Volume 1

14 January 1760 to 25 December 1776

Volume Details

Description

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, as Henry Steele Commager has said, “will illuminate, as does no comparable body of private papers, the whole course of our history from the 1760’s to the 1820’s – the period of the Revolution, the launching of the Constitution, the formation of basic political institutions, the establishment of political parties, the development of the West, the emergence into world politics, the evolution of characteristic social and cultural institutions.”

Few if any of Jefferson’s contemporaries recognized an obligation to history so clearly as he did, and none exceeded him in his effort to discharge the debt. Countless records, compiled throughout his career at the cost of an untold amount of time and energy, reveal the consciousness of his effort to preserve for posterity a full account of the major events through which the country passed in its formative years, and of his own part in those events.

Yet the range of Jefferson’s interests is not comprehended even by the tremendous events of the period in which he lived. “He was a man of sentiment; he was a man of reason. He was the perfect provincial, never happy but at Monticello; he was the complete cosmopolitan, at home in every society. He was the transcendentalist, guided in his search for truth by an inner light; he was the scientist, experimenting on his farm or in his laboratory. He was the shrewd politician, cunningly building a political party; he was the aloof philosopher, criticising Plato and celebrating Locke. He was engineer and inventor, musician and architect, philologist and bookman, agronomist and horticulturalist, scholar and educator, lawyer and statesman, administrator and diplomat.”

Thus Jefferson touched every side of the life of his time. His compulsion to investigate all avenues of human knowledge was purposeful—as Henry Adams wrote of him, “Jefferson aspired beyond the ambition of nationality and embraced in his view the whole future of man.” Here was to be tried the grand experiment of self-government. And because of the universal character of Jefferson’s mind and genius his writings have a freshness and immediacy for the twentieth century exceeding that of almost any other among the great Americans of the past. Before this edition was undertaken, Waldo G. Leland wrote: “The publication of Jefferson’s correspondence would be a contribution not only to the history of American politics, but also, and especially, to the history of American intellectual life and of scientific and technological progress in this country, unequaled by that of any other body of correspondence now in existence or ever likely to come into being.”

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, “the richest treasure-house of historical information ever left by a single man,” is to be a 52-volume series including not only the 18,000 letters written by Jefferson but also, in full or in summary, the more than 25,000 letters written to him. Also included will be Jefferson’s public papers and all other writings on subjects as diverse as political philosophy and scientific agriculture. The editors have conceived their assignment to be preparation of a series which will stand for all time as the most nearly definitive edition that is feasible.

No previous edition has included more than 15 per cent of the total, and only about a fifth of the documents have ever been published anywhere.

Among the fresh contributions made by the documents in Volume 1, which covers the years 1760-1776, are the following: new light on the Declaration of Independence, hitherto unpublished material; full assessment of the part played by Jefferson in the drafting of the Virginia Constitution; full presentation of his efforts in 1776 to disestablish the Church of Virginia and to establish religious toleration; complete presentation of bills and statutes drawn by Jefferson in 1776 in the beginning of his great legislative reforms by which he hoped to “eradicate every fibre of aristocracy”; settlement of the disputed authorship of the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms; first publication of Jefferson’s comments on Franklin’s Plan of Union, 1775.

