Thomas Jefferson example essay topic

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Albermarle County, Virginia. He was born in a simple four-room house in Shadwell, Virginia, what is now Monticello. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a planter who was a bright, brave, and strong man. His mother was a very gentle lady. She was boring under one of the most distinguished families in the area. His family had prospered since the first Jefferson arrived in America from Whales in 1612.

Soon after Jefferson's birth, the French and British began fighting their third war in a half of century over North America's territory. Jefferson went to an English school at the age of five where he remained for four years. He was then transferred to a Latin school for five years. His father died in 1758 and Thomas was put under the control of Rev. Maury to prepare for college. When he was 17, Thomas enrolled in the college of William and Mart in Williamsburg, VA. He found the college disappointing but extremely liked the town considering it was the biggest community Jefferson had ever seen.

He thrived for knowledge and was able to graduate with the highest honors in the college. After college, he studied law under the instruction of George Wythe and was inducted into the practice of law. He did not remain in this profession for long and in 1764 was elected a representative to the Legislatures of Justices. During this time he became more and more involved in the public life. Also in 1764, he inherited 2,750 acres of his father's estate.

He returned to Shadwell and began building Monticello at the top of an 867 foot mountain. Monticello now overlooks the University of Virginia. It remains a historical landmark and is open for public touring. In 1769 Thomas Jefferson took his seat in the House of Burgesses, where he served in Albermarle County until 1776. In 1770 Jefferson's Shadwell estate caught on fire and many of his families belongings, books, and papers were destroyed.

This caused Jefferson to take up residence in Monticello. Thomas married Martha Wales Skelton, a 23-year-old widow, in 1772. They had six children. Jefferson's mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, died in 1776. Thomas Jefferson played a key part in the beginning of America's Independence from Great Britain. He took part in the signing of The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

This was one of the busiest years of his life. Thomas Jefferson and one of his closest friends, James Madison, developed a strong political partnership. They exchanged more than 1,200 letters. After serving under the Virginia House of Delegates, Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia for a one-year term on July 1, 1779. He was later reelected. In September of 1782, Jefferson's wife Martha died of an illness which saddened him for many months.

A year later he was elected to the Congress of Virginia. As you can tell, Jefferson has many duties for his country during the American Revolution. The Ordinance of 1784 marks the high point of Jefferson's opposition to slavery. Little was done about this issue during Jefferson's time, but he helped lead up to the abolition of slavery. In September of 1789, Jefferson became Secretary of State under the first president of the United States, George Washington. He resigned in 1798 during the century's worst yellow fever epidemic.

Thomas Jefferson was not only known as a political figure. He was also involved in the field of invention where he invented many things of technology and life. In order to get out of his person debt. He began cultivating land and growing tobacco. This led to his invention of the plow.

He also made many renovations to Monticello. He added many technological advances to the house for this time period. These include such items as a swivel chair, dumbwaiter, quartet stand, and a polygraph machine. Thomas Jefferson was also a great architect and designed such things as the Virginia State Capitol building. He was influenced most by Roman, Italian, French, and English architecture. Jefferson was also big on science where he used the telescope to observe the position of comets, stars, and planets.

Going back to his political life, Jefferson was elected Vice President under John Adams in December of 1796. On December 3, 1800, electors met in their states and cast votes for the next President of the United States. There was a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. This throws the election into the House of Representatives, which addresses the matter on February 11, 1801. On February 17, on the thirty-sixth ballot, Jefferson was elected President and Aaron Burr became Vice President. Jefferson was the first president inaugurated in the new capital city, Washington DC which was moved form Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jefferson was reelected in 1804 as president. He took part in the Lewis and Clarke expeditions of the time period. On March 4, 1809, Jefferson retired from public office. He left Washington and returned to his home, Monticello, in Virginia. He never left Virginia again. Thomas Jefferson accomplishes many things in the later years of his life.

In 1817, he began the founding of the University of Virginia. At the age of 77, he began to work on his autobiography. He also developed a deep relationship with John Adams. They associated with each other all the time. They wrote many letters back and forth from Virginia to Massachusetts. After being ill for many years, he wrote his will in March of 1826.

In mid-June, he became bed stricken for the first time in his life. On July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson died. He was eighty-three years old. Several hours later John Adams died in Massachusetts his last words being "Thomas Jefferson still survives". The nation was struck by this coincidence. Although it would seem that Jefferson was a very rich man, he died more than 100,000 dollars in debt.

Thomas Jefferson is known as one of the greatest men of American History.