Jefferson biographers express astonishment that the apprenticeship with Wythe lasted five full years, 1762 - 67, at a time when almost no one studied law for more than two. Patrick Henry studied not more than six weeks,
or so at least he told Jefferson, and Wythe for one was so convinced of the inadequacy of Henry’s training he refused to sign his license. Jefferson’s years under Wythe, years of virtually uninterrupted reading, not only in the law but also in ancient classics, English literature, and general political philosophy, were not so much an apprenticeship for law as an apprenticeship for greatness.
Place | City | |
---|---|---|
Bennington Battle Monument | Bennington | An obelisk marks the site where military supplies were stored and commemorates the battle that took place two miles away in New York. |
Bennington Museum | Bennington | Memorializes the Battle of Bennington (1777); includes local and military artifacts and the “Bennington Flag.” |
Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site | Hubbardton | The visitor center has a museum that includes artifacts and a diorama of the battle. |
Mount Independence State Historic Site | Orwell | Remnants of a fort and the most important Revolutionary War site in Vermont. Originally connected to Fort Ticonderoga by a floating bridge. |
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum | Vergennes | Dedicated to preserving the maritime history of Lake Champlain, it includes a replica of a gunboat used by Benedict Arnold. |
Old Constitution House | Windsor | Delegates from the independent state of Vermont met here to write a constitution, making it a republic. |
Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (1974)