Table of Contents

A GENERAL VIEW OF THE WORK	vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xxi
EDITORIAL METHOD	xxv
GUIDE TO EDITORIAL APPARATUS	xxxix
ILLUSTRATIONS	lvii
JEFFERSON CHRONOLOGY	2
To John Harvie, 14 January 1760	3
To John Page, 25 December 1762	3
To John Page, 20 January 1763	7
To John Page, 15 July 1763	9
To John Page, 7 October 1763	11
To William Fleming, [ca. October 1763]	12
To John Page, 19 January 1764	13
To John Page, 23 January 1764	14
To William Fleming, 20 March 1764	15
To John Page, 9 April 1764	17
George Gilmer to John Morgan, 11 May 1766	18
To John Page, 25 May 1766	18
To Francis Willis, 23 July 1766	21
Notice of a Land Lottery, 8 April 1768	23
To William Preston, 18 August 1768	23
To Thomas Turpin, 5 February 1769	25
To Alexander White, 19 April 1769	25
Resolutions for an Answer to Governor Botetourt's Speech, 8 May 1769	26
Virginia Nonimportation Resolutions, 17 May 1769	27
To John Walker, 3 September 1769	32
Advertisement for a Runaway Slave, 7 September 1769	33
From Perkins, Buchanan & Brown, 2 October 1769	33
To John Page, 21 February 1770	34
From Thomas Nelson, Sr., 6 March 1770	37
From Thomas Nelson, Jr., 6 March 1770	37
From John Page, 6 March 1770	38
From George Wythe, 9 March 1770	38
From James Ogilvie, 28 March 1770	38
[From Mary Walker Lewis, 14 [April?] 1770 – document redated and moved to 14 April 1790]
From John Page, Jr., April 1770	41
Commission as Lieutenant of Albemarle, 9 June 1770	42
Virginia Nonimportation Resolutions, 22 June 1770	43
To Thomas Adams, 11 July 1770	48
To Peyton Randolph, 23 July 1770	49
From Alexander McCaul, 26 August 1770	51
Thomas Burke to Neil Jamieson, 28 August 1770	52
From Thomas Burke, 3 September 1770	55
Notice of Sale of Bernard Moore's Property, 10 January 1771	59
Notice of Bidding for the Erection of a Prison, 31 January 1771	60
To Thomas Adams, 20 February 1771	61
To James Ogilvie, 20 February 1771	62
Advertisement of Sale of Other Property and Effects of Bernard Moore, 21 February 1771	64
Further Advertisement of Sale of Bernard Moore's Property, 28 February 1771	64
From Mrs. Drummond, 12 March 1771	65
Agreement with John Randolph, 11 [April?] 1771	66
From James Ogilvie, 26 April 1771	67
From Thomas Burke, [ca. April] 1771	69
From Thomas Mann Randolph, 10 May 1771	70
To Messrs. Inglis and Long, 11 May 1771	70
To Thomas Adams, 1 June 1771	71
To Thomas Burke, 30 June 1771	72
To ——, 30 June 1771	73
From Thomas Burke, 10 July 1771	73
From Robert Skipwith, 17 July 1771	74
From John Ogilvie, 19 July 1771	75
To Robert Skipwith, with a List of Books for a Private Library, 3 August 1771	76
From Thomas Burke, 19 August 1771	81
From Robert Skipwith, 20 September 1771	83
From Thomas Burke, 24 September 1771	84
To Thomas Burke?, 6 December 1771	85
Bond for Marriage License, 23 December 1771	86
Project for Making the Rivanna River Navigable, 1771	87
Amendments to a Bill concerning the Keeping of Roads and Bridges, [April?] 1772	88
To Messrs. Inglis and Long, 11 June 1772	91
To Messrs. Inglis and Long, 4 July 1772	91
From Alexander McCaul, 8 July 1772	92
To William Wood, 17 July 1772	94
To William Cabell, 3 September 1772	94
To Samuel Inglis, 13 October 1772	94
From John Wayles, 20 October 1772	95
To Charles McPherson, 25 February 1773	96
To William Fleming, 19 May 1773	97
Notice concerning Legal Fees, 20 May 1773	98
Commission as Surveyor of Albemarle County, 6 June 1773	99
Notice of Sale of Wayles Properties, 15 July 1773	100
James Macpherson to Charles Macpherson, 7 August 1773	100
From Charles McPherson, 12 August 1773	101
From James Taylor, 20 August 1773	102
Further Notice of Sale of Wayles Properties, 9 September 1773	103
From John Blair, 2 March 1774	103
Notes on the Progress of Certain Bills, [9–25 May 1774]	104
Resolution of the House of Burgesses Designating a Day of Fasting and Prayer, 24 May 1774	105
Association of Members of the Late House of Burgesses, 27 May 1774	107
Proceedings of a Meeting of Representatives in Williamsburg, 30 May 1774	109
From Peyton Randolph and Others to Members of the Late House of Burgesses, 31 May 1774	111
Petition of George Mason for Warrants for Lands in Fincastle County, [June 1774]	112
Thomas Jefferson and John Walker to the Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Anne, [before 23 July 1774]	116
Resolutions of the Freeholders of Albemarle County, [26 July 1774]	117
