Primary Source Adams Jefferson

Primary Document Report Name: Bob Sudduth Date: 2-2-2009 Title of Document: Personal letters between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Source (please be specific): Cappon, Lester J., ed. The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson & Abigail & John Adams. Chapel Hill and London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1959. pp 290-292. A reader may find this book at many public libraries and most university libraries. This copy was obtained at the Caldwell County Public Library. Brief Explanation of Document: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson first met in 1775 and began a letter-writing friendship in 1777. Politics and public life took its toll on the friendship, however, and the friendship (along with the letters) came to a halt in 1801. Nearly eleven years later, John Adams sent this letter to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson replied, and the friendship resumed for another fourteen years until both men died on July 4, 1826. Possible uses for research paper or lesson plan: These letters help reveal some of the complex relationships, personal and professional, involving some of the country’s founders. Examination of the correspondences between Thomas Jefferson, Abigail Adams, and John Adams may remove some of the mythic fog surrounding the Founding Fathers and allow the student to gain a personal understanding and sense of humanity concerning these historical persons. How does this document relate to other documents: These letters are less formal than many documents that have been used in classrooms. They are fairly straightforward, but do require a bit of contextual foundation.