American Sphinx (59 page)

74. The senator was William Plumer, quoted in Plumer,
Memorandum of Proceedings,
13–14. The remark by John Quincy Adams is cited in
Malone,
IV, 331–32.

75. Jefferson to John Breckinridge, November 24, 1803,
Ford,
VIII, 279–81.

76. James Madison to Robert R. Livingston, January 31, 1804, cited in
Malone,
IV, 353.

77. Jefferson felt uneasy about his posture, but mostly because of the opening it created for his Federalist critics. See Jefferson to De Witt Clinton, December 2, 1803, and Jefferson to James Monroe, January 8, 1804,
Ford,
VIII, 282–83, 287–88. For the remonstrance, see
Malone,
IV, 359–60.

78. On his insistence that the suspension of republican principles would only be temporary, see Jefferson to James Madison, August 7, 1804,
Smith,
II, 1332.

79. The best discussion of Jefferson’s belief that the life span of the American republic could be extended only by territorial expansion is Drew R. McCoy,
The Elusive Republic: Political Economy in Jeffersonian America
(New York, 1980).

80. Jefferson to Joseph Priestley, January 29, 1804,
Ford,
VIII, 295.

81. The standard work on Federalist criticisms of Jeffersonian values is Linda Kerber,
Federalists in Dissent: Imagery and Ideology in Jeffersonian America
(Ithaca, 1970). On the politics, see David Hackett Fischer,
The Revolution of American Conservatism: The Federalist Party in the Era of Jeffersonian Democracy
(New York, 1965).

82. Hamilton’s pamphlet vilifying Adams is reprinted in Syrett, ed.,
Hamilton Papers,
XXV, 186–209. The charges against Hamilton, along with his response, are also available in
ibid.,
XXI, 238–85. The charges against Washington are conveniently gathered in John C. Fitzpatrick,
The George Washington Scandals
(Alexandria, 1929). Jefferson to Robert R. Livingston, October 10, 1802,
Ford,
VIII, 174–75.

83. Henry Adams, ed.,
Documents Relating to New England Federalism
(Boston, 1877), 230–32, 321–22. For the obsession with the mammoth metaphor, see Kerber,
Federalists in Dissent,
69–70. For the mammoth cheese, see
Malone,
IV, 106–07.

84. Peden, ed.,
Notes,
159; “Syllabus of an Estimate of the Merit of the Doctrines of Jesus, Compared with Those of Others,” which was enclosed with his letter to Rush, April 21, 1803,
Ford,
VIII, 223–28. The most recent and comprehensive discussion of Jefferson’s religious views is Edwin S. Gaustad,
Sworn on the Altar of God: A Religious Biography of Thomas Jefferson
(Grand Rapids, 1995).

85. Jefferson to Tom Paine, March 18, 1801,
Ford,
VIII, 19.

86. The flood of newspaper attacks on Paine and Jefferson is conveniently available in Keane,
Tom Paine,
455–75; see also
Malone,
IV, 192–200. The Adams quotation is from
History,
II, 215–16. Jefferson’s loyalty to Paine is nicely on display in Jefferson to Tom Paine, January 13, 1803. John Adams, on permanent sentry duty in Quincy, was willing to forgive Paine his atheism, but not his politics. Adams described Paine as “a mongrel between Pig and Puppy, begotten by a wild Boar on A Bitch Wolf. . . .” John Adams to Benjamin Waterhouse, October 29, 1805, Worthington C. Ford, ed.,
Statesman and Friend: Correspondence of John Adams and Benjamin Waterhouse, 1784–1822
(Boston, 1927), 31.

87. A good sampling of the newspaper coverage can be gleaned from three sources: Douglass Adair, “The Jefferson Scandals,” in Colbourn, ed.
Fame and the Founding Fathers;
Virginius Dabney,
The Jefferson Scandals: A Rebuttal
(New York, 1981) and Brodie,
Intimate History,
339–75. A much more comprehensive sampling of the press reports deriving from Callender’s initial story was made available to me by Robert McDonald, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

88. The most psychologically perceptive and historically balanced treatment of the Sally Hemings charge remains Jordan,
White over Black,
461–69. For the Adams reaction, see John Adams to Colonel Ward, January 8, 1810,
Microfilm Edition of Adams Papers,
Reel 118.

89. For Callender’s career, see Michael Durey,
With the Hammer of Truth: James Thomas Callender and America’s Early National Heroes
(Charlottesville, 1990). Jefferson to James Monroe, May 26, 1801, and July 15, 1802,
Ford,
VIII, 57–58, 164–68, for Jefferson’s efforts to conceal his past dealings with Callender. Given Henry Adams’s highly nuanced understanding of Jefferson’s character, his conclusions about the Callender charges are worthy of special attention. See
History,
II, 219–23, where Adams finds Jefferson guilty of lying about his complicity with Callender but innocent of the sexual charges.

