbor for the city, hoping that it would frighten the Americans into obedience. Well, Mr. Jefferson, what was the result? Well, Mr. Bartley, the result was the exact opposite of what the British intended. Many colonists, including myself, were furious. This was during the time when Patrick Henry of Virginia made his famous Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech. Unfortunately, I was a very poor speaker, but I was able to write. In fact, in my summary review of the rights of British America, I wrote that I was thinking of matters that were more were of more significance than taxes. I believed that the colonists might actually be ready to separate from Britain, and I referred to the colonies as the States of America. It was also proposed that a meeting of delegates from all of the thirteen colonies be organized. Well, Mr. Jefferson, would you tell us about that meeting? Certainly. The meeting was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the fall of 1774 and was called the first Continental Congress. Every colony but Georgia sent delegates. I was somewhat disappointed because stomach problems prevented me from attending. But Virginia did have such delegates as George Washington and Patrick Henry. The idea was that if Great Britain continued to mistreat the colonies, Congress would meet again the next spring. Well, Mr. Jefferson, did Great Britain change its policies? Unfortunately, Great Britain did not change, and war between the 13 colonies and Britain began on April the 19th, 1775, at Lexington, Massachusetts. Then the second Continental Congress opened in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania State House that May. I wasn't there at the start because I had not been chosen as a delegate. But when a vacancy in Virginia's delegation arose, I was asked to set out in my buggy for the 250-mile trip to Philadelphia. When I arrived, I barely said a word, but I'd like to think that everyone knew I was a talented writer. I was asked to write some of Congress's official documents. Yes, it was somewhat problematical because simply because Congress could not decide what to do. Some delegates did not want to completely separate with Britain, and they wanted to return to British rule. Other delegates, including myself, wanted to create a new independent nation. And on June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee urged that the colonies become independent. And a majority of colonies, well, Mr. Jefferson, who would that be? Seven out of ten would have to favor independence for such a measure to pass. And the delegates realized that if the vote supported independence, Congress would definitely need to tell the world why the colonies were separating from England. Well, Mr. Jefferson, that seems more than reasonable. Yes, a committee was asked to prepare a Declaration of Independence. But instead of working as a group, it was decided that one of the committee would write the Declaration of Independence. Initially, it seemed that Benjamin Franklin, a world-famous scientist and statesman, seemed like the best person. But unfortunately, Franklin was 70 years old and in rather poor health. Finally, the choice came down to John Adams or me. Well, Mr. Jefferson, uh, what did you two decide? Well, first, John Adams said a Massachusetts man should not write the declaration because Massachusetts had been the site of the Boston Tea Party and the war's first battle. He believed that other colonies should get more involved. Second, it was believed that a declaration written by me would be better received than one by Adams because the other delegates like me more than John Adams. And the third reason is that John Adams said that I could write ten times better than him. Well, what did you decide then?

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Mr.

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Bartley, I told Mr. Adams that if you were decided uh uh uh that if you decide I I will do as well as I can. I set up my portable desk, sat down in my second floor apartment, took out paper, pen, and ink, and wrote, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to then or to as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Now, on July the second, twelve colonies voted for independence. But Mr. Jefferson, I thought there were thirteen colonies as Mr. Bartley, there were. But New York did not vote on July the second. However, several days later, New York made the vote unanimous. Well, Mr. Jefferson, I imagine the Declaration of Independence must have personally brought you instant fame. Mr. Bartley, far from it. You see, Congress wanted the Declaration of Independence to be an expression of the American mind. And no author was named on the document. In fact, until 1784, when the newspaper mentioned it, few people knew that I had written what could be called the Birth Certificate for the United States. A document that emphasizes that liberty will be dominant in the new United States. Some people say liberty means the government should interfere as little as possible. Others say liberty also means protecting people from discrimination, poverty, or threats to democracy. What would you make of all that? My friend, liberty is a word often spoken and seldom agreed upon. Yes, Mr. Bartley, in my day men fought a king. In yours, I suspect they contend with one another over what freedoms ought to be protected and what duties accompany those freedoms. I can tell you what I believed, but I cannot tell your age what it must believe. Well, sir, people quote you all the time. And sometimes, Mr. Jefferson, on opposite sides of the same issue. Mr. Bartley, I declare that all men are created equal, yet I must admit that sometimes I fail to live fully according to those words. Perhaps each generation must strive to bring the principle nearer to fulfillment than the generation before. He gave the world the unforgettable words, all men are created equal, yet he spent his life as a slaveholder. Historians have debated that contradiction for more than two centuries. Thomas Jefferson himself expressed misgivings about slavery, but he never resolved the conflict between the ideals he proclaimed and the life he lived. It is a question that still challenges us today, and one that we will revisit in a future podcast conversation with Frederick Douglass. Join us for the next episode of Hall of Imagination, where we continue our look at Thomas Jefferson and his presidency of the United States.