Category: Getting Jefferson Right

Did we refer to original sources in Getting Jefferson Right?

Of course we did. I have referred to the original table of texts used by Jefferson on this blog to point out where David Barton incorrectly added some miracles to his account of the Jefferson Bible. They are also in Getting Jefferson Right.

I pointed out here and we provided in the book the subscriber’s lists proving that Jefferson was not one of a few founders who financed the first hot-pressed Bible in the United States. He subscribed to it, as did over 1200 other people.

We quote the entire 1782 Virginia law on manumission; Barton only quotes part of it.

However, Barton yesterday told a radio host in Texas (Not Too Late Show – Listen at about 28:00 into the podcast or click the link below) that a couple of professors from Messiah College (guess he got us confused with John Fea) did a point by point refutation of The Jefferson Lies, but then said we only quoted other professors and did not refer to the original sources.

Listen to the 39 second portion by clicking the link: NotTooLate.

So yes, Mr. Barton, we did refer to the primary sources, and no, we did not just quote other experts.

In case, you want to comment on the episode, Not Too Late’s Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/NotTooLateShow

Getting Jefferson Right at Religion Dispatches

Today, Religion Dispatches published a review of Getting Jefferson Right by history professor Paul Harvey. Harvey is also blogmeister at Religion in American History blog.

While Harvey is skeptical that our book will change many minds of those committed to Barton’s faux history, I see it differently. I am encouraged that exposure of these issues will make some difference.

Getting Jefferson Right in Salon today

Salon today posted my article on David Barton and a brief look at the falsehoods in Barton’s book, The Jefferson Lies.

One claim I haven’t spent much time on until lately is Barton’s claim that Thomas Jefferson could not emancipate his slaves due to restrictions in VA law. Barton says in The Jefferson Lies that Jefferson could not have emancipated his slaves and blamed Virginia law. As I point out in the article and we point out in the book, that is a false claim.

Thanks to John Fea at Messiah College for the comments and blog post I cited.