Draft of a Declaration of Rights Prepared for the Virginia Convention of August 1774, [ca. 26 July 1774]	119
Draft of Instructions to the Virginia Delegates in the Continental Congress (MS Text of A Summary View, &c.), [July 1774]	121
Resolutions and Association of the Virginia Convention of 1774, [1–6 August 1774]	137
Instructions by the Virginia Convention to Their Delegates in Congress, August 1774	141
From Ebenezer Hazard, with Jefferson's MS Memoranda, 23 August 1774	144
Continental Association, 20 October 1774	149
To Archibald Cary and Benjamin Harrison, 9 December 1774	154
Plan of Philip Mazzei's Agricultural Company, 1774	156
Draft of Resolution concerning Adherence of New York to Articles of Association, [24 March 1775]	159
Report of Committee to Prepare a Plan for a Militia, [25 March 1775]	160
Resolution on Land Grants, [27 March 1775]	162
From George Wythe, 5 April 1775	163
From George Wythe, 6 April 1775	163
To Ebenezer Hazard, 30 April 1775	164
To William Small, 7 May 1775	165
From St. George Tucker, 8 June 1775	167
To St. George Tucker, 10 June 1775	170
Virginia Resolutions on Lord North's Conciliatory Proposal, 10 June 1775	170
To Francis Eppes, 26 June 1775	174
From Ebenezer Hazard, 30 June 1775	176
Jefferson's Annotated Copy of Franklin's Proposed Articles of Confederation, [June–July 1775]	177
Financial and Military Estimates for Continental Defense, [June–July 1775]	182
To Francis Eppes, 4 July 1775	184
To George Gilmer, [5 July 1775]	185
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms, [26 June–6 July 1775]	187
I. Jefferson's Composition Draft, 26 June–6 July 1775	193
II. Jefferson's Fair Copy for the Committee, 26 June–6 July 1775	199
III. John Dickinson's Composition Draft, 26 June–6 July 1775	204
IV. The Declaration as Adopted by Congress, [6 July 1775]	213
Second Petition from Congress to the King, 8 July 1775	219
To the President of the Virginia Convention, 11 July 1775	223
Resolutions of Congress on Lord North's Conciliatory Proposal	225
I. Jefferson's Draft Resolutions, [25 July 1775]	225
II. The Resolutions as Adopted by Congress, 31 July 1775	230
Virginia and Pennsylvania Delegates in Congress to the Inhabitants West of Laurel Hill, 25 July 1775	234
From the Virginia Delegates in Congress to George Washington, 26 July 1775	236
From George Gilmer, [26 or 27 July 1775]	236
From St. George Tucker, 12 August 1775	239
To John Randolph, 25 August 1775	240
From Edmund Randolph, 31 August 1775	243
From John Randolph, 31 August 1775	244
From Thomas Walker and Others, 13 September 1775	244
Commission as Lieutenant of Albemarle, 26 September 1775	246
To Francis Eppes, 10 October 1775	246
Memoranda on the Connecticut-Pennsylvania Boundary Dispute, [17 October 1775?]	248
To Francis Eppes, 24 October 1775	248
From Archibald Cary, 31 October 1775	249
To John Page, 31 October 1775	250
To Francis Eppes, 7 November 1775	252
Continental Congress: Agreement of Secrecy, 9 November 1775	252
From Robert Carter Nicholas, 10 November 1775	254
From John Page, 11 November 1775	256
From Edmund Pendleton, 16 November 1775	260
From Charles Lynch, 20 November 1775	261
From Charles Lynch to the Virginia Delegates in Congress, 20 November 1775	262
To Francis Eppes, 21 November 1775	264
From John Page, 24 [November 177]5	264
From Robert Carter Nicholas to the Virginia Delegates in Congress, 25 November 1775	266
To John Randolph, 29 November 1775	268
To John Page, [ca. 10 December 1775]	270
From Robert Carter Nicholas to the Virginia Delegates in Congress, 12 December 1775	271
Draft of Report on the Powers of a Committee of Congress to Sit during Recess, [15 December 1775]	272
Report of Committee to Ascertain Unfinished Business before Congress, 23 December 1775	274
Draft of a Declaration on the British Treatment of Ethan Allen, [2 January 1776]	276
Refutation of the Argument that the Colonies were Established at the Expense of the British Nation, [after 19 January 1776]	277
From Thomas Nelson, Jr., 4 February 1776	285
From James McClurg, 6 April 1776	286
From John Page, 6 April 1776	287
From John Page, 26 April 1776	288
Resolutions of the Virginia Convention Calling for Independence, 15 May 1776	290
To Thomas Nelson, 16 May 1776	292
To John Page, 17 May 1776	293
Virginia Delegates in Congress to the Virginia Convention, 18 [May] 1776	294
Amendment to Report of Committee on Letters from Washington, Schuyler, and the Commissioners in Canada, [21 May 1776]	295
