Jefferson Character Analysis in Hamilton

Played by the same actor as Lafayette, Jefferson is the drafter of the Declaration of Independence and the country’s third president. Jefferson, who preached freedom but held hundreds of slaves, is one of Hamilton’s primary antagonists; he despises Hamilton’s plan for a national bank, he is frequently xenophobic, and he is constantly trying to ruin Hamilton’s reputation (“We Know”). Ultimately, however, Hamilton respects Jefferson more than he respects Aaron Burr, largely because Jefferson has strong beliefs and principles—more than once, Hamilton and Jefferson cooperate, a testament to the necessity of both disagreement and collaboration in democracy (“The Room Where It Happens”).

Jefferson Quotes in Hamilton

The Hamilton quotes below are all either spoken by Jefferson or refer to Jefferson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Collaboration, Disagreement, and Democracy Theme Icon

ANGELICA: I’ve been reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine.
So men say that I’m intense or I’m insane.
You want a revolution? I wanna revelation
So listen to my declaration:

ELIZA, ANGELICA, PEGGY: “We hold these truths to be self-evident
That all men are created equal.”

ANGELICA: And when I meet Thomas Jefferson […]
I’m ‘a compel him to include women in the sequel!

WOMEN: Work!

Related Characters: Angelica (speaker), Eliza (speaker), Peggy (speaker), Jefferson

Page Number and Citation: 44

Explanation and Analysis:

HAMILTON: Thomas. That was a real nice declaration.
Welcome to the present. We’re running a real nation.
Would you like to join us, or stay mellow,
Doin’ whatever the hell it is you do in Monticello?
If we assume the debts, the Union gets a new line of credit, a financial diuretic.
How do you not get it? If we’re aggressive and competitive
The Union gets a boost. You’d rather give it a sedative?
A civics lesson from a slaver. Hey neighbor.
Your debts are paid cuz you don’t pay for labor.
“We plant seeds in the ground. We create.” Yeah, keep ranting.
We know who’s really doing the planting.

Related Characters: Alexander Hamilton (speaker), Jefferson

Page Number and Citation: 161

Explanation and Analysis:

HAMILTON, JEFFERSON, MADISON, WASHINGTON: What do you want, Burr?
What do you want, Burr?
If you stand for nothing,
Burr, what do you fall for?

BURR: I
Wanna be in
The room where it happens.
The room where it happens.
I
Wanna be in
The room where it happens.
The room where it happens.

Related Characters: Madison (speaker), Aaron Burr (speaker), Alexander Hamilton (speaker), George Washington (speaker), Jefferson (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 161

Explanation and Analysis:

JEFFERSON: He knows nothing of loyalty.
Smells like new money, dresses like fake royalty.
Desperate to rise above his station,
Everything he does betrays the ideals of our nation.
And if ya don’t know, now ya know, Mr. President.

Related Characters: Jefferson (speaker), Alexander Hamilton, George Washington

Page Number and Citation: 161

Explanation and Analysis:

HAMILTON: I have never agreed with Jefferson once.
We have fought on like seventy-five diff’rent fronts!
But when all is said and all is done.
Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none.

Related Characters: Alexander Hamilton (speaker), Aaron Burr, Lafayette, Jefferson

Page Number and Citation: 261

Explanation and Analysis:

Jefferson Character Timeline in Hamilton

The timeline below shows where the character Jefferson appears in Hamilton. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...effort: she boasts of reading Thomas Paine’s crucial treatise Common Sense and complains that Thomas Jefferson left women out of the Declaration of Independence. As the song comes to a close,... (full context)

In 1789, Hamilton is running the Treasury Department, and Jefferson is about to become Secretary of State. But Jefferson has been in France for much... (full context)

As Jefferson prepares to head to Washington, Madison warns him that Hamilton’s plan is overreaching. Jefferson quickly... (full context)

Hamilton and Jefferson face off about whether or not to create a national bank. Washington moderates the debate.... (full context)

Hamilton and Jefferson continue to trade barbs. When things get a little too heated (“turn around, bend over... (full context)

Hamilton is frustrated that Jefferson and Madison are ganging up on him, but Washington is firm that the only way... (full context)

...Burr (“talk less / smile more.”) Indeed, Hamilton has set up a cozy dinner with Jefferson and Madison, and Burr is enraged to have been excluded. (full context)

Though Jefferson and Hamilton tell slightly different stories, both agree on the basic details of what went... (full context)

Jefferson and Hamilton face off about whether the new United States should intervene in the French... (full context)

Immigration and Diversity of Influence Theme Icon

Jefferson accuses Hamilton of betraying the French, who had helped the Americans so much in their... (full context)

Before Hamilton can glory in his victory, however, Jefferson and Madison corner him and remind him that Washington will not be president forever. In... (full context)

Jefferson, Madison, and Burr—all now part of the Democratic-Republican Party—express their frustration at Hamilton’s success. Jefferson... (full context)

...he wants Hamilton to write his final speech. Hamilton panics, especially when he realizes that Jefferson will now likely run for (and win) the office. But Washington is firm that “if... (full context)

Soon President Adams fires Hamilton, calling him a “Creole bastard,” and Thomas Jefferson becomes Adams’s vice president. In response, Hamilton comes back with a rant, damaging both himself... (full context)

Jefferson, Burr, and Madison accuse Hamilton of using his role in the Treasury to embezzle money.... (full context)

...and the blackmail scheme that followed it. While the public freaks out at Hamilton’s revelations, Jefferson and his friends cackle that “he’s never gon’ be president now.” (full context)

...at her side”). King George also arrives to laugh at Hamilton. The song ends when Jefferson and Burr revel in Hamilton’s self-destruction: “you ever see somebody ruin their own life? /... (full context)

Sometime later, Hamilton must choose between voting for Jefferson or Burr in the 1800 presidential election. The song begins when Jefferson asks, “can we... (full context)

...Hamilton become the deciding vote. Though he does not like either candidate, he ultimately chooses Jefferson—“when all is said and all is done,” Hamilton reasons, “Jefferson has beliefs. Burr has none.”... (full context)

The company gathers to commemorate Hamilton one final time. Jefferson and Madison begrudgingly admit that his financial plans were genius (despite all the time they... (full context)

Hamilton

Jefferson Character Analysis

Jefferson Quotes in Hamilton

Act 1: The Schuyler Sisters Quotes

Act 2: Cabinet Battle #1 Quotes

Act 2: The Room Where it Happens Quotes

Act 2: Cabinet Battle #2 Quotes

Act 2: Election of 1800 Quotes

Jefferson Character Timeline in Hamilton