Op-ed: Time is right to study Jefferson in our schools

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on

LinkedIn

By Jamie Gass and Will Fitzhugh

“Students of reading, writing, and common arithmetick . . . Graecian, Roman, English, and American history . . .,” Thomas Jefferson advised about democratic education, “should be able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens.”

Friday marks the 275th anniversary of Jefferson’s birthday. Given his world-changing achievements, this milestone is worthy of recognizing — and of being taught in our public schools. His contributions to the American civilization are incalculable; he was a revolutionary, statesman, diplomat, man-of-letters, scientist, architect, and apostle of liberty.

Rather than forcing a titan like Jefferson to conform to our era’s often Lilliputian-style narcissism, we should study history by entering the past with imagination and humility.

In drafting the Declaration of Independence, the most elegant and universally quoted political document in history, Jefferson displayed his greatest talents. He powerfully combined literary language and self-evident truths to shape the legal and political future of the United States.

Read more of this op-ed in your favorite news outlet: The Standard Times of New Bedford, The Berkshire Eagle, The Salem News, The MetroWest Daily News, The Providence Journal, and Gloucester Times, and The Daily Caller.

Get Updates On Our US History Initiative

Related Posts:

150 Years of Lincoln’s New Birth of Freedom

0 Comments

March 25, 2013

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation…

Study Calls for Reinstating Passage of U.S. History Test as Graduation Requirement

January 25, 2013

The Massachusetts Legislature should require the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to reinstate passage of the U.S. history MCAS exam as a high school graduation requirement and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education should provide teachers in grades 6-10 with examples of specific texts that could be assigned to prepare students to read a seminal historical text such as Federalist #10 in grade 11 or 12, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

MetroWest Daily News: “Gass: State flunking the history test”

December 30, 2012

To ensure that knowledge of events like the War of 1812 would be passed on to successive generations, we must make passage of a basic U.S. history MCAS test a high school graduation requirement.

Fall River Herald News: Mass. students miss out on Native American history

November 22, 2012

Understanding the complexity our country’s Native American past requires knowing U.S. history. Preferring softer 21st century skills like “media awareness” and “systems thinking” to academics, the Patrick administration in 2009 postponed a requirement, starting with the class of 2012, that Massachusetts public school students pass a U.S. history MCAS test to graduate from high school.

Taunton Gazette: The history behind what Brown, Warren were fighting for

0 Comments

November 17, 2012

BOSTON — The campaign between U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and challenger…

Lowell Sun: The Role of the US Senate Largely Unappreciated

0 Comments

November 3, 2012

BOSTON — The campaign between U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and challenger…

Patriot Ledger: State needs to step up U.S. history testing

0 Comments

November 2, 2012

Understanding the Senate’s importance requires knowing U.S. history. It's time to restore the U.S. history MCAS test so Bay State schoolchildren can learn how to perpetuate our deliberative democratic institutions.