Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born in Albemarle County, Virginia in 1743. His father, Colonel Peter Jefferson,was a planter and public official. Sadly, he passed away when Thomas was only fourteen. He grew up with the orphaned children of William Randolph, his father's friend, and six sisters and one brother. Between the ages of nine and fourteen, he was taught by clergymen, William Douglas, who taught Jefferson how to speack Greek, Latin, and French. He later attended Reverand James Maury's School and then studied law at College of William and Mary. Jefferson then married Martha Wales Skelton, who passed away ten years after their marriage, and had only two daughters that survived through aduldhood. Their names were Martha (Polly) and Mary.

Jefferson was against the actions of the British government, so he was involved in many government groups. He was a member of the Committee of Correspondence and from 1769-1774 he was a part of the House of Burgesses. In 1775, he became a member of the Continental Congress for a year, then joined the House of Delegates form 1776-1779. During the Revolutionary War, Jefferson had become the governor of Virgina, and as a member of the Second Continental Congress, where he wrote the Declaration of Independence. After the war had ended he was sent to France as a minister.

Drawing on documents, such as the Virginia Declaration of Rights, state and local calls for independence, and his own draft of a Virginia constitution, Jefferson wrote a stunning statement of the colonists' right to rebel against the British government and establish their own based on the premise that all men are created equal and have the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence and the founder of University of Virginia. He was also a good example of religious freedom and was the beginning to stop slavery; also one of the most well know writer he was also the 3rd president of the United States. He was a great person for his time. He also was in a very rich family. He lived in Monticello in a gigantic house in the country side with his family. He was a public official historian, philosopher, and plantation owner; he served his country for 50 years in so many different ways. He was the best writer of his time and maybe history. Altogether he was a very accomplished man in history.

His father, Peter Jefferson, was a well accomplished planter and surveyor and his mother, Jane Randolph, was from a very popular family in Virginia. He also had lots of land that he inherited from his dad. He started to work on his house when he was only 26 years old, witch was very old for a boy at his time kids did not live very long. He married Martha Skelton when he was at the age of 19 years old. He lived with her for 10 years until she died. He stayed by her bedside for three weeks and she told him to never remarry then four days later she died. But they had six kids but only two lived to adulthood because of the lack of medicine.

After he went to college at William and Mary, in his early life he practiced law and was in a local government as a magistrate, and country lieutenant. He was a member of the Continental Congress, because he was one of the best writers of his time he was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The document basically meant that all men were equal despite birth, wealth, or status, and that the government was to help them not be in control of the people. Jefferson was succeeded as president in 1809 by his friend James Madison. The last 17 years of his life where spent at home in Monticello. At that time he sold his books to the government. At the age of 76 he foundered the of University of Virginia in 1819, and planed how it was built and run. He was always changing the house around and shifted things, modifying Monticello until he died.

After that Thomas Jefferson's best achievements where that he served as the Governor of Virginia, as a US Minister to France, as a Secretary of State under George Washington, Vice President of the United states under John Adams then two times as President of the United states (1801-1809). On his grave stone he mentioned none of his big accomplishments. Instead it read "Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the state of Virginia for religious freedom, and father of the University of Virginia" he requested not another word.

Finally in the final couple years of his extraordinary life, he settled down and mostly stayed at home reading. He was waiting for a special day to die July 4. When that day had come, on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson died at Monticello. I think Thomas Jefferson was a great figure and a good role model. I also think he is one of the best writers and presidents and he was a hard working person. He should always be remembered in history for the great things he did for this country. Thomas Jefferson was without a doubt a great man.

indictment; BRITISH

France, until 1802 when they mad a secret agreement with spain

• 3rd President of the United States
• Jefferson's Draft of the Declaration of Independence (1776)
• signed the Declaration of Independence
• Jefferson is credited with several inventions, including the swivel chair, a pedometer, a machine to make fiber from hemp, a letter-copying machine, and the lazy susan.

Jefferson Davis was named provisional president of the Confederacy February 18, 1861. He was later elected president in November 1861 and inaugurated February 22, 1862.

Alter or abolish the government

A sympathizer for the French Revolution, he was a supporter of foreign relations; open

He secured the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803 doubling the size of the country, cut the military in half, eliminated all the federalist big government acts, enacted a total embargo (the only in the country's history), and put America on track for the war of 1812 by avoiding diplomacy with england.

Thomas Jefferson named "The Revolution of 1800" so because his party, the Republicans, peacefully and orderly received the power with acceptance by the federalists.

The election was held from Friday, October 31 to Wednesday, December 3, 1800, and Jefferson defeated John Adams.

