Jefferson, Thomas

Philadelphia, PA — Founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin and John Bartram to promote Useful Knowledge. Philosophical Hall (1789) is now a museum featuring art, scientific instruments, rare books, original manuscripts, natural history specimens, and curiosities.
Williamsburg, VA — Built in 1715, the current church was the third Anglican Church for a parish founded in 1660.
Philadelphia, PA — A reconstruction of the house in which Thomas Jefferson rented rooms and where, in June 1776, he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Williamsburg, VA — Built 170—20 for the colonial governors of Virginia, it later served as the residence for Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson during their respective terms as governor.
Philadelphia, PA — Site of the Second Continental Congress and of the signing of the Declaration of Independence; access is available through a Park Ranger tour.
Washington, DC — Established in 1800, the collection includes a recreation of Jefferson’s library of 6,487 books, which he donated in 1815.
Charlottesville, VA — Thomas Jefferson’s plantation and home which he designed, built, and rebuilt over 50 years.
Washington, DC — Contains the original of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and more
Forest, VA — Thomas Jefferson designed and began building this octagonal second home in 1806, during his second term as president.
Richmond, VA — Completed in 1741, it was the first church in Richmond; in 1775, it was the site of the famous speech by Patrick Henry ending with “Give me liberty or give me death.

By 1789 many of the Federalists, particularly Hamilton, had no confidence whatsoever left in the virtue or the natural sociability of the American people as adhesive forces: to rely on such wild schemes and visionary principles, as radicals like Jefferson and Paine did, to tie the United States together, the Federalists said, was to rely on nothing. Hence Hamilton and the other Federalist leaders had to find things other than republican virtue and natural sociability to make the American people a single nation.

Tying people together, creating social cohesiveness, making a single nation out of disparate sections and communities without relying on idealistic republican adhesives — this was the preoccupation of the Federalists, and it explains much of what they did — from Washington’s proposals for building canals to Hamilton’s financial program.

Gordon S. Wood
The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States (2011)