Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration for Posterity

The 2026 James Madison College’s Constitution Day program at Michigan State University will feature Dr. Jeremy Bailey (University of Florida) and takes place Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. in Room 338, Case Hall.

The Declaration of Independence contains perhaps the most important words in the English language, but it was only late in life that Jefferson turned his efforts to explaining those words. This talk considers Jefferson’s view of the Declaration by revisiting his retirement writings and tells the stories of the famous letters to Henry Lee and Roger Weightman.

Dr. Jeremy Bailey is Professor of Humanities at the Hamilton School. Bailey is a scholar of American political thought and constitutional development, especially the political thought of the early republic (namely Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson) as well as constitutional controversies concerning executive power. He is also a Jack Miller Center Academic Council Member.