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Jefferson's Words on Religion

Jefferson's views and statements on religion have left a powerful legacy in the United States. Listen to some of his most quoted writings on the subject and take a peek at Jefferson's editing process in a comparison of two excerpts from the same document.

Virginia's Dissenters and the Statute for Religious Freedom

There was a third force behind the passage of the Statute of Virginia for Religions Freedom in 1786: the Dissenters. Primarily Presbyterians and Baptists, Virginia's Dissenters were members of a growing and increasingly powerful community that had real worries about state involvement in religion.

Religion in the Election of 1800

Edward Larson, author of A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, spoke at Monticello on the role religion played in the campaigns. In this excerpt, he highlights some of the arguments, from the clever to the absurd, each side published in the months prior to the election.

The Life of Uriah Levy

Learn about the man who served as the first Jewish Commodore of the United States Navy and as steward of Monticello in the 1800s.

Stewardship of Monticello

Listen to a podcast about how Uriah Levy's respect for Jefferson and his fight to establish religious freedom led Levy to preserve Jefferson's house for future generations.