Thomas Jefferson (1997–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Episode #1.2 - full transcript

Man: JEFFERSON WAS, I THINK,
THE MAN OF THIS MILLENNIUM.

THE STORY OF THIS MILLENNIUM IS
THE GRADUAL EXPANSION OF FREEDOM

AND THE EXPANDING INCLUSION
OF VARIOUSLY EXCLUDED GROUPS.

HE EXEMPLIFIED IN HIS LIFE

WHAT A FREE PERSON
OUGHT TO LOOK LIKE,

THAT IS SOMEONE RESTLESS
AND QUESTING THROUGH A LONG LIFE

UNDER THE RIGOROUS DISCIPLINE
OF FREEDOM.

FREEDOM'S NOT THE ABSENCE OF...
OF RIGOR.

IT'S THE ABSENCE OF RESTRAINTS
IMPOSED BY OTHERS,

BUT IT ALSO,
IF IT'S GOING TO BE SUCCESSFUL,

IT IS GOING TO BE LIVED
THE WAY JEFFERSON LIVED IT,



THIS LIFE OF FREEDOM,

UNDER SEVERE RESTRAINTS
IMPOSED ON YOURSELF--

THE SEVERE RESTRAINTS
OF SCHOLARSHIP AND LEARNING

AND THE QUEST TO GET
BETTER AND BETTER,

WHICH JEFFERSON KEPT UP
RIGHT TO THE END.

Man: WE ARE DRAWN
TO THOMAS JEFFERSON

BECAUSE IN AN AGE

WHEN AMERICA'S REPUBLICAN
EXPERIMENT WAS NEW, UNTESTED,

AND MANY PEOPLE,
INCLUDING GEORGE WASHINGTON,

FELT THAT IT DIDN'T HAVE
A GREAT CHANCE OF SUCCESS,

THOMAS JEFFERSON EMBODIED
A SPIRIT OF OPTIMISM

AND A BELIEF IN THE PROMISE
OF AMERICA'S FUTURE.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

Man: THIS, I HOPE,
WILL BE THE AGE OF EXPERIMENTS
IN GOVERNMENT...



AND THAT THEIR BASIS
WILL BE FOUNDED ON
PRINCIPLES OF HONESTY,

NOT OF MERE FORCE.

IF EVER THE MORALS OF A PEOPLE
COULD BE MADE THE BASIS
OF THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT,

IT IS OUR CASE.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Narrator: DURING THE 5 LONG
YEARS THOMAS JEFFERSON
HAD BEEN IN FRANCE,

A CONSTITUTION
HAD BEEN FRAMED AND RATIFIED

AND A NEW GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED
IN THE UNITED STATES.

NEW YORK WAS NOW
THE AMERICAN CAPITAL,

AND JEFFERSON
WAS SUMMONED THERE.

HE HAD BEEN APPOINTED THE VERY
FIRST SECRETARY OF STATE,

HEAD OF A NEWLY CREATED
DEPARTMENT THAT HAD
PRECISELY 5 EMPLOYEES.

GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS PRESIDENT,

BUT JEFFERSON CAME TO BELIEVE
HIS NEW GOVERNMENT WAS HEADED
IN THE WRONG DIRECTION,

THAT THE SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION WAS BEING BETRAYED.

Thomas Jefferson: WHEN I ARRIVED
AT NEW YORK IN 1790

TO TAKE A PART
IN THE ADMINISTRATION,

BEING FRESH FROM
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION WHILE
IN ITS FIRST AND PURE STAGE

AND CONSEQUENTLY
SOMEWHAT WHETTED UP
IN MY OWN REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES,

I FOUND A STATE OF THINGS
WHICH I COULD NOT HAVE
SUPPOSED POSSIBLE.

I WAS ASTONISHED TO FIND
THE GENERAL PREVALENCE
OF MONARCHICAL SENTIMENTS.

Man: FRANCE DEEPENED
HIS RADICALISM,

AND HE CAME BACK FROM FRANCE

REALIZING THAT THIS
ISN'T ABOUT IDEAS,

THIS IS ABOUT
THE FATE OF HUMANITY,

AND THAT HE HAD TO GIVE HIMSELF
IN AN ABSOLUTE COMMITMENT

TO THE CREATION
OF SOMETHING LIKE

A DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL STRUCTURE
IN THE UNITED STATES.

AND THAT PREPARED HIM
PSYCHICALLY

FOR THE LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST
HAMILTON AND FEDERALISM

AND WHAT AMOUNTS
TO A COUNTERREVOLUTION

THAT OCCURRED WHEN HE RETURNED
TO THIS COUNTRY.

Narrator:
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, THE FIRST
SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY,

WAS A HERO OF THE REVOLUTION,
A FAVORITE OF WASHINGTON'S,

AND HAD HELPED DRAFT
AND WIN RATIFICATION
OF THE CONSTITUTION.

HE SAW HIS COUNTRY'S
FUTURE AS COMMERCIAL,
URBAN, INDUSTRIAL.

TO BRING IT ALL ABOUT,
HE CHAMPIONED A STRONG
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

WITH A STRONG
CHIEF EXECUTIVE.

JEFFERSON ENVISIONED
AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT COUNTRY.

HE HATED CROWDED CITIES
WHERE, HE SAID,
THE PEOPLE ATE EACH OTHER.

HE DISTRUSTED MERE MONEY-MAKING,

LOATHED CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT
OF ANY KIND.

"THE PRESIDENT'S POWERS SHOULD
BE STRICTLY LIMITED," HE SAID.

"MOST POWER MUST REMAIN
WITH THE STATES."

Jenkinson:
JEFFERSON AND HAMILTON ARE
AN INTERESTING SET OF CONTRASTS.

IN A SENSE, EACH ONE BETRAYED
HIS OWN CLASS OF ORIGIN.

HAMILTON WAS BORN
IN OBSCURITY IN THE CARIBBEAN.
HE WAS ILLEGITIMATE.

JEFFERSON WAS BORN A PATRICIAN
IN ARISTOCRATIC VIRGINIA.

HAMILTON GAVE HIS LIFE
TO THE RICH AND THE WELL-BORN.

JEFFERSON GAVE HIS LIFE
TO THE CREATION
OF A SOCIAL DEMOCRACY.

Narrator: "HAMILTON AND MYSELF,"
JEFFERSON SAID,

"WERE DAILY PITTED
IN THE CABINET LIKE 2 COCKS,"

AND AS THEIR CONFLICT CONTINUED,

EACH BEGAN TO GATHER
LIKE-MINDED SUPPORTERS.

HAMILTON'S FOLLOWERS
CALLED THEMSELVES FEDERALISTS.

JEFFERSON'S BECAME KNOWN
AS DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS.

IT WAS THE BEGINNING
OF PARTY POLITICS IN AMERICA.

HAMILTON LAUNCHED A NEWSPAPER,
WHICH VILIFIED JEFFERSON
AND HIS ALLIES WITHOUT LETUP,

AND HE WARNED WASHINGTON THAT
JEFFERSON WAS, IN HIS JUDGMENT,

DANGEROUS TO THE UNION, PEACE,
AND HAPPINESS OF THE COUNTRY.

JEFFERSON RESPONDED BY HELPING
TO START A NEWSPAPER OF HIS OWN

IN WHICH HAMILTON,
HIS FRIEND JOHN ADAMS,
AND EVEN THE PRESIDENT

WERE ALL VICIOUSLY ATTACKED.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE,"
HE TOLD MADISON,

"PICK UP YOUR PEN, SELECT
THE MOST STRIKING HERESIES,

AND CUT HAMILTON TO PIECES
IN THE FACE OF THE PUBLIC."

WASHINGTON TRIED DESPERATELY TO
STEER A MIDDLE COURSE BETWEEN
HIS 2 FAVORITE LIEUTENANTS.

"I BELIEVE THE VIEWS OF BOTH OF
YOU TO BE PURE AND WELL-MEANT,"
HE TOLD JEFFERSON.

"I HAVE A GREAT REGARD
FOR YOU BOTH

AND ARDENTLY WISH THAT
SOME LINE COULD BE MARKED OUT BY
WHICH BOTH OF YOU COULD WALK."

NO SUCH LINE WAS
EVER MARKED OUT.

BY 1793, JEFFERSON WAS CONVINCED
HE HAD LOST THE CONTEST
FOR WASHINGTON'S MIND.

"POLITICS," HE TOLD A FRIEND,
"HAD BECOME EVERYTHING I HATE."

HE RESIGNED FROM THE CABINET
AND WENT HOME, HE SAID,
FOR GOOD.

Man: JEFFERSON THINKS
BY THIS STEP TO GET A REPUTATION
AS A HUMBLE, MODEST, MEEK MAN,

WHOLLY WITHOUT AMBITION
OR VANITY.

HE MAY EVEN HAVE DECEIVED
HIMSELF INTO THIS BELIEF,

BUT IF THE PROSPECT OPENS,
THE WORLD WILL SEE
AND HE WILL FEEL

THAT HE IS AS AMBITIOUS
AS OLIVER CROMWELL.

JOHN ADAMS.

Thomas Jefferson:
THE MOTION OF MY BLOOD

NO LONGER KEEPS TIME
WITH THE TUMULT OF THE WORLD.

IT LEADS ME TO SEEK
FOR HAPPINESS IN THE LAP
AND LOVE OF MY FAMILY...

IN THE SOCIETY OF MY FARM
AND MY AFFAIRS...

IN AN INTEREST OR AFFECTION
IN EVERY BUD THAT OPENS

AND EVERY BREATH
THAT BLOWS AROUND ME.

Narrator: AT FIRST,
JEFFERSON GLORIED IN BEING
BACK ON HIS HILLTOP.

HE WOULD NOT LEAVE IT AGAIN,
HE TOLD JAMES MADISON, "FOR
THE EMPIRE OF THE UNIVERSE."

HE CANCELED
HIS NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTIONS

AND THREW HIMSELF HAPPILY
INTO REBUILDING MONTICELLO.

Woman: THOUGH I HAD
BEEN PREPARED TO SEE
AN UNFINISHED HOUSE,

STILL I COULD NOT HELP
BEING MUCH STRUCK WITH
THE UNCOMMON APPEARANCE.

MR. JEFFERSON HAS PULLED DOWN
AND BUILT UP AGAIN SO OFTEN
THAT NOTHING IS COMPLETED,

NOR DO I THINK EVER WILL BE.

MRS. WILLIAM THORNTON.

Jenkinson:
WHEN MRS. THORNTON CAME

AND RAIN WAS COMING IN
FROM THE OPEN ROOF,

AND BRICKS WERE FALLING,
AND THERE WERE PLANKS
ON THE FLOORS,

AND JEFFERSON WAS WANDERING
AROUND IN HIS SLIPPERS
SERENELY WITH TEA

PRETENDING THAT HE WAS LIVING
IN COMPLETE ORDER.

SO HERE'S A MAN WHO HAD A RAGE
FOR ORDER ALMOST UNPRECEDENTED
IN AMERICAN HISTORY,

AND YET HE WAS WILLING TO LIVE
IN A STATE OF ALMOST
DEPLORABLE DILAPIDATION

MUCH OF THE TIME.

NOTHING WAS EVER FINISHED
FOR JEFFERSON.

MONTICELLO WAS A LABORATORY OF
CONTINUING ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN.

Narrator: JEFFERSON'S
PERPETUALLY INCOMPLETE HOUSE
REMAINED A JOYOUS OBSESSION.

"COME," HE TOLD A FRIEND
WHO HOPED TO VISIT,

"WITH YOUR EARS
STUFFED FULL OF COTTON

"TO FORTIFY THEM AGAINST
THE NOISE OF HAMMERS,
SAWS, PLANES, ET CETERA,

WHICH ASSAIL US
IN EVERY DIRECTION."

