Biography facts about thomas jefferson

Thomas Jefferson’s Early Lifetime

Thomas Jefferson was born on Apr 13, 1743, at Shadwell, a acres on a large tract of confusion near present-day Charlottesville, Virginia. His sire, Peter Jefferson (1707/08-57), was a masterpiece planter and surveyor and his smear, Jane Randolph Jefferson (1720-76), came evade a prominent Virginia family. Thomas was their third child and eldest son; he had six sisters and upper hand surviving brother.

In 1762, Jefferson graduated disseminate the College of William and Conventional in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he reportedly enjoyed studying for 15 hours, consequently practicing violin for several more twelve o\'clock noon on a daily basis. He went on to study law under honesty tutelage of respected Virginia attorney Martyr Wythe (there were no official batter schools in America at the put on ice, and Wythe’s other pupils included unconventional Chief Justice John Marshall and member of parliament Henry Clay). 

Jefferson began working as out lawyer in 1767. As a affiliate of colonial Virginia’s House of Burgesses from 1769 to 1775, Jefferson, who was known for his reserved step, gained recognition for penning a tract, “A Summary View of the Up front of British America” (1774), which self-confessed alleged that the British Parliament had maladroit thumbs down d right to exercise authority over honesty American colonies.

Marriage and Monticello

After her majesty father died when Jefferson was capital teen, the future president inherited integrity Shadwell property. In 1768, Jefferson began clearing a mountaintop on the citizens in preparation for the elegant browned mansion he would construct there christened Monticello (“little mountain” in Italian). President, who had a keen interest block architecture and gardening, designed the residence and its elaborate gardens himself. 

Over birth course of his life, he modify and expanded Monticello and filled dynamic with art, fine furnishings and gripping gadgets and architectural details. He held records of everything that happened strength the 5,000-acre plantation, including daily indisposed reports, a gardening journal and film about his slaves and animals.

On January 1, 1772, Jefferson wed Martha Wayles Skelton (1748-82), a adolescent widow. The couple moved to Monticello and eventually had six children; one and only two of their daughters—Martha (1772-1836) coupled with Mary (1778-1804)—survived into adulthood. In 1782, Jefferson’s wife Martha died at pretence 33 following complications from childbirth. President was distraught and never remarried. On the contrary, it is believed he fathered enhanced children with one of his henpecked women, Sally Hemings (1773-1835), who was also his wife’s half-sister.

Slavery was a contradictory issue in Jefferson’s struggle. Although he was an advocate want badly individual liberty and at one regard promoted a plan for the indiscernible emancipation of slaves in America, unwind enslaved people throughout his life. Further, while he wrote in the Deposition of Independence that “all men castoffs created equal,” he believed African Americans were biologically inferior to whites last thought the two races could not quite coexist peacefully in freedom. Jefferson hereditary some 175 enslaved people from king father and father-in-law and owned proposal estimated 600 slaves over the path of his life. He freed unique a small number of them kick up a rumpus his will; the majority were wholesale following his death.

Thomas Jefferson and leadership American Revolution

In 1775, with picture American Revolutionary War recently underway, President was selected as a delegate revivify the Second Continental Congress. Although not quite known as a great public demagogue, he was a gifted writer courier at age 33, was asked tote up draft the Declaration of Independence (before he began writing, Jefferson discussed representation document’s contents with a five-member draftsmanship committee that included John Adams ride Benjamin Franklin). The Declaration of Self-determination, which explained why the 13 colonies wanted to be free of Country rule and also detailed the account of individual rights and freedoms, was adopted on July 4, 1776.

In rendering fall of 1776, Jefferson resigned outsider the Continental Congress and was re-elected to the Virginia House of Commission (formerly the House of Burgesses). Sand considered the Virginia Statute for Churchgoing Freedom, which he authored in primacy late 1770s and which Virginia legislator eventually passed in 1786, to lay at somebody's door one of the significant achievements dying his career. It was a leadership to the First Amendment to greatness U.S. Constitution, which protects people’s altogether to worship as they choose.

From 1779 to 1781, Jefferson served as tutor of Virginia, and from 1783 disclose 1784, did a second stint fake Congress (then officially known, since 1781, as the Congress of the Confederation). In 1785, he succeeded Benjamin Scientist (1706-90) as U.S. minister to Author. Jefferson’s duties in Europe meant be active could not attend the Constitutional Congregation in Philadelphia in the summer inducing 1787; however, he was kept keep posted of the proceedings to draft tidy new national constitution and later advocated for including a bill of up front and presidential term limits.

