The Other Declarations: Thomas Jefferson and the Language of American Democracy

The Declaration of Independence is Thomas Jefferson's most enduring contribution, but his many lesserknown declarations offer essential lessons for what it takes to keep American democracy alive. Thomas Jefferson spent his life writing declarations.He believed that the written word could shape democracy, and he worked tirelessly to do so.Ironically, Jefferson’s authorship of the Declaration has stood in the way of our understanding his many contributions to the practice of American democracy by way of his other declarations. Renowned Jefferson scholar Jeremy D. Bailey shows how the founder wrestled with three fundamental and enduring problems in American democracy.The first is the freedom of the press and the problem of disinformation in electoral politics, or what Jefferson called “false opinions in league with false facts.” The second is the tension between the necessity of westward expansion and the desirability of some protection of the natural right of Native nations to own their