We can only speculate about the consequences if Jefferson had not bought the Lousiana territory from France. Possibly that territory would today be a separate country from the United States, and perhaps the states west of the Louisiana territory would never have been taken away from Mexico. Mexico would therefore today be a much larger, and much more powerful nation, while the much smaller United States, existing only east of Lousiana, would be much smaller and weaker than it turned out to be as a result of the Louisiana Purchase. But alternatively, it may well be that even if the US had not bought the Louisiana Territory, the US would eventually have aborbed it anyway, either with the consent of its inhabitants, or by force, and history would have turned out much the same. Or, I could also imagine that the US would eventually seize Louisiana from France, and would wind up going to war with France, and then in WW I would not want to come to the aid of France due to lingering resentments over the Louisiana War, and perhaps would either side with Germany, or more likely remain neutral. And if the US had not entered WW I, the consequences are tremendous. So, there are all sorts of possible consequences, but there really is no way to know what would have actually resulted.

A solid argument for breaking away from British

The Election of Thomas Jefferson Consensus historians paint Thomas Jefferson as the great father of democracy, referring to his election to the presidency as the "revolution of 1800." In actuality, Thomas Jefferson was an inconsistent man, who was philosophically against the Federalists, but who did not bring about any significant political or ideological changes during his presidency. Recently, revisionist historians have begun to question the notion of Jefferson as the "representative of the common man." Many of these historians now agree that Jefferson's life was wrought with contradictions, and that his policies, as a president, actually reflected a synthesis of the Federalist and Republican ideologies. "We are all republicans, we are all federalists," Jefferson stated in his first inaugural address. Many Americans were shocked to hear those words come out of the same mouth that had supported the bloody conflicts of the French Revolution years before. Jefferson's many political theories, and personal letters, sometimes reflected an interest in the common man and democracy, while his actual practices were drastically different. Politically, the Jeffersonian party was insecure and inconsistent. After being elected president, Jefferson did nothing to increase the level of democracy in the government. Traditionally, the Jeffersonian movement and the Republican Party have been seen as anti-capitalist, promoting the interests of the common man, and favoring a strict interpretation of the constitution. The Hamiltonian movement and the Federalist Party represented the elite capitalist class, favoring a concentration of power in the State, and a loose interpretation of the constitution. Revisionist historians have argued against this view. They argue that the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian movements are not significantly different, but rather each represents different factions of elites. There are numerous examples that show the accuracy of this revisionist view. In the election of 1800, the federalists were forced to vote for one of the two Republicans running. Many of them favored Burr, as the less extreme of the two, until Hamilton convinced them of Jefferson's moderate intents. "He [Jefferson] is as likely as any man I know to temporize- to calculate what will be likely to promote his own reputation and advantage; and the probable result of such a temper is the preservation of the systems, though originally opposed, which, being once established, could not be overturned without danger to the person who did it." The revisionist perspective that Thomas Jefferson did not represent the masses, but merely a different faction of elites, has much supporting evidence. Jefferson's interests in the common farmer were second to those of the Southern landowner. Jefferson deviated even from this prospective, crossing the line on many issues into what would seem Federalist actions. One historian, Peter S. Onuf, went so far as to dub it "Jeffersonian Federalism." One example of this is the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson deviated from his strict interpretation of the constitution in order to purchase Louisiana, which would benefit land speculators and Northern capitalists, telling the Senate to ratify it "with as little debate as possible, and particularly so far as respects the constitutional difficulty." Morton Borden points out in his essay, "Thomas Jefferson: political compromiser," that Jefferson took a decisively Federalist approach to the military as well, contrary to what many Federalists thought would happen. In less than three months after being elected, Jefferson attacked the Barbary pirates without asking permission from Congress. Many of Jefferson's political compromises were reflected in his economic decisions. One of the main contradictions of the Jefferson administration was its adoption of Federalist economic policies. Jefferson had no clear economic plan; he theorized about the adoption of a laissez-faire policy, and the destruction of the Hamiltonian system, but did nothing about this as president. Jefferson, by and large, maintained the Federalist system throughout his presidency. One of the first things Jefferson did was to abolish the hated excise taxes on whiskey. In order to do this, he had to find another way to acquire funds. Thus he justified increasing protective tariffs. This rendered the abolition of the whiskey tax merely cosmetic, as the direct tax was reduced, but the prices of all commodities were raised. Jefferson also had the national bank destroyed, but re-instituted it in 1816 in order to raise national funds. His party's legislature began to issue charters freely to local banks. Jefferson made no attempts to put an end to many parts of the existing federalist system, such as land speculation on public land. In addition Jefferson developed the infrastructure, spending $20 million on a network of national roads and canals. Hoffsteter states, "Since his policies did not deviate too widely from the federalists, Jefferson hoped to win over the moderates from their ranks…soon the republican machines began flirting with the financial interests they were sworn to oppose." Through examining his personal letters and private life, we find many serious inconsistencies in Jefferson's ideologies. One issue that has been scrutinized lately is Jefferson's views on slavery and women. Many consensus historians argue that Jefferson was a benevolent slave owner, and advocated for the abolition of slavery. A revisionist historian will continue to tell you that while he wanted to abolish slavery, he stated that blacks and whites could never both live freely in the same society. As Conor Cruise O'Brien pointed out in his article, "Thomas Jefferson: Radical and Racist," "In theory Jefferson's solution to slavery consisted in "colonization": the deportation of all the freed blacks from the United States." Jefferson never considered a form of racial coexistence, and believed adamantly that blacks were inferior. "This unfortunate difference of color, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people," Jefferson wrote in his Notes on Virginia. This plan for "colonization" was extremely impractical, and was never a potential option. Jefferson acknowledged this himself later in life, and altered his plan, proposing that the government buy newborn slaves, and pay for them to be raised to an appropriate age by their parents, at which point they would start working to recompense the government until they could be sent away. O'Brien also puts emphasis on the fact that Jefferson examined blacks for characteristics of inferiority. Jefferson once stated that black males preferred white women for sex, while black females preferred orangutans. Richard Hoffsteter comments on the subject, "[Jefferson] could say that a man's rights were "unalienable" at the very moment when he owned several dozen souls." A related issue is that of his sexual relationship with his mulatto slave Sally Hemings. In her book, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Annette Gordon-Reed gives substantial evidence concerning the thirty-sever year abusive liaison between Jefferson, and his slave, Sally Hemings. She also goes on to describe his views on women in general. Jefferson did not believe that women should be educated in the same way as men. He stated that the object of their education should be to make them better company for men. In addition, many people would be surprised to learn of Jefferson's attitude towards the common people. While in some of his theories he stated that he had faith in the common farmer, he also shared the same fear of the masses as the Federalists. He did not believe that the government could rely on man's virtue. Many historians are outraged by the terms with which he referred to the masses, calling them "swinish multitudes" in one letter and "canaille" in another. Jefferson believed that the government must be able to check the people. Many Americans are shocked to learn of the complete hypocrisy of the "father of democracy's" ideologies towards slaves, women, and the masses. Thomas Jefferson is often described by revisionist historians as having "outfederalized the Federalists." This is the antithesis of the belief held by many historians that the election of Thomas Jefferson was a "revolution," In actuality there were no significant political, economic, or ideological changes made. Some of Jefferson's theories and political writings deserve merit for advocating human rights and democracy, while his actions deserve condemnation for disregarding his own philosophical beliefs in order to remain popular. Jefferson was both contradictory and inconsistent, often synthesizing Federalist and Republican policies. Word Count: 1344

