Jefferson's Body

Jefferson's Body

Author: Maurizio Valsania

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2017-04-26

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0813939690

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What did Thomas Jefferson look like? How did he carry himself? Such questions, reasonable to ask as we look back on a person who lived in an era before photography, are the starting point for this boldly original new work. Maurizio Valsania considers all aspects of Jefferson’s complex conception of "the body," from eighteenth-century clothing and fashion to manners, adornment, posture, gesture, and visual and material culture. Drawing also from the fields of medical science, psychology, and cultural anthropology, the author conjures a vivid and detailed re-creation of the third president as a living, breathing—and pondering—human being. Having situated Jefferson in his own body, Valsania looks at the embodied Jefferson in the world of his fellow humans. Any one of the other people in Jefferson’s society—whether that other person was male or female, free or enslaved, African American or Native American—was a critical counterexample for the eighteenth-century Virginian to define himself against, and Valsania’s explorations here lead to numerous insightful discoveries about race, gender, and structures of power. The first comprehensive exploration of Jefferson’s corporeal world, Jefferson’s Body brings the man vividly to life for the modern reader while deepening our understanding of what it meant to Jefferson to be alive.


A Guide to Thomas Jefferson's Virginia

A Guide to Thomas Jefferson's Virginia

Author: Laura A. Macaluso

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2018-07-09

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1439664889

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Tour Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia, from Monticello to the Blue Ridge Mountains and beyond, with a guide that “mixes historical background with how-tos” (Daily Press). Few prominent Americans are as associated with a place as Thomas Jefferson is with Virginia. The heart of “Jefferson Country” is his house and plantation at Monticello, but Jefferson traveled the breadth of his home state, from his time at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg to the new state capital at Richmond and his retreat and plantation at Poplar Forest, near Lynchburg. While spending time in the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Jefferson was inspired to write his only book, Notes on the State of Virginia. Jefferson’s life story, and his many endeavors as a scholar and statesman, are illustrated in this guide to the state he held dear. “This book mixes historical background with the how-tos of visiting the places Jefferson spent time, including the Wren Building at the College of William and Mary, which he attended, and the George Wythe house, where he studied law in Williamsburg.” —Daily Press


Revolutionary Medicine

Revolutionary Medicine

Author: Jeanne E. Abrams

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2015-09-04

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1479880574

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Before the advent of modern antibiotics, one's life could be abruptly shattered by contagion and death, and debility from infectious diseases and epidemics was commonplace for early Americans, regardless of social status. Concerns over health affected the founding fathers and their families as it did slaves, merchants, immigrants, and everyone else in North America. As both victims of illness and national leaders, the founders occupied a unique position regarding the development of public health in America. This work refocuses the study of the lives of George and Martha Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams, and James and Dolley Madison away from the usual lens of politics to the unique perspective of sickness, health, and medicine in their era. For the founders, republican ideals fostered a reciprocal connection between individual health and the 'health' of the nation. Studying the encounters of these American founders with illness and disease, as well as their viewpoints about good health, not only provides us with insight into their lives, but also opens a first-hand window into the practice of medicine in the eighteenth century. Perhaps most importantly, today's American public health initiatives have their roots in the work of America's founders, for they recognized early on that government had compelling reasons to shoulder some new responsibilities with respect to ensuring the health and well-being of its citizenry. The state of medicine and public healthcare today is still a work in progress, but these founders played a significant role in beginning the conversation that shaped the contours of its development.--Publisher information.


Twilight at Monticello

Twilight at Monticello

Author: Alan Pell Crawford

Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published: 2009-02-10

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0812969464

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Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, and with good reason: He was the architect of our democracy, a visionary chief executive who expanded this nation’s physical boundaries to unimagined lengths. But Twilight at Monticello is entirely new: an unprecedented look at the intimate Jefferson in his final years–from his return to Monticello in 1809 after two terms as president until his death in 1826–that will change the way readers think about this American icon. Basing his narrative on new research and documents culled from the Library of Congress, the Virginia Historical Society, and other special collections, Alan Pell Crawford paints an authoritative, deeply moving portrait of the private Jefferson–the first original depiction of the man in more than a generation. Though physical illness and family troubles, Jefferson remained a viable political force, receiving dignitaries and corresponding with close friends, including John Adams and other heroes from the Revolution; helping his neighbor James Madison during his presidency; and establishing the University of Virginia. It was also during these years that Jefferson’s idealism would be most severely, and heartbreakingly, tested.


The Founding Foodies

The Founding Foodies

Author: Dave DeWitt

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Published: 2010-11-01

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1402258992

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Ever wonder how certain foods came to be such huge staples of American culinary history? In this fascinating mashup between history book and cook book, one of America's Founding Fathers could be at the source! Food writer Dave DeWitt entertainingly describes how some of America's most famous colonial leaders—like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin—not only established America's political destiny, but also revolutionized the very foods we eat. Beyond their legacy as revolutionaries and politicians, the Founding Fathers of America were first and foremost a group of farmers. Like many of today's foodies, they ardently supported sustainable farming and ranching, exotic imported foods, brewing, distilling, and wine appreciation. Explore their passion for the land and the bounty it produced through an intriguing narrative, sprinkled with recipes that showcase their love of food and the art of eating that would ultimately become America's diverse food culture. Features over thirty authentic colonial recipes, including: Thomas Jefferson's ice cream A recipe for beer by George Washington Martha Washington's fruitcake Medford rum punch Terrapin soup


