Statue of Jefferson
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.
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
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.
Sites for Jefferson Quotations
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.)
- Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia:QuotationsPrepared by researchers at Monticello, the site of Jefferson's home, this site collects Jefferson quotations on a range of topics, and includes some quotes about Jefferson by his contemporaries.
- Spurious Jefferson QuotationsAlso prepared by researchers at Monticello, this site provides a list of famous remarks frequently, but erroneously, attributed to Jefferson.