Happy Birthday Thomas
On April 13, 1743 (268 years ago today) Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States and its first Secretary of State, was born in the Shadwell Colony in Virginia. He is famous for many accomplishments, not the least of which is as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Once, when President John Kennedy was hosting a dinner for Nobel Prize winners, he said "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
Jefferson was the Governor of Virginia from 1779–1781 during the Revolutionary War. He barely escaped capture by the British in 1781.From mid-1784 through late 1789 Jefferson lived in Paris, initially as a commissioner to help negotiate commercial treaties, and then in May 1785 he succeeded Benjamin Franklin as the U.S. Minister to France. He was the first United States Secretary of State under George Washington and advised Washington against a national bank and the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. He became the second Vice President (1797–1801) under John Adams, after placing second in the first contested election for president. He became President of the United States in 1801 and served two terms in office.
As president, Jefferson accomplished much. He negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, he sent the explorers Lewis and Clark to the vast new territory and he brought about embargo laws that escalated tensions with Britain and France, leading to war with Britain in 1812 shortly after he left office. Jefferson distrusted cities and financiers, and favored states' rights and a limited federal government. He supported the separation of church and state. He was the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for 25 years, and spawned the modern day Democratic Party.
Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves throughout his life and he held views on the racial inferiority of Africans, like many Virginians during this period in time. While historians long discounted accounts that Jefferson had an intimate relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, the predominant view of many historians is that he fathered six children of hers.
Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and a few hours before John Adams.
Jefferson was the Governor of Virginia from 1779–1781 during the Revolutionary War. He barely escaped capture by the British in 1781.From mid-1784 through late 1789 Jefferson lived in Paris, initially as a commissioner to help negotiate commercial treaties, and then in May 1785 he succeeded Benjamin Franklin as the U.S. Minister to France. He was the first United States Secretary of State under George Washington and advised Washington against a national bank and the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. He became the second Vice President (1797–1801) under John Adams, after placing second in the first contested election for president. He became President of the United States in 1801 and served two terms in office.
As president, Jefferson accomplished much. He negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, he sent the explorers Lewis and Clark to the vast new territory and he brought about embargo laws that escalated tensions with Britain and France, leading to war with Britain in 1812 shortly after he left office. Jefferson distrusted cities and financiers, and favored states' rights and a limited federal government. He supported the separation of church and state. He was the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for 25 years, and spawned the modern day Democratic Party.
Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves throughout his life and he held views on the racial inferiority of Africans, like many Virginians during this period in time. While historians long discounted accounts that Jefferson had an intimate relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, the predominant view of many historians is that he fathered six children of hers.
Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and a few hours before John Adams.