AMERICAN POLICY EXAMINER. A Tea Party Activist's Guide to American Political Science.

President Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

Biography

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most accomplished of American presidents. Of his many achievements included representative in the Virginia legislature, governor of Virginia, delegate for Virginia to the second Continental Congress, author of Declaration of American Independence of the Statute of Virginia and the Declaration of Independence, first Secretary of State, second Vice President and third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia which was the first public university in America.

Thomas Jefferson was born into a prominent family of the Virginia colony on April 13, 1743. His father Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor in what was then Edge Hill, Virginia (Albemarle County). After his friend William Randolph died in 1745, Jefferson's father assumed management of his estate in Tuckahoe, where Jefferson would spend the majority of his childhood.

Jefferson was fortunate to have access to a well-rounded education. When he was just nine years old, he attended a local school where he began studying Latin, Greek, and French. After his father died in 1757, Jefferson inherited his land and the slaves that attended it. This is where he would build his home known as Monticello.

Soon after, Jefferson changed schools to Fredericksville Parish where he was taught under the instruction of the now famous minister James Maury, who also taught James Madison. During this period, Jefferson was exposed to a classical education supplemented with science and history.

Jefferson began college at the young age of 16 at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg. Jefferson studied philosophy, mathematics and metaphysics. After graduating in 1762 with the highest honors, Jefferson pursued a higher education in law under the guidance of George Wythe who was a lawyer and judge, law professor and a leading classical scholar. In 1767 Jefferson was admitted to the Virginia bar and began working as a lawyer.

In 1768 Thomas Jefferson began the development of his home Monticello, a neoclassical mansion that was coupled with a large plantation where hundreds of slaves worked. Although Jefferson owned hundreds of slave, he would soon advocate an end to America's involvement in the slave trade.

It was in 1769 that Jefferson began his political career where he represented Albemarle County in Virginia's House of Burgesses. It was during this time that Jefferson began to grow in strong opposition to the British Parliament and wrote his first published book A Summary View of the Rights of British America. Jefferson began advocating his philosophy on the natural rights of men and argued that the government must be the subject of the people in a republic where the governing are the servants of the governed.

After the outbreak of the American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson became a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in June of 1775. In creating a resolution for independence, he became a member of a five-man committee. Jefferson was ultimately charged with writing the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776, the declaration was approved and marked the beginning of a new nation.

In September, Jefferson was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and pursued a new system of laws for the new state. Among the many new laws, Jefferson pushed for judicial reforms, religious freedom, the end to capital punishment and importation of slaves. After a single term, Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia in 1779 for just one term.

His success as governor was mixed. Among his accomplishments were the transfer of the capital to Richmond and changes to the educational system, a system not publicly accommodated. Jefferson was unable to pursue a second term due to invasions of Virginia from the British, events in which the public was very displeased with Jefferson's performance.

Although he was unable to continue his political career on the state level, the legislature appointed him to the new Congress of Confederation in 1783, but he served for less than a year before being elected as minister plenipotentiary in 1784 and Minister of France in 1785.

His foreign service between 1785 and 1789 prevented him from attending the Philadelphia Convention where the new Constitution was being debated. During this time, he became accustomed to the French life-style and this experience would later be influential in his support of France during George Washington's first term as president. In addition to working with the French, Jefferson also was influential in the development of trade relations between the United States and Prussia. He was joined by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Friedrich Wilhelm von Thulemeyer in securing new agreements.

George Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson to the position of Secretary of State for the United States in 1790. During his time as Secretary, Jefferson often engaged in disputes with Alexander Hamilton who was the Secretary of Treasury. These disputes ranged from fiscal policy and the proper role of the federal government to supporting opposing countries in foreign wars. Jefferson generally sided on the side of sovereignty for the states and the support of France and Hamilton believed in a stronger central government and support for Britain.

These conflicts between the two inevitably led to the creation of the two party system. Thomas Jefferson ended his service as Secretary of State in 1793 and began the development of a political infrastructure that would provide the support for the Democratic-Republican Party, a party he founded. His party would soon contest the Federalists in elections and would lead to his success in winning the Vice Presidency under John Adams in 1797 and the Presidency over Adams four years later.

As the new Vice President, Thomas Jefferson did away with playing an active role in the inner-workings of the Senate; although he did write a manual on parliamentary procedure. During this time, Jefferson also continued his opposition to the Federalists and the policies of Adams. His efforts presented the first real statements on the theory of states' rights.

In the elections of 1800, Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans ran against the Federalists on repealing the new taxes that John Adams levied to pay for a military build-up that was in anticipation of war. Thomas Jefferson tied Aaron Burr in the electoral college. This created an unforeseen problem that left the House of Representatives, which was still controlled by the Federalists, with the responsibility of picking a winner. Alexander Hamilton convinced his party that Jefferson was the better of the two candidates. It was only a couple of years later that Burr killed Hamilton in a duel. Jefferson dropped Burr from the ticket in his reelection bid.

In his two terms as president, Thomas Jefferson first repealed the taxes imposed on the states by the Federalists, repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801, and fought the First Barbary War which was won four years after its start. Due to the war, he established the military academy at West Point in 1802.

Additionally, Jefferson began to take interest in the westward expansion of American territory. He doubled the size of the United States' territory when he purchased Louisiana territory from France. He also supportive of the Lewis and Clark Expeditions. Through Congress, he was able to appropriate $2500 for the expedition.

In 1807, Thomas Jefferson signed the Embargo Act of 1807. It banned United States' trade with foreign countries. His hope was that this would prevent America from being pulled into the Napoleonic Wars. However, this policy is attributed to an economic down-turn. As a result, the bill was very unpopular, unenforceable and was ultimately repealed in 1809.

Once Jefferson left office, he retired to his home in Virginia and took the initiative in founding University of Virginia, America's first public university, in 1819. Thomas Jefferson was involved in everything from its architectural planning to its academic curriculum.

In his retired life, Jefferson was involved in continuous correspondence with John Adams and the once-political-rivals developed a long-lasting friendship that would continue until their deaths. Jefferson and Adams both died on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the nation. On July 4, 1826 Jefferson died just hours before Adams.