Quotation: "An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people."

Variations: None known.

Sources consulted:

1. Founders Online
2. Retirement Papers
3. Thomas Jefferson: Papers and Biographies Collections, Hathi Trust Digital Library

Earliest known appearance in print: 20131

Other attributions: None known.

Status: This exact quotation has not been found in any of the writings of Thomas Jefferson, although it is a generally accurate paraphrase of Jefferson's views on education.

- Anna Berkes, 3/30/10; revised 8/24/11, 1/24/20

Further Sources

• Jefferson Quotes & Family Letters Database: Quotes on Education.
• Wagoner, Jennings.  Jefferson and Education.  Charlottesville, VA.: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2004.
• Look for further sources on Jefferson and education in the Thomas Jefferson Portal

• 1. Remington, Nancy, and Ronald Remington, Alternative Pathways to the Baccalaureate (Stylus Publishing, 2013): 188.  Accessed 1/24/20.  Note that the authors do not put this sentence in quotes in the text.