Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy (Jeffersonian America) [Hardcover]

Francis D. Cogliano (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jeffersonian America | Publication Date: September 22, 2006

In his probing new study, Francis Cogliano focuses on Thomas Jefferson's relation to history, both as the context in which he lived, and as something he made considerable, and conscious, efforts to influence. He was acutely aware that he would be judged by posterity, and he believed that the fate of the republican experiment depended to a large extent on how it was rendered by historians.The first half of the book situates Jefferson's ideas about history within the context of eighteenth-century historical thought. It then considers the efforts Jefferson made to shape the way the history of his life and times would be written: through the careful preservation of most of his personal and public papers, and through the institutions he left behind, including his home, Monticello, and the University of Virginia. The second half of the book considers the results of Jefferson's efforts to shape historical writings about himself and his period, which have issued forth in an unbroken stream from his day to our own. Although Jefferson seemed to have achieved apotheosis in the years following World War II, his rise above controversy was short-lived. Earlier political questions were replaced by arguments over race, class, and gender, and recent scholarship has criticized Jefferson's attitudes and actions with regard to civil liberties, Native Americans, slaves, and women, not least in the context of debates surrounding his relationship with his slave, Sally Hemings. Our complex feelings about Jefferson's relation to these issues are a reflection of the man who helped engineer their place in our historical discourse.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An exceptionally well researched and persuasively written book [that] asks who Jefferson was in new and exciting ways. This is a book that needed to be written, and happily, is one that was undertaken by an exceedingly thorough, judicious, open-minded, and creative historian. -- Andrew Burstein, University of Tulsa, author of Jefferson's Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello"Thomas Jefferson continues to enthrall, excite and enrage academics, students and members of the American public. This book promises to provide a useful study of Jefferson's construction of his own historical image, and the reconstructions of that image that have occurred over the past half century.

(Simon Newman, University of Glasgow, author of Embodied History: The Lives of the Poor in Early Philadelphia )

About the Author

Francis D. Cogliano is a Reader in History at the University of Edinburgh and the author of Revolutionary America, 1763-1815: A Political History.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press (September 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081392619X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813926193
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,511,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Jefferson Resource, January 28, 2008

By 

Ronald H. Clark (WASHINGTON, DC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy (Jeffersonian America) (Hardcover)

I must say that this is one of the best books on Jefferson I have read--and I have read plenty over the last 40 years or so. The book's unique focus in on the "reputation and legacy" of TJ--both from the standpoint of how history (or rather historians) have treated TJ, as well as his own strenuous efforts to shape how posterity would judge him. Although the author teaches at the University of Edinburgh, he is an American by birth and training (if that is pertinent). Each chapter is a gem of insight and information; the whole results in an extremely valuable resource. The author first discusses TJ's efforts to document his role in the Revolution, particularly as to his involvement in drafting the Declaration, as well as TJ's conception of history and its uses. Next, a series of fascinating chapters focus on Jefferson's papers, how Monticello (including the TJ Foundation) reflect his legacy, the significance of his Epitaph self-description, Sally Hemmings, and Slavery. As befits his position at Edinburgh, appropriate attention is devoted to the role of the Scottish Enlightenment in TJ's thinking. The final chapter addresses a much neglected topic: the foreign policy of TJ and his role in the expansion of the United States. Supporting the text are incredibly thorough notes which alone justify reading the book. The notes are as thorough a set as I have ever encountered in a book on Jefferson. A must read for those interested in this fascinating and often puzzling historical figure.