I once had an interesting conversation with a Jefferson scholar on whether he would still be a Jeffersonian Republican today or a Federalist. It seems that a key part of Jefferson’s view of the nation was that voters were informed and tied to their community (Jefferson loved farmers). Seems to be the opposite for many today.
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
—Thomas Jefferson to C. Yancey, 1816.
There are many, many other quotes from Jefferson like this one regarding the need for the public to be educated in order to hold onto their freedoms.
I think he would be absolutely appalled at the state of our supposed education system today and the gross abuse of power by our Federal gov’t.
The fact that our gov’t forces our most precious national treasure, our children, to sit in school for eight hours or more a day for 12 years... only to have some of the worst test scores of any civilized nation and drop-out rates of 75% or higher in some cities... for me, that is an act of treason... I think it is done on purpose to keep people dumbed down and passive and I think Jefferson would agree.