Elusive Thomas Jefferson

M. Andrew Holowchak is a philosopher and historian who teaches at the University of the Incarnate Word. He has published more than 30 books, eight of which are on Thomas Jefferson, on whom he is one of the world’s foremost authorities. He lives in Lynchburg, Virginia. Brian W. Dotts is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, College of Education, University of Georgia in Athens. He has published papers on the history of American education.

“This book is an exceedingly comprehensive presentation of Thomas Jefferson’s political ideals within the context of the philosophical, moral, religious, economic and even literary thought of his time.... I expect that it will eventually become a kind of ‘classic,’ not just in Jeffersonian Scholarship, but as a distinctive interpretation of American, and Western civilization.”—Garrett Ward Sheldon, University of Virginia.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionAn “Honest Heart” Versus a “Knowing Head”: The Myth ofthe Preeminency of Rationality in Jefferson’s Notions of Man and Society (M. Andrew Holowchak)The Apostle of Whig History: Thomas Jefferson’s Reliance on the Ancient Saxon Constitution (Brian W. Dotts)Toward a Jurismythos of Thomas Jefferson: The Supreme Court’s Use and Abuse of America’s Most Controversial Founder (Benjamin Justice) The Myth of Jefferson’s Polysemous Conception of Liberty (Garrett Ward Sheldon)“The spirit of the master is abating”: The Myth of Jefferson’s Racism (M. Andrew Holowchak) The Myth of Jefferson’s Deism (William M. Wilson) James Bryant Conant: Twentieth Century Jeffersonian (Wayne J. Urban) The Moral Foundation of Government: Jefferson, Dewey and Citizenship Education (James J. Carpenter) Have Gun(s), Will Travel: Thomas Jefferson, Gun Ownership and Military Affairs (Arthur Scherr) Myths and Realities of Thomas Jefferson’s Architecture (Richard Guy Wilson) Thomas Jefferson as Collective Memory (Jennifer Hauver James, Bruce VanSledright and Christopher Farr)BibliographyAbout the ContributorsIndex