In Pursuit of Reason The Life of Thomas Jefferson

by Cunningham, Noble E.

• ISBN13: 9780345353801
• ISBN10: 0345353803
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1988-05-12
• Publisher: Ballantine Books

Summary

"A major contribution." Washington Post The authoritative single-volume biography of Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the most significant figure in American history. He was a complex and compelling man: a fervent advocate of democracy who enjoyed the life of a southern aristocrat and owned slaves, a revolutionary who became president, a believer in states' rights who did much to further the power of the federal government. Drawing on the recent explosion of Jeffersonian scholarship and fresh readings of original sources, IN PURSUIT OF REASON is a monument to Jefferson that will endure for generations.

Author Biography

Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., is Middlebush Professor of History at the University of Missouri at Columbia, and the author of other works on Thomas Jefferson

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	xi
I The Formative Years	1	(13)
II Public Life and Private World	14	(9)
III The Road to Revolution	23	(13)
IV At Philadelphia	36	(16)
V Virginia Reformer	52	(12)
VI Wartime Governor of Virginia	64	(12)
VII Withdrawal, Sorrow, and Return	76	(14)
VIII The Scene of Europe	90	(11)
IX Romantic Interlude and New Adventures	101	(12)
X Witness to Revolution in France	113	(18)
XI First Months at the State Department	131	(19)
XII Conflict in Washington's Cabinet	150	(28)
XIII A Trying Year	178	(17)
XIV Renewal at Monticello	195	(11)
XV Vice-President	206	(15)
XVI The Election of 1800	221	(17)
XVII A President in Command	238	(21)
XVIII Presidential Zenith	259	(16)
XIX Trials of a Second Term	275	(20)
XX Closing a Political Career	295	(27)
XXI The Sage of Monticello	322	(14)
XXII A Final Legacy	336	(15)
Notes	351	(50)
Bibliographical Note	401	(6)
Index	407