From Edmund Pendleton, 24 May 1776	296
From Edmund Pendleton, 1 June 1776	297
Resolution of Independence Moved by R. H. Lee for the Virginia Delegation, 7 June 1776	298
Notes of Proceedings in the Continental Congress, 7 June–1 August 1776	299
The Virginia Constitution, [13–29 June 1776]	329
I. First Draft by Jefferson, [before June 1776]	337
II. Second Draft by Jefferson, [before 13 June 1776]	347
III. Third Draft by Jefferson, [before June 1776]	356
IV. The Plan of Government as Originally Drawn by George Mason, [8–10 June 1776]	366
V. The Mason Plan as Revised by the Committee, [22 June 1776]	369
VI. The Draft Reported by the Committee, [24 June 1776]	373
VII. The Constitution as Adopted by the Convention, [29 June 1776]	377
From William Fleming, 15 June 1776	386
From the Virginia Committee of Safety to the Virginia Delegates in Congress, 17 June 1776	387
First Report of the Committee to Digest the Resolutions of the Committee of the Whole respecting Canada, &c., [17 June 1776]	389
Additional Report of the Committee to Digest the Resolutions of the Committee of the Whole respecting Canada, [17 June 1776]	392
Major Sherburne's Testimony on the Affair at the Cedars, [17 June 1776]	396
Report of the Committee on the Cedars Cartel, [17 June 1776]	400
To Benjamin Franklin, [21 June 1776?]	404
From William Fleming, 22 June 1776	406
From Edmund Randolph, 23 June 1776	407
To Edmund Pendleton, [ca. 30 June 1776]	408
To William Randolph, [ca. June] 1776	408
To George Wythe, [June? 1776]	410
Proposed Resolution for Rotation of Membership in the Continental Congress, [before 2 July 1776]	411
To William Fleming, 1 July 1776	411
The Declaration of Independence, [11 June–4 July 1776]	413
I. Composition Draft of That Part of the Declaration of Independence containing the Charges against the Crown, 11 June–4 July 1776	417
II. Fragment of the Composition Draft of the Declaration of Independence, [before 29 July 1776]	420
III. Jefferson's “original Rough draught” of the Declaration of Independence, 11 June–4 July 1776	423
IV. The Declaration of Independence as Amended by the Committee and by Congress, 11 June–4 July 1776	429
V. The Declaration of Independence as Adopted by Congress, 11 June–4 July 1776	429
Notes of Witnesses' Testimony concerning the Canadian Compaign, [1–27 July 1776]	433
From John Page, 6 July 1776	454
To Richard Henry Lee, 8 July 1776	455
Report of the Committee to Draw Up Rules of Procedure in Congress, [before 10 July 1776]	456
To Francis Eppes, 15 July 1776	458
Virginia Delegates in Congress to the Executive of Virginia (Patrick Henry), [15 July 1776]	460
From John Page, 15 July 1776	461
From Edmund Pendleton to the Virginia Delegates in Congress, 15 July 1776	462
Virginia Delegates in Congress to the Speaker of the Pennsylvania Convention, 15 July 1776	465
To Patrick Henry, [16 July 1776]	466
Virginia Delegates in Congress to Fielding Lewis, 16 July 1776	467
From Richard Stockton, 19 July 1776	467
From John Page, 20 July 1776	468
From Richard Henry Lee, 21 July 1776	471
From Edmund Pendleton, 22 July 1776	471
To Francis Eppes, 23 July 1776	472
Memorandum on Testimony concerning Major Hughes, 24 July 1776	473
From William Fleming, 27 July 1776	474
From George Wythe, 27 July 1776	476
To Richard Henry Lee, 29 July 1776	477
Resolution on the Case of General Sullivan, [29 July 1776]	478
From Edmund Pendleton, 29 July 1776	479
From Adam Stephen, 29 July 1776	480
To John Page, 30 July 1776	482
From Edmund Pendleton, 3 August 1776	484
To John Page, 5 August 1776	485
To Francis Eppes, 9 August 1776	487
From Edmund Pendleton, 10 August 1776	488
To Edmund Pendleton, 13 August 1776	491
Report on a Seal for the United States, with Related Papers, [20 August 1776]	494
I. Franklin's Proposal, [20 August 1776]	494
II. Jefferson's Proposal, 20 August 1776	495
III. DuSimitière's Proposal, 20 August 1776	495
IV. Report of the Committee, [2]0 August 1776	496
To John Page, 20 August 1776	497
Draft of Resolutions on Lord Drummond's Peace Proposals, [22? August 1776]	501
From Robert Carter Nicholas, 24 August 1776	502
To Edmund Pendleton, 26 August 1776	503
From Edmund Pendleton, 26 August 1776	507
Report of a Plan to Invite Foreign Officers in the British Service to Desert, 27 August 1776	509
DuSimitière's Design for a Coat of Arms for Virginia, [August 1776]	510
Notes for the Report on the Value of Gold and Silver Coins, [2 September 1776]	511
