I. Biographical inforrnation
A. In 1760, he attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
B. In 1776, Jefferson was largely responsible for drafting the Virginia Constitution, which contained a freedom of religion clause.
C. He was the Governor of Virginia from 1779-1781.
D. He wrote the Declaration of Independence and was the third President of the United States.
E. In 1784, he went to Paris to act as minister plenipotentiary, which meant he negotiated treaties of peace and commerce with other European countries (Malone I, 419).
F. He and James Madison (a fellow Virginian) were close friends and corresponded frequently. In fact, just before he left for Paris, Madison had become his "favorite political companion"(Malone I, 406). Madison had also been instrumental in getting Jefferson the European appointment after his wife's death and he swore he would leave public life (398).
G. After he finished his second term as President in 1809, he returned to his home Monticello (near Charlottesville).
1. In 1814, the British destroyed the Library of Congress and Jefferson sold them his library to replace the lost volumes, more than doubling the original size of the library.
2. He was instrumental in the founding of the University of Virginia (1825).
H. He died on July 4, 1826, exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On his grave marker, he had what he considered his three great accomplishments noted: writing the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for religious freedom, and being the father of the University of Virginia.
II. Major Relevant Works.
A. A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.
1. The bill passed the Virginia Assembly in 1785, but originally introduced in 1779 (Papers II, 547-8).
2. The bill argued that "God Almighty" has given man a mind capable of choosing his own religion. (Begins with a strong natural rights theory).
3. In his original draft, he stated the opinions of men are beyond the realm of government control (Papers II, 546). This clause was removed from the final draft by the House.
4. He argued that if the civil magistrate has any power over the opinion of men religious liberty will be destroyed, because the ruler will tend to enforce his own opinion and condemn others.
5. He closes the argument by stating that "truth is great and will prevail if left to herself," she has nothing to fear "from the conflict unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons, free argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them" (Papers II, 546).
6. The bill declared that no man should be forced worship or pay tribute to any religion he finds objectionable. He is free to hold any opinion or belief on religious matters with no limitations to be placed on his civil liberties (Papers II, 546).
7. He restated the rights enumerated in this bill are natural rights.
8. Malone observed that Jefferson "did not limit liberty to Protestant sects or Christian groups, but extended it to all without any qualification whatsoever.... He was not merely expressing thoughts or opinion but what he regarded as eternal truths. Nor were these limited to the subject of religion, they constituted an assertion of complete intellectual liberty." (I, 278).
B. Jefferson's thoughts on freedom ofthe press
1. In 1783, Jefferson drafted a new constitution for the state of Virginia which he thought would replace the one of 1776 (it did not), however in this draft he places a restriction on the freedom of the press. a. The press should be held "to legal prosecution for false facts printed and published" (Freedom 332). b. Levy contends that while Jefferson advocated the absolute freedom of religious thought, except when "principles broke into overt crime," his limitation of the freedom of the press reveals that he made a distinction between religious and political thought (331).
2. On the importance of newspapers, he stated, "and were it left to me to decide whether we should have governments without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter" (Freedom 333). It should also be noted that Jefferson believed in a free for the purpose of educating citizens. He argued that the "good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army" again errors of opinion (333).
3. In a letter to James Madison concerning an early copy of the Bill of Rights, he again notes that the freedom of the press should be restricted from printing false facts which he defined as "affecting injuriously the life, liberty, property, or reputation of others or affecting the peace of the confederacy with foreign nations" (Freedom 340).
4. In 1798, Jefferson authored the Kentucky Resolutions against the Sedition Act. Surprisingly, he does not condemn the law because it abridged the freedom of the press, but because this was a power given to the States and the federal government has no right to make such a law (Freedom 351-52).
5. Jefferson's immortal quote on liberty is found in his first inaugural address, "If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated, where reason is leR free to combat it" (Freedom 358). Levy observes this discussion on "subversive political opinion--[is] the only thought of its kind to be found in the entire body of Jefferson's writings" (353).
III. Contribution to Free Speech Theory Jefferson recognized the significance of the passage of this statute in a letter to James Madison, "It is honorable for us to have produced the first legislature who had the courage to declare that the reason of man may be trusted with the formation of his own opinions" (Malone I, 279). Another religious issue facing the nation at this time was the question of religious test oaths. Several states, such as Pennsylvania and Delaware, required representatives to make a profession in God to hold office. The ideology of Jefferson' s statute opposed such a oppressive measures to hold public office and may have contributed to the elimination of such oaths and Article VI of the Constitution (Smith 17-19). Jefferson's lasting legacy comes from his beliefthat the freedom of religion was absolute (unless one used religious beliefs to commit a criminal act) and his desire to extend this freedom to all groups and denominations. The firmness of his conviction also made a significant impact on the free exercise clause in the firs amendment and the statute continues to be important in understanding the freedom of religion today*.
IV. Bibliography
Jefferson, Thomas. ThePapersof Thomas Jefferson. Vol. 2. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1950.
Jefferson, Thomas. "The Special Case of Thomas Jefferson." Freedom of the Press From Zenger to Jefferson. Ed. Leonard Levy. >
Information by Rachel Russell