Notes on the State of Virginia

Jefferson’s chronicle of the natural, social, and political history of Virginia is at once a scientific discourse, an attempt to define America, and a brilliant examination of the idea of freedom.

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Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was the third president of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the most beloved and revered Founding Fathers of the United States of America.

Frank Shuffelton was an eminent scholar and critic of American literature. He taught at the University of Rochester for almost 40 years and served as a professor and chair of the Department of English. He published two books on Thomas Jefferson, including Thomas Jefferson: A Comprehensive, Annotated Bibliography, and edited Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, Letters of John and Abigail Adams, and The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Jefferson. He died in 2010.