Draft Report on the Value of Gold and Silver Coins, [2 September 1776]	515
From Giovanni Fabbroni, 15 September 1776	519
From Francis Lightfoot Lee, 17 September 1776	520
Resolution of Congress Appointing Franklin, Deane, and Jefferson as Commissioners to France, 26 September 1776	521
From Richard Henry Lee, 27 September 1776	522
From John Hancock, 30 September 1776	523
To John Hancock, 11 October 1776	524
Notes and Proceedings on Discontinuing the Establishment of the Church of England, [11 October–9 December 1776]	525
I. Rough Draft of Jefferson's Resolutions for Disestablishing the Church of England and for Repealing Laws Interfering with Freedom of Worship, [before 19 November 1776]	530
II. Draft of Bill for Exempting Dissenters from Contributing to the Support of the Church, [30 November 1776]	532
III. Jefferson's Outline of Argument in Support of His Resolutions, 11 October–9 December 1776	535
IV. List of Acts of Parliament and of Virginia Assembly, 1661–1759, concerning Religion, 19 November 1776	539
V. Notes on Acts of Parliament and of the Virginia Assembly concerning Religion, 11 October – 9 December 1776	541
VI. Notes on Locke and Shaftesbury, 11 October–9 December 1776	544
VII. Notes on Episcopacy, 11 October–9 December 1776	551
VIII. Notes on Heresy, 11 October–9 December 1776	553
IX. Miscellaneous Notes on Religion, 11 October–9 December 1776	555
Bill for the Naturalization of Foreigners, [14 October 1776]	558
Bill to Enable Tenants in Fee Tail to Convey Their Lands in Fee Simple, [14 October 1776]	560
Bill for the Revision of the Laws, [15 October 1776]	562
Bills for Dividing Fincastle County, [15 and 26 October 1776]	564
I. Bill for Dividing the County of Fincastle into Two Distinct Counties, [15 October 1776]	569
II. Bill for Dividing the County of Fincastle into Three Distinct Counties, [26 October 1776]	571
Additional Instructions by Congress to Franklin, Deane, and Jefferson, 16 October 1776	576
Bill for Raising Six Additional Battalions of Infantry, [28 October 1776]	577
From George Wythe, 28 October 1776	585
From William Irvin, [before 1 November 1776]	585
Petition of Dissenters in Albemarle and Amherst Counties, [before 1 November 1776]	586
From Richard Henry Lee, 3 November 1776	589
Bill to Establish the Places of Holding Courts in the Counties of Pittsylvania and Henry, [4 November 1776]	592
Memoranda on the Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland Boundaries, [5 November 1776]	594
Bill for Altering the Rates of Copper Coin in Virginia, [7 November 1776]	597
From George Wythe, 11 November 1776	597
Bill for the Removal of the Seat of Government of Virginia, 11 November 1776	598
Notes concerning the Bill for the Removal of the Seat of Government of Virginia, [11 November 1776?]	602
From George Wythe, 18 November 1776	603
Drafts of Bills Establishing Courts of Justice, [25 November–4 December 1776]	605
I. Bill for Establishing a Court of Appeals, [25 November 1776]	607
II. Bill for Establishing a High Court of Chancery, [25 November 1776]	610
III. Bill for Establishing a General Court, [25 November 1776]	621
IV. Bill for Establishing a Court of Admiralty, [4 December 1776]	645
V. Bill for Better Regulating the Proceedings in the County Courts, 4 December 1776	650
Report on the Petition of Arthur Upshur, [28 November 1776]	652
Bill to Establish Auditors of Public Accounts, [5 December 1776]	654
Bill for the Trial of Offenses Committed out of Virginia, [5 December 1776]	655
Bill for Suspending Executions for Debts, [6 December 1776]	657
From Patrick Henry, 19 December 1776	658
From Adam Stephen, [ca. 20] December 1776	659
Declaration of the Virginia Association of Baptists, [25 December 1776]	660
Memorandum concerning Military Service of Baptists, 1776	662
Memorandum concerning British Forts in the West, 1776	662
Militia Return as County Lieutenant, 1776	664
Appendix I: Historical and Bibliographical Notes on A Summary View of the Rights of British America	669
Appendix II: “Bradshaw's Epitaph”: The Source of “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”	677

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Selected Documents

ca. 4 July 1776

The Declaration of Independence

Editor Julian P. Boyd noted the "transcendent importance of this charter of national liberties," the most famous document drafted by Jefferson.

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