Thomas Jefferson Accomplishments

Thomas Jefferson said, “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you “ Thomas Jefferson was a remarkable two term president whose amazing experiences and history contributