Thomas Jefferson - NPS

Thomas JeffersonThe Versatile Founding Father

Content Young JeffersonForming A New CountryRoles In A New GovernmentRetirementConclusion

Young Jefferson Thomas Jefferson was bornApril 13, 1743 at Shadwellplantation in Virginia. Jefferson’s parents were Peterand Jane Randolph Jefferson.He had nine brothers andsisters. Jefferson grew up in aprivileged class of society. Thisallowed for him to receive aformal education.

Formal Education He received his early education closeto home. Tutors like the ReverendJames Maury were his earlyeducators. After learning to read and write, hestudied Latin, Greek and French. In 1760, at the age of 16, heattended the College of William andMary in Williamsburg. In 1762, Jefferson finished hisstudies at William and Mary. Whenhe decided to study law underGeorge Wythe. In 1767, he took and passed theexam to be a lawyer.

Enlightenment John Locke and other writersargued that people had basichuman rights, these includedfreedom of thought, speech,and religion. We call this time in history TheAge of Enlightenment. Jefferson was impressed byJohn Locke’s writings. We cansee Locke’s effect on Jeffersonthrough his writings.

Trouble Brewing In 1765, the British governmentstarted to impose acts (taxes)on the colonies. The coloniesfound these acts to be unfair. Sugar Act 1764, Stamp andQuartering Acts 1765,Townshend Act 1767, Tea Act1773, Intolerable Act 1774. On April 19, 1775, the Battlesof Lexington and Concord arefought, beginning the AmericanRevolutionary War.

Jefferson During Turbulent Times In 1769, Jefferson beginsbuilding Monticello. On January 1, 1772 Jeffersonmarried Martha WaylesSkelton. They spent their firstnight at Monticello in the smallcottage pictured here becausethe main house was still beingbuilt. Jefferson is selected as arepresentative to attend theFirst Continental Congress in1774.

Thirteen Colonies Come Together The First Continental Congressmeet in Philadelphia inSeptember 1774. This was the first meetingbetween all thirteen colonies. King George III does not likewhat the colonies have to say,he declares the colonies inopen rebellion and prepares todestroy them.

Forming A New Country Spring of 1776, the SecondContinental Congress meets. Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, JohnAdams, Robert Livingston, andRoger Sherman are chosen for acommittee to draft a documentdeclaring the colonies independence. The committee picks Jefferson for hiswriting talent to prepare the draft. Between June 12 and 28, 1776Jefferson writes the first draft of theDeclaration of Independence.

A Document Like No Other Jefferson drew on the ideals ofJohn Locke and otherEnlightenment writers whendrafting the Declaration ofIndependence. Franklin and Adams were thefirst to review the draft, after acouple of minor changes it wasreviewed by the wholecommittee. The committee presented it tothe Congress on June 28th forapproval. On July 4, 1776, the Congressapproved and signed theDeclaration of Independence.

Work To Be Done In Virginia Jefferson returned to Virginia afterthe Second Continental Congressand took his place in the House ofDelegates. During this time he tried to pass lawsto separate church and state, providepublic education, and end slavery.None of the laws were passed. Jefferson wrote: “Above all things Ihope the education of the commonpeople will be attended to; convincedthat on their good sense we may relywith the most security for thepreservation of a due degree ofliberty.”

Governor In 1779, the legislature electedJefferson Governor of Virginia,he served two 1 year terms Jefferson spent much of histime recruiting new troops tohelp with the war effort. In January 1781, British forcescaptured and burnedRichmond.

Between Governor and Congressman Lord Cornwallis, Commanderof British forces sent soldiers tocapture Jefferson, he escapedonly minutes before thesoldiers arrived. Cornwallis surrendered toGeneral Washington inOctober 1781 at Yorktown. Jefferson writes Notes on theState of Virginia. On September 6, 1782,Jefferson’s wife Martha diedafter a long illness.

Roles In A New Government In June, 1783, Jefferson isappointed to the nationalCongress, he served in thisrole until May, 1784. Jefferson created a newcurrency (money) system thatwe still use today. In May, 1784, Congress askedJefferson to represent theUnited States in Europe, a yearlater he was made minister toFrance.

Minister and Secretary of State He served as minister ofFrance for five years, were hesaw the opening of the FrenchRevolution. Jefferson returned to the U.S.in late 1789. Washington as the newPresident asked Jefferson tobe Secretary of State.

Democratic-Republicans/Federalists During his time as Secretary ofState, Jefferson became aleader of a group whosupported the FrenchRevolution. Jefferson’s group wouldbecome the DemocraticRepublicans and Hamilton’sthe Federalists. In 1794, both Jefferson andHamilton gave up theirpositions on Washington’s staffbecause of their differences.

Vice President In 1796, Jefferson’s supporterstalked him into running forPresident. This election would be the firsttime two political parties wouldsquare off. Jefferson’s friend John Adamswould be his opponent. Adams won the election,Jefferson received the secondamount of votes, making himthe Vice President. This put Jefferson in a verydifficult position, Jefferson andAdams were of differentpolitical parties.

Jefferson Makes A Choice The Federalists passed theAlien and Sedition Acts of1798. These acts restricted theactivities of foreign residents inthe country and limitedfreedom of speech and of thepress. Jefferson was against theseacts, he felt they went againstthe Constitution. Jeffersondecided to run for Presidentagain.

Election of 1800 The election of 1800 was anugly affair, with both sidesattacking each other. The Democratic-Republicanswould win the election, but withone problem. The electors had two votes, theDemocratic-Republicanelectors cast one vote forJefferson and one for AaronBurr, creating a tie. The House of Representativeswould have to break the tie in avote. It took 36 tries beforeJefferson was electedPresident.

President Jefferson became the ThirdPresident of the United Stateson March 4, 1801. Jefferson would serve twoterms as President, March 4,1801 – March 4, 1809. Jefferson’s greatestachievement as President wasthe Louisiana Purchase.

Louisiana Purchase In the spring of 1803, Jeffersonsent James Monroe to Franceto offer to buy the ports of NewOrleans. Napoleon surprised Monroewhen he offered to sell not onlythe ports but, the entireLouisiana Territory. In October, 1803, the U.S.Senate approved the LouisianaPurchase for about 15 milliondollars.

Lewis and Clark Soon after the purchaseJefferson asked MeriwetherLewis to organize anexpedition. On May 14, 1804, Lewis andClark left St. Louis. Theirmission was to search forwater routes to the PacificOcean and note information onanimals, plants, and weather. On September 23, 1806, Lewisand Clark arrived back in St.Louis.

Retirement Jefferson returned toMonticello in March 1809. In 1815, he sold his library toCongress for 24,000, thiscollection would become theheart of the Library ofCongress, which is the largestlibrary in the world. Education was still veryimportant to Jefferson, hehelped raise funds, designedthe buildings and helped planthe courses for the Universityof Virginia which opened in1825.

Friends Come Back Together John Adams and Thomas Jeffersonhad worked on the Declaration ofIndependence together, became veryclose friends when both were inFrance in the 1780’s. Their political differences and theugliness of the 1800 election drove awedge between these two friends. In 1810, Adams reached out toJefferson, 14 years and more than150 letters later, these two friendswere able to mend old wounds. On July 4, 1826, at the age of 83,Thomas Jefferson died. What he didnot know was his friend John Adamsdied earlier that same day.

ConclusionThomas Jefferson was the mostversatile of our founding fathers,because of the education hereceived. Education allowedJefferson to be the author of TheDeclaration of Independence, astatesman and politician.He was known throughout theworld as a man with a brilliantmind. His strong support ofeducation for everyone is thereason we have publiceducation. Jefferson kneweducation was the key for astrong America.

Word BankJEFFERSONLOUISIANAPRESIDENTLEWIS AND N1803

and Jane Randolph Jefferson. He had nine brothers and sisters. Jefferson grew up in a privileged class of society. This allowed for him to receive a . the main house was still being built. Jefferson is selected as a representative to attend the First Continental Congress in 1774.