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Blood of Patriots and Tyrants 
Many are quick to regurgitate Thomas Jefferson’s written statement,
‘the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants.’
But few are willing to look to the context of a full paragraph in a letter to William Stephens Smith in November 1787. The context is that Jefferson is in France. The new Constitution has been sent to the States for ratification. Jefferson observes that ‘There are very good articles in it: and very bad. I do not know which preponderate (definition: be greater in number, influence, or importance).’ Continue reading