# Congress purchases Jefferson's library in 1815 to reconstitute the Library of Congress after the 1814 burning

Date: 1815

## The fact

In 1815 Congress bought Jefferson's books to replace the library burned by British forces in 1814. Thousands of volumes moved to Washington. The instrument is that sale-as-public-collection. He had offered them; the House debated the price and the 'infidel' titles. Thomas Jefferson's documented role is: He offered the books. Congress appropriated. Librarians shelved. He did not found the Library in 1800.

## Context

The 1800 statute creating a congressional library is not his unique act. Sharing the 1815 appropriation with Congress is required. UVA's later library is a different row. A Monticello gift-shop facsimile is not the 1815 object. The setting of Congress purchases Jefferson's library in 1815 to reconstitute the Library of Congress after the 1814 burning is the public file around 1815-01-30. Shared offices, unnamed crews, printers, or later editors may appear without becoming this instrument. Driver edu-[digital-learning-access](/drivers/edu-digital-learning-access) is attached because the significance names a mechanism from this act, not because a standing list needed coverage.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

## Evidence and sources

Official locator: Library of Congress — Jefferson's Library at https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html (Library of Congress). Independent locator: Britannica — Library of Congress, Jefferson purchase at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Official carrier: Library of Congress — Jefferson's Library (https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html; Library of Congress). Independent carrier: Britannica — Library of Congress, Jefferson purchase (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson; Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Official or archival record: Library of Congress — Jefferson's Library (https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html; Library of Congress).

## Significance

Improving path from Congress purchases Jefferson's library in 1815 to reconstitute the Library of Congress after the 1814 burning on 1815-01-30. A public research collection reconstituted after arson is an education path. The welfare reading on this path is improving.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Do not treat every later LoC building as 1815. Mixed effects of Congress purchases Jefferson's library in 1815 to reconstitute the Library of Congress after the 1814 burning are separate paths.

## What is established and what is not

Established: a sourced public record of Congress purchases Jefferson's library in 1815 to reconstitute the Library of Congress after the 1814 burning under 1815-01-30 for Thomas Jefferson. Established: a sourced public record of Congress purchases Jefferson's library in 1815 to reconstitute the Library of Congress after the 1814 burning under 1815-01-30.

Shared responsibility is part of Congress purchases Jefferson's library in 1815 to reconstitute the Library of Congress after the 1814 burning. Naming Thomas Jefferson does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1815-01-30 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

The welfare reading used in this dossier is improving. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

## People

- Thomas Jefferson: https://factrail.ai/people/thomas-jefferson

## Drivers

- Digital Learning Access: https://factrail.ai/drivers/edu-digital-learning-access

## Sources

- https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Jefferson

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/tj-loc-1815