FREE ESSAY ON THOMAS JEFFERSON

THOMAS JEFFERSON

The third president of the United States, a diplomat, statesman, architect, scientist, and
philosopher, Thomas Jefferson is one of the most eminent figures in American history. No
leader in the period of the American Enlightenment was as articulate, wise, or conscious
of the implications and consequences of a free society as Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, a tobacco plantation in
Virginia. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a self-made success, and although uneducated
he was a very intelligent man. His mother, Jane Randolph was a member of one of the most
distinguished families in Virginia. Peter Jefferson died when Thomas was 14 and left him
valuable lands and property. Denied a formal education himself, he directed that his son
be given complete classical training. He studied with Reverend Mr. Maury, a classical
scholar, for two years and in 1760 he attended William and Mary College. 
After graduating from William and Mary in 1762, Jefferson studied law for five years
under George Wythe. In January of 1772, he married Martha Wayles Skelton and established
a residence at Monticello. When they moved to Monticello, only a small one room building
was completed. Jefferson was thirty when he began his political career. He was elected to
the Virginia House of Burgess in 1769, where his first action was an unsuccessful bill
allowing owners to free their slaves.
The impending crisis in British-Colonial relations overshadowed routine affairs of
legislature. In 1774, the first of the Intolerable Acts closed the port of Boston until
Massachusetts paid for the Boston Tea Party of the preceding year. Jefferson and other
younger members of the Virginia Assembly ordained a day of fasting and prayer to
demonstrate their sympathy with Massachusetts. Thereupon, Virginia's Royal Governor
Dunmore once again dissolved the assembly (Koch and Peden 20). The members met and
planned to call together an inter-colonial congress. Jefferson began writing resolutions
which were radical and better written than those from other counties and colonies.
Although his resolutions were considered too revolutionary and not adopted, they were
printed and widely circulated and subsequently all important writing assignments were
entrusted to Jefferson.
When Jefferson arrived in Philadelphia in June, 1775, as a Virginia delegate to the
Second Continental Congress, he already possessed, as John Adams remarked, a reputation
for literature, science, and a happy talent of composition (Koch and Peden 21).
When he returned in 1776, he was appointed to the five-man committee, including Benjamin
Franklin and John Adams, which was charged with the most momentous assignment ever given
in the history of America: the drafting of a formal declaration of independence from
Great Britain (Daugherty 109). Jefferson was responsible for preparing the draft. The
document, was finally approved by Congress on July 4, 1776. Cut and occasionally altered
by Adams, or Franklin, or the Congress itself, the Declaration is almost completely
Jefferson's, and is the triumph and culmination of his early career. At this time, had he
wanted to be a political leader, he could have easily attained a position in government.
Instead, he chose to return to Monticello and give his public service to Virginia.
Returning to the Virginia House of Delegates in October 1776, Jefferson set to work on
reforming the laws of Virginia. He also proposed a rational plan of statewide education
and attempted to write religious toleration into the laws of Virginia by separating
Church and State by writing the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.
In June of 1779, Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia. He commenced his career as a
public executive, confident of his abilities, assured of the respect and almost the
affection of his commonwealth. However, he took up his duties at a time when the British
were raiding Virginia. General George Washington did not have resources available to send
to Virginia. Jefferson, during one of the raids, narrowly escaped capture at the hands of
the British troops; and the legislators were forced to flee from their new capital city
of Richmond. Jefferson, as head of the state, was singled out for criticism and abuse. At
the end of his second term, he announced his retirement. General Washington's approval of
Jefferson's actions as Governor is in marked contrast to the heated charges of
dereliction of duty made by certain members of the legislature. After Washington's
approval the legislature passed a resolution officially clearing Jefferson of all charges
(Smith 134,135). 
Jefferson returned home to Monticello in 1781, and buried himself in writing about
Virginia. The pages of text turned into a manuscript later known as the Notes on
Virginia. This book, rich in its minute analysis of the details of external nature as in
its clarification of moral political, and social issues, was read by scientists of two
continents for years to come (Smith 142).
His wife, ill since the birth of their last daughter, died in September 1782. In sorrow
for his wife, Jefferson declined numerous appointments. In June 1783, he was elected as a
delegate to the Confederation Congress where he headed important committees and drafted
many reports and official papers. He advocated the necessity of more favorable
international commercial relations, and in 1784, compiled instructions for ministers
negotiating commercial treaties with European nations. In May 1784, he was appointed
Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to assist Benjamin Franklin and John Adams,
both of whom had preceded him to Europe to arrange commercial agreements (Koch and Peden
24). He traveled throughout Europe and every place he went, he was not only an American
diplomat, but a student of the useful sciences. He took notes on making wine and cheese,
planting and harvesting crops, and raising livestock. He sent home to America information
on the different cultures, the actual seeds of a variety of grasses not native to
America, olive plants, and Italian rice. He remained in Paris until 1789 (Smith 170).
Upon his return President Washington asked Jefferson to be Secretary of State. Jefferson
accepted the post and found himself at odds with the Secretary of Treasury, Alexander
Hamilton. Jefferson thought that all of Hamilton's acts were dominated by one purpose: to
establish government by and for a privileged few. Jefferson repeatedly thought of
retiring from the cabinet post in which he was constantly pitted against Hamilton, the
most power-hungry man in the capital. After negotiating the country's foreign affairs,
Jefferson once again retired to Monticello. During retirement, Jefferson supervised the
farming of his estates and designed a plow which revolutionized agriculture; he tended
his library like a garden; he changed the architectural plans for Monticello, and
supervised the construction. After three rather active years of retirement, Jefferson
accepted the Republican Party's nomination in 1796 for President. He lost by three votes,
which under the prevailing system, meant he was elected Vice President and the
Federalist, John Adams, was elected president. The Federalist Administration turned upon
its political opponents by passing the Alien Act, to deport foreign radicals and liberal,
propagandists and agitators, and the Sedition Act, to curb the press. The Sedition Act
empowered the Administration to fine, imprison, and prosecute any opposition writer and
thus the Republicans were muzzled in the remaining years of Adams' Administration
(Randall 523, 528). In 1800, Jefferson and Aaron Burr ran for office. The electoral vote,
in marked contrast to the popular vote, resulted in a tie between Jefferson and Burr. The
Federalists threatened Jefferson to bargain with them or they would elect Burr.
Jefferson, however, stood firm and made no promises, until the Federalists gave up. As
President, Jefferson's first project was to remove the bias which had recently infected
America. His policy of general reconciliation and reform and his success in freeing the
victims of the Alien and Sedition laws were generally supported by a favorable Congress
(Randall 549). His popularity during his first term was greater than at any time during
his career. In this term he was confronted with the most momentous problem of his career.
Spain transferred to France its rights to the port of New Orleans, and the stretch of
land constituting the province of Louisiana. Louisiana in the strong hands of the French
rather than the weak hands of Spain placed an almost overwhelming obstacle in the path of
American growth and prosperity. It was essential that America acquire the Louisiana
territory, either through peaceful negotiation or by war. When French dictator Napoleon,
suddenly offered to sell for $15,000,000 not only the port of New Orleans but the entire
fabulous slice of land from the Mississippi to the Rockies, Jefferson was faced with the
problem of taking the offer or wait for a Constitutional amendment authorizing such an
act. After tremendous strain, Jefferson authorized the purchase (Smith 266). Thus his
first term closed in a blaze of glory when the people, united in their national good
fortune, almost unanimously sent Jefferson back for a second term. Busy as he was during
these years, Jefferson had found time to follow his favorite intellectual pursuits. He
had not only aided in establishing a National Library, but had made many valuable
additions to his own private collection. 
His second term was full of difficulties. To avoid war, Jefferson promoted the
Non-Intercourse Act of 1806 and the Embargo of 1807. The Embargo was heavily criticized
and had not been effective. To make matters worse, the domestic front was racked with
defections and desertions. When his term expired on March 3, 1809, he was thrilled to be
leaving politics and returning to Monticello (Mclaughlin 376).
Jefferson's daughter Martha said that in retirement her father never abandon a friend or
principle. He and John Adams, their earlier political differences reconciled, wrote many
letters. Jefferson frequently complained about the time consumed in maintaining his ever
increasing correspondence but he could not resist an intellectual challenge or turn down
an appeal for his opinion, advice, or help, and continued to discuss with frankness and a
brilliant clarity such diverse subjects as anthropology and political theory, religion
and zoology (Koch and Peden 40).
Jefferson's major concern during his last years was education and educational philosophy.
He considered knowledge not only a means to an end, but an end in itself. He felt
education was the key to virtue as it was to happiness. He reopened his campaign for a
system of general education in Virginia. Through his efforts, the University of Virginia,
the first American University to be free of official church connection, was established
and was Jefferson's daily concern during his last seven years (Koch and Peden 39). He
sent abroad an agent to select the faculty, he chose the books for the library, drew up
the curriculum, designed the buildings, and supervised their construction. The University
finally opened in 1825, the winter before his death. Despite his preoccupation with the
University, he continued to pursue a multitude of other tasks. In his eightieth year, for
example, he wrote on politics, sending President Monroe long expositions later known to
the world in Monroe's version as the Monroe Doctrine (Daugherty 326).
Among all his interests, there was one intrusion on his time and thought which caused
Jefferson endless embarrassment. His finances, always shaky, finally collapsed. Jefferson
had frequently advanced money to friends who fancied themselves more hard-pressed than
he, and occasionally had been forced to make good on their notes when they found it
impossible to do so. He had spent money lavishly on his libraries and the arts, on
Monticello, and on his children's education. His passion for architecture cost him a
small 
fortune. At the final stage of his financial distress, Jefferson petitioned the Virginia
legislature to grant him permission to dispose of Monticello and its farms by lottery.
The almost immediate response of private citizens, in New York, Philadelphia, and
Baltimore, on hearing this news was to donate a sum of over $16,000 to aid the leader who
had devoted his industry and resourcefulness to all America for half a century (Smith
304).
On July 4, 1826, Jefferson died at Monticello. He was buried on the hillside beside his
wife. He had written the script for his headstone himself: 
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.
On our family vacation last fall to Virginia, my wife and I toured Jefferson's Monticello
home and also viewed his grave site. We both found it very interesting that of all the
accomplishments that Jefferson listed on his headstone he apparently did not think it
important enough to mention that he had been twice elected and served as president of the
United States.
Bibliography
Bibliography
 Thomas Jefferson Historical Network (www.thomasjeff.gov)
 American History.com
 Encyclopedia Americana Online
 Encyclopedia Network, American Presidents, www.eb.com