Thomas Jefferson

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Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States. He was also the second Vice President. Best known as the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, he contributed greatly to the development and shaping of the United States of America. During his two terms, he more than doubled the size of the country, through the Louisiana Purchase of 180, and kept the nation from involvement in the Napoleonic Wars despite both British and French violations of America's neutrality. A man of many talents, his most important achievements were in government and politics, but he was also successful as a lawyer, farmer, writer, architect, scientist, musician, and inventor.

Thomas Jefferson was born April 1, 174, at Shadwell, a plantation in Albemarle County, Virginia. The first Jefferson was believed to have come to Virginia from Wales. Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas, was a surveyor who became a landowner and magistrate. In 17 he married Jane Randolph, a member of one of the most aristocratic and influential families of the colony. They had 10 children. Thomas was the elder of two sons among the eight surviving children. After his father's death in 1757 he inherited ,650 acres of land, several slaves, and a position of consequence in the community.

At five, Thomas was sent to a private school near Richmond. He later studied under private tutors and in 1760 entered the College of William and Mary. There he developed a liking for mathematics and the natural sciences and impressed many with his brilliant mind. He also became an accomplished violinist and horseman. To his friends, the tall, slender, sandy-haired Jefferson was "Long Tom." Dr. William Small, who taught philosophy and mathematics, took a liking to young Jefferson. As a result of recommendation by Dr. Small, Jefferson, after leaving school in 176 was able to study law under the guidance of George Wythe, a leading attorney and noted teacher. Jefferson was admitted to the bar in 1767 and soon developed a profitable practice.

The business of Jefferson's life however, was not the practice of law. Although he continued in that occupation for seven years His true calling was public service. His occupation was leadership (McMillen 0). Despite his success as a lawyer, he was never fond of it.

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Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton, a young widow in 177. They had six children, but only two, Martha and Mary, survived childhood. Jefferson had planned early in his marriage to retire and become a gentleman and scholar. On a hilltop near Charlottesville, he began to build the mansion he called Monticello, but it was many years before he was able to settle there permanently. Unfortunately, on September 6, 178, Martha Jefferson slowly slipped away from her husband's desperate grasp. In the last anguished hours, she made an emotional request, a compound of love and old fear. She asked Jefferson to promise her that he would never marry again (Fleming 106). Jefferson never remarried. While he was President, his daughter Martha acted as hostess in the White House.

Jefferson was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 176. In 1770 he was given command of the Albemarle County militia. He continued to be elected to the House of Burgesses until it ceased to function in 1775. In 177 he was appointed surveyor of Albemarle County. While in the House of Burgesses he allied himself with Patrick Henry, who was spokesman for a progressive group opposed to aristocracy. In 1775 the Virginia Convention named Jefferson as an alternate in the Continental congress. While in attendance, he was made one of the committee charged with drafting a Declaration of Independence. Nobody outside Congress except for a few friends knew that Jefferson had written the Declaration. The fact did not appear in an American newspaper until 1784, and he lived through all the bell ringing and speechmaking without any personal commendation in the press (Brodie 1).

In 1776 Jefferson gave up his seat in Congress to serve in the Virginia legislature. While there, 1776-177, he introduced 16 bills of which at least 100 were enacted. Jefferson considered the Statue of Religious Freedom one of his most important achievements, it provided for separation of church and state.

Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia in 177 and reelected in 1780. He was not equal to the task of governing during wartime, partly because he did not take the emergency actions necessary to meet an invasion. In his term the British overran most of the state, and Jefferson himself barely escaped capture. He refused to serve a third term even though elected by the legislature. When his second term expired, Jefferson simply left office rather than continue until a new governor could be chosen.

