Thomas jefferson why is he famous

Jefferson was spurred back into public life by private tragedy: the untimely death of his beloved wife, Martha, on September 6, , at the age of After months of mourning, in June , Jefferson returned to Philadelphia to lead the Virginia delegation to the Confederation Congress. In , that body appointed Jefferson to replace Benjamin Franklin as U. Although Jefferson appreciated much about European culture — its arts, architecture, literature, food and wines — he found the juxtaposition of the aristocracy's grandeur and the masses' poverty repellant.

The educated and erudite Abigail, with whom Jefferson maintained a lengthy correspondence on a wide variety of subjects, was perhaps the only woman he ever treated as an intellectual equal. Jefferson's official duties as minister consisted primarily of negotiating loans and trade agreements with private citizens and government officials in Paris and Amsterdam.

After nearly five years in Paris, Jefferson returned to America at the end of with a much greater appreciation for his home country. As he wrote to his good friend, James Monroe , "My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy.

Jefferson arrived in Virginia in November to find George Washington waiting for him with news that Washington had been elected the first president of the United States of America, and that he was appointing Jefferson as his secretary of state.

A dozen years younger than Jefferson, Hamilton was a New Yorker and war hero who, unlike Jefferson and Washington, had risen from humble beginnings. Rancorous partisan battles emerged to divide the new American government during Washington's presidency. On one side, the Federalists , led by Hamilton, advocated for a strong national government, broad interpretation of the U. Constitution and neutrality in European affairs. On the other side, the Republican political party, led by Jefferson, promoted the supremacy of state governments, a strict constructionist interpretation of the Constitution and support for the French Revolution.

Washington's two most trusted advisors thus provided nearly opposite advice on the most pressing issues of the day: the creation of a national bank, the appointment of federal judges and the official posture toward France. On January 5, , frustrated by the endless conflicts, Jefferson resigned as secretary of state, once again abandoning politics in favor of his family and farm at his beloved Monticello.

In , despite Jefferson's public ambivalence and previous claims that he was through with politics, the Republicans selected Jefferson as their candidate to succeed George Washington as president. In those days, candidates did not campaign for office openly, so Jefferson did little more than remain at home on the way to finishing a close second to then-Vice President John Adams in the electoral college , which, by the rules of the time, made Jefferson the new vice president.

Besides presiding over the U. Senate , the vice president had essentially no substantive role in government. The long friendship between Adams and Jefferson had cooled due to political differences Adams was a Federalist , and Adams did not consult his vice president on any important decisions.

To occupy his time during his four years as vice president, Jefferson authored A Manual of Parliamentary Practice , one of the most useful guides to legislative proceedings ever written, and served as the president of the American Philosophical Society. John Adams' presidency revealed deep fissures in the Federalist Party between moderates such as Adams and Washington and more extreme Federalists like Alexander Hamilton. In the presidential election of , the Federalists refused to back Adams, clearing the way for the Republican candidates Jefferson and Aaron Burr to tie for first place with 73 electoral votes each.

After a long and contentious debate, the House of Representatives selected Jefferson to serve as the third U. The election of Jefferson in was a landmark of world history, the first peacetime transfer of power from one party to another in a modern republic.

Delivering his inaugural address on March 4, , Jefferson spoke to the fundamental commonalities uniting all Americans despite their partisan differences. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.

President Jefferson's accomplishments during his first term in office were numerous, remarkably successful and productive.

Nevertheless, Jefferson's most important achievements as president all involved bold assertions of national government power and surprisingly liberal readings of the U. Jefferson's most significant accomplishment as president was the Louisiana Purchase. He then devised the wonderfully informative Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore, map out and report back on the new American territories.

Jefferson also put an end to the centuries-old problem of Tripoli pirates from North Africa disrupting American shipping in the Mediterranean. During the Barbary War, Jefferson forced the pirates to capitulate by deploying new American warships.

Notably, both the Louisiana Purchase and the undeclared war against the Barbary pirates conflicted with Jefferson's much-avowed Republican values. He continued boarding school until age sixteen, excelling in classical languages. In , Jefferson enrolled at the College of William and Mary, taking classes in science, mathematics, rhetoric, philosophy, and literature.

The precocious Jefferson fell under the influence of Professor William Small, who had brought the latest Enlightenment thinking to Williamsburg from his native Scotland, and dined frequently with Governor Francis Fauquier and other luminaries in the provincial capital. From to , Jefferson pursued legal studies under George Wythe, who also taught John Marshall and Henry Clay, two of the most outstanding figures in American history.

Under Wythe's tutelage, Jefferson emerged as perhaps the nation's best-read lawyer upon his admission to the Virginia bar in April For Jefferson, the study of law, as directed by Wythe, was more than just a means of earning a living; Jefferson felt that examining legal issues enabled one to consider many aspects of society, including its history, politics, culture, institutions, and the moral conscience of its people.

During Jefferson's time, few colonial Americans could afford the quality and personal education that he received. He owed his good fortune to the financial success of his father, Peter Jefferson, a planter of some means.

By the time of his death in , the elder Jefferson owned 7, acres of land in western Virginia. He had also made a name for himself as the commander of the local militia, a talented surveyor, and a country politician.

His early death, when Thomas was fourteen, caused his teenage son to look to his teachers for fatherly advice and direction. Little is known about Jefferson's mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, who died in As a young country lawyer, Jefferson practiced law on a circuit, following the meetings of the colonial court as it traveled to various district seats throughout Virginia. It was during these unsettled years that he met and fell in love with twenty-three-year-old Martha Wayles Skelton, a wealthy widow and daughter of a prominent Virginia lawyer and landowner.

Her first husband and infant son had died two years earlier. Martha and Thomas married on January 1, , moving into a stark one-room brick house at Jefferson's Virginia plantation, which he called Monticello.

Over the years, the house would become an architectural gem designed and built by Jefferson and his slave laborers. Much of the fine furniture in the house was built by his slaves, who were highly skilled designers and craftsmen. A member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from to , Jefferson played an active role in the organization of the Virginia Committee of Correspondence.

Colonial resentment against Britain was fomenting, and committees such as this one represented an underground group of political agitators which worked to oppose British domination of the colonies. This document propelled him into the larger spotlight. He became known as a man of immense abilities in articulating the colonial position for independence.

Before long, he was known to stand with Patrick Henry as one of the leading radicals who argued that the British Parliament had no authority at all to make laws for the colonies. When the reluctantly revolutionary Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in , Jefferson found himself appointed with four other delegates to write a declaration of independence. This group of five men was destined to lead the new nation. Livingston, strategically deferred to Jefferson to draft the document.

Jefferson's selection was based upon his powerful writing style and the fact that he represented the interests of Virginia, the most influential southern colony.

Virginia's leadership in stating the colonial cause was a key in creating a united front against Britain. The respected Benjamin Franklin backed off from penning a first draft, saying that he would never write anything for others to edit.

John Adams handed the task over to Jefferson, expressing his admiration of Jefferson's superior writing skills. Adams said that the young Virginian was unmatched in his eloquence and his penetrating mind.

This resulted in a war with Tripoli, in which Jefferson was forced to use his navy and to rethink his policy of reducing the U. While the United States at first enjoyed an economic boom due to the war between England and France, the British navy's practice of forcing American sailors into British service led to Jefferson's disastrous suspension of trade with both France and England.

This trade war devastated the economy, alienated the hard-hit mercantile Northeast, and propelled America into war with England. Nonetheless, the deal troubled Jefferson, who did not wish to overstep the central government's powers as outlined by the Constitution, which made no mention of the power to acquire new territory.

It was Jefferson who authorized the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition , led by Meriwether Lewis, a military officer who was Jefferson's clerk at the White House. Jefferson preferred to live a simple lifestyle during his time in office, often greeting his dinner guests in old homespun clothes and a pair of worn bedroom slippers. Having lost his beloved wife, Martha Wayles Skelton, in to childbirth, Jefferson relied on his two married daughters and the wife of his secretary of state, Dolley Madison, as his official hostesses.

In , Jefferson retired to his Virginia plantation home, Monticello, where he continued pursuing his widely diverse interests in science, natural history, philosophy, and the classics. Jefferson also devoted himself to founding the University of Virginia.

Contemporary debates continue to rage—as they did during Jefferson's own lifetime—concerning his relationship with Sally Hemings, one of Jefferson's slaves, after Martha's death. Recent DNA evidence presents a convincing case that Jefferson was indeed the biological father of Heming's children, and most historians now believe that Jefferson and Hemings had a long-term sexual relationship. Jefferson was ambivalent about slavery throughout his career. As a young politician, he argued for the prohibition of slavery in new American territories, yet he never freed his own slaves.

How could a man responsible for writing the sacred words "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal" have been a slave owner? He never resolved his internal conflict on this issue. After carrying on a long and fascinating correspondence with John Adams while both men were in the twilight of their lives, Jefferson died on July 4, —exactly fifty years to the day from the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Grant Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Jefferson chose not to run for a third term in and was succeeded in office by James Madison , a fellow Virginian and former U.

Jefferson spent his post-presidential years at Monticello, where he continued to pursue his many interests, including architecture, music, reading and gardening. He also helped found the University of Virginia, which held its first classes in Jefferson died at age 83 at Monticello on July 4, , the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was buried at Monticello. However, due to the significant debt the former president had accumulated during his life, his mansion, furnishing and slaves were sold at auction following his death.

Monticello was eventually acquired by a nonprofit organization, which opened it to the public in Jefferson remains an American icon. His face appears on the U. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Thomas Paine was an England-born political philosopher and writer who supported revolutionary causes in America and Europe.

Since the United States became a nation, people have come together to count their blessings, feast on bountiful foods and give thanks with family and friends. These days, Thanksgiving celebrations usually involve turkey, pie and a food coma; in the past, they involved fasting, From to , the Continental Congress served as the government of the 13 American colonies and later the United States. The First Continental Congress, which was comprised of delegates from the colonies, met in in reaction to the Coercive Acts, a series of measures Jefferson Finis Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, was a Southern planter, Democratic politician and hero of the Mexican War who had represented Mississippi in the U.

House of Representatives and Senate and served as U. When armed conflict between bands of American colonists and British soldiers began in April , the Americans were ostensibly fighting only A member of a committee of five that also included John Adams of Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States, appropriator of the Louisiana Purchase, gastronome…?