'In the Hands of the People: Thomas Jefferson on Equality, Faith, Freedom, Compromise, and the art of Citizenship' by Jon Meacham with an afterword by Annette Gordon-Reed is a collection of inspiring words and quotes based on Jefferson's founding principles for the country.

After a great introduction by Jon Meacham, the book's chapters are divided by the tenet's of Jefferson's ideals for the new country, including free press, separation of church and state, the importance of education and more. The chapters are primarily quotes by Thomas Jefferson as well as those inspired by him based on the tenets.

It's an inspiring read and gave me a bit more depth on the thinking of Jefferson. The work doesn't take any particular sides, but doesn't flinch from the problematic aspects of Jefferson's life and beliefs. I liked this book.

I loved this book. I love and respect Jon Meacham so much. This is a great collection that should inspire you to feel the power of your citizenship. It can be so easy to say that individual voices do not matter and that there is no use in fighting the government, but this book provides the hope and the intention of the founding of our country. Loved it.

In this time when we are all faced with uncertainty, it is refreshing to read words of truth. Thomas Jefferson was not perfect, but he was a man of the truth. A beacon of wisdom and a guide for America whether it was America in it's infancy, or an America frustrated, angry and seeming beset by problems insurmountable. Every American should read these words again and again, good times as well as bad to remind themselves of their wisdom and take heed of them.

Thomas Jefferson was the optimist to the pessimism of a John Adams. He once remarked in their correspondence: “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” A significant reason for that was his belief in the citizens of the new nation, and in the government that they had formed. It can be readily granted that Jefferson was a flawed individual. His university was a gentleman’s university. He owned slaves who had to be sold off after his death. It was not his example, but the ideals of equality, of the consent of the governed, of an educated citizenry, of the important of religion and keeping the state out of it, of patriotism above partisanship, the value of immigration, and of compromise.

Historian Jon Meacham has collected the statements of Jefferson on all of these topics and more around the central idea of citizenship, how it may both be trusted, and how important the practice of good citizenship would be to the future of the Republic. He groups these under eleven topics, devoting a chapter to each. Meacham provides brief introductions in each chapter, followed by quotes from Jefferson, and others talking about Jefferson’s ideas. The last two chapters are statements by an assorted group of others about Jefferson, and by other presidents on Jefferson.

Here are a few of those quotes:

On the right and responsibility to vote:

It has been thought that corruption is restrained by confining the right of suffrage to a few of the wealthier of the people: but it would be more effectually restrained by an extension of that right to such numbers as would bid defiance to the means of corruption.

On the vitality of a free press:

But the only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to.

On education:

It is safer to have a whole people respectably enlightened than a few in a high state of science and the many in ignorance. This last is the most dangerous state in which a nation can be.

On threats to the Republic:

I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. And, to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.

One more, from the collection of presidential quotes on Jefferson, this one from Jimmy Carter:

Thomas Jefferson conceived our United States of America as no other nation had ever tried to be–dedicated to human fulfillment, where individual liberty was guaranteed. But Thomas Jefferson also founded a university, collected a national library, planned beautiful cities, mapped the wilderness, and being a farmer, he invented a better plow!

This book comes out at a time riven with controversy where we may be greatly tempted to fear for the future of the republic. Yet it strikes me that so many of our protests concern the disparity between our ideals of unalienable rights and the equality of all, and realities that fall short for some. Jefferson would challenge us all to patriotism above partisanship, and to the hard work of responsible citizenship that seeks the common good above our personal profit.

I could wish that all of us would buy a copy, and read it as we prepare to celebrate another July 4 and look ahead to national and local elections in November, as we consider what obligations we have to one another in time of pandemic. If ever there was a time for the renewal of an understanding of responsible citizenship and civic engagement, this is time. Jefferson offers guidance both about what we must value, and why we might hope.

In the Hands of the People: Thomas Jefferson on Equality, Faith, Freedom, Compromise, and the Art of Citizenship edited with an introduction by John Meacham

(This review is from an ARC sent to me from Net galley)

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, which among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . . “
From the
Declaration of Independence
This book is insightful and succinct to the thoughts and writings of Thomas Jefferson. His deep understanding of the citizenry and with the other founding fathers laid the foundation for “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”
Many of the quotations in the book should and could be applied today
I quote from the book to show how these thoughts are valid today:
From Thomas Jefferson to Peter H.Wendover (Draft not sent) March 13, 1815 Chapter 7)
“Difference of opinion leads to inquiry and inquiry to truth and is the ultimate and sincere object of us both. We both value too much the freedom of opinion sanctioned by our constitution, not its exercise
Even where in opposition to ourselves”
Jefferson was passionate amongst other concepts: such as religious freedom, the importance of a free press, public education, and participation in government.
I have read quite a few biographies of Thomas Jefferson but through the thoughts and quotations of Jefferson, I have understood what a passionate man he was, not to say he and his peers practiced all his beliefs at that time. Not all principles were adhered to many of the founding fathers ignored or flouted the principles for their own needs.
The principles that Thomas Jefferson enshrined in the declaration become the guiding principles of the new nation. Every generation of Americans have rededicated themselves to the belief that” all men are created equal with the God-given right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness”

Free ARC from NETGALLEY

Not a story but eleven chapters in eleven topics of a man who brought this country up from meager beginnings.

Flawed, imperfect, perhaps arrogant and conflicted but a true visionary and hero who is maligned today only;y by those whose two main weapons are ignorance and volume.

Wonderful compilation on the man Jefferson.

.I had no idea when I started "In the Hands of the People" that it was a book that consisted only of quotes by and about Thomas Jefferson. At first I found this disconcerting and was totally turned off by the book but as I continued I realized that what I was reading was adding to my knowledge about Jefferson and was causing thought in an otherwise quarantined soaked brain.
What did a racially prejudiced man like Jefferson mean by being a proponent of public education, immigration, political discussion, etc.? Did he, as a founding father envision the American we have today? Did he see in front of him the journey America was to take in the years after its beginnings? How could someone like Jefferson with his wealth and influence be a champion for the common man.?
This book did not give me the factual stories about Jefferson that I expected. What it did do for me was add to the impression I had of the man. He was a multifaceted individual. Staunch in his beliefs, arrogant in his intelligence, but loyal to a fault regarding this great American experiment.. Reading this book is like reading a Jefferson Bible of quotes but deepening the questions about the man himself. What he said sounds so modern day but his actions were typical of a man of the time, and of one who had been well educated, lived a physically easy life, and was exalted by many. He was a slave owner and father of slave children...treating his mistress, caretaker, and mother of his biracial children with the same disrespect all women and slaves were treated...yet he spoke of liberty, freedom for all with an eloquence we still quote today. I would encourage you to read this book if you want to think about Jefferson...it adds to the puzzle and mystery of the man.

A wonderful summation of Jefferson's stance on several topical subjects. A balanced compilation, when taken with the introduction by John Meacham and conclusion by Annette Gordon Reed, does not gloss over the issue of slavery. Combine this with Meacham's biography and Gordon-Reed and Onuf's recent publication and you will have as complete a picture as you could have of this at times inspirational and at times confounding founder. Possibly sending a copy to the current occupant of the White House would be in order if he only read books.