Nearly two centuries after his death, Thomas Jefferson continues to be the subject of competing claims about his public policy and his private beliefs.
In the second edition of Getting Jefferson Right: Fact-Checking Claims About Thomas Jefferson, two conservative scholars examine key claims frequently made by Christian nationalists about Thomas Jefferson. Using Jefferson's correspondence, accounts of Jefferson's contemporaries, and other primary sources, Throckmorton and Coulter separate fact from fiction.
In the first edition, the authors focused on claims made by David Barton in his book The Jefferson Lies. That book was subsequently pulled from publication by Christian publisher Thomas Nelson due to historical errors. However, The Jefferson Lies was subsequently republished and took issue with the conclusions of Getting Jefferson Right. In this second edition of Getting Jefferson Right, Throckmorton and Coulter respond to the second edition of The Jefferson Lies as well as claims about Jefferson in a new book by Stephen Wolfe titled The Case for Christian Nationalism.
To address these Christian nationalist claims, Throckmorton and Coulter take on the following questions and much more:
-Did Jefferson sign his presidential documents, "In the year of our Lord Christ?"
-Did Jefferson and other Founders finance a Bible in 1798 to get the Word of God to America's Families?
-Was Jefferson an orthodox Christian, who only rarely expressed questions about orthodox Christian doctrine?
-Did Jefferson edit the Gospels of the New Testament to remove sections he disagreed with?
-Did Virginia law keep Jefferson from freeing his slaves?
-Did Jefferson father children with Sally Hemings?
-Did Jefferson attempt to influence the construction of the Bill of Rights?
The aim of the authors is to get Jefferson right.
Praise for Getting Jefferson Right:
Getting Jefferson Right is an intellectual and historical take down of David Barton's pseudo-history of Thomas Jefferson by two Christian professors who teach at a conservative Christian college. Michael Coulter and Warren Throckmorton have done their homework. Anyone who reads this book must come to grips with the untruths and suspect historical interpretations that Barton regularly peddles in his books, speaking engagements, and on his radio program. I have yet to read a more thorough refutation of Barton's claims.
--John Fea, Chair of the History Department, Messiah College and author of Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A Historical Introduction
Getting Jefferson Right is an excellent example of the art of historical contextualization, of trying to tell the whole story, not just part of it. For those reasons, the work should become a standard reference.
--Paul Harvey, professor of history, University of Colorado
As a historian, reading Getting Jefferson Right consistently elicits in me a dual response: the first is a deep appreciation for the careful, objective and thorough scholarship of Coulter and Throckmorton; the second is incredulous outrage at the numerous historical distortions, misreadings, and outright falsehoods they labor to debunk. Based in a thorough and careful analysis of primary sources in their full context, Getting Jefferson Right is an essential volume for understanding Jefferson in all his complexity, and a robust defense of historical truth against the propagandists who twist the past to serve their agenda.
-Aaron Cowan, associate professor of history, Slippery Rock University