Jefferson served in the national Congress for five months during 178, and was active in almost every important committee there. Among the 1 state papers he drafted one was advocating the decimal system for money. Another was a land ordinance that dealt with western expansion. Many of its features were incorporated in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Early in 1784 Congress decided to send Jefferson to France to join Benjamin Franklin and John Adams in negotiating commercial treaties with the various European powers (Smith 177). The next year he was appointed to succeed Franklin as United States minister. He remained in France until 178.

In 170, Jefferson was made George Washington's Secretary of State, the first under the Constitution. When war broke out between France and Great Britain in 17, Jefferson although favoring France, agreed with Alexander Hamilton and Washington that the United States should adopt a neutral position. Nevertheless, his sympathy for the French Revolution led him into conflict with Hamilton, and Jefferson resigned his post at the end of 17 (Whitehouse.gov).

In the 176 election Jefferson was the candidate of the Republican Party, and the Federalist nominated John Adams. Adams defeated him by only three electoral votes, and Jefferson, under the system then in effect became Vice President. In the year 1800, Jefferson began his campaign for the presidency again at the age of fifty-seven; Aaron burr was his running mate. Jefferson and Burr each received 7 votes, and the election was thrown into the House of Representatives. After a week of tied votes, Jefferson was finally elected president on February 17, 1801.

The government had moved from Philadelphia to its permanent home in Washington, D.C., in June of 1800. To Thomas Jefferson fell the honor of being the first President to be inaugurated in the new national Capital on the Potomac River (Komroff 14). The most important event of Jefferson's first administration was the Louisiana Purchase of 180, which double the area of the United States. To authorize this acquisition, Jefferson had to go against his own principles by giving a broad interpretation to the Constitution, but he felt the purchase was necessary to control the vital Mississippi River.

During his second term (1805-180), much of Jefferson's energies were taken up trying to keep America out of the war raging between England and France. He succeeded by fighting an economic war, refusing to trade with a number of European nations, especially Great Britain. His policies cost shippers and businessmen millions of dollars and were very controversial.

By the end of 1807, he announced that he would follow the example of George Washington and not seek a third term. Jefferson retired to Monticello, and although he was now sixty-six years old, the ex-president began a new life. In his retirement Thomas Jefferson was the most famous living American. In an average year he received more than a thousand letters, most of which he tried to answer. Every year, thousands of visitors flocked to Monticello to meet with the ex-president. One of Jefferson's crowning achievements was to win authorization in 1818 for the founding of the University of Virginia. It was chartered the following year and instruction began in 185.

The following year was his last. Jefferson died July 4, 186, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. By a curious coincidence, John Adams, his predecessor in office, died a few hours later the same day. Jefferson was buried on the grounds of Monticello. He had stipulated that the inscription on his tombstone be confined to the three achievements for which he wished to be remembered - the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, the Statue for Religious Freedom, and the founding of the University of Virginia.

WORKS CITED

Brodie, Fawn M. Thomas Jefferson An Intimate History. New York Norton, 174.

A rich, intimate portrait, which illuminates the relationship between Thomas Jefferson's inner life and his public life.

Fleming, John. Jefferson's Way. American History Feb. 001 6-44.

A somewhat thoroughly documented account of Jefferson's struggles with the personal and political aspects of his life.

Komroff, Manuel. Thomas Jefferson. New York Julian Messner, Inc, 161.

A portrait of Thomas Jefferson's youth in colonial Virginia to his final days at Monticello.

McMillen, Neil R. Thomas Jefferson Philosopher of Freedom. Chicago Rand McNally, 17.

A biography of a statesman, lawyer, architect, inventor, scholar, and president, which includes his roles as husband, father and doting grandfather in private life.

Smith, Page. Jefferson A revealing Biography. New York American Heritage, 176.

Traces the life of the tall redheaded Virginian, from his early education and involvement in the American Revolution to his activities as the nation's third president and last years at Monticello.

WhiteHouse.gov. Home page. 7 Dec. 00. http//www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tj.html

A very good article that shows Thomas Jefferson, as author of the Declaration of Independence labored to make its words a reality.

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