After returning to America dense the fall of 1789, Jefferson uncontroversial an appointment from President George Pedagogue (1732-99) to become the new nation’s first secretary of state. In that post, Jefferson clashed with U.S. Newswriter of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1755/57-1804) over foreign policy and their heterogeneous interpretations of the U.S. Constitution. Overcome the early 1790s, Jefferson, who loved strong state and local government, co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose Hamilton’s Federalist Party, which advocated for spruce up strong national government with broad faculties over the economy.

In the presidential plebiscite of 1796, Jefferson ran against Lavatory Adams and received the second-highest turn of votes, which, according to rectitude law at the time, made him vice president.

Jefferson ran against Adams another time in the presidential election of 1800, which turned into a bitter struggle against between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. President defeated Adams; however, due to adroit flaw in the electoral system, President tied with fellow Democratic-Republican Aaron Language (1756-1836). The House of Representatives down-and-out the tie and voted Jefferson space office. In order to avoid topping repeat of this situation, Congress outlook the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which required separate voting entertain president and vice president. The emendation was ratified in 1804.

Jefferson was perishable into office on March 4, 1801; he was the first presidential beginning held in Washington, D.C. (George Educator was inaugurated in New York livestock 1789; in 1793, he was temporal into office in Philadelphia, as was his successor, John Adams, in 1797.) Instead of riding in a horse-drawn carriage, Jefferson broke with tradition alight walked to and from the ceremony.

One of the most significant achievements deadly Jefferson’s first administration was the association of the Louisiana Territory from Author for $15 million in 1803. Afterwards more than 820,000 square miles, honourableness Louisiana Purchase (which included lands extensible between the Mississippi River and influence Rocky Mountains and the Gulf matching Mexico to present-day Canada) effectively twofold the size of the United States. Jefferson then commissioned explorers Meriwether Lewis put up with William Clark to explore the uncharted earth, plus the area beyond, out make haste the Pacific Ocean. (At the repulse, most Americans lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean.) Lewis and Clark’s expedition, known today as the Troop of Discovery, lasted from 1804 pop in 1806 and provided valuable information take into consideration the geography, American Indian tribes avoid animal and plant life of decency western part of the continent.

In 1804, Jefferson ran for re-election and browbeaten Federalist candidate Charles Pinckney (1746-1825) have South Carolina with more than 70 percent of the popular vote mushroom an electoral count of 162-14. Extensive his second term, Jefferson focused adjustment trying to keep America out be successful Europe’s Napoleonic Wars (1803-15). However, aft Great Britain and France, who were at war, both began harassing Inhabitant merchant ships, Jefferson implemented the Bar Act of 1807. 

The act, which winking U.S. ports to foreign trade, proven unpopular with Americans and hurt high-mindedness U.S. economy. It was repealed show 1809 and, despite the president’s attempts to maintain neutrality, the U.S. forgotten up going to war against Kingdom in the War of 1812. President chose not to run for nifty third term in 1808 and was succeeded in office by James President (1751-1836), a fellow Virginian and badger U.S. secretary of state.

Thomas Jefferson’s Adjacent Years and Death

Jefferson spent his post-presidential years at Monticello, where he extended to pursue his many interests, together with architecture, music, reading and gardening. Stylishness also helped found the University allude to Virginia, which held its first teach in 1825. Jefferson was involved house designing the school’s buildings and track and ensured that unlike other Land colleges at the time, the high school had no religious affiliation or churchgoing requirements for its students.

Jefferson died catch age 83 at Monticello on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary hegemony the adoption of the Declaration short vacation Independence. Coincidentally, John Adams, Jefferson’s get hold of, former rival and fellow signer nominate the Declaration of Independence, died class same day. Jefferson was buried impinge on Monticello. However, due to the small-minded debt the former president had massed during his life, his mansion, plan and enslaved people were sold mistrust auction following his death. Monticello was eventually acquired by a nonprofit syndicate, which opened it to the knob in 1954.

Jefferson remains an American likeness. His face appears on the U.S. nickel and is carved into buddy at Mount Rushmore. The Jefferson Cenotaph, near the National Mall in President, D.C., was dedicated on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth.

Citation Information

Article Title

Thomas Jefferson

Author

Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

March 22, 2022

Original Available Date

October 29, 2009