Thomas Jefferson Biography

Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, musician, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the country's third president from 1801 until 1809. He was the second vice president of the United States under John Adams from 1797 to 1801, and the first secretary of state of the United States under George Washington from 1790 to 1793. The most famous Thomas Jefferson biography is  “ The ART OF POWER”.

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Thomas Jefferson Early Life

Thomas Jefferson was the third of ten children born at Shadwell Plantation in the Colony of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson early life was spent in Virginia. He was born a British subject and was of English and maybe Welsh ancestry. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a planter and surveyor who died when he was fourteen, and his mother, Jane Randolph, was a teacher. After the death of William Randolph III, the plantation's owner, and Thomas Jefferson's friend, who had named Peter the guardian of Randolph's children in his will, Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745. In 1752, the Thomas Jeffersons returned to Shadwell, where Peter died in 1757, leaving his estate to his sons Thomas and Randolph. After that, John Harvie Sr. became Thomas' guardian. In 1753, he attended his uncle Field Thomas Jefferson's wedding to Mary Allen Hunt, who would later become a close friend and mentor. Thomas received 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares; 7.8 square miles) of land, which included Monticello. At the age of 21, he acquired full control of his land.

Thomas Jefferson Education

In Tuckahoe, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson and the Randolph children began their schooling with tutors. Thomas' father, Peter, was self-taught and, regretting his lack of formal education, enrolled his son in an English school when he was five years old. He started attending a local school operated by a Scottish Presbyterian preacher when he was nine years old, and he also began studying the natural world, which he grew to adore. He began studying Latin, Greek, and French at this time, as well as learning to ride horses. Thomas read novels from his father's small library as well. From 1758 to 1760, he was schooled by Reverend James Maury near Gordonsville, Virginia, where he boarded with Maury's family and learned history, physics, and the classics.

Thomas Jefferson Marriage:

When Thomas Jefferson was a teenager, his father died, and the future president inherited the Shadwell estate. In 1768, Thomas Jefferson began clearing a mountainside on the property in preparation for the exquisite brick palace he would build there called Monticello (Italian for "small mountain"). The residence and its elaborate gardens were created by Thomas Jefferson, who had a deep interest in building and horticulture. He rebuilt and expanded Monticello during his life, filling it with art, excellent furnishings, and intriguing gadgets and architectural aspects. He recorded daily weather reports, a gardening log, and notes about his slaves and animals on the 5,000-acre property.

Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton (1748-82), a young widow, on January 1, 1772. Only two of their six daughters, Martha (1772-1836) and Mary (1778-1804), survived to adulthood after the couple moved to Monticello. Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha died at the age of 33 in 1782 as a result of difficulties during childbirth. Thomas Jefferson was heartbroken and never married again. However, it is thought that he had further children with Sally Hemings (1773-1835), one of his slaves, and his wife's half-sister.

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Thomas Jefferson Founding Father

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States and one of America's Founding Fathers. He was President for two terms, from 1801 to 1809. Thomas Jefferson is also the founder of the University of Virginia and the author of the Declaration of Independence. From 1801 to 1805, Thomas Jefferson served as President for two years and led America's first serious overseas war, the First Barbary War. He ordered the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, effectively doubling the size of the US.

On March 4, 1801, President Thomas Jefferson acted as the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. (George Washington was sworn in as president in New York in 1789; his successor, John Adams, was sworn in in Philadelphia in 1793.) Rather than traveling in a horse-drawn carriage, Thomas Jefferson defied convention by walking to and from the event. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million in 1803 was one of Thomas Jefferson's most major achievements during his first presidency. The Louisiana Purchase (which covered areas ranging between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, as well as the Gulf of Mexico and present-day Canada) effectively doubled the size of the United States, covering more than 820,000 square miles. The undiscovered region, as well as the territory beyond, out to the Pacific Ocean, was then commissioned by Thomas Jefferson to explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

How Did Thomas Jefferson Die?

Jefferson spent the years following his presidency at Monticello, where he pursued his various interests, including architecture, music, literature, and gardening. He also had a role in the founding of the University of Virginia, which began classes in 1825. Unlike other American universities at the time, Jefferson was involved in the design of the school's facilities and curriculum, and he made sure that the school had no religious affiliation or religious restrictions for its students.

On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson died at Monticello at the age of 83. Jefferson's friend, erstwhile adversary, and fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams, died on the same day.

At Monticello, Jefferson was laid to rest. However, due to the former president's considerable debt, his mansion, furnishings, and slaves were auctioned off after his death. In 1954, a nonprofit organization bought Monticello and offered it to the public. Jefferson is still regarded as a national hero in the United States. His likeness can be found on the United States cent and sculpted into stone at Mount Rushmore. On April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth, the Jefferson Memorial was dedicated at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Thomas Jefferson Facts:

• Jefferson was fascinated by animals, particularly the mammoth, and collected fossils. During his time at the White House in Washington, DC, he even had the bones of a mastodon delivered to him (they are now on exhibit in the Monticello Entrance Hall).

• Aside from his Monticello mansion, which took over 40 years to complete, Jefferson was preoccupied with construction—and not just for fun. He designed the University of Virginia's renowned rotunda as well as the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond.

• Jefferson introduced his love of French wine to America after living in France. He is regarded as one of early America's greatest wine connoisseurs, and he even had two vineyards at Monticello.

• Aside from wine, French cuisine influenced Jefferson's palate, from his home cooking to his presidential dinner parties. Some of America's most popular delicacies, such as ice cream, macaroni and cheese, and french fries, became popular when his interests spread across the country.

• Jefferson was most certainly the owner of the largest personal library in the United States at the time. Following the British raid on the Library of Congress in 1814, Jefferson offered his library, which contained about 6,500 volumes, as a replacement.

Thomas Jefferson Quotes:

Thomas Jefferson quotes are well known and some of the famous quotes are mentioned below:

• Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

• Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

• Never spend your money before you have it.

• Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.

• Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.

• We never repent of having eaten too little.

• Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly

• How much pain has cost us the evils which have never happened?

• Take things always by their smooth handle.

• When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, a hundred.