American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, is a 1996 book written by Joseph Ellis, a professor of History at Mount Holyoke College. It won the 1997 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
Read more about American Sphinx: The Character Of Thomas Jefferson: Overview, Reception, Relationship Between Jefferson and Hemings
Famous quotes containing the words american, character and/or jefferson:
“There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals. The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“If there be no nobility of descent in a nation, all the more indispensable is it that there should be nobility of ascent—a character in them that bear rule, so fine and high and pure, that as men come within the circle of its influence, they involuntarily pay homage to that which is the one pre-eminent distinction, the Royalty of Virtue.”
—Henry Codman Potter (1835–1908)
“Whenever any form of government shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it’s foundation on such principles & organising it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)