#1563 The Formation of Thomas Jefferson

Listening to America

History, Politics, Unitedstates, Society & Culture, American

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

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Summary

This week, guest host David Horton of Radford University questions Mr. Jefferson about his formation, about the path he took to national greatness. What were the particular influences of Jefferson's father Peter, a self-made man of the overseer class, and Jefferson's mother Jane Randolph, who belonged to one of the most socially and politically prominent families in Virginia? Why did Jefferson's life veer from the agrarian simplicities of western Virginia and lead him to the writing of the Declaration of Independence and later on to the Presidency of the United States? Might Jefferson have been happy if he had followed the trajectory of his closest friend Dabney Carr, who seemed content with a modest house, a few books, an amiable spouse, and a simple Virginia diet?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome to this podcast introduction to this week's program with David
0:08.4	Horton, my friend from Radford University in the western part of Virginia.
0:13.0	I've been there a number of times.
0:14.4	He's a close friend of mine.
0:15.5	We've done programs together at his campus and now on both the Jefferson Hour and today
0:22.0	listening to America.
0:23.6	He's a terrific guy interested in robotics and artificial intelligence, but he's also
0:28.9	a university innovator.
0:30.9	And today we talked about Jefferson's formation, especially the role of his father.
0:35.6	Jefferson is born in Virginia in April of 1743.
0:39.9	Why does he become Thomas Jefferson and not Patrick Henry?
0:42.6	Why does he become Thomas Jefferson and not somebody you've never heard about or just
0:46.3	had a successful plantation?
0:48.6	Why does he become a major figure in the history of American civilization in the history
0:53.2	of world culture?
0:54.4	Why does he become a figure of the Enlightenment?
0:56.4	And so these are mysteries, there are mysteries about anyone's formation.
1:01.2	If you think of your own, how did you become a person that you are?
1:04.3	What were the moments?
1:06.3	Why aren't you typical person from your zip code?
1:11.0	What transformed you or what moved the trajectory of your formation from what it might otherwise
1:17.5	have been to what it is?
	...

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