| Official Biography From the Jefferson Foundation | |
|
Born April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, Virginia Died July 4, 1826, at Monticello |
|
| Thomas Jefferson – author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia – voiced the aspirations of a new America as no other individual of his era. As a public official, historian, statesman, and plantation owner, he served his country for over five decades. |  |
| His father, Peter Jefferson, was a successful planter and surveyor and his mother, Jane Randolph, was a member of one of early Virginia's most distinguished families. Having inherited a considerable landed estate from his father, Jefferson began building Monticello when he was 26 years old. Three years later, he married a young widow, Martha Wayles Skelton, with whom he lived happily for 10 years until her death. Their marriage produced six children, but only two survived to adulthood. Jefferson, who never remarried, maintained Monticello as his home throughout his life, always expanding and changing the house.
Jefferson inherited more than 160 slaves from his father and father-in-law and was a slaveholder throughout his life. In most years, he owned about 200 slaves, almost half of them children under the age of 16. Approximately two-thirds of them lived at his 5,000-acre Monticello plantation and one-third at his Poplar Forest estate in Bedford County. Jefferson freed two slaves in his lifetime and five in his will, and chose not to pursue two others who ran away. All were members of the Hemings family; the seven he officially freed were skilled tradesmen. Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary from 1760 to 1762, practiced law from 1767 to 1774, served as an Albemarle County magistrate and county lieutenant, and was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1768. As a member of the Continental Congress, he was chosen in 1776 to draft the Declaration of Independence, which has been regarded ever since as a charter of American and universal liberties. The document proclaims that all men are equal in rights, regardless of birth, wealth, or status, and that the government is the servant, not the master, of the people. After Jefferson left Congress in 1776, he returned to Virginia and served in the legislature. He was elected governor and served from 1779 to 1781. During the brief private interval in his life following his governorship, Jefferson wrote his only book, Notes on the State of Virginia. In 1784, he entered public service again, this time in France, first as U.S. trade commissioner, then as Benjamin Franklin's successor as minister. During this period, he avidly studied European culture, sending home to Monticello books, seeds and plants, statues and architectural models, and scientific instruments. Because he was in Europe, Jefferson had no direct role in the framing or ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The document at first aroused his fears, as he thought that it did not adequately safeguard individual rights nor guard enough against the emergence of a monarchy. He was reassured, however, upon learning that a bill of rights would be provided. In 1790, Jefferson accepted the post of secretary of state under his friend, President George Washington. His tenure was marked by his opposition to the pro-British policies of Alexander Hamilton. In 1796, as the presidential candidate of the Republicans, he became vice president after losing to John Adams, the Federalist candidate, by three electoral votes. Four years later, he defeated Adams and became president, but not before a waiting period of some weeks to resolve a tie with his running mate, Aaron Burr. Jefferson's accession to the presidency in 1801 is notable because it marked the first peaceful transfer of authority from one party to another. Perhaps the most notable achievements of Jefferson’s first term were the purchase of the Louisiana territory from France in 1803 and his sponsorship of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific. His second term, a time when he encountered more difficulties on both the domestic and foreign fronts, will be most remembered for his efforts to maintain neutrality in the midst of the conflict between Britain and France. His efforts, though, did not avert war with Britain in 1812. Jefferson was succeeded as president in 1809 by his friend James Madison, and during the last 17 years of his life, he remained at Monticello. During this period, he sold his collection of books to the government for the Library of Congress; he has been regarded ever since as its founder. Jefferson embarked on his last great public service at the age of 76, by founding the University of Virginia. He spearheaded the legislative campaign for its charter, secured its location, designed its buildings, planned its curriculum, and served as its first rector. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, just hours before his close friend John Adams, on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He was 83 years old. THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION, 2004 | |