In the election of 1796, Thomas Jefferson represented the Democratic-Republican party against John Adams, who was a Federalist. John Adams won, and since Jefferson came in second, he became the vice president. Having a specific vice presidential candidate did not occur until some years later.

The name of his bird was Dick and is the only one mentioned by him in his diary in 1806. [I too, remember Dick being written about. Dick was famous for saying, "wanna towel, wanna bath, and more 'oap?" Dick was a Mockingbird; a constant companion, even when ambassador to France, Dick traveled with T. Jefferson. When President, Dick was well known to visitors.]

Nebraska is one of the most solid Republican states in the US.

He wrote it to send to King George III requesting independence from England.

Jefferson wanted a strict interpretation to give more power to the states, while hamilton favored a broad interpretation to streengthen the central government. Also, Jefferson wanted to give the common people more opportunities to participate in government while hamilton believed commoners were ignorant and not capable of self-government

where did Thomas Jefferson go to elementary

people and,or citizens

It was the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. The Constitution has no giant signatures-

The Declaration of Independence does --

and that would be John Hancock -- whose signature is so large in comparison to all the other signatures, that he earned the phrase

"Can I have your John Hancock?"

which is said in reference to asking someone for their signature!

The expression paraphrases one that had been published about a hundred years before. For about 1,000 years, most Europeans lived under the presumption of the Divine Right of Kings, which said that only God could judge the acts of a king - and therefore the people had no right to oppose or overthrow him. By the 1600s this had also become known in England as the Natural Rights of Kings. Englishman John Locke is credited among the first to reject this idea, publishing works espousing the Natural Rights of Man. ("Man" in this sense referred to all of humanity, and collectively to every individual member thereof. It did not refer to males exclusively of females.) In his view, God bestowed certain independent rights on every human being, including life, liberty, and estate - or property - by which he meant the sum total of that person's labor.

These ideas would influence the thinkers of the Enlightenment for more than a century, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the rest of the American Founding Fathers.

The "pursuit of Happiness" is similar to and derived from Locke's right of estate but avoids the pitfall of seeming to promise every citizen a certain acreage of land. As Locke's "estate" meant the result of an individual's labor, Jefferson defined the pursuit of Happiness as any labor that person chooses to undertake. The days of the father's occupation determining the son's were over.

What were the characteristics of the presidency of Thomas Jefferson?