Thomas Jefferson was the third US president, author of the Declaration of Independence, and founder of the Jeffersonian Republican Party. He was born in Virginia, received an excellent education, and served in various political positions. He married and had children, but also fathered children with his slave Sally Hemings. He served as Secretary of State and Vice President before being elected president in 1800. Notable events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. After his presidency, he founded the University of Virginia and died in 1826.
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States. He is also known for being the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the founder of the Jeffersonian Republican Party, the forerunner of today’s Democratic Party. Jefferson was influenced by Enlightenment ideals such as democracy, states’ rights, limited federal government, and the separation of church and state.
The future president was born in Shadwell in Albemarle County, Virginia on April 13, 1743, the son of wealthy plantation owners. On the latter’s death in 1757 he inherited his father’s estate and built his own house, Monticello. He received an excellent education in local schools, studying Latin, Greek, French, history and science. At age 16, he attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, graduating with honors after two years before continuing on to law school. He was admitted to the bar at the age of 24.
Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton in 1772 and the couple had five daughters and one stillborn son. Martha died in 1782 and Jefferson never remarried, although DNA evidence has recently shown that he fathered at least some of the six children of his slave, Sally Hemings. Although he owned slaves, he considered slavery immoral and often spoke out against it.
Thomas Jefferson served as an attorney in the Virginia House of Burgesses, the colonial legislative body, and later in the newly formed Virginia House of Delegates. He wrote the Declaration of Independence with little or no help from others, although the ideas it contains were determined by consensus of the Second Continental Congress. He was prolific in drafting bills during his time in the House of Delegates and made many improvements to the judicial and educational systems in Virginia.
He also served as Governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781 and United States Minister to France from 1785 to 1789. He was also involved in the first two US presidencies, serving as Secretary of State for George Washington and Vice President for John Adams. Thomas Jefferson was elected to the presidency in 1800 in a decided vote by the House of Representatives, after the Electoral College vote was tied between Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Burr was his vice president until 1805, when Jefferson adopted George Clinton as his new vice president after Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
Notable events of Jefferson’s presidency include the Louisiana Purchase, in which territory spanning 15 modern states was acquired, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which explored the continent as far away as the Pacific coast. He also outlawed the external slave trade.
After his second term as president in 1809, Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, the first university in the United States without religious affiliation and the first to offer elective courses. It opened its doors in 1825. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 and is buried at his Monticello estate in Charlottesville, Virginia. He bequeathed Monticello to the US government to use as a school for orphans of those serving in the Navy.
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