Getting Jefferson Right: Fact-Checking Claims About Thomas Jefferson Second Edition
Nearly two centuries after his death, Thomas Jefferson continues to be the subject of competing claims about his public policy and his private beliefs.
In Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims About Thomas Jefferson, two conservative scholars examine key claims frequently made by religious conservatives about Thomas Jefferson. Using Jefferson's correspondence, accounts of Jefferson's contemporaries, and other primary sources, Throckmorton and Coulter separate fact from fiction.
To address these Christian nationalist claims, Throckmorton and Coulter take on the following questions and much more:
-Did Jefferson really believe in the separation of church and state?
-Did Jefferson and other Founders finance a Bible in 1798 to get the Word of God to America's Families?
-Did Jefferson found the Virginia Bible Society?
-Was Jefferson an orthodox Christian, who only rarely expressed questions about orthodox Christian doctrine?
-Did Jefferson approve laws providing federal funds to evangelize Indians?
-Did Jefferson edit the Gospels of the New Testament to remove sections he disagreed with?
-Did Virginia law keep Jefferson from freeing his slaves?
-Did Jefferson father children with Sally Hemings?
-Did Jefferson attempt to influence the construction of the Bill of Rights?
Praise for Getting Jefferson Right:
As a historian, reading Getting Jefferson Right consistently elicits in me a dual response: the first is a deep appreciation for the careful, objective and thorough scholarship of Coulter and Throckmorton; the second is incredulous outrage at the numerous historical distortions, misreadings, and outright falsehoods they labor to debunk. Based in a thorough and careful analysis of primary sources in their full context, Getting Jefferson Right is an essential volume for understanding Jefferson in all his complexity, and a robust defense of historical truth against the propagandists who twist the past to serve their agenda.
-Aaron Cowan, associate professor of history, Slippery Rock University and author of A Nice Place to Visit: Tourism and Urban Revitalization in the Postwar Rustbelt
Jefferson's legacy as an imperfect, complex figure cuts against the demi-god status some erroneously confer on our Founding Fathers. In Getting Jefferson Right, Throckmorton and Coulter demonstrate in exquisite, painstaking detail how an honest recount of Jefferson's imperfections not only serves as a reliable basis for historical and cultural analysis, but also how Jefferson - like the American experiment itself - was unfinished and evolving, amending and reforming, to hew more closely to ideals often disappointed by the Founders.
-Daniel Hanson, Founder of LTZF Capital Management and Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Getting Jefferson Right is an excellent example of the art of historical contextualization, of trying to tell the whole story, not just part of it. For those reasons, the work should become a standard reference.
--Paul Harvey, professor of history, University of Colorado
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Getting Jefferson Right is an excellent example of the art of historical contextualization, of trying to tell the whole story, not just part of it. For those reasons, the work should become a standard reference.
-Paul Harvey, Professor of History, University of ColoradoJefferson's legacy as an imperfect, complex figure cuts against the demi-god status some erroneously confer on our Founding Fathers. In Getting Jefferson Right, Throckmorton and Coulter demonstrate in exquisite, painstaking detail how an honest recount of Jefferson's imperfections not only serves as a reliable basis for historical and cultural analysis, but also how Jefferson - like the American experiment itself - was unfinished and evolving, amending and reforming, to hew more closely to ideals often disappointed by the Founders.-Daniel Hanson, Founder of LTZF Capital Management and Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
In Getting Jefferson Right, Throckmorton and Coulter plead for good historical thinking because "history done right will lead to an accurate account." The historian's job, regardless of religious persuasion, is to tell the truth, not making a case for a client but rather making an account of the evidence from the past. Through their examination of Christian nationalists' historical claims, Throckmorton and Coulter exhibit sound historical reasoning. They test the conclusions of historians as they consider the full context of the events and people. Their work continues to be necessary as the battle for telling the truth about the American past continues with assaults from all sides. Letting go of current political agendas and allowing the evidence from the past to speak reveals a powerful story of how the United States has changed over time. -Brenda Thompson Schoolfield, Professor and Chair of History, Government, & Social Science at Bob Jones University
As a historian, reading Getting Jefferson Right consistently elicits in me a dual response: the first is a deep appreciation for the careful, objective and thorough scholarship of Coulter and Throckmorton; the second is incredulous outrage at the numerous historical distortions, misreadings, and outright falsehoods they labor to debunk. Based in a thorough and careful analysis of primary sources in their full context, Getting Jefferson Right is an essential volume for understanding Jefferson in all his complexity, and a robust defense of historical truth against the propagandists who twist the past to serve their agenda.
-Aaron Cowan, Associate Professor of History, Slippery Rock University and author of A Nice Place to Visit: Tourism and Urban Revitalization in the Postwar Rustbelt
