This is the Library at Monticello, as seen from the Cabinet. The "book room" is in the hallway between the two rooms. Image courtesy of R. Lautman/Monticello.

It’s little wonder that President Jefferson would push for westward exploration. He was an enlightened man, so to speak.

From 1785 until about 1789, Thomas Jefferson served as minister to France. That position allowed him to witness firsthand a highly influential 18th century movement of thought that he both admired and followed—the Age of Enlightenment.

When Jefferson became president, the Enlightenment still lingered in Europe and North America. It focused on the autonomy of reason and the values of progress and perfectibility. Many intellectuals yearned to discover principles that could govern man, nature, and society. During this period scientific and rational thought defined every aspect of human society, from politics to religion.

With skepticism and rationalism at the heart of the age, Jefferson surrounded himself with Enlightenment thinkers—intelligent, curious, and well-spoken scholars who always sought to read, learn, and discover more. Jefferson himself was an avid reader and a man of science. Also an expert on a large number of subjects and fluent in five languages, Jefferson owned an enormous library that contained more than 1,250 volumes. He epitomized Enlightenment thinking. There’s little doubt it drove the way he governed his country.

The idea of exploration—venturing into new territory to expand one’s knowledge—was pure Enlightenment. That influence pervaded Jefferson’s instructions to Meriwether Lewis. Yes, find an all-water route across North America, but also gather information about science and natural history. Report on the animals, the vegetation, the geography, the climate, and the natives, their customs, and their language.

Despite his Enlightenment mentality and scholarship, Jefferson’s views of other cultures were not always accurate. In fact, sometimes they were simply naïve or self-centered. Just ask the native Indians or black-Americans.

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