Conservatives claim American ideals are not only Christian in their meaning, but they were infused into our government by a group of Christian men — the Founding Fathers. Objectivism holds that capitalism is based on egoism, not altruism. It is collectivism, not capitalism, that is the political expression of altruism. 

But, what of the allegation that Jefferson and the Founding Fathers were Christian men? What are we to make of the claim about Jefferson? This paper is designed to offer a response to this latter volley from the conservatives. I shall accomplish this by a thorough examination of the philosophy of Tho- mas Jefferson.