HE WAS A TIRELESS
AND INGENIOUS TINKERER,

DEVISING OR ADAPTING APPARATUS
TO ADD TO THE EFFICIENCY
AND COMFORT

OF NEARLY EVERY ASPECT
OF HIS DAILY LIFE:

A 4-SIDED STAND
THAT COULD ACCOMMODATE
SEVERAL OPEN BOOKS AT ONCE,

AN ELABORATE AND IMPROBABLE
CALENDAR CLOCK

THAT MARKED OFF THE DAYS
OF THE WEEK WITH CANNONBALLS,

AND A MACHINE CALLED A POLYGRAPH
THAT MADE A COPY OF EVERY LETTER
AS HE WROTE IT.

Isaac: WHILE HE WAS A-WRITING,
HE WOULDN'T SUFFER NOBODY
TO COME IN HIS ROOM.

OLD MASTER HAD
AN ABUNDANCE OF BOOKS.

SOMETIMES WOULD HAVE 20 OF THEM
DOWN ON THE FLOOR AT ONCE.

READ FIRST ONE, THEN ANOTHER.

I'VE OFTEN WONDERED HOW
OLD MASTER CAME TO HAVE
SUCH A MIGHTY HEAD.

READ SO MANY OF THEM BOOKS...

AND WHEN THEY GO TO HIM
TO ASK HIM ANYTHING,

HE GO RIGHT STRAIGHT TO THE BOOK
AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT.

ISAAC.

Narrator: EVERYTHING
INTERESTED JEFFERSON.

HE CORRESPONDED WITH SCIENTISTS
ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC,

STUDIED MEDICINE, ASTRONOMY,
AND PHILOSOPHY.

HE PLAYED MOZART,
SANG SCOTTISH BALLADS...

AND SUPERVISED THE FIRST
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION
IN AMERICA.

Will: AND HE EMPHATICALLY
SAID YES TO LIFE

IN ALL ITS CAPACITIES...

IN A WAY THAT IN AN ERA OF
SPECIALIZATION AND INTELLECTUAL
COMPARTMENTALIZATION,

NO ONE HAS THE SELF-CONFIDENCE
TO DO IN THE LATE 20th CENTURY.

IN THE LATE 18th CENTURY,

A MAN COULD SAY, BASICALLY,
"I HAVE BROUGHT INTO MY COMPASS

ALL OF HUMAN ENDEAVOR."

A WONDERFUL SENSE OF SERENITY
AND CONFIDENCE AND POWER
HE MUST HAVE HAD.

Jenkinson:
MONTICELLO IS A MUSEUM,
IT'S A PRIVATE RESIDENCE,

IT'S A RECEIVING ROOM
FOR FAMOUS STATESMEN.

BUT MOST OF ALL, MONTICELLO IS,
I THINK, A KIND OF METAPHOR
FOR JEFFERSON'S SOUL.

THIS IS THE HEART OF JEFFERSON,
THE MAN OF SCIENCE.

HE ALWAYS CONSIDERED HIMSELF
A SCIENTIST FIRST,

A FARMER SECOND,
AND A STATESMAN ONLY RELUCTANTLY
AND WELL DOWN THE LIST.

Thomas Jefferson: I LEAVE
TO OTHERS THE SUBLIME DELIGHTS
OF RIDING IN THE STORM,

BETTER PLEASED WITH THE SOCIETY
OF NEIGHBORS, FRIENDS,
AND FELLOW LABORERS OF THE EARTH

THAN OF SPIES AND SYCOPHANTS.

I HAVE NO AMBITION
TO GOVERN MEN.

IT IS A PAINFUL
AND THANKLESS OFFICE.

Jenkinson: IN THE 18th CENTURY,
IT WAS REQUIRED OF ALL
POLITICAL FIGURES

TO PRETEND THAT
THEY DIDN'T WANT THE OFFICE.

GENERAL WASHINGTON DID IT.
ADAMS DID IT.

THEY ALL SPOKE ABOUT CINCINNATUS
AND THE RELUCTANCE,
IN A REPUBLIC, TO HOLD OFFICE,

BUT THEY, OF COURSE,
ALL WANTED OFFICE VERY BADLY,

AND JEFFERSON WAS NO DIFFERENT
FROM THE OTHERS.

IN FACT, IN SOME REGARDS,

JEFFERSON WAS MORE
AMBITIOUS THAN THE OTHERS,
BUT MORE CRAFTY,

AND SO HE QUITE SUCCESSFULLY
PRETENDED ALL OF HIS LIFE

THAT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY
TO LIVE QUIETLY AT MONTICELLO
AS A FARMER/SCIENTIST,

BUT THE EMERGENCIES
OF THE TIMES IN WHICH HE LIVED
HAD THRUST POWER UPON HIM.

Narrator: IN 1796,
GEORGE WASHINGTON REFUSED
TO RUN FOR A THIRD TERM,

AND THE FEDERALISTS
NAMED JOHN ADAMS AS
THEIR CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT.

JEFFERSON WAS CONCERNED THAT
ADAMS WOULD BETRAY THE PROMISE
OF THE REVOLUTION,

THAT HE, LIKE HAMILTON, WANTED
TO CREATE A EUROPEAN-STYLE
ARISTOCRACY IN AMERICA...

AND ADAMS HAD GROWN SUSPICIOUS
OF JEFFERSON.

HE CONSIDERED HIM A DEMAGOGUE...

IRRESPONSIBLE IN HIS FLIRTATION
WITH REVOLUTION,

INFATUATED WITH DEMOCRACY.

BY THE FALL, JEFFERSON AGREED TO
STAND AGAINST HIS FORMER FRIEND
FOR THE PRESIDENCY.

HE LOST BY JUST
3 ELECTORAL VOTES,

AND ACCORDING TO THE RULES
THEN IN PLACE,

JEFFERSON BECAME
THE VICE PRESIDENT,

BUT HE SOON FOUND HIMSELF
AN OUTCAST.

HE AND ADAMS WERE GROWING
FURTHER AND FURTHER APART.

SINCE THEY DIFFERED
ON VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING NOW,

JEFFERSON WAS RARELY CONSULTED,
EVEN IN TIMES OF CRISIS.

[CANNONFIRE]

IN 1798, FRENCH WARSHIPS
SEIZED AMERICAN VESSELS
TRADING WITH ENGLAND.

FRIGHTENED BY THE POSSIBILITY
OF INVASION,

CONGRESS PASSED
THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS.

TO JEFFERSON'S HORROR, THE NEW
LAWS CLAIMED FOR GOVERNMENT

THE POWER TO ARREST
OR DEPORT ANY ALIEN...

AND MADE CITIZENS WHO CRITICIZED
THE GOVERNMENT LIABLE TO ARREST.

24 MEN WERE SEIZED,
MOSTLY ANTI-FEDERALIST
NEWSPAPER EDITORS

WHO SUPPORTED
JEFFERSON'S CAUSE.

10 WERE FOUND GUILTY
OF SEDITION AND SENT TO JAIL.

Thomas Jefferson:
THESE AND SUCCESSIVE ACTS
OF THE SAME CHARACTER,

UNLESS ARRESTED
ON THE THRESHOLD,

MAY TEND TO DRIVE THESE STATES
INTO REVOLUTION AND BLOOD

AND WILL FURNISH NEW PRETEXTS
FOR THOSE WHO WISH IT
TO BE BELIEVED

THAT MAN CANNOT BE GOVERNED
BUT BY A ROD OF IRON.

Narrator: FRUSTRATED
AND POWERLESS,

HE RETREATED
TO MONTICELLO AGAIN,

CONVINCED NOW
THAT THE FEDERALISTS WERE
ENEMIES OF THE CONSTITUTION,

THAT A FRESH REVOLUTION
MIGHT BE NECESSARY.

JEFFERSON SECRETLY BEGAN
TO DRAFT LEGISLATION TO BE
PASSED BY INDIVIDUAL STATES

ASSERTING THEIR SUPREMACY
OVER CONGRESS.

SINCE THE STATES HAD
CREATED THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT, HE ARGUED,

THEY HAD THE RIGHT TO CHALLENGE
ANY FEDERAL LAW THEY THOUGHT
UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

AS THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST
OF 1800 APPROACHED,

THE FEDERALIST PARTY WAS
SPLIT BETWEEN SUPPORTERS
OF PRESIDENT ADAMS

AND HAMILTON'S HANDPICKED
CANDIDATE, THOMAS PINCKNEY
OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

NOW JEFFERSON CHANGED TACTICS.

HE TURNED FROM ORCHESTRATING
RESISTANCE BEHIND THE SCENES
AND STOOD AGAIN FOR PRESIDENT.

AN AMBITIOUS BUT ERRATIC YOUNG
NEW YORK LAWYER NAMED AARON BURR
RAN WITH HIM.

IT WAS ONE OF THE DIRTIEST
ELECTIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

THE FEDERALISTS SAVAGED
JEFFERSON WHEREVER
AND WHENEVER THEY COULD.

Man: THE ELECTION OF ANY MAN
AVOWING THE PRINCIPLES
OF MR. JEFFERSON

WOULD DESTROY RELIGION,
INTRODUCE IMMORALITY,

AND LOOSEN
ALL THE BONDS OF SOCIETY.

TO VOTE FOR JEFFERSON IS NO LESS
THAN A REBELLION AGAINST GOD.

THE REVEREND
WILLIAM LINN.

Narrator: JEFFERSON GAVE
AS GOOD AS HE GOT

AND PAID MONEY HIMSELF
TO A DRUNKEN EDITOR
NAMED JAMES CALLENDER,

WHO ATTACKED JOHN ADAMS

AND SPREAD GOSSIP
ABOUT ALEXANDER HAMILTON'S
PRIVATE LIFE.

"JEFFERSON'S MIND," ADAMS SAID,
"HAD BEEN SOURED AND EATEN
TO A HONEYCOMB WITH AMBITION."

IN EARLY 1801,

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
MET IN THE NEW CAPITAL
TO PICK THE NEXT PRESIDENT.

WHEN THE VOTES
WERE COUNTED,

IT WAS CLEAR THAT NEITHER
OF THE FEDERALISTS,
ADAMS OR PINCKNEY,

WOULD EVER HAVE
ENOUGH VOTES TO WIN.

JEFFERSON NOW FOUND HIMSELF
BATTLING FOR THE PRESIDENCY

WITH HIS ONE-TIME ALLY
AARON BURR.

EACH MAN HAD 73 VOTES.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WOULD HAVE TO SETTLE THINGS.

CONGRESSIONAL VOTING BEGAN
ON FEBRUARY 11, 1801,

AND WENT ON
FOR 6 CONTENTIOUS DAYS
AND 36 SEPARATE BALLOTS.

Man: THE SCENE
WAS NOW LUDICROUS.

MANY HAD SENT HOME
FOR NIGHTCAPS AND PILLOWS

AND, WRAPPED IN SHAWLS
AND GREAT COATS,

LAY ABOUT THE FLOOR
OF THE COMMITTEE ROOMS

OR SAT SLEEPING
IN THEIR SEATS.

AT 1:00 AND 2:00
AND HALF PAST 2:00,

THE TELLERS ROUSED THE MEMBERS
FROM THEIR SLUMBERS

AND TOOK THE SAME BALLOT
AS BEFORE.

Narrator: THEY WERE
HOPELESSLY DEADLOCKED.

WHEN RUMORS SPREAD THAT
THE FEDERALISTS MIGHT REFUSE
TO ACCEPT A JEFFERSON VICTORY,

THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS
OF PENNSYLVANIA AND VIRGINIA

VOWED TO SEND THEIR MILITIA
TO SEIZE THE CAPITAL.

MANY FEARED THE AMERICAN
EXPERIMENT WAS FAILING.

ONE MAN HELD THE KEY.

HE ALONE COULD PERSUADE
HIS FELLOW FEDERALISTS
TO BREAK THE DEADLOCK.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON
DISLIKED JEFFERSON,
BUT HE DESPISED AARON BURR,

WHOM HE THOUGHT
A MOST UNFIT AND DANGEROUS MAN.

TO HIM, THE SURVIVAL OF
THE NEW REPUBLIC WAS AT STAKE.

FINALLY, AT HAMILTON'S URGING,
THE FEDERALISTS GAVE UP.