90. John Quincy Adams to Rufus King, October 8, 1802, quoted in
Malone,
IV, 139.

91. Jefferson to M. Pictet, February 5, 1803,
L&B,
X, 356–57. For the newspaper explosion during the first decade of the nineteenth century, see Fischer,
Revolution of American Conservatism,
appendix III.

92. Jefferson to Thomas McKean, February 19, 1803,
Ford,
VIII, 216–19. Malone sees these prosecutions as “a temporary aberration.” See
Malone,
IV, 235. The strongest case on the other side, seeing these incidents as representative, is by Leonard Levy,
Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side
(Cambridge, 1963).

93. Jefferson to Levi Lincoln, August 26, 1801,
L&B,
X, 276; Richard Branch Giles to Jefferson, June 1, 1801,
LC.
The authoritative scholarly work on the subject is Richard E. Ellis,
The Jeffersonian Crisis: Courts and Politics in the Young Republic
(New York, 1971).

94. Jefferson to Abigail Adams, June 13, 1804,
Cappon,
I, 270. Charles Warren,
The Supreme Court in United States History
(3 vols., Boston, 1923), I, 179–81, for the anecdote about Marshall. On the relationship between Jefferson and Marshall, see Julian Boyd, “The Chasm That Separated Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall,” in Gottfried Dietze, ed.,
Essays on American Constitutionalism
(Englewood Cliffs, 1964), 3–20.

95. Jefferson to Spencer Roane, September 6, 1819,
L&B,
XV, 135–36, where Jefferson recalls the advice from Madison and Gallatin in 1801.

96. Ellis,
Jeffersonian Crisis,
3–16, offers an elegant synthesis of the judicial ambiguities in the wake of the American Revolution. A more recent and exhaustive treatment of judicial review is J. M. Sosin,
The Aristocracy of the Long Robe: The Origins of Judicial Review in America
(New York, 1989).

97. This interpretation of Jefferson’s attitude toward the federal judiciary reverses the conventional view, best presented by Richard Ellis in
Jeffersonian Crisis,
that sees Jefferson as a moderate Republican trying to keep radicals like Giles under control. Jefferson’s view of the federal courts, I am arguing, was much like Jackson’s view of the national bank, a deeply felt and vitriolic hatred that went beyond the personalities on the federal bench to the very character of the institution itself.

98. Kathryn Turner, “Federalist Policy and the Judiciary Act of 1801,”
WMQ,
XXII (1965), 9–14; Ellis,
Jeffersonian Crisis,
36–52; First Annual Message, December 8, 1801,
Ford,
VIII, 123. The report Jefferson prepared for the Congress, allegedly showing that circuit courts were unnecessary because the number of cases was small, proved an embarrassment when Federalists demonstrated that the report was riddled with errors.

99. Hobson, ed.,
Marshall Papers,
VI, 160–83, provides the opinion itself along with an excellent editorial note that conveniently summarizes the massive scholarship on the landmark decision. The discussion in
Malone,
IV, 135–56, is also excellent in rescuing the historical context of Marshall’s opinion from the constitutional lawyers, who are invariably more disposed to view the matter in the context of judicial review. See also Ellis,
Jeffersonian Crisis,
53–68. The most recent historical assessment is Robert L. Clinton,
Marbury v. Madison and Judicial Review
(Lawrence, 1989).

100. Jefferson to J. H. Nicholson, May 13, 1803,
L&B,
X, 390. Ellis,
Jeffersonian Crisis,
76–82, and
Malone,
IV, 464–80, for the story of Chase’s impeachment.

101. See Jefferson Papers, February 1805,
LC,
for Jefferson’s longhand record of the votes on the five separate charges against Chase and the senators who voted each way. The most telling criticism of the Republican campaign against Chase came from John Quincy Adams, who argued that the prosecution was a political affair devoid of any pretense of principle. See Charles Francis Adams, ed.,
Memoirs of John Quincy Adams
(12 vols., Philadelphia, 1874), I, 318–23.

102. Jefferson to Thomas Ritchie, December 25, 1820,
Ford,
X, 170–71.

103. Jefferson to Spencer Roane, September 6, 1819,
L&B,
XV, 135–36;
History,
I, 188.

104. Services of Jefferson, [1800?],
Ford,
VII, 475–77. Lucia Stanton has called my attention to the term “Memorandum of Services” in the manuscript version of the Jefferson Papers in the Library of Congress. The title “Services of Jefferson” in
Ford
is obviously a silent revision.

