This guide combines links to the major online collections of Jefferson's writings that have been made accessible by U.Va., as well as by other institutions. It also provides links to online collections of Jefferson's quotations and other information resources about Jefferson like bibliographies. The guide also provides information about U.Va's Jefferson collections that are not available online, but are held in our Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library.

   (1743-1826). Author of the Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, major architect of the U.S.'s westward expansion and founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson is a figure of world historical significance. His writings are important documents for the history of America's founding and for the Founders' attempts to put into practice theories associated with the eighteenth century Enlightenment. Jefferson's concepts of democracy remain inspirational for many people today, even as his views on religion and race remain a source of controversy.

Portrait of Jefferson by Thomas Sully, 1821. courtesy of The Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

This peace medal, coined during Jefferson's administration, suggests the President's important role in fostering westward expansion. Jefferson engineered the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the United States, and commissioned Lewis and Clark's expedition to explore the newly acquired western territories. Jefferson also encouraged William Henry Harrison, territorial governor of Indiana and future President, to acquire most of the midwest from Native American tribes through a combination of pressure and purchase.

Jefferson Peace Medallion, 1801, courtesy of U.S. Mint.

The Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most famous and inspirational of Jefferson's writings. An original copy of the Declaration is on display in U.Va. Library's permanent Special Collections exhibits.

Original copy of the Declaration of Independence, courtesy of the National Archives.

Jefferson's views on liberty, the law, religious freedom and slavery continue to be relevant, inspirational and controversial today. Some of his most famous remarks have been enshrined at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Jefferson's wide-ranging intellectual interests and his role as a founding father of the United States have proven a source of inspiration as well as controversy for subsequent generations. These sites help to distill Jefferson's words by topic or allow the user to search for particular quotes. (1900 edition, John. P Foley ed.)

Drafted by Jefferson in 1779 and enacted into law by the Virginia General Assembly in 1786, this Statute for Religious Freedom disestablished the Anglican Church in Virginia and asserted the legal right to complete freedom of worship. This bill proved a milestone on the road to the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing religious liberty, and was one of the three accomplishments which Jefferson wished to be inscribed as his epitaph---the others being the Declaration of Independence and the University of Virginia.

Draft of the Statute for Religious Freedom, 1780s, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Original plans based on Jefferson's vision for the Academical Village, the nucleus of the U.Va. campus, University of Virginia Special Collections.

Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University of Virginia, 1817–1828, by Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. -- Grizzard's 1996 dissertation forms a comprehensive documentary edition of the papers surrounding the construction of the Academical Village, Jefferson's 19th-century architectural masterpiece. This electronic database consists of 1,750 manuscript documents and a lengthy historical narrative related to the construction of the original buildings ofthe University of Virginia.

The Academical Village and the Lawn continue to be at the heart of U.Va. cultural life today, despite the expansion of the university over the past 180 years. University of Virginia photo.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation is the private, nonprofit corporation that owns and operates Monticello, Jefferson's restored home near Charlottesville. In cooperation with U.Va., The Jefferson Center sponsors the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies to continue research on the life and thought of Thomas Jefferson.

Monticello's West Front. Photo courtesy of The Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

Jefferson personally collected thousands of books in his lifetime and his personal library became an important basis for the Library of Congress's revived collection after the British burned Washington in 1814. LibraryThing, a social networking site for book lovers, has reproduced Jefferson's library based on the collection he sold to Congress in 1815. Jefferson's library is one of several Libraries of Early America, which attempt to recreate the book collections of many of the Founding Fathers.