As much a practical political leader as a political and social philosopher, Thomas Jefferson looms large as a shaper of American public values and, indeed, of American identity. No single written work or works expresses Jefferson’s views. Rather, to know Jefferson requires study of his whole career and his life. This course will examine Jefferson from his origins in Colonial Virginia to his role as the “Sage of Monticello” at his death in 1826, considering his life and ideas in the context of his time.