105. Jefferson to Elbridge Gerry, March 3, 1804,
Ford,
VIII, 297–98.

106. Jefferson to John Page, June 25, 1804,
Domestic Life,
302–04. See also Jefferson to James Madison, April 23, 1804,
Smith,
II, 1323, for an equally poignant reflection on Maria’s death and what it meant to him. In the election of 1804 Jefferson and George Clinton received 162 electoral votes to 14 for Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Rufus King. Jefferson swept every state except Connecticut and Delaware, plus two electors in Maryland.

5.
MONTICELLO: 1816–26

1.
Domestic Life,
381–83, for the Old Eagle story and the various injuries suffered in falls.
Malone,
VI, is the final volume in the authoritative biography covering these years, but the affection for Jefferson, the endearing hallmark of Malone’s approach throughout his six-volume masterpiece, becomes a problem in these latter years of the story. I have found Peterson,
New Nation,
922–1099, more reliable for this period. On the problem of Jefferson’s latter-day sense of despondency, see Gordon Wood, “The Trials and Tribulations of Thomas Jefferson,” Onuf, ed.,
Jeffersonian Legacies,
410–15.

2. Jefferson to Benjamin Waterhouse, January 8, 1825,
Ford,
X, 335–36, for Jefferson’s own summary of his physical condition.
Domestic Life,
394–95, for his remark on physicians. Jefferson to John Adams, July 5, 1814,
Cappon,
II, 430.

3.
Domestic Life,
331, 337; for a running account of his physical appearance and condition, see the multiple letters to James Madison in
Smith,
III, 1795, 1807, 1815, 1822, 1824, 1841, 1852; see also Jefferson to Frances Wright, August 7, 1825, Jefferson to William Gordon, January 1, 1826, Jefferson to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, February 8, 1826,
Ford,
X, 344, 358, 374–75.

4. Peterson, ed.,
Visitors to Monticello,
95–99, 104–06.

5. Jefferson to Dr. Vine Utley, March 21, 1819,
Domestic Life,
370–72, for his diet, regimen, eyesight; see also Jefferson to Benjamin Rush, February 28, 1803,
Ford,
VIII, 220, for the lengthiest description of matters intestinal.

6.
Domestic Life,
341–43, 346, 361; Peterson, ed.,
Visitors to Monticello,
53–54, for Margaret Bayard Smith’s reminiscence of his grandfatherly games.

7. Peterson, ed.,
Visitors to Monticello,
73, for George Ticknor’s remark about Monticello as “Mecca”;
Domestic Life,
401–02, for the number of visitors and guests.

8. Jefferson to John Adams, June 27, 1822, John Adams to Jefferson, July 12, 1822,
Cappon,
II, 581–82.

9. Jefferson to James Madison, May 3, 1826, James Madison to Jefferson, May 6, 1826,
Smith,
III, 1970–71.

10. Jefferson to John Adams, June 1, 1822, John Adams to Jefferson, June 11, 1822,
Cappon,
II, 578–79; Jefferson to Maria Cosway, December 27, 1820,
Domestic Life,
374; Jefferson to Francis Vanderkemp, January 11, 1825,
Ford,
X, 336–38.

11.
Domestic Life,
390–91; J. Bennett Nolan, ed.,
Lafayette in America: Day by Day
(Baltimore, 1934), 257. See the account of the visit, with Madison’s remarks on Lafayette, in
Smith,
III, 1889.

12. Jefferson to James Madison, October 18, 1825,
Smith,
III, 1942. See also Alfred L. Bush,
The Life Portraits of Thomas Jefferson
(Charlottesville, 1987), 95.

13. Peterson, ed.,
Visitors to Monticello,
109, for Henry Lee’s observations of the dying Jefferson.
Domestic Life,
422–32.

14. John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, July 15, 1813,
Cappon,
II, 358; John Adams to Benjamin Rush, April 18, 1808, John A. Schutz and Douglass Adair, eds.,
The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805–1813
(San Marino, 1966), 107–08.

15. Jefferson to Abigail Adams, June 13 and July 22, 1804, Abigail Adams to Jefferson, July 1 and August 18, 1804,
Cappon,
I, 268–74. The appended note by John Adams, dated November 19, 1804, is in
ibid.,
282.

16. This very succinct summary is based on a score of specialized studies, but two accounts of Jefferson’s second term stand out: Henry Adams,
History,
I, 603–1232;
Malone,
V, entitled
Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805–1809.