THE EXHAUSTED LEGISLATORS
ELECTED THOMAS JEFFERSON

THE THIRD PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

Thomas Jefferson:
THE REVOLUTION OF 1800

WAS AS REAL A REVOLUTION
IN THE PRINCIPLES
OF OUR GOVERNMENT

AS THAT OF 1776 WAS
IN ITS FORM.

WE CAN NO LONGER SAY THERE
IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN,

FOR THIS WHOLE CHAPTER
IN THE HISTORY OF MAN IS NEW.

THE GREAT EXTENT
OF OUR REPUBLIC IS NEW.

ITS SPARSE HABITATION IS NEW.

THE MIGHTY WAVE
OF PUBLIC OPINION

WHICH HAS ROLLED OVER IT
IS NEW.

THE ORDER AND GOOD SENSE
DISPLAYED IN THIS RECOVERY
FROM DELUSION

AND IN THE MOMENTOUS CRISIS
WHICH LATELY AROSE

BESPEAK A STRENGTH OF CHARACTER
IN OUR NATION

WHICH AUGURS WELL
FOR THE DURATION
OF OUR REPUBLIC.

AND I AM MUCH BETTER SATISFIED
NOW OF ITS STABILITY THAN I WAS
BEFORE IT WAS TRIED.

Narrator: JUST BEFORE NOON
ON MARCH 4, 1801,

THOMAS JEFFERSON, A MONTH SHY
OF HIS 58th BIRTHDAY,

STRODE INTO THE SENATE CHAMBER,

THE ONLY PART OF
THE BRAND-NEW CAPITOL BUILDING
TO HAVE BEEN COMPLETED,

TO TAKE THE OATH
AS PRESIDENT.

FEELINGS AGAINST JEFFERSON
AMONG THE DISPLACED FEDERALISTS
STILL RAN HIGH.

A BITTER JOHN ADAMS HAD
APPOINTED FEDERAL JUDGES

SURE TO OPPOSE EVERYTHING
JEFFERSON WANTED

AND THEN LEFT TOWN AT DAWN
RATHER THAN TAKE PART
IN THE INAUGURATION

OF THE MAN WHO HAD
ONCE BEEN HIS FRIEND.

JEFFERSON HAD STAYED
THE PREVIOUS NIGHT
AT A BOARDING HOUSE,

WORE A PLAIN SUIT
AND SHOES THAT TIED

BECAUSE HE CONSIDERED BUCKLES
UNDEMOCRATIC,

AND HE INSISTED ON WALKING,
NOT RIDING, TO HIS INAUGURAL.

"THE PRINCIPAL OF SOCIETY
WITH US," JEFFERSON EXPLAINED,

"IS THE EQUAL RIGHTS OF ALL.

"NOBODY SHALL BE ABOVE YOU,

"NOR YOU ABOVE ANYBODY.

"PELL-MELL IS OUR LAW."

Will: JEFFERSON'S
COMPLETE ABSENCE OF POMP,

WHEN COMBINED WITH A GREAT
SENSE, I'M SURE, OF DIGNITY,

WAS A STATEMENT OF REPUBLICAN--
SMALL "R"--REPUBLICAN
SIMPLICITY, REPUBLICAN VIRTUE,

REPUBLICAN--NOT MEANT
UNPLEASANTLY--SEVERITY.

Narrator: THE TONE
OF JEFFERSON'S ADDRESS
WAS CONCILIATORY,

ALTHOUGH HE SPOKE SO SOFTLY

THAT MANY IN THE CHAMBER
DID NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND HIM

UNTIL THEY READ HIS WORDS
IN THE NEWSPAPER.

Thomas Jefferson: LET US THEN,
FELLOW CITIZENS,

UNITE WITH ONE HEART
AND ONE MIND.

LET US RESTORE
TO SOCIAL INTERCOURSE
THAT HARMONY AND AFFECTION

WITHOUT WHICH LIBERTY
AND EVEN LIFE ITSELF
ARE BUT DREARY THINGS.

EVERY DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
IS NOT A DIFFERENCE
OF PRINCIPLE.

WE ARE ALL REPUBLICANS.
WE ARE ALL FEDERALISTS.

IF THERE BE ANY AMONG US
WHO WOULD WISH
TO DISSOLVE THIS UNION

OR TO CHANGE
ITS REPUBLICAN FORM,

LET THEM STAND UNDISTURBED

AS MONUMENTS OF THE SAFETY
WITH WHICH ERROR OF OPINION
MAY BE TOLERATED...

WHERE REASON IS LEFT FREE
TO COMBAT IT.

Woman: THE CHANGES
OF ADMINISTRATION WHICH IN EVERY
GOVERNMENT AND EVERY AGE

HAVE MOST GENERALLY BEEN EPOCHS
OF CONFUSION, VILLAINY,
AND BLOODSHED

IN THIS, OUR HAPPY COUNTRY,

TAKE PLACE WITHOUT ANY SPECIES
OF DISTRACTION OR DISORDER.

THIS DAY HAS ONE
OF THE MOST WORTHY MEN

TAKEN THAT SEAT
TO WHICH HE WAS CALLED
BY THE VOICE OF HIS COUNTRY.

MARGARET BAYARD SMITH.

Narrator: THE MAN
WHO HAD FOUGHT ALL HIS LIFE

AGAINST THE PRINCIPLE
OF CENTRALIZED POWER

WAS NOW HIS COUNTRY'S
CHIEF EXECUTIVE.

JEFFERSON MOVED INTO
THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE

AND DECLARED IT BIG ENOUGH
FOR 2 EMPERORS, ONE POPE,

AND THE GRAND LAMA
IN THE BARGAIN.

HE DID ALL HE COULD
TO END ANY CONFUSION
BETWEEN PRESIDENTS AND KINGS:

HE BARRED THE USE
OF HIS FACE ON COINS,

FORBADE ANY OFFICIAL CELEBRATION
OF HIS BIRTHDAY,

AND THREW OPEN THE DOORS
OF THE EXECUTIVE MANSION

TO ANYONE
WHO WANTED TO SEE HIM.

Man: IN A FEW MOMENTS
AFTER OUR ARRIVAL,

A TALL, HIGH-BONED MAN
CAME INTO THE ROOM.

HE WAS DRESSED,
OR RATHER UNDRESSED,

IN AN OLD BROWN COAT,
RED WAISTCOAT,

OLD CORDUROY SMALLCLOTHES,
MUCH SOILED,

WOOLEN HOSE,
AND SLIPPERS WITHOUT HEELS.

I THOUGHT HIM A SERVANT...
WHEN GENERAL VARNUM
SURPRISED ME

BY ANNOUNCING THAT
IT WAS THE PRESIDENT.

SENATOR WILLIAM PLUMER.

Narrator:
JEFFERSON ACTED QUICKLY TO UNDO

WHAT HE CONSIDERED THE EXCESSES
OF HIS PREDECESSOR.

HE PARDONED EVERYONE LOCKED UP
UNDER THE SEDITION ACT,

RETURNED MONEYS PAID IN FINES,

EVEN WROTE LETTERS OF APOLOGY
ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT.

HE CUT SPENDING, SHRANK
THE NAVY, ABOLISHED FEDERAL JOBS
HE THOUGHT UNNECESSARY,

AND BATTLED STUBBORNLY
WITH THE CHIEF JUSTICE
OF THE SUPREME COURT,

HIS COUSIN JOHN MARSHALL,

OVER WHOSE VISION OF
THE CONSTITUTION WOULD PREVAIL.

Jenkinson: HE CAME TO POWER
IN WHAT HE CALLED THE SECOND
AMERICAN REVOLUTION,

AND PEOPLE WONDERED
WHETHER HE WOULD ACTUALLY
RE-CREATE THE NATION

ON A MUCH MORE DEMOCRATIC LINE
THAN HIS PREDECESSORS HAD
BEEN COMFORTABLE WITH.

IN FACT, JEFFERSON WAS
A VERY MODERATE PRESIDENT.

HE DIDN'T ALTER THE FOUNDATIONS
OF THE HAMILTONIAN SYSTEM.

HE MERELY ATTEMPTED
TO PUT IT ON A REPUBLICAN TACK.

Thomas Jefferson:
A NOISELESS COURSE,

NOT MEDDLING IN THE AFFAIRS
OF OTHERS,

IS A MARK THAT SOCIETY
IS GOING ON IN HAPPINESS.

IF WE CAN PREVENT THE GOVERNMENT
FROM WASTING THE LABORS
OF THE PEOPLE

UNDER THE PRETEXT
OF TAKING CARE OF THEM...

THEY MUST BE HAPPY.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

[FIREWORKS]

Woman: JULY 5, 1803,
WASHINGTON.

YESTERDAY WAS A DAY
OF JOY TO OUR CITIZENS

AND OF PRIDE
TO OUR PRESIDENT.

THE NEWS OF THE CESSION
OF LOUISIANA

ONLY ARRIVED ABOUT 8:00
OF THE NIGHT PRECEDING.

THIS MIGHTY EVENT FORMS AN ERA
IN OUR HISTORY

AND OF ITSELF MUST RENDER

THE ADMINISTRATION
OF JEFFERSON IMMORTAL.

Narrator: IN 1803,
JEFFERSON BOUGHT LOUISIANA,

THE VAST TERRITORY
BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,

FROM FRANCE FOR $15 MILLION.

IT WAS A SUM NEARLY TWICE
THE FEDERAL BUDGET.

THOUGH CONGRESS HAD NOT
AUTHORIZED THAT AMOUNT

AND HIS ENEMIES
ACCUSED HIM OF ABUSING
THE CONSTITUTION'S POWERS,

JEFFERSON AGREED TO PAY IT.

IT WAS THE GREATEST LAND DEAL
IN HISTORY.

Burstein: THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

IS IN A SENSE THE MAKING MOMENT
OF AMERICAN HISTORY...

BECAUSE BY BUYING LOUISIANA,
JEFFERSON NOT ONLY DOUBLED
THE SIZE OF THE COUNTRY

WITH A SINGLE STROKE
OF THE PEN--

I MEAN, IT WAS UNPRECEDENTED
IN HUMAN HISTORY
TO BUY AN EMPIRE--

BUT BY BUYING THIS TERRITORY,
HE ESSENTIALLY REMOVED BRITAIN,
FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND SPAIN

FROM SERIOUS CONTENTION
ON THIS CONTINENT.

Narrator: EVEN BEFORE JEFFERSON
BOUGHT LOUISIANA,

HE HAD QUIETLY FITTED OUT
A GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION
TO EXPLORE IT,

HEADED BY 2 YOUNG ARMY OFFICERS:
HIS PRIVATE SECRETARY,
MERIWETHER LEWIS,

AND WILLIAM CLARK, THE BROTHER
OF A REVOLUTIONARY HERO.

HE CALLED THE EXPEDITION
THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY.

Burstein: JEFFERSON LOVED
THE NOTION OF DISCOVERY.

HE LOVED THE IDEA THAT THIS
CONTINENT WAS A "TREASURE HOUSE
OF THE UNPRECEDENTED,"

AND WE WERE GOING TO DESCRIBE IT
AND FALL IN LOVE WITH IT.

BUT BEHIND THE FACADE
OF THE PHILOSOPHE
INVENTORYING THE WEST,

JEFFERSON WAS
A QUITE SHREWD GEOPOLITICIAN,

AND HE WAS ABLE TO
GIVE DIFFERENT MESSAGES
TO DIFFERENT CONSTITUENTS

TO ENABLE WHAT FOR HIM
WAS PARTLY A PRACTICAL MATTER

OF MAKING SURE THAT
THIS CONTINENT WAS
GOING TO BELONG TO US

AND THEN SECONDARILY
AND MORE INTERESTINGLY

HIS ENLIGHTENMENT PROGRAM,

WHICH WAS TO SAY LET'S GO SEE
IF THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH

IS STILL ROAMING
ON THE GREAT PLAINS SOMEWHERE.

WHAT DOES THE SOURCE OF
THE MISSOURI REALLY LOOK LIKE?

WHAT KINDS OF INDIANS ARE THOSE,
AND WHAT CAN THEY TEACH US
ABOUT HUMAN RELATIONS?

Narrator: FROM THE NEWEST
SECTION OF THE NATION,

LEWIS AND CLARK SENT HIM BOXES
FULL OF THEIR DISCOVERIES--

ANIMAL SKELETONS
AND BUFFALO ROBES,

MAPS AND MINERAL SAMPLES.

JEFFERSON PLANTED INDIAN CORN
FROM THE GREAT PLAINS
ON HIS FARM

AND PROUDLY DISPLAYED
ELK ANTLERS IN HIS FRONT HALL

AT MONTICELLO.

Thomas Jefferson: HOWEVER OUR
PRESENT INTERESTS MAY RESTRAIN
US WITHIN OUR OWN LIMITS,

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO LOOK
FORWARD TO DISTANT TIMES

WHEN OUR RAPID MULTIPLICATION
WILL EXPAND ITSELF
BEYOND THOSE LIMITS

AND COVER THE WHOLE CONTINENT
WITH A PEOPLE SPEAKING
THE SAME LANGUAGE,

GOVERNED IN SIMILAR FORMS
AND BY SIMILAR LAWS.

Narrator: BUT DESPITE
HIS LIFELONG INTEREST
IN NATIVE CULTURE,

JEFFERSON BELIEVED
THAT WHITE SETTLEMENT
WAS MORE IMPORTANT

AND ENCOURAGED THE REMOVAL OF
NEARLY ALL THE EASTERN INDIANS

FROM THEIR HOMELANDS
TO THE WEST.

Man: IT IS WELL KNOWN
THAT THE MAN,

WHOM IT DELIGHTETH
THE PEOPLE TO HONOR,

KEEPS, AND FOR MANY YEARS
HAS KEPT, AS HIS CONCUBINE,
ONE OF HIS SLAVES.

HER NAME IS SALLY.

THE NAME OF HER ELDEST SON
IS TOM.

HIS FEATURES ARE SAID
TO BEAR A STRIKING
THOUGH SABLE RESEMBLANCE

TO THOSE OF
THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF.

THERE IS NOT AN INDIVIDUAL
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
OF CHARLOTTESVILLE

WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE THIS STORY,
AND NOT A FEW WHO KNOW IT.

JAMES CALLENDER.

Narrator: ON SEPTEMBER 1, 1802,

A FEDERALIST SHEET
CALLED THE RECORDER

PUBLISHED A SENSATIONAL ATTACK
ON JEFFERSON'S CHARACTER.

THE AUTHOR WAS JAMES CALLENDER,

THE SAME ERRATIC NEWSPAPERMAN
JEFFERSON HAD ONCE PAID
TO MALIGN THE FEDERALISTS,

WHO HAD NOW GONE OVER
TO THE ENEMY'S CAMP.

HE CHARGED THAT ONE
OF THE PRESIDENT'S YOUNG SLAVES,

SALLY HEMINGS,
WAS ALSO HIS MISTRESS

AND THAT JEFFERSON
WAS THE FATHER OF HER CHILDREN.

Man: MY GRANDFATHER
TOLD ME ABOUT IT
WHEN I WAS 10 YEARS OLD.

HE CALLED ME
INTO HIS LIVING ROOM,

AND HE SAID, "SON,
IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO LEARN
ABOUT YOUR HERITAGE."

AND HE SAID,
"YOU ARE A SPECIAL PERSON,

"AND YOU'RE PART
OF A SPECIAL FAMILY.

"YOU, THROUGH YOUR MOTHER AND ME
AND MY MOTHER AND SO ON,

"ARE A DESCENDANT
OF THOMAS JEFFERSON,

THIRD PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES."

Jenkinson: SALLY HEMINGS
REMAINS THE...

THE NOTORIOUS MYSTERY
OF JEFFERSON'S SEXUAL LIFE.

WE DON'T KNOW.
THE EVIDENCE IS SLENDER.

WHAT WE KNOW IS THIS--

THAT JEFFERSON
WAS AT MONTICELLO

ABOUT 9 MONTHS BEFORE
SALLY HEMINGS' CHILDREN
WERE BORN;

THAT HER CHILDREN
WERE CERTAINLY MULATTOS,

THAT THEY HAD A WHITE FATHER;

THAT JEFFERSON
MAY HAVE BEEN THEIR FATHER.

HER YOUNGEST SON,
MADISON HEMINGS,
LATE IN HIS LIFE,

GAVE A NEWSPAPER INTERVIEW
IN OHIO

SAYING THAT HIS MOTHER SALLY
HAD TOLD HIM, MADISON HEMINGS,
ON HER DEATHBED

THAT JEFFERSON WAS HIS FATHER
AND THE FATHER OF HIS SIBLINGS.

I THINK WE MUST CONSIDER
WHO THOMAS JEFFERSON WAS.

THE IDEA THAT THOMAS JEFFERSON
COULD HAVE HAD A YOUNG
MULATTO MISTRESS

IN A HOUSE OVERFLOWING WITH
YOUNG CHILDREN WHOM HE ADORED

IS INCONSISTENT WITH
EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT
THE REAL THOMAS JEFFERSON.

HIS GRANDDAUGHTER ELLEN
SAID, "THERE ARE SUCH THINGS
AS MORAL IMPOSSIBILITIES."

THE HISTORIANS WHO SAY,
"OH, THAT COULDN'T HAVE
HAPPENED,"

THEY REALLY DIDN'T KNOW
JEFFERSON AS WELL AS THEY THINK.

I HAVE THE BENEFIT
OF 200 YEARS OF CONSISTENT,
SOLID ORAL HISTORY.

SALLY WAS, WITHOUT A DOUBT,
THOMAS JEFFERSON'S MISTRESS,

LOVER, SUBSTITUTE WIFE
FOR 38 YEARS.

NO QUESTION ABOUT IT.

Narrator: JEFFERSON NEVER
SPECIFICALLY RESPONDED
TO CALLENDER'S CHARGES.

"THE MAN WHO FEARS NO TRUTHS
HAS NOTHING TO FEAR FROM LIES,"
HE SAID.

JOHN ADAMS SAID HE DID NOT
BELIEVE THE CHARGES,

BUT, HE TOLD HIS WIFE,
THEY WERE NONETHELESS

"A NATURAL
AND UNAVOIDABLE CONSEQUENCE

OF THAT FOUL CONTAGION
IN THE HUMAN CHARACTER--
NEGRO SLAVERY."

Man: THIS HAS BEEN DRAGGED
THROUGH THE PAGES OF HISTORY.

IT'S LIKE A TIN CAN THAT'S BEEN
TIED TO THOMAS JEFFERSON'S TAIL

AND HAS RATTLED
THROUGH THE PAGES OF HISTORY.

IF IT WERE A LEGAL CASE
BROUGHT BEFORE A DISPASSIONATE
GROUP OF JURORS,

THE EVIDENCE WOULD NOW BE SUCH
THAT JEFFERSON WOULD BE FOUND
NOT GUILTY.

IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHETHER
HE SLEPT WITH HER OR NOT.

HE COULD HAVE.
AFTER ALL, HE OWNED HER.

UM, SHE WAS SUBJECT
TO HIS EXPLOITATION
IN EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAY.

IT WAS HE WHO
BROUGHT HER TO PARIS.

IT WAS HE WHO SENT HER HOME
FROM PARIS.

HE HAD COMPLETE CONTROL
OF HER DESTINY...

AND HE MIGHT HAVE FATHERED
THE SEVERAL CHILDREN,

UH, TO WHICH, UH,
WE SOMETIMES GIVE HIM
BLAME OR CREDIT.

BUT WHEN WE SEE THE COUNTRYSIDE
AT MONTICELLO

AND ALL OVER VIRGINIA
AND SOUTH CAROLINA,

NORTH CAROLINA,
AND OTHER PLACES

LITTERED WITH MULATTOS OF EVERY
CONCEIVABLE DESCRIPTION--

RED HAIR, GREEN EYES,
FRECKLED FACES,
AND ALL THE REST--

WE KNOW THAT SOMEONE IS BUSY
SLEEPING WITH THE SLAVES,

AND, UH, I SEE NO REASON
WHY THOMAS JEFFERSON SHOULD
BE EXCUSED FROM THAT.

Thomas Jefferson:
MONTICELLO, APRIL 13, 1804.

OUR SPRING
IS REMARKABLY UNCHEERY.

A NORTHWEST WIND
HAS BEEN BLOWING 3 DAYS.

OUR PEACH TREES BLOSSOMED
THE FIRST DAY OF THIS MONTH.

THE POPLAR BEGAN TO LEAF SO AS
TO BE SENSIBLE AT A DISTANCE
ABOUT THE SEVENTH.

ASPARAGUS SHOWED ITSELF
ABOUT 5 DAYS AGO.

PERHAPS WE MAY HAVE A DISH
TODAY OR TOMORROW.

BUT MY FLOWER BEDS
ARE IN A TOTAL NEGLECT,

AND THEREFORE, NOT A FAIR
MEASURE OF THE SEASON.

MY DAUGHTER EXHIBITS
LITTLE CHANGE.

HER FEVER IS SMALL AND CONSTANT.

Narrator:
WHEN CONGRESS ENDED ITS SESSION
IN THE SPRING OF 1804,

JEFFERSON HURRIED HOME
TO MONTICELLO

WHERE POLLY LAY DESPERATELY ILL
FROM AN ABSCESS IN THE BREAST.

SHE DIED ON APRIL 17.

HIS FATHER AND MOTHER,
HIS BEST FRIEND
AND BELOVED SISTER,

HIS WIFE AND ALL BUT ONE
OF HIS CHILDREN WERE DEAD.

ONLY HIS MARRIED DAUGHTER MARTHA
REMAINED.

Thomas Jefferson: OTHERS
MAY LOSE OF THEIR ABUNDANCE,

BUT I OF MY WANT HAVE LOST
EVEN THE HALF OF ALL I HAD.

MY EVENING PROSPECTS NOW HANG
ON THE SLENDER THREAD
OF A SINGLE LIFE.

PERHAPS I MAY BE DESTINED
TO SEE EVEN THIS LAST CORD
OF PARENTAL AFFECTION BROKEN,

BUT WHATEVER
IS TO BE OUR DESTINY,

WISDOM AS WELL AS DUTY DICTATES
THAT WE SHOULD ACQUIESCE
IN THE WILL OF HIM

WHOSE IT IS TO GIVE
AND TAKE AWAY

AND BE CONTENTED IN
THE ENJOYMENT OF THOSE WHO ARE
STILL PERMITTED TO BE WITH US.

Narrator: IN THE AUTUMN OF 1804,

STILL GRIEVING OVER
HIS DAUGHTER'S DEATH,

JEFFERSON WAS
OVERWHELMINGLY REELECTED
TO A SECOND TERM AS PRESIDENT,

WINNING ALL BUT 2
OF THE 17 STATES.

BUT EVENTS OVERSEAS
ALONG WITH HIS OWN STUBBORNNESS

ENSURED THAT
HIS SECOND TERM WOULD BE
MARKED BY FEW SUCCESSES.

[CANNONFIRE]

BRITAIN AND FRANCE WERE AT WAR
ONCE AGAIN.

BOTH SIDES PREYED
ON AMERICAN SHIPPING,

IMPRESSING AMERICAN SAILORS
INTO THEIR NAVIES

AND SEIZING
VALUABLE CARGO.

BECAUSE HE HAD REDUCED
HIS OWN NAVY TO NEARLY NOTHING,

JEFFERSON WAS POWERLESS
TO RETALIATE.

INSTEAD, HE IMPOSED AN EMBARGO
ON THE EXPORTING OF ALL
AMERICAN GOODS.

IT WAS A DISASTER.

IT DID NOTHING TO DISCOURAGE
THE BRITISH AND FRENCH
FROM ATTACKING AMERICAN SHIPS,

AND IT DEVASTATED THE ECONOMY,

PROVOKING OUTRAGE AT JEFFERSON
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

30,000 SEAMEN LOST THEIR JOBS,

THE PRICE OF COTTON
AND TOBACCO PLUMMETED,

AND SMUGGLING WAS RAMPANT,
AS MANY IGNORED THE NEW LAW
ALTOGETHER.

THE PRESIDENT STUCK WITH
THE EMBARGO IN THE FACE
OF ALL THE EVIDENCE.

HE WAS SURE THAT IT WOULD KEEP
THE COUNTRY OUT OF WAR,

BUT WHEN DESPERATE
AMERICAN MERCHANTMEN
CONTINUED TO DEFY HIM,

HE ORDERED THEM ARRESTED
AND THEIR SHIPS SEARCHED
WITHOUT WARRANTS.

"CONGRESS," HE SAID,
"MUST LEGALIZE ALL MEANS
WHICH MAY BE NECESSARY."

INSTEAD, CONGRESS ENDED
JEFFERSON'S EMBARGO.

HIS ENEMIES DELIGHTED
IN HIS TROUBLES,

AND THE FEDERALIST PRESS
STEPPED UP THEIR ATTACKS,

CALLING HIM AN IMPERIAL
CONQUEROR AND A DESPOT.

Will: JEFFERSON WAS
A TORMENTED PRESIDENT

BECAUSE, LIKE SO MANY
SUBSEQUENT PRESIDENTS,

HE FOUND THAT FOREIGN POLICY
TOOK FAR MORE ATTENTION
THAN HE WANTED.

BEING A GOOD AMERICAN,
HE WANTED TO LOOK WEST,

NOT EAST
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC,

AND HE WAS DRAWN INTO WORRYING
ABOUT THE OLD WORLD

AND ITS TROUBLES AND TUMULTS
AND PREJUDICES AND SUPERSTITIONS

AND ALL THE THINGS
WE WERE SUPPOSED TO TRANSCEND.

Narrator: BY 1808, HE WAS
ANGUISHED AND EXHAUSTED,

STILL UNWILLING TO ADMIT
THAT HIS EMBARGO
HAD BEEN A FAILURE.

BUT AS THE END OF HIS
SECOND TERM APPROACHED,

EXPRESSIONS OF APPRECIATION
POURED IN FROM ALL ACROSS
THE UNITED STATES.

HIS COUNTRYMEN
HATED HIS EMBARGO,

BUT THEY DID NOT HATE HIM.

HE WAS HEAVILY PETITIONED
TO SEEK A THIRD TERM,

AND SAID NO, THAT ONE
OF THE GREAT LEGACIES
OF GEORGE WASHINGTON

IS THE TRADITION OF WALKING AWAY
FROM POWER--

OF NOT DOING ALL YOU CAN DO,
OF KNOWING WHEN TO STOP.

IT'S A SIGN OF POLITICAL GENIUS
TO KNOW WHEN TO STOP,
AND JEFFERSON DID.

Thomas Jefferson:
NEVER DID A PRISONER
RELEASED FROM HIS CHAINS

FEEL SUCH RELIEF
AS I SHALL ON SHAKING OFF
THE SHACKLES OF POWER.

NATURE INTENDED ME FOR
THE TRANQUIL PURSUITS
OF SCIENCE

BY RENDERING THEM
MY SUPREME DELIGHT.

Will: JEFFERSON LEFT OFFICE
ON THE FOURTH OF MARCH 1809.

7 DAYS LATER,
HE RODE OUT OF WASHINGTON

AND LIVED 17 FULL YEARS
AFTER THAT

AND NEVER AGAIN
CAME BACK TO WASHINGTON.

SOUND FELLOW.

Thomas Jefferson:
I AM RETIRED TO MONTICELLO,

WHERE IN THE BOSOM OF MY FAMILY
AND SURROUNDED BY MY BOOKS,

I ENJOY A REPOSE TO WHICH
I HAVE LONG BEEN A STRANGER.

MY HEALTH IS PERFECT,
AND MY STRENGTH
CONSIDERABLY REINFORCED

BY THE ACTIVITY
OF THE COURSE I PURSUE.

I TALK OF PLOWS AND HARROWS,
OF SEEDING AND HARVESTING
WITH MY NEIGHBORS,

AND OF POLITICS, TOO,
IF THEY CHOOSE,

WITH AS LITTLE RESERVE AS
THE REST OF MY FELLOW CITIZENS

AND FEEL AT LENGTH THE BLESSING
OF BEING FREE TO SAY
AND DO WHAT I PLEASE

WITHOUT BEING RESPONSIBLE
TO ANY MORTAL.

Jenkinson: THE PHRASE
"PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS"
COMES FROM JOHN LOCKE.

IT WAS A WIDELY USED PHRASE
IN THE 18th CENTURY
IN ENLIGHTENMENT CIRCLES,

AND IT ESSENTIALLY MEANS
THE PURSUIT OF PUBLIC
HAPPINESS--

THE CREATION OF A REPUBLIC
WHICH ENABLES HUMANS TO THRIVE,

BUT FOR JEFFERSON, OF COURSE,
IT MEANS MUCH MORE THAN THAT--

A LIFE OF FRIENDSHIP,
A LIFE OF LOVE AND FAMILY,
GRANDCHILDREN,

GARDENING, GOOD FOOD, GOOD WINE,
GOOD CONVERSATION,

CORRESPONDENCE
WITH ABSENT FRIENDS,

A LOVE OF THE ARTS--
MUSIC, ARCHITECTURE,
DANCE, LITERATURE.

IN A SENSE,
HAPPINESS FOR JEFFERSON MEANS

FINDING THE ART OF LIVING
WITHOUT INTRUSIONS

BY INSTITUTIONS THAT MIGHT GET
IN THE WAY OF THAT.

Narrator: JEFFERSON WOULD
REMAIN AT MONTICELLO FOR
THE REST OF HIS LONG LIFE.

HE TOLD FRIENDS THAT HE COULD
NOW AT LAST TAKE THINGS EASY,

BUT HE WAS SOON AS BUSY,
HE ADMITTED,

"AS A BEE
IN A MOLASSES BARREL."

[ROOSTER CROWS]

Man: MR. JEFFERSON WAS ALWAYS
AN EARLY RISER--

AROSE AT DAYBREAK OR BEFORE.

THE SUN NEVER FOUND HIM IN BED.

I USED, SOMETIMES, TO THINK
WHEN I WENT UP THERE VERY EARLY
IN THE MORNING

THAT I WOULD FIND HIM IN BED,

BUT THERE HE WOULD BE BEFORE ME,
WALKING ON THE TERRACE.

EDMUND BACON.

Jenkinson: JEFFERSON SAID
HE GOT UP BEFORE THE SUN
EVERY DAY OF HIS ADULTHOOD.

HE BATHED HIS FEET IN ICE WATER

AND THEN,
ACCORDING TO HIS TESTIMONY,

WENT STRAIGHT
TO HIS WRITING TABLE

AND WORKED ASSIDUOUSLY FOR
5 OR 6 HOURS ANSWERING LETTERS.

AND JEFFERSON COMPLAINED
THAT LETTER-WRITING
WAS SHEER DRUDGERY.

HE SAID, "COMPARED TO THIS,
THE LIFE OF A CABBAGE
IS PARADISE."

Thomas Jefferson: NO OCCUPATION
IS SO DELIGHTFUL TO ME

AS THE CULTURE
OF THE EARTH

AND NO CULTURE COMPARABLE
TO THAT OF THE GARDEN.

BUT THOUGH AN OLD MAN,
I AM BUT A YOUNG GARDENER.

Narrator: JEFFERSON TOOK
GARDENING AS SERIOUSLY
AS HE TOOK GOVERNMENT,

AND NOTHING GAVE HIM
MORE PLEASURE.

"THE GREATEST SERVICE
WHICH CAN BE RENDERED
ANY COUNTRY," HE SAID,

"IS TO ADD A USEFUL PLANT
TO ITS CULTURE."

HIS GARDENS
WERE HIS LABORATORY.

HE GRAFTED PEACHWOOD,

SOWED CABBAGE SEEDS
WITH HIS DAUGHTER
AND HIS GRANDDAUGHTERS,

GREW 250 KINDS OF VEGETABLES,
AND SET OUT 1,200 FRUIT TREES.

Thomas Jefferson:
MY DEAR GRANDDAUGHTER,

NOTHING NEW HAS HAPPENED
IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

THE HOUSES AND THE TREES
STAND WHERE THEY DID.

THE FLOWERS COME FORTH
LIKE THE BELLES OF THE DAY,

HAVE THEIR SHORT REIGN
OF BEAUTY AND SPLENDOR,

AND RETIRE, LIKE THEM,
TO THE MORE INTERESTING OFFICE
OF REPRODUCING THEIR LIKE.

THE HYACINTHS AND TULIPS
ARE ON THE STAGE.

THE IRISES ARE GIVING PLACE
TO THE BELLADONNAS

AS THESE WILL TO THE TUBEROSES
AND SO ON...

AS YOUR MAMA HAS DONE TO YOU,
MY DEAR ANNE,

AS YOU WILL DO TO THE SISTERS
OF LITTLE JOHN,

AND AS I SHALL SOON
AND CHEERFULLY DO TO YOU ALL

IN WISHING YOU A LONG,
LONG GOOD NIGHT.

Narrator: HIS DAUGHTER, PATSY,
WAS NEARLY ALWAYS AT HIS SIDE

ENTERTAINING GUESTS,
HOSTING DINNERS,

AND HELPING TO RUN
THE HOUSEHOLD.

Thomas Jefferson:
DEAR MRS. COSWAY,

MY DAUGHTER, WHOM YOU KNEW
IN PARIS AS A YOUNG GIRL,

IS NOW THE MOTHER
OF 11 LIVING CHILDREN

AND THE GRANDMOTHER
OF ABOUT HALF A DOZEN OTHERS.

AMONG THESE, I LIVE LIKE
A PATRIARCH OF OLD.

Woman: MY BIBLE CAME FROM HIM,
MY SHAKESPEARE,

MY FIRST WRITING TABLE,
MY FIRST HANDSOME WRITING DESK,

MY FIRST LEGHORN HAT,
MY FIRST SILK DRESS.

WHAT, IN SHORT,
OF ALL MY TREASURES
DID NOT COME FROM HIM?

Narrator: THERE WERE SOMETIMES
12 GRANDCHILDREN IN RESIDENCE
AT MONTICELLO,

SWARMING OVER THE GROUNDS,
PLAYING GAMES, AND RUNNING RACES

UNDER THEIR GRANDFATHER'S
FOND DIRECTION.

Granddaughter:
ONE OF OUR EARLIEST AMUSEMENTS

WAS RUNNING RACES ON THE TERRACE
OR AROUND THE LAWN.

HE PLACED US
ACCORDING TO OUR AGES

GIVING THE YOUNGEST
AND SMALLEST THE START
OF ALL THE OTHERS BY SOME YEARS.

AND THEN,
HE RAISED HIS ARM HIGH

WITH HIS WHITE HANDKERCHIEF
IN HIS HAND

ON WHICH OUR EAGER EYES
WERE FIXED,

AND SLOWLY COUNTED 3...

AT WHICH NUMBER
HE DROPPED THE HANDKERCHIEF

AND WE STARTED OFF
TO FINISH THE RACE

BY RETURNING
TO THE STARTING PLACE

AND RECEIVING OUR AWARD
OF DRIED FRUIT:

3 FIGS, PRUNES,
OR DATES TO THE VICTOR,

2 TO THE SECOND, AND ONE
TO THE LAGGER WHO CAME IN LAST.

THESE WERE OUR SUMMER SPORTS
WITH HIM.

[HORSE NEIGHS]

Granddaughter: ABOUT 1:00,
MY GRANDFATHER RODE OUT

AND WAS ABSENT
PERHAPS 2 HOURS;

WHEN HE RETURNED TO PREPARE
FOR HIS DINNER,

WHICH WAS ABOUT HALF PAST 3:00.

Narrator: JEFFERSON NEVER
TURNED AWAY A VISITOR,

AND HE OFTEN HAD A DOZEN
FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES
DINING WITH HIM.

Jenkinson: AND ONLY AFTER
THE TABLECLOTH WAS REMOVED
WOULD THERE BE ANY WINE.

AND THEN JEFFERSON WOULD DRINK
2 OR 3 GLASSES OF WINE.

THE GLASSES WERE MUCH SMALLER
THAN THEY ARE TODAY,

AND OFTEN HE DILUTED HIS WINE
WITH WATER.

THEN HE WOULD TAKE SOME TEA
A LITTLE BIT LATER,

GATHER WITH HIS GRANDCHILDREN
IN ONE OF THE PARLORS,

CONDUCT AN AMATEUR SEMINAR
IN IDEAS AND IN READING.

Granddaughter:
WHEN THE CANDLES WERE BROUGHT,
ALL WAS QUIET IMMEDIATELY,

FOR HE TOOK UP
HIS BOOK TO READ,

AND WE WOULD NOT
SPEAK OUT OF A WHISPER,
LEST WE SHOULD DISTURB HIM,

AND GENERALLY WE FOLLOWED
HIS EXAMPLE AND TOOK A BOOK.

AND I HAVE SEEN HIM RAISE
HIS EYES FROM HIS OWN BOOK

AND LOOK ROUND ON THE LITTLE
CIRCLE OF READERS AND SMILE

AND MAKE SOME REMARK
TO MAMA ABOUT IT.

Jenkinson: AND THEN
THE REST OF THE EVENING WOULD
BE JEFFERSON'S PRIVATE TIME

WHEN HE WOULD RETREAT
TO HIS SANCTUM SANCTORUM,
WHAT HE CALLED HIS CABINET,

AND READ AND STUDY
UNTIL PERHAPS 10 P.M.
AND THEN SLEEP.

Woman: IF FULL OCCUPATION
OF MIND, HEART, AND HANDS
IS HAPPINESS,

SURELY HE IS HAPPY.

Narrator: ONE DAY IN 1812,
A PACKAGE POSTMARKED QUINCY,
MASSACHUSETTS, ARRIVED.

IN IT WAS A BOOK
BY JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR'S
PROUD FATHER,

JEFFERSON'S OLD PERSONAL FRIEND
AND POLITICAL FOE JOHN ADAMS,
FOLLOWED.

THEY HAD NOT SPOKEN
OR WRITTEN TO ONE ANOTHER
FOR A DOZEN YEARS.

Thomas Jefferson:
DEAR SIR,

A LETTER FROM YOU
CALLS UP RECOLLECTIONS
VERY DEAR TO MY MIND.

IT CARRIES ME BACK TO TIMES
WHEN, BESET WITH DIFFICULTIES
AND DANGERS,

WE WERE FELLOW LABORERS
IN THE SAME CAUSE,

STRUGGLING FOR WHAT IS
MOST VALUABLE TO MAN:

HIS RIGHT
OF SELF-GOVERNMENT.

LABORING ALWAYS ON THE SAME OAR
WITH SOME WAVE EVER AHEAD

THREATENING TO OVERWHELM US
AND YET PASSING HARMLESS
UNDER OUR BARK,

WE KNEW NOT HOW,

WE RODE THROUGH THE STORM
WITH HEART AND HAND
AND MADE A HAPPY PORT.

John Adams:
NEVER MIND IT, MY DEAR SIR,

IF I WRITE 4 LETTERS
TO YOUR ONE,

YOURS IS WORTH
MORE THAN MY 4.

YOU AND I HAD OUGHT NOT TO DIE
BEFORE WE HAVE EXPLAINED
OURSELVES TO EACH OTHER.

THEY ARE A KIND OF ODD COUPLE
WHO RECOGNIZE IN EACH OTHER

THE VALUES THAT ARE LACKING
IN THEMSELVES,

AND THE CORRESPONDENCE
THAT THEY...

THAT THEY, UH, MAINTAINED
BETWEEN 1812 AND 1826

IS PROBABLY THE GREATEST
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PUBLIC
FIGURES IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

IT'S A KIND
OF ELEGIAC CORRESPONDENCE

IN THE TWILIGHT YEARS
OF THEIR RESPECTIVE LIVES.

IT BECOMES CLEAR
WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON

IS A RECOGNITION THAT
EACH OF THEM IS NOT COMPLETE
WITHOUT THE OTHER...

THAT ADAMS IS A REALIST
WHO IS SOMETIMES CYNICAL

AND NEEDS JEFFERSON'S
IDEALISM TO REDEEM HIM
FROM THAT CYNICISM.

AND, IN THE SAME WAY,
JEFFERSON CAN FLOAT AWAY

INTO A SOMEWHAT UNREALISTIC SET
OF ASSERTIONS,

BUT HE'S GOT ADAMS THERE
TO GROUND HIM.

Man: IN THEIR LAST DAYS,
THEY WERE THE LAST SURVIVORS
OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS,

AND SUDDENLY THEY STRUCK UP
A CORRESPONDENCE,

WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST MOVING
IN AMERICAN LITERATURE,

AND THEY'RE TALKING
ABOUT THEIR INVENTION,
THE UNITED STATES,

AND SOME THINGS DISTURB THEM,
SOME THINGS THEY'RE RATHER
PROUD OF.

IT WAS TO JOHN ADAMS
THAT JEFFERSON WROTE,

"I BELIEVE IN THE DREAMS
OF THE FUTURE MORE THAN
THE HISTORY OF THE PAST."

IT WAS TO JOHN ADAMS
THAT JEFFERSON LOOKED TO
FOR A SENSE OF HISTORY.

IT WAS TO JOHN ADAMS THAT
JEFFERSON COULD EXPRESS

HIS PROFOUND APPRECIATION
FOR THE SPIRIT OF '76,

WHICH LIVED IN HIM
UNTIL HIS DYING DAY.

Narrator: "I REJOICE
IN THE CORRESPONDENCE,"

A MUTUAL FRIEND HAD
TOLD ADAMS WHEN HE HEARD
THAT HE AND JEFFERSON

HAD BEGUN TO WRITE
ONE ANOTHER AGAIN.

"I CONSIDER YOU AND HIM
AS THE NORTH AND SOUTH POLES
OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

"SOME TALKED, SOME WROTE,
AND SOME FOUGHT TO PROMOTE
AND ESTABLISH IT,

BUT YOU AND MR. JEFFERSON
THOUGHT FOR US ALL."

Thomas Jefferson:
AND SO WE HAVE GONE ON,
AND SO WE SHALL GO ON

PUZZLED AND PROSPERING BEYOND
EXAMPLE IN THE HISTORY OF MAN,

AND I DO BELIEVE WE SHALL
CONTINUE TO GROW,

TO MULTIPLY AND PROSPER
UNTIL WE EXHIBIT AN ASSOCIATION
POWERFUL, WISE, AND HAPPY

BEYOND WHAT HAS YET
BEEN SEEN BY MEN.

I LIKE THE DREAMS OF THE FUTURE
BETTER THAN THE HISTORY
OF THE PAST.

SO GOOD NIGHT.
I WILL DREAM ON,

ALWAYS FANCYING
THAT MRS. ADAMS AND YOURSELF

ARE BY MY SIDE
MARKING OUR PROGRESS.

Edmund Bacon: I WENT
TO OLD DAVY ISAAC'S STORE
AND GOT A BALL OF TWINE,

AND DINSMORE FOUND SOME SHINGLES
AND MADE SOME PEGS,

AND WE ALL WENT ON
TO THE OLD FIELD TOGETHER.

MR. JEFFERSON LOOKED
OVER THE GROUND SOMETIME

AND THEN STUCK DOWN A PEG,

THEN DIRECTED ME
WHERE TO CARRY THE LINE,
AND I STUCK THE SECOND.

HE CARRIED ONE END OF THE LINE,
AND I, THE OTHER,

IN LAYING OFF THE FOUNDATION
OF THE UNIVERSITY.

EDMUND BACON.

Thomas Jefferson: OUR UNIVERSITY
IS THE LAST OF MY MORTAL CARES

AND THE LAST SERVICE
I CAN RENDER MY COUNTRY.

THIS INSTITUTION
OF MY NATIVE STATE,
THE HOBBY OF MY OLD AGE,

WILL BE BASED ON THE ILLIMITABLE
FREEDOM OF THE HUMAN MIND

TO EXPLORE AND TO EXPOSE
EVERY SUBJECT SUSCEPTIBLE
OF ITS CONTEMPLATION.

Narrator: JEFFERSON STILL HAD
ONE GREAT TASK AHEAD OF HIM.

HE WANTED TO BUILD
A NEW UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.

HE WOULD LIST IT AS ONE OF
THE 3 GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS
OF HIS LIFE.

Jenkinson:
HIS 3 ACHIEVEMENTS WERE
ALL INTELLECTUAL ONES:

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
WHICH ENABLED US TO BE
A FREE PEOPLE;

THE VIRGINIA STATUTES,
WHICH SAID THAT THE MIND IS
UTTERLY FREE AND UNCOERCIBLE;

AND THEN TO MAKE SURE
THAT THAT TRADITION OF
FREE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS

HAD PERPETUITY
IN AMERICAN CULTURE,

HE DESIGNED THE UNIVERSITY
OF VIRGINIA.

IT WAS MEANT TO BE A KIND OF
TEMPLE OF CONTINUING REVOLUTION

AND ENLIGHTENMENT RATIONALITY.

IT WAS AN EXPERIMENTAL COLLEGE.

IT WAS THE FIRST COLLEGE
IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD
THAT WAS NOT A DIVINITY SCHOOL,

THAT WAS NOT FOUNDED
BY A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION.

JEFFERSON HAD SOME IDEAS THAT
WEREN'T, IN THE END, ADOPTED,

BUT, FOR EXAMPLE, HE DIDN'T WANT
DEGREES TO BE GIVEN.

HE DIDN'T WANT MATRICULATION.

HE SIMPLY WANTED PEOPLE TO COME
WHEN THEY FELT LIKE IT

TO STUDY WHAT THEY PLEASED
AND LEAVE WHEN THEY
FELT EDUCATED,

AND IT WAS MEANT TO BE WHAT HE
CALLED "AN ACADEMICAL VILLAGE."

Man: WE CAN SEE JEFFERSON
WALKING ON THE NORTH TERRACE
WITH A TELESCOPE

LOOKING AT THE CAMPUS
AS IT CAME INTO BEING.

WE CAN FOLLOW JEFFERSON ON
A HORSE RIDING DOWN TO INSPECT

AS THE PAVILIONS
BEGAN TO BE CONSTRUCTED.

WE CAN SEE JEFFERSON
ATTENDING THE EARLY MEETINGS
OF THE BOARD OF VISITORS.

WE CAN SEE JEFFERSON,
THE CORRESPONDENCE,

HOPING TO GET THE BEST
PROFESSORS FROM EUROPE
TO COME TO THIS NEW SCHOOL.

AND BEYOND ALL OF THAT
IS A RADICAL NOTION.

THIS IS PUBLIC EDUCATION.

IT'S NOT A SCHOOL CONTROLLED
BY A RELIGIOUS GROUP.

IT'S A SCHOOL
IN WHICH A GENERATION

WOULD BE TRAINED
FOR LEADERSHIP ROLES.

IT'S A SCHOOL
THAT WOULD BE ATTENDED
BY THE NATURAL ARISTOCRAC,

THAT IS, THE PEOPLE
WHO WERE JUST BRIGHT,

AND NOT BY THE ARTIFICIAL--
PEOPLE WHO WERE BORN
INTO CERTAIN FAMILIES.

Jenkinson:
INSTEAD OF ONE BLOCKISH BUILDING

LIKE THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM
AND MARY AT WILLIAMSBURG,

HE DESIGNED A CAMPUS,
THE FIRST AMERICAN CAMPUS.

IT CONSISTS OF
WHAT HE CALLED THE LAWN,

WHICH HAD THE ROTUNDA
AT ONE END

AND AN OPEN PROSPECT
OF THE BLUE RIDGE
AT THE OTHER END

AND THEN BARRACKS,
OR DORMITORIES, ALONG THE WAY.

JEFFERSON SAW THIS AS A HOBBY
IN HIS OLD AGE,

BUT I THINK ITS PURPOSE
WAS MUCH MORE SERIOUS THAN THAT.

HE WAS AFRAID THAT
THE REVOLUTIONARY EDGE
OF THE FOUNDING GENERATION

WOULD NOT BE RECAPITULATED
IN THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS...

AND SO HE WANTED TO CREATE
A TEMPLE TO THE ENLIGHTENMENT
IN HIS OLD AGE, AND HE DID.

Thomas Jefferson:
COME, TOO, AND SEE
OUR INCIPIENT UNIVERSITY,

WHICH HAS ADVANCED
WITH GREAT ACTIVITY THIS YEAR.

BY THE END OF THE NEXT,

WE SHALL HAVE ELEGANT
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR 7 PROFESSORS,

AND THE YEAR FOLLOWING,
THE PROFESSORS THEMSELVES.

NO SECONDARY CHARACTERS
WILL BE RECEIVED AMONG THEM.

EITHER THE ABLEST WHICH
AMERICA OR EUROPE CAN
FURNISH OR NONE AT ALL.

John Adams:
QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS,
MARCH 2, 1816.

MY DEAR MR. JEFFERSON,

WOULD YOU GO BACK TO YOUR CRADLE
AND LIVE OVER AGAIN
YOUR 70 YEARS?

JOHN ADAMS.

Thomas Jefferson:
YOU ASK IF I WOULD AGREE

TO LIVE MY 70--OR RATHER
73 YEARS OVER AGAIN,

TO WHICH I SAY, YEA.

I THINK WITH YOU THAT IT IS
A GOOD WORLD ON THE WHOLE,

THAT IT HAS BEEN FRAMED
ON A PRINCIPLE OF BENEVOLENCE

AND MORE PLEASURE THAN PAIN
DEALT OUT TO US.

THERE ARE INDEED
WHO MIGHT SAY NAY--

GLOOMY AND HYPOCHONDRIAC MINDS
DESPAIRING OF THE FUTURE.

TO THESE I SAY, HOW MUCH PAIN
HAVE COST US THE EVILS WHICH
HAVE NEVER HAPPENED?

MY TEMPERAMENT
IS SANGUINE.

I STEER MY BARK
WITH HOPE IN THE HEAD,
LEAVING FEAR ASTERN.

Narrator:
THROUGHOUT HIS LONG LIFE,

JEFFERSON HAD ENDURED
MORE THAN HIS SHARE OF GRIEF,

AND HIS OLD AGE SAW
STILL MORE OF IT.

PATSY'S HUSBAND WENT BANKRUPT
AND GREW APART FROM HIS FAMILY.

SHE MOVED PERMANENTLY
TO MONTICELLO WITH HER CHILDREN.

HIS FAVORITE GRANDSON
WAS STABBED BY HIS
DRUNKEN BROTHER-IN-LAW.

A GRANDDAUGHTER DIED.

2 OF HIS NEPHEWS
KILLED A SLAVE,

WHOSE ONLY CRIME HAD BEEN
TO BREAK A TEACUP THAT HAD
BELONGED TO THEIR MOTHER.

Jenkinson:
JEFFERSON REFLECTS BACK
UPON HIS TIME WITH HIS WIFE

AND THE LOSSES
THAT HE HAD SUSTAINED

IN A WONDERFUL LETTER
TO JOHN ADAMS,

AND HE SAYS, "I CAN ACCEPT
ALL OF THE ECONOMY OF LIFE

"AND ALL OF HUMAN
ACTIVITIES AND HUMAN NATURE
EXCEPT ONE THING:

WHAT IS THE USE OF GRIEF?"

I THINK THAT'S ONE OF
JEFFERSON'S UNRESOLVED CONCERNS.

HE BELIEVED
IN A PROVIDENTIAL UNIVERSE.

HE BELIEVED
IN A DEISTIC GOD.

HE BELIEVED
THAT LIFE WAS GOOD.

HE WAS A HAPPY MAN--
INDEED, AN OPTIMIST.

BUT HE COULD NEVER COME TO TERMS
WITH GRIEF.

Narrator: IN 1815, JEFFERSON
WAS FORCED TO SELL HIS ENTIRE
LIBRARY OF 6,487 BOOKS

TO HELP PAY HIS BILLS.

THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
BOUGHT THEM,

AND THEY BECAME THE NUCLEUS
OF THE NEW LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

BUT JEFFERSON COULD NOT RESIST
BUYING HIMSELF ANOTHER LIBRARY.

"I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT BOOKS,"
HE TOLD JOHN ADAMS.

HIS BILLS CONTINUED TO MOUNT.

HE NOW OWED CREDITORS
NEARLY $100,000.

MONTICELLO REMAINED UNFINISHED.

Jenkinson:
IN ABOUT 1815,

WHEN JEFFERSON REALIZED
THAT HE WAS INSOLVENT,

HE HAD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN
LIVING THE LIFE OF A PATRICIAN

AND DOING SOMETHING
ABOUT SLAVERY,

WHICH HE HAD ALWAYS SAID
THAT HE WANTED TO DO,

AND JEFFERSON, HAVING LOOKED
IN THE FACE OF THAT DILEMMA,

CHOSE TO BUY MORE BORDEAUX WINE
AND MORE BOOKS

AND MORE SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS

AND TO LIVE
IN HIS COMFORTABLE WAY

AND NOT TO EMANCIPATE.

Narrator: 36 YEARS EARLIER,

JEFFERSON HAD HIMSELF TRIED
TO HAVE SLAVERY FOREVER BARRED

FROM ANY NEW
WESTERN TERRITORIES.

HE HAD LOST THEN
BY ONLY ONE VOTE.

"THUS WE SEE THE FATE
OF MILLIONS UNBORN HANGING
ON THE TONGUE OF ONE MAN,"

HE'D SAID THEN,
"AND HEAVEN WAS SILENT
IN THAT AWFUL MOMENT."

Jenkinson: HE BELIEVED THAT
WE INVITED PROVIDENTIAL JUDGMENT

BECAUSE OF
OUR OWNERSHIP OF SLAVES.

AND LATE IN LIFE,

ABOUT THE TIME
OF THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE,

HE SAID, "IT'S LIKE HAVING
THE WOLF BY THE EARS:

WE CAN NEITHER HANG ON
NOR LET GO,"

THAT WE'RE TRAPPED,
WE'RE STUCK WITH SLAVERY,

AND SLAVERY IS A POISON
WHICH IS GETTING AT THE HEART
OF THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT.

Ellis: AND JEFFERSON,
WHO RECOGNIZES THAT
SLAVERY IS A THREAT

TO THE STABILITY
OF THIS NEW NATION,

ALSO IS PREPARED TO ACKNOWLEDGE
THE RIGHT OF SLAVERY TO SPREAD
INTO THE TERRITORIES.

HE SAYS THAT BY SPREADING,
IT WILL DIFFUSE...

TO WHICH JOHN ADAMS SAYS,
"MY GOD, IF A CANCER
DIFFUSES, IT KILLS."

Thomas Jefferson: A GOOD CAUSE
IS OFTEN INJURED MORE BY
ILL-TIMED EFFORTS OF ITS FRIENDS

THAN BY THE ARGUMENTS
OF ITS ENEMIES.

THE REVOLUTION IN PUBLIC OPINION
WHICH THIS CAUSE REQUIRES

IS NOT TO BE EXPECTED IN A DAY
OR PERHAPS IN AN AGE...

BUT TIME,
WHICH OUTLIVES ALL THINGS,
WILL OUTLIVE THIS EVIL ALSO.

MY SENTIMENTS HAVE BEEN 40 YEARS
BEFORE THE PUBLIC.

HAD I REPEATED THEM 40 TIMES,

THEY WOULD ONLY HAVE BECOME
THE MORE STALE AND THREADBARE.

ALTHOUGH I SHALL NOT LIVE
TO SEE THEM CONSUMMATED,
THEY WILL NOT DIE WITH ME.

BUT LIVING OR DYING,

THEY WILL EVER BE
IN MY MOST FERVENT PRAYER.

Narrator: MEANWHILE, JEFFERSON'S
DEBTS CONTINUED TO PILE UP.

A SCHEME TO RAISE FUNDS
BY SELLING OFF SOME OF HIS LANDS
BY PUBLIC LOTTERY

FAILED AND HUMILIATED HIM.

HE GREW INCREASINGLY DEAF.

HE FELL AT AGE 78 AND BROKE
HIS LEFT WRIST AND ARM.

"HEAVEN,"
HE TOLD ONE GRANDSON,

"SEEMS TO BE OVERWHELMING US
WITH EVERY FORM OF MISFORTUNE."

John Adams: DEAR SIR,

I MAY RATIONALLY HOPE TO BE
THE FIRST TO DEPART,

AND AS YOU ARE THE YOUNGEST
AND THE MOST ENERGETIC
IN MIND AND BODY,

YOU MAY THEREFORE RATIONALLY
HOPE TO BE THE LAST
TO TAKE YOUR FLIGHT.

JOHN ADAMS.

Thomas Jefferson:
DEAR SIR,

CRIPPLED WRISTS AND FINGERS
MAKE WRITING SLOW AND LABORIOUS,

BUT WHILE WRITING TO YOU,
I LOSE THE SENSE OF THESE THINGS

IN THE RECOLLECTION
OF ANCIENT TIMES

WHEN YOUTH AND HEALTH MADE
HAPPINESS OUT OF EVERYTHING.

I FORGET FOR A WHILE
THE HOARY WINTER OF AGE

WHEN WE CAN THINK OF NOTHING
BUT HOW TO KEEP OURSELVES WARM

AND HOW TO GET RID
OF OUR HEAVY HOURS

UNTIL THE FRIENDLY HAND OF DEATH
SHALL RID US ALL AT ONCE.

Narrator:
BY THE SPRING OF 1826,

THE FLOOD OF LETTERS
BETWEEN JEFFERSON AND ADAMS
HAD SLOWED TO A TRICKLE.

ADAMS WAS SO ILL
HE COULD NO LONGER HOLD A PEN
AND HAD TO DICTATE HIS LETTERS.

JEFFERSON WAS 83
AND ALSO FAILING BADLY.

ON MAY 22, HE MADE HIS FINAL
NOTATION IN HIS DAY BOOK.

Thomas Jefferson: A GALLON
LAMP OIL, COSTING $1.25,

HAS LIGHTED MY CHAMBER
HIGHLY 25 NIGHTS
FOR 6 HOURS A NIGHT,

WHICH IS 5 CENTS A NIGHT
FOR 150 HOURS.

Jenkinson: YOU WOULD THINK
THAT THE DEATH OF JEFFERSON

WOULD HAVE BEEN
A MELANCHOLY EVENT.

SLAVERY HAD SPREAD
INTO THE AMERICAN WEST.

WE WERE NOW IN A SECTIONAL
TIT-FOR-TAT RELATIONSHIP

WITH THE BRINGING IN
OF NEW STATES IN THE WEST,

WHICH JEFFERSON SAID MIGHT BE
THE DEATH KNELL OF THE NATION.

HE WAS PERSONALLY BANKRUPT AND
HAD BEEN FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS

AND BARELY SURVIVED
BEING THROWN OUT OF MONTICELLO

MERELY BECAUSE HIS CREDITORS
DIDN'T HAVE THE HEART TO DO IT.

HIS FAMILY WAS IN SOME DISARRAY.

HE KNEW HE WASN'T GOING TO
BE ABLE TO EMANCIPATE MORE THAN
A HANDFUL OF HIS SLAVES.

IN MANY RESPECTS,
THE YOUNGER GENERATION
THAT WAS RISING--

REPRESENTED, FOR EXAMPLE,
BY ANDREW JACKSON--

DID NOT FULFILL
JEFFERSON'S ASPIRATIONS
OF AN ENLIGHTENED CITIZENRY

WHICH WOULD BE GOING ABOUT
MILD-MANNERED GOVERNMENT.

AND THE FARMERS OF THE WEST,
JEFFERSON'S CHOSEN
PEOPLE OF GOD,

WERE CLEARING THE FORESTS
AS FAST AS THEY COULD
OF TREES AND INDIANS.

AND THEN FINALLY,
JEFFERSON'S AGRARIAN PARADISE

WAS BEING CHANGED
INTO A MANUFACTURING
INDUSTRIAL NATION...

SO ONE MIGHT EXPECT
THAT JEFFERSON WOULD DIE
IN DEEP DISAPPOINTMENT.

NOT SO.

JEFFERSON REMAINED OPTIMISTIC
UNTIL THE END.

Narrator: WHEN A LETTER CAME
ASKING HIM TO COME
TO WASHINGTON

TO SPEAK ON JULY FOURTH
AT THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF
HIS DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

HE GENTLY DECLINED.

BUT HE REMAINED PROUD

OF WHAT HE HAD
WRITTEN IN PHILADELPHIA
HALF A CENTURY BEFORE.

Thomas Jefferson:
MAY IT BE TO THE WORLD
WHAT I BELIEVE IT WILL BE:

TO SOME PARTS SOONER,
TO OTHERS LATER,
BUT FINALLY TO ALL...

THE SIGNAL OF AROUSING MEN
TO BURST THE CHAINS

UNDER WHICH MONKISH IGNORANCE
AND SUPERSTITION HAD PERSUADED
THEM TO BIND THEMSELVES...

AND TO ASSUME THE BLESSINGS
AND SECURITY OF SELF-GOVERNMENT.

ALL EYES ARE OPENED OR OPENING
TO THE RIGHTS OF MAN.

THE GENERAL SPREAD
OF THE LIGHT OF SCIENCE

HAS ALREADY LAID OPEN
TO EVERY VIEW THE PALPABLE TRUTH

THAT THE MASS OF MANKIND
HAS NOT BEEN BORN WITH
SADDLES ON THEIR BACKS

NOR A FAVORED FEW
BOOTED AND SPURRED,

READY TO RIDE THEM LEGITIMATELY
BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

THESE ARE GROUNDS OF HOPE
FOR OTHERS.

FOR OURSELVES, LET THE ANNUAL
RETURN OF THIS DAY

FOREVER REFRESH OUR RECOLLECTION
OF THESE RIGHTS

AND AN UNDIMINISHED
DEVOTION TO THEM.

[CLOCK TICKING]

Narrator: JEFFERSON
AND ADAMS WERE BOTH DYING
AS THE ANNIVERSARY APPROACHED,

BUT EACH HOPED TO LIVE
LONG ENOUGH TO SEE IT.

Man: HE HAS BEEN DYING
SINCE YESTERDAY MORNING.

UNTIL 12:00 LAST NIGHT,

WE WERE IN FEAR THAT HE
WOULD NOT LIVE, AS HE DESIRED,
TO SEE HIS OWN GLORIOUS FOURTH.

Narrator: JEFFERSON FELL
IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

SHORTLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT
ON THE THIRD,

HE STIRRED AND CALLED OUT,
"IS THIS THE FOURTH?"

Jordan: BUT HE WOULD
COME OUT OF IT,

AND THEN IN KIND OF A WHISPER,
HE WOULD ASK THE SAME QUESTION:
"IS IT THE FOURTH?"

HE WAS TOLD, "NO, MR. JEFFERSON,
IT IS NOT THE FOURTH."

AND THEN FINALLY WHEN
THE QUESTION WAS ASKED
IN A WHISPERY VOICE,

THE ANSWER WAS AFFIRMATIVE:
"YES, MR. JEFFERSON,
IT IS THE FOURTH."

Narrator:
IN QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS,

AT 5:00 IN THE AFTERNOON
ON THE FOURTH OF JULY,

JOHN ADAMS FINALLY DIED.

HIS LAST WORDS WERE,
"THOMAS JEFFERSON STILL LIVES."

BUT ADAMS WAS WRONG.

JEFFERSON HAD DIED A FEW HOURS
EARLIER IN HIS ALCOVE BED
IN HIS DOWNSTAIRS ROOM

AT THE HEART
OF THE GREAT HOUSE

HE HAD NEVER MANAGED
QUITE TO FINISH.

AMERICAN HISTORY IS REPLETE
WITH MIRACULOUS MOMENTS

THAT CONVINCE YOU THAT THERE'S
SOMETHING REALLY QUITE SPECIAL
ABOUT THE AMERICAN PROJECT,

AND ONE OF THEM IS
THE SIMULTANEOUS DEATH,

50 YEARS TO THE DAY
AFTER THE SIGNING OF
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

OF JOHN ADAMS
AND THOMAS JEFFERSON.

THESE GREAT RIVALS.

THE CRUSTY, AWKWARD,
NOT-VERY-LOVABLE, FRANKLY,
NEW ENGLAND FEDERALIST

AND THE GRACEFUL
VIRGINIA GENTLEMAN

STRIKING UP
THIS WONDERFUL CORRESPONDENCE

THAT BECOMES
ONE OF THE TREASURES
OF AMERICAN LETTERS...

DYING SIMULTANEOUSLY,
JULY 4, 1826...

AND JOHN ADAMS' LAST WORDS WERE,
"JEFFERSON STILL SURVIVES."

INDEED HE DOES.

Ellis: HE REMAINS,
IN THE END, A MYSTERY,

AND MANY A HISTORIAN
WHO'S PURSUED HIM

HAS DISCOVERED THAT THE PURSUIT
OF THE HISTORICAL JEFFERSON

IS MUCH LIKE THE PURSUIT
OF THE HISTORICAL JESUS.

THERE'S A SIMPLE
BUT EXTRAORDINARILY
RESONANT MESSAGE

THAT JEFFERSON
SOMEHOW SYMBOLIZES:

NAMELY, THE FUTURE IS GOING TO
BE BETTER THAN THE PAST.

I THINK THE THING TO REMEMBER
FROM JEFFERSON

IS THE POWER OF THE WORD,

THAT IDEAS MATTER,
THAT WORDS, BEAUTIFULLY SHAPED,
RESHAPE LIVES,

THAT A PERSON WHO HAS CERTAIN
DISADVANTAGES AND FLAWS

AND EVEN CRIMES,
LIKE HOLDING SLAVES,

CAN TRANSCEND HIS IMPRISONMENT
WITHIN REALITY

BY CASTING OUT WORDS THAT
TAKE YOU INTO A NEW REALITY.

Jenkinson: JEFFERSON IS
THE ENIGMA OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

HE'S INDISPENSABLE.

IT'S OFTEN SAID THAT WASHINGTON
WAS THE INDISPENSABLE MAN,

BUT IT'S JEFFERSON
WHO'S INDISPENSABLE

BECAUSE HE IS MYSTERIOUS,
IDEALISTIC, PRAGMATIC,

MISUNDERSTOOD, COMPLICATED,
PARADOXICAL, HYPOCRITICAL.

HE'S THE STUFF OF AMERICA,
AND THAT'S WHO WE ARE,

AND THAT'S WHY JEFFERSON
HAS TO BE THE CENTER
OF OUR NATIONAL DISCOURSE.

Franklin:
THE LEGACY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
IS BOTH A GIFT AND A CURSE.

HE'S A BLESSING IN ONE WAY,

FOR HE GIVES US
MANY IMPORTANT THINGS

THAT WE CAN HOLD UP AS IDEALS...

BUT, UH...HE CURSED US

WITH A PRACTICE
OF INEQUALITY AND OF SLAVERY

AND THE DENIAL OF JUSTICE

THAT CAN SCARCELY BE ERASED
BY ANYTHING WE COULD THINK OF.

Narrator: AFTER HIS DEATH,

JEFFERSON'S FAMILY WAS FORCED
TO LEAVE THE PROPERTY.

HIS SLAVES WERE SOLD
AND SENT TO OTHER PLANTATIONS,

HIS FURNITURE AND FRENCH WINES,
HIS SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS,
AND HIS BELOVED BOOKS

AUCTIONED
TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.

MONTICELLO ITSELF WAS
NEGLECTED FOR A TIME,

THEN BOUGHT BY A JEWISH FAMILY
WHO STRUGGLED TO PRESERVE IT

IN GRATITUDE
FOR JEFFERSON'S BILL
ESTABLISHING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

IN THE YEARS TO COME,
HIS COUNTRY LURCHED INEVITABLY
TOWARDS CIVIL WAR,

EACH SIDE CLAIMING THE MASTER
OF MONTICELLO AS ITS MENTOR.

HIS WORDS WOULD ARM
THE PRO-SLAVERY ARGUMENTS
OF SECESSIONISTS

AND GIVE COMFORT TO THE ARMIES
OF JEFFERSON DAVIS,

BUT HIS WORDS WOULD ALSO
INSPIRE ABRAHAM LINCOLN,

A GENERATION OF ABOLITIONISTS,
AND THOUSANDS OF RUNAWAY SLAVES.

Burstein: WE SHOULD
REMEMBER THOMAS JEFFERSON

AS A MAN WHO LOVED
HIS COUNTRY DEEPLY...

WHO BELIEVED IN THE INHERENT
WISDOM OF THE PEOPLE

AND THE EDUCABILITY
OF ORDINARY CITIZENS.

BUT I DON'T THINK
HE WAS CONVINCED

THAT AMERICA
WOULD BE ABLE TO ADVANCE

WITHOUT FITS AND SEIZURES
AND NUMEROUS TORMENTS.

HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW
TO HOLD THE UNION TOGETHER...

BUT IN THE END, I'M SURE HE FELT
THAT HE HAD DONE HIS BEST...

THAT HE HAD LIVED UP
TO HIS OWN DREAMS,

THAT THE DECENCY WHICH
HE FELT IN HIS DEALINGS
WITH OTHER HUMAN BEINGS

WOULD BE A LEGACY
THAT AMERICANS COULD HOLD.

I DON'T KNOW IF THOMAS JEFFERSON
IS A FIGURE THAT'S EASY TO HOLD
TO ONE'S HEART, AS IT WERE,

IN THE WAY SOME PEOPLE
HAVE MANAGED TO HOLD

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
OR ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

BUT I THINK THAT YOU CAN,
WITH ALL HIS FAULTS
AND CONTRADICTIONS,

THAT YOU CAN HOLD HIM VERY CLOSE
TO YOUR MIND,

AND IF THERE IS SUCH A THING
AS AN AMERICAN SPIRIT...

THEN HE IS IT.

Jenkinson: JEFFERSON
ESSENTIALLY TELLS US THAT
WE CANNOT BE COMPLACENT

UNTIL 2 CONDITIONS
ARE MET...

EVERY HUMAN BEING BORN ON THIS
CONTINENT HAS A RIGHT TO EQUAL--
INDEED, IDENTICAL--TREATMENT

IN THE MACHINE OF THE LAW
IRRESPECTIVE OF RACE, GENDER,
CREED, OR CLASS OF ORIGIN.

AND SECONDLY, EVERYONE
BORN ON THIS CONTINENT

HAS A RIGHT TO ROUGHLY
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
AT MODEST PROSPERITY.

AND UNTIL THOSE CONDITIONS
ARE MET, WE CANNOT REST.

WHEN THOSE CONDITIONS ARE MET,
WE MAY SAY, AS JEFFERSON SAID
HE WOULD,

"NUNC DIMITTUS:
NOW YOU MAY DISMISS ME.
MY WORK IS DONE."

Thomas Jefferson:
I WILL NOT BELIEVE
OUR LABORS ARE LOST.

I SHALL NOT DIE WITHOUT A HOPE
THAT LIGHT AND LIBERTY
ARE ON STEADY ADVANCE.

AND EVEN SHOULD THE CLOUD
OF BARBARISM AND DESPOTISM

AGAIN OBSCURE THE SCIENCE
AND LIBERTIES OF EUROPE,

THIS COUNTRY REMAINS
TO PRESERVE AND RESTORE
LIGHT AND LIBERTY TO THEM.

IN SHORT, THE FLAMES KINDLED
ON THE FOURTH OF JULY 1776

HAVE SPREAD OVER TOO MUCH
OF THE GLOBE

TO BE EXTINGUISHED BY THE FEEBLE
ENGINES OF DESPOTISM.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.