Expanding upon this, are there any specific historians that have written on this subject in some form? I'm attempting to show how, arguably, it would seem that Jefferson has taken a rather hard hit in regards to public acceptance, while Hamilton has had an outpouring of it. I'm sure that, for eample, how people view/ed Jefferson's ownership and treatment of his of slaves has directly impacted how people at different points in history interpret/ed him as a public figure. Are there any sources you could suggest that can help me observe this phenomenon in a more academic way, instead of me just tossing assumptions out?
Thanks for any help, and sorry if this doesn't belong here.
Yes there are numerous sources and I think you would be intrigued by just how much both of their public perceptions have changed over time. Hamilton was originally castigated, almost demonized, by many upon his death due to the harsh political lines that existed between him and his opponents (Jefferson, Burr, and really any anti-Federalist), and his extraordinary/imperfect personal life. Jefferson on the other hand was pretty ubiquitously lauded for a long time and it wasn't until historians began viewing his life later on that his legacy began to be questioned, when it has been revealed just how much Jefferson was a man of great contradiction.
Both were undoubtedly great men with perhaps even greater character flaws.
Really any book written during the Revolutionary period would expand on this in great detail, but specifically biographies of the two men or any of the Founding Fathers. You cannot research the men who typically are associated as the Founding Fathers or Framers without talking about the political discord that developed between the two sides.
Some of my favorites are below:
But this is by no means limiting and I didn't even link any Jefferson-centric biographies.
This article by Jeffrey L. Pasley is probably the best overview I've seen.
I'll note that I personally as a historian have a much more favorable impression of Jefferson than I do of Hamilton, as do many others. As Pasley points out some of the praise Hamilton has been getting in popular media, and some of the demonization of Jefferson, come from fundamental misunderstandings of both men's characters and the political situation at the time.