Free Essays on Thomas Jefferson

(Born April 13, 1743 at Shadwell, Virginia; died July 4, 1826, 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 public official, historian, philosopher, 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 a member of one of Virginia's most distinguished families. Having inherited a considerable landed estate from his father, Jefferson began building Monticello when he was twenty-six years old. Three years later, he married Martha Wayles Skelton, with whom he lived happily for ten 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 slaves from both his father and father-in-law. In a typical year, he owned about 200, almost half of them under the age of sixteen. About eighty of these lived at Monticello; the others lived on adjacent Albemarle County plantations, and on his Poplar Forest estate in Bedford County, Virginia. 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 eventually freed were skilled tradesmen.Having attended the College of William and Mary, Jefferson practiced law and served in local government as a magistrate, county lieutenant, and member of the House of Burgesses in his early professional life. 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 univer... Free Essays on Thomas Jefferson Free Essays on Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson is remembered in history not only for the offices he held, but also for his belief in the natural rights of man as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and his faith in the people’s ability to govern themselves. He left an impact on his times equaled by few others in American history. Born on April 13, 1743, Jefferson was the third child in the family and grew up with six sisters and one brother. Though he opposed slavery, his family had owned slaves. From his father and his environment he developed an interest in botany, geology, cartography, and North American exploration, and from his childhood teacher developed a love for Greek and Latin. In 1760, at the age of 16, Jefferson entered the College of William and Mary and studied under William Small and George Wythe. Through Small, he got his first views of the expansion of science and of the system of things in which we are placed. Through Small and Wythe, Jefferson became acquainted with Governor Francis Fauquier. After finishing college in 1762, Jefferson studied law with Wythe and noticed growing tension between America and Great Britain. Jefferson was admitted to the bar in 1767. He successfully practiced law until public service occupied most of his time. At his home in Shadwell, he designed and supervised the building of his home, Monticello, on a nearby hill. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1769. Jefferson met Martha Wayles Skelton, a wealthy widow of 23, in 1770 and married her in 1772. They settled in Monticello and had one son and five daughters. Only two of his children, Martha and Mary, survived until maturity. Mrs. Martha Jefferson died in 1782, leaving Thomas to take care of his two remaining children. Though not very articulate, Jefferson proved to be an able writer of laws and resolutions he was very concise and straight to... Free Essays on Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Who: Thomas Jefferson was born in Albermarle County, Virginia. He attended the College of William and Mary. Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton and they lived at Monticello. He was a member of the Continental Congress and the Virginia House of Burgesses. At the age of 33 he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson became minister to France causing much conflict with Alexander Hamilton. He was the third President of the United States and retired after his second term. Thomas Jefferson pushed for states rights as opposed to a central government. He died in 1826. What: In 1776 at the age of 33 Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. He would later write a bill for the freedom of religion that would be enacted in 1786. Thomas Jefferson succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister to france in 1785. As two parties began to form Jefferson took the leadership of the Republicans. He lost the presidential election by three votes to Adams, only to become his Vice President. When he finally became President the revolution in France was over. Jefferson cut back on Army and Navy expenditures, cut the budget, and got rid of the tax on whiskey and still managed to drop the national debt by thirty three percent. The greatest success of his presidency was the Louisiana Purchase. With this he was able to double the size of the United States by purchasing vast amounts of land from Napoleon. The purchase also brought along troubles with Spain since the boundaries were unclear. Jefferson later tried to purchase the Floridas but to no ava il. During his second year Jefferson had to deal with French and English warships forcing American merchants into service. To stop the impressment of Americans Jefferson passed the Embargo Act, cutting off all trade from America. A very unpopular and hard to enforce act, it was later replaced by the NonIntercourse Act prohibiting trade with Great Britain an... Free Essays on Thomas Jefferson (Born April 13, 1743 at Shadwell, Virginia; died July 4, 1826, 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 public official, historian, philosopher, 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 a member of one of Virginia's most distinguished families. Having inherited a considerable landed estate from his father, Jefferson began building Monticello when he was twenty-six years old. Three years later, he married Martha Wayles Skelton, with whom he lived happily for ten 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 slaves from both his father and father-in-law. In a typical year, he owned about 200, almost half of them under the age of sixteen. About eighty of these lived at Monticello; the others lived on adjacent Albemarle County plantations, and on his Poplar Forest estate in Bedford County, Virginia. 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 eventually freed were skilled tradesmen.Having attended the College of William and Mary, Jefferson practiced law and served in local government as a magistrate, county lieutenant, and member of the House of Burgesses in his early professional life. 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 univer... Free Essays on Thomas Jefferson In this article â€Å"Thomas Jefferson and the Meanings of Liberty,† scholar and historian Douglas L. Wilson warns of the dangers of presentism when evaluating the character of Thomas Jefferson and his contributions. Wilson used the alleged affair between Jefferson and Sally Hemings to present his case of presentism. He then showed how presentism has distorted history as in the case of how Americans now perceive the stories of the Old West. Wilson took great effort to show that Jefferson had many qualities and talents that were never justly emphasized. In fact, he portrayed Jefferson as a modern futuristic thinker whose own personal life did not reflect his beliefs in regards to freedom and race. Thomas Jefferson’s ideas and beliefs about equality of man were heavily influenced from European thinkers during the eighteenth century, or the Age of Reason. Fawn M. Brodie published a book in 1974 where she tried to prove that Thomas Jefferson and his slave girl, Sally Hemings, had a thirty-eight year love affair. Jefferson himself denied the allocation. Jefferson biographer Dumas Malone stated the book had no historical merit. Wilson believed that great Americans, including Kennedy, should be judged by their accomplishments and not by their personal weaknesses. Wilson argues how presentism has distorted history regarding stories and tales that used to glorify the Old West. These have now turned to lessons on how man has ruined the land and mistreated the Indians. A generation ago children admired the stories of Davy Crocket and other Indian fighters and today the old heroes of the west are regarded as killers who destroyed the land and personal rights of the Indian. Wilson strongly argues that using our values today alter the heroes of yesterday. Douglas showed in his article that Jefferson was a contemporary on such views as exercise and diet and architecture. In his youth he was a runner and later believed in the benefits of wal... Free Essays on Thomas Jefferson When the name Thomas Jefferson is mentioned we consider it a prastejuse name of one of this great nation’s Founding Fathers. We are proud to have such a brilliant man representing the history of this nation. If an individual were to take a step closer they may be a little surprised at what they might find, and even upset that this man represents a part of this nation’s history. The greatest of conflicting issues with Thomas Jefferson was his issue on slavery. Was Thomas Jefferson for slavery, against it, or is this an issue that will boggle the minds of many people for eternity? This paper will provide facts and opinions on what the answer to those questions might be. Did Thomas Jefferson’s contributions help or hinder the creation of our nation today? Thomas Jefferson was born into a life as a slave owner. He inherited twenty-two slave and 5,000 acres of land from is father’s death. A decade later he inherited 135 more slaves and more land from his father-in-laws death (Finkelman, 186). At the end of the Revolution Thomas Jefferson had what seemed to be a miniature state, containing his family and around two hundred slaves (Finkelman, 186). Throughout his entire life he would buy and sell a great number of slaves, and as a slave owner he was nether to helpful or to hindering. He would punish them if they needed it and reward them if they did something out of their regular duties. He was considered to be an ordinary southerner and master (Finkelman, 186). Despite the many men of his stature at that time were manumitting or emancipating their slaves Thomas Jefferson would never conform to any such thing. He would own his slaves until the day that he died, and even then they would be sold to pay off the debt he owed at his death (Thomas). Through his life he would only free seven of the hundreds of slaves he owned....