American Memory Historical Collections
The
Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress, 1606-1827
The complete Thomas Jefferson Papers from the Manuscript
Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately
27,000 documents. This is the largest collection of original
Jefferson documents in the world. Document types in the
collection as a whole include correspondence, commonplace
books, financial account books, and manuscript volumes.
The online collection includes a timeline
of Jefferson's life, a selection of his most famous quotations,
as well as an essay titled "American Sphinx: The Contradictions
of Thomas Jefferson" by Joseph
J. Ellis. Also presented are essays on the Barbary
Pirates and an overview of the Jamestown
Records of the Virginia Company of London.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
Search
by keywords or browse
by series and dates to find additional documents in Jefferson's
papers.
The
Related Resources section of this collection contains
a selected bibliography and links to related Web sites.
An
American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other
Printed Ephemera
The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source
items dating from the seventeenth century to the present
and encompasses key events and eras in American history.
Search
the bibliographic records and the full text option to find
items related to Thomas Jefferson, including a copy of the
Senate
bill authorizing the purchase of Jefferson's library
after the British burned the Capitol in 1814.
By
Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies,
1789-Present
This collection presents portraits of U.S. presidents and
first ladies, including two of Thomas
Jefferson.
The
Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake
Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925
A collection consisting of 139 books on Washington, D.C.
and the Chesapeake Bay region, including an 1832 edition
of Jefferson's Notes
on the State of Virginia.
A
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional
Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
This collection contains a large selection of congressional
material related to Thomas Jefferson's political career
as a delegate to the Continental Congress, minister to France,
secretary of state, and U.S. president. Search
this collection by date and publication to find materials
related to Jefferson.
Documents
from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention,
1774-1789
This collection contains documents relating to the work
of the Continental Congress and the drafting and ratification
of the Constitution. Jefferson's service in the Continental
Congress is represented by broadsides such as the first
issue of the Declaration
of Independence printed with the names of the signers
and Jefferson's notes on the establishment
of a money unit and of a coinage for the United States.
The
First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820
Drawn from the holdings of the University of Chicago Library
and the Filson Historical Society, this collection consists
of original historical material documenting the land, peoples,
exploration, and transformation of the trans-Appalachian
West from the mid-eighteenth to the early nineteenth century.
Search
this collection to find a portrait
of Jefferson and eleven
documents he authored.
George
Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799
The complete George Washington Papers collection from the
Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists
of approximately 65,000 documents. This is the largest collection
of original Washington documents in the world. The Washington
Papers contain more than 700 items to, from, or referring
to Thomas Jefferson. To find these documents, go to the
collection’s search
page, change the number of possible hits to 800, and
search on the exact phrase Thomas Jefferson (do not put
quotation marks around the words).
Among the collection’s Jefferson-related materials
are:
- A letter from George Washington to Jefferson on September
18, 1787, announcing the conclusion of the Constitutional
Convention.
- Washington's October 13, 1789, letter to Jefferson offering
him the position of secretary
of state.
- Jefferson's opinion on the constitutionality of establishing
a National
Bank, dated February 15, 1791.
"I
Do Solemnly Swear...": Presidential Inaugurations
This collection contains approximately 400 items relating
to presidential inaugurations, including Jefferson's first
inauguration in 1801 and his second
inauguration in 1805.
The
James Madison Papers at the Library of Congress, 1723-1836
The James Madison Papers from the Manuscript Division at
the Library of Congress consist of approximately 12,000
items captured in some 72,000 digital images. The Madison
Papers contain over 900 items to, from, or referring to
Thomas Jefferson. To find these documents, go to the collection’s
search
page, change the number of possible hits to 1000, and
search on the exact phrase Thomas Jefferson (do not put
quotation marks around the words).
Among the collection’s Jefferson-related materials
are:
- Jefferson's notes on the debates in the Continental
Congress from 1776.
- A letter from Madison to Jefferson on August 10, 1788,
explaining his involvement with the Federalist
Papers.
- A letter from Jefferson to Madison on June 29, 1812,
discussing the declaration
of war against Great Britain.
Words
and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating
the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years
In honor of the Manuscript Division's centennial, its staff
has selected for online display approximately ninety representative
documents spanning from the fifteenth century to the mid-twentieth
century. The collection contains nine
documents related to Thomas Jefferson, including a subpoena
served on Jefferson to testify at Aaron
Burr's trial for treason and a letter from James
Monroe to Jefferson on October 17, 1823, seeking foreign-policy
advice.
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