Thomas Jefferson

The resurgence of the debate over the Sage of Monticello's legacy: Is Jefferson the ultimate patriot or ultimate hypocrite?

Annette Gordon-Reed explores the ways in which the many paradoxes of Jefferson make him a potent figure for racists and anti-racists alike.

Jefferson had a complicated relationship with white supremacy.

Archaeologists have uncovered the slave quarters of Sally Hemings at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello mansion.

A madman versus a crook? Unexpected twists? Fake news? Welcome to the election of 1800.

An interview with Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf.

French theorists said that American native species were inferior to European ones—the former President went to great lengths to show that they were wrong.

Read an excerpt from TIME's special edition about Alexander Hamilton.

Thomas Jefferson's republican simplicity.

Did Thomas Jefferson really believe, “That government is best which governs least?”

Introducing “How the System Works,” a series on the hidden mechanisms that support modern life.

From early New England to the present day, censors have acted out of fear, not prudishness.

We see what we want to see from philosophers such as Locke not because he wrote for our time (or “all time”) but because we imagine he did.

A new Smithsonian book reckons with the enduring legacies of slavery and capitalism.

The origins of the Electoral College are entwined with slavery, but not in the way that recent accounts have suggested.

Americans are seized by conspiracy theories, and as a result, democracy is in peril—so conventional wisdom holds.

High ideals have always gone together with economic self-interest in the history of the United States.

Despite its failures and limitations, the American Revolution unleashed popular aspirations to throw off tyranny of all kinds.

The Founders knew that executive power was vital but dangerous in any republic.

Over the course of U.S. history, presidential rematches have signaled momentous political upheavals.