Thomas Jefferson, born 1743 in Albemarle, Virginia, was a self-made man. He had many endeavors, such as law, and politics in addition to running a 5,000-acre plantation that he inherited from his father.
Jefferson graduated from William and Mary College, and was an accomplished lawyer. Tall, red haired, and freckled, he was not what most people would consider attractive. He married the widowed Martha Wayles Skelton and took her to live in his unfinished home in the mountains of Monticello.
Jefferson was an awful public speaker, but he was a great diplomat. He sympathized with the situation in France at the time, and he easily filled the shoes of Ben Franklin as minister to France in 1785. He then went on as a member of George Washington's cabinet. He remained in this position until 1793.
Soon following his resignation from his position as minister to France, two parties developed in the United States. These two parties still exist today, the Democratic Republican Party and the Republican Party. As previously mentioned, Jefferson was a strong supporter of the French. As a result of States Rights, he soon became a leader of the Republican Party from which he gained a nomination for the office of President of the United States in 1976. Coming within a disappointing three votes from being elected, he became vice-president for John Adams. This was in spite of the fact that he ran against President Adams in this election. Due to this rivalry, he did not speak to Adams for nearly eleven years.
In 1800, he ran for president again, and tied with the Republican Aaron Burr, and through the vote of the House of Representatives, Jefferson was elected President of the United States. As president, Jefferson did well by...
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...ed a once lost friendship. The two friends shared their ideas throughout their remaining days.
Jefferson ended his long and very fruitful life without much monetary value. He died on his quiet, tranquil farm in Virginia on July fourth in 1826 fifty years after he put his mark on the Declaration of Independence. He died only an hour before his friend John Adams. Jefferson left a legacy like few others. He truly was a man of the people. He left ideas and principles that are still with Americans today, and he will always be remembered for his ventures in agriculture, science and politics.
Works Cited
1. Padover, Saul K. Jefferson. New York: The New Americian Library, 1952. 9-186.
2. "Thomas Jefferson." The White House. 26 Aug. 2007 .
3. Wilson, Vincent. The Book of the Presidents. 5th ed. Crawfordsville: R.R. Donnelly & Sons Conpany, 1973. 4-82.
Sidney M. Milkis, Michael Nelson. The American Presidency Origins & Development, 1776-2011. Washington DC: CQ Press, 2008.
Thomas Jefferson became the Third President of the United States of America (Magill 54).
Thomas Jefferson has an amazing role in our lives today from the hard work and time he spent to make an easier future for all of us. There are days that some of us could not thrive as the people we are without the appliances he made to make challenging tasks easier for us. Some people look up to him because he never stopped doing great things and never stopped showing unselfishness. Thomas Jefferson revolutionized the world of the 18th century and centuries to come. Thomas Jefferson was one of the most influential people of the 18th century because he was one of the founding fathers of America, he was the founder of the University of Virginia, and he was the creator of many life changing inventions, which drastically changed the world.
ideas of Hamilton destroyed that hope in the bud, We can pay off his debts
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and viewed the office of the president to be strictly constructed by the constitution. He, like Washington, believed his power as president derived directly from the constitution and the affection of the people. Although he had a Whig theory, he made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which the president had no authority according to the constitution to do; the congress has control of the purse strings according to the constitution.... ... middle of paper ...
The post-revolutionary war period of the Unites States saw the establishment of the first party system and an enlarging gap in viewpoints between the wealthy and the common man. The contradictory views of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were primarily responsible for the rise of political parties from 1783-1800.
Thomas Jefferson, an educated, well respected career man, served as governor of Virginia, secretary of state, and president of the United States. The Revolutionary era, during the 1770's, proved to be one of America's most victorious times. Despite the casualties the American colonies suffered, they proved to be stronger than their ruling land, Britain, and won the right to be a free land, becoming the United States of America. Living through this difficult turning point in history inspired Jefferson to write "The Declaration of Independence." Once again, nearly two hundred years later, America faced yet another turning point in history.
Thomas Jefferson was an educated, articulate and accomplished man from a well-respected family. He had a great understanding of farming and of the relationship between man and his environment, working diligently to balance the two for the best interest of each. He “considered himself first and always a man of the land” (Jewett, 2005). His vision of the New World was of true, idealistic freedom with limited government involvement; an educated farmer, a moral man who would sustain himself off of the very land his freedom was based.
...nt achievements of Jefferson’s first administration was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France. The Jefferson reformation was bottomed on fiscal policy; by reducing the means and powers of government it sought to further peace, equality, and individual freedom. In 1804, Thomas Jefferson was reelected, he focused on ending the war.
THOMAS JEFFERSON, author of the Declaration of Independence, was born on April 13, 1743 and grew up on the family plantation at Shadwell in Albermarle County, Virginia. His father was Peter Jefferson, who, with the aid of thirty slaves, tilled a tobacco and wheat farm of 1,900 acres and like his fathers before him, was a justice of the peace, a vestryman of his parish and a member of the colonial legislature. The first of the Virginia Jefferson's of Welsh extraction, Peter in 1738 married Jane Randolph. Of their ten children, Thomas was the third. Thomas inherited a full measure of his father's bodily strength and stature, both having been esteemed in their prime as the strongest men of their county. He also inherited his father's inclination to liberal politics, his taste for literature and his aptitude for mathematics. The Jefferson's were a musical family; the girls sang the songs of the time, and Thomas, practicing the violin assiduously from boyhood, became an excellent performer.
On April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was born. His father, Peter Jefferson, was very successful as a farmer and surveyor. His mother, Jane Randolph, came from a very well known family in Virginia. As a young boy, Jefferson enjoyed reading books and playing the violin. At age nine, he attended a local private school. The school, ran by the Reverend William Douglas, allowed Jefferson to study Latin and
Jefferson’s last writings was for his grave stone, which said “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 Apr. 1, 1743 O.S. Died July 4, 1826.”(Donovan, 296) This were Jefferson’s greatest achievements in his eyes, he saw his fight for natural rights in his life to be the most important thing in his life. His fight for natural rights made him one of America’s greatest hero’s.
Jefferson came into office on March 4, 1801 and left office on March 4, 1809. His first term’s vice president was Aaron Burr, and his second term’s vice president was George Clinton. He ran with the Democratic-Republican Party and heavily opposed the Federalist Party. Prior to his election, he had already held many positions in public office; vice president and secretary of state . Because he was preceded only by John Adams and George Washington, Jefferson played a large role in the formation of the character of the American President. For his first inaugural address, according to a reporter, “His dress was, as usual, that of a plain citizen without any distinctive badge of office.” This casual nature showed the American public that he was not a king, but a normal citizen who was there for the people, he was even known as the “Man of the People”. Many other American Presidents used that same style in order to appeal to the public.
It has been said that his particular taking of office had lead to the simplest speech stating that "essential principals" would guide his administration and would support all states with "equal and exact justice to all". And the actual changes of administration were the most peaceful of all, nothing like those previously. Jefferson’s accomplishments were most greatly seen by the ability to simplify the Republican government in the new capital by cutting back the unnecessary branches and less useful positions while replacing Federalists with Republicans. And by the year 1808, Republicans held almost all the government offices. At the same time, Jefferson fought to keep the size of the government from continuously growing.
“[T]he man on the ten-dollar bill is the father of the American treasury system, a signer of the Constitution, one of the primary authors of the Federalist Papers, and the loser of the infamous duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. Alexander Hamilton's earlier career as a Continental Army officer is less well known. Yet Hamilton's first experience in public service is important, not only because it was the springboard to his later career, but because it also deeply influenced his values and thinking” (Hamilton).