Walking Tour of Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Times, Washington D.C
Held along the scenic Tidal Basin, the National Mall & the White House's Lafayette Square, on Independence Day, this tour will examine the accomplishments of, and many crises faced, by Jefferson—D.C.'s first two-term President--during the American Revolution, in Europe, and during eventful stay in the then-new Executive Mansion. And of his friends & rivals Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, James Madison, George Washington, & John Adams, and others, all of whom left a significant mark on the capital, and America, from the first July 4th and thereafter.
MEET at the GEORGE MASON memorial near the Jefferson Memorial.
Length: 2 to 2.5 hours.
Nearest metros: Smithsonian & Metro Center.
We'll walk from the Mason & Jefferson Memorials to the White House & Lafayette Square. And discover:
- The mysterious Jefferson Pier
- A traitor's attempted overthrow of Jefferson's Lewis & Clark expedition
- The other Jefferson memorials--outside the White House
- Mason's battle against—the U.S. Constitution
- The Marquis de Lafayette's amazing & perilous associations with multiple American Presidents
- Inventor of farm, kitchen, and spy apparatus
- The secret language of the Jefferson Memorial
- The undeclared naval war, and declared trade war, that nearly wrecked Jefferson's second term
- Sally Hemings and Maria Cosway
- Disputes over the Jefferson Memorial
- Rollercoaster relationship with John Adams
- "The room where it happened"
- The "miracle mansion" of TJ's militia chief
- The scoundrel who betrayed Jefferson, killed Hamilton, and tried setting up his own country—with the head of the U.S. Army!
- Architect-in-Chief: Did TJ secretly design the White House?
- When Jefferson was almost hanged
- How Mason & Jefferson ended the slave trade—from Minnesota to the Mediterranean!
- President Jefferson's "First Lady"
- Did Jefferson plagiarize Mason?
- How TJ came to write the Declaration of Independence, and its hidden coda
- And more!