Independence Day Tour of Thomas Jefferson's Wild Life and Times

Tuesday, Jul 4, 2023 from 11:00am to 1:30pm
George Mason Memorial
900 Ohio Drive Southwest
$24

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!