 (Born
April 13, 1743 at Shadwell, Virginia; died July 4, 1826 at Monticello,
Charlottesville, Virginia)
Thomas Jefferson is best remembered today for his role
as the third president of the United States and the author of
the Declaration of Independence. He was also the author of the
Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, governor of Virginia,
minister to France, secretary of state of the United States, vice
president of the United States, founder and architect of the University
of Virginia, and a plantation owner.
Thomas Jefferson
came from a large family and was
raised in the Piedmont region of Virginia in what is now Albemarle
County. His father Peter Jefferson was a successful planter and
surveyor. His mother Jane Randolph Jefferson was a member of one
of Virginia's most prominent families. After inheriting a large
estate from his father, Jefferson began building his home Monticello
when he was twenty-six years old. Three years later on January
1, 1772 he married Martha Wayles Skelton. Thomas Jefferson once
described his marriage to Martha as being "ten years of unchequered
happiness." Sadly his happiness ended in 1782 when Martha died
as a result of complications from childbirth. Their marriage produced
six children, but only two daughters (Martha and Mary) survived
to adulthood.
Thomas Jefferson never remarried and maintained his home at Monticello
throughout his life.
Monticello was more than just Thomas Jefferson's home.
It was also a large plantation made up of four separate farms.
The farms, carpentry shop, joinery, blacksmith shop, weavers cottage,
and other plantation industries were all worked by a large and
talented slave population. Thomas Jefferson inherited most of
his slaves from his father and his father-in-law. In a typical
year he owned about two hundred slaves. About half of the two
hundred were children under the age of sixteen. Approximately
eighty of the slaves lived at Monticello near Jefferson's house.
The other 120 lived on the farms surrounding Monticello Mountain
(Shadwell, Lego and Tufton) or else on Jefferson's Poplar Forest
estate in Bedford County, Virginia (about seventy miles south
of Monticello). Thomas Jefferson had very mixed feelings when
it came to slavery. On the one hand he realized that slaves were
necessary to the running of his large plantation and the economy
of the South in general. On the other hand he called slavery an
abomination. He once said: "This abomination [slavery] must have
an end. And there is a superior bench in heaven for those who
hasten it." In his lifetime Thomas Jefferson freed only two of
his slaves and he freed
another five
in his
will. He chose not to pursue two others who ran away.
 Thomas
Jefferson had a good education as a child and later attended the
College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. After college
he studied law and later practiced law for a number of years.
While he was a young man he served in local government as a magistrate,
county lieutenant and as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses
(after 1776 called the House of Delegates). As a member of the
Continental Congress he was chosen in 1776 to write the Declaration
of Independence. This important document not only established
the independence of the United States, but also declared the universal
importance of individual freedoms and liberties. The Declaration
says that all men are equal in rights, regardless of birth, wealth,
or status.
It also
says that
the government is the servant, not the master, of the people.
After Thomas Jefferson left Congress in 1776, he returned
to Virginia and served in the state legislature. He was governor
of Virginia during part of the Revolutionary War from 1779 to
1781. After being governor he had a brief retirement from public
life. During this time he looked after his plantations at Monticello
and Poplar Forest. He also wrote a book called Notes on the
State of Virginia. It is also during this time period in 1782
that Jefferson's wife Martha died. Thomas Jefferson grieved deeply
for her for several years. He was enticed back to public service
in 1784 when he was appointed to serve as the trade commissioner
and later the minister to France. During Jefferson's five years
in France he not only served the interests of the United States,
but he also studied European culture. He sent home to Monticello
art work, books, seeds and plants, architectural drawings, and
scientific instruments.
When Thomas Jefferson returned to the United States in
1790, he accepted the job as secretary of state under his friend
President George Washington. He had a difficult time politically
in this position and often found himself at odds with the secretary
of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton. It was at this time in history
that political parties first developed with followers of Thomas
Jefferson being called the Democratic Republicans and the followers
of Alexander Hamilton being called the Federalists. In the election
of 1796 Thomas Jefferson lost his bid for the presidency by three
electoral votes. Under the laws of that day, Jefferson, who received
the second highest amount of votes, became the vice president
of the United States. John
Adams, the
candidate with the most votes, became president.
Four years later he defeated John Adams to become the
third president of the United States. This was a very important
election because it marked the first time in the history of the
United States that a peaceful transfer of power had occurred from
one political party to another. Thomas Jefferson's first term
of office (from 1801 to 1804) was an eventful one. Perhaps the
most notable achievement in his first term was the purchase of
the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. Jefferson was also
responsible for sending Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to
explore this new territory. Jefferson's second term of office
was more difficult than his first. His second term (from 1804
to 1809) is most remembered for his embargo against Britain and
its attempt to maintain the United States' neutrality. (An embargo
is an order from the government prohibiting ships from leaving
or coming into a port.) Jefferson did not want the United States
involved in the brewing war between France and Britain. The embargo
was very unpopular with the American people and in the end
did not
stop the United States from eventually being drawn into the War
of 1812 with Britain.
Thomas Jefferson retired from public office in 1809 and
was succeeded as president by his good friend James Madison. Even
in his retirement Thomas Jefferson remained busy. His most notable
accomplishment in his later years was the founding of the University
of Virginia. Not only did he design its buildings, but he also
spearheaded the legislative campaign for its charter, found a
good piece of land for
its location, planned its curriculum,
and served as its first rector (president).
Thomas Jefferson led a distinguished and noteworthy life. He
died on July 4, 1826, at the age of eighty-three. His close friend
John Adams also died on this day. It was the fiftieth anniversary
of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It
was Jefferson's wish that his tomb stone reflect the things that
he had given the people, not the things that the people had given
to him. It is for this reason that Thomas Jefferson's epitaph
reads:
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HERE WAS BURIED
THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE
DECLARATION
OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE
STATUTE OF VIRGINIA
FOR
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
BORN APRIL 2. 1743. O.S.
DIED JULY 4. 1826
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Please note:
The O.S. after
the date of Jefferson's birth stands for "old style" and refers
to the Julian Calendar used in this country until 1752. In that
year the Gregorian, or "new style," calendar was adopted and eleven
days were added to the current date. Thus, Jefferson's old-style
birthday was April 2 and his new-style birthday is April 13.
Pictured: miniature portrait of Jefferson (1788)
by John Trumbull; detail from The Declaration of Independence
of the United States of America, July 4th, 1776 (1823), engraving
of Asher B. Durand, after John Trumbull; Jefferson's gravestone
at Monticello.
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