Jefferson's Secrets

Jefferson's Secrets

Author: Andrew Burstein

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2006-03-21

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 0786736712

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Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, leaving behind a series of mysteries that captured the imaginations of historical investigators-an interest rekindled by the recent revelation that he fathered a child by Sally Hemmings, a woman he legally owned-yet there is still surprisingly little known about him as a man. In Jefferson's Secrets Andrew Burstein focuses on Jefferson's last days to create an emotionally powerful portrait of the uncensored private citizen who was also a giant of a man. Drawing on sources previous biographers have glossed over or missed entirely, Burstein uncovers, first and foremost, how Jefferson confronted his own mortality; and in doing so, he reveals how he viewed his sexual choices. Delving into Jefferson's soul, Burstein lays bare the president's thoughts about his own legacy, his predictions for American democracy, and his feelings regarding women and religion. The result is a moving and surprising work of history that sets a new standard, post-DNA, for the next generation's reassessment of the most evocative and provocative of this country's founders.


"A Rich Spot of Earth"

Author: Peter J. Hatch

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2012-04-24

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0300171145

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Featuring more than 150 stunning full-color illustrations, this volume traces the history of Jefferson's unique vegetable garden, which has been painstakingly restored by the author, from the artichokes and asparagus first planted in 1770 through the horticultural experiments of Jefferson's retirement years.


Light and Liberty

Light and Liberty

Author: Thomas Jefferson

Publisher: Modern Library

Published: 2005-06-14

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 0812974328

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Were Thomas Jefferson alive to read this book, he would recognize every sentence, every elegant turn of phrase, every lofty, beautifully expressed idea. Indeed, every word in the book is his. In an astonishing feat of editing, Eric S. Petersen has culled the entirety of Thomas Jefferson’s published works to fashion thirty-four original essays on themes ranging from patriotism and liberty to hope, humility, and gratitude. The result is a lucid, inspiring distillation of the wisdom of one of America’s greatest political thinkers. From his personal motto—“Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”—to his resounding discourse on “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson defined the essential truth of the American spirit. In the essays that Petersen has crafted from letters, speeches, and public documents, Jefferson’s unique moral philosophy and vision shine through. Among the hundreds of magnificent sentences gathered in this volume, here are Jefferson’s pronouncements on Gratitude: “I have but one system of ethics for men and for nations— to be grateful, to be faithful to all engagements and under all circumstances, to be open and generous.” Religion: “A concern purely between our God and our consciences.” America’s national character: “It is part of the American character to consider nothing as desperate; to surmount every difficulty with resolution and contrivance.” Public debt: “We shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves.” War: “I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind.” In stately measured cadences, these thirty-four essays provide timeless guidance on leading a spiritually fulfilling life. Light and Liberty is a triumphant work of supreme eloquence, as uplifting today as when Jefferson first set these immortal sentences on paper.


Uncovering the Truth About Meriwether Lewis

Uncovering the Truth About Meriwether Lewis

Author: Thomas C. Danisi

Publisher: Prometheus Books

Published: 2012-02-07

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 1616145064

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The critically acclaimed biography Meriwether Lewis, coauthored by Thomas C. Danisi, was praised for its meticulous research and for shedding new light on the adventurous life and controversial death of the great explorer who became famous through the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Now, the author, with some help from contributors, extends his groundbreaking studies of Meriwether Lewis with this compilation of historical essays that offers new findings based on recently discovered docu­ments, tackling such intriguing subjects as: -The court-martial of Meriwether Lewis: Danisi’s discovery of the astonishing never-before published transcript of the entire court-martial proceedings affords him the distinction of being the first historian to mine the document for the many insights it offers into the then-untested twenty-one-year-old officer, who eloquently defended himself and won his case. -Documentation straight from the medical ledgers of Dr. Antoine Saugrain, the physician who treated Governor Lewis, which helps to confirm that Lewis suffered from malaria prior to his celebrated trek to the Pacific Ocean with the Corps of Discovery and continuing through his service as governor of the Louisiana Ter­ritory. Was Lewis’s death, as reported, the result of suicide, or was he merely a victim of this episodic and incurable disease? -Documentation that proves the true nature of the much-discussed Gilbert Russell State­ment given at the court-martial of General James Wilkinson. Some historians have argued that Wilkinson orchestrated Lewis’s murder, but Danisi’s research sets the record straight. -The role of Major James Neelly in Lewis’s last days. This subject has gained much prominence through the History Channel, according to which Neelly supposedly lied to President Thomas Jefferson about his presence at Meriwether Lewis’s burial, but Danisi has evidence to the contrary. The author presents an abundance of additional material to fill in previous historical gaps regarding the mysteries and controversies surrounding Lewis’s life and death. In doing so, he paints a vivid picture of the brilliant rise of an ambitious young man by virtue of courage, talent, and political connections, and the tragic fall of a conscientious public servant under the weight of chronic illness, bureaucratic pettiness, and the political intrigue that was ram­pant throughout America’s Wild West. This superb contribution to Meriwether Lewis research is a must-read for students and scholars of American history and anyone with an interest in one of our nation’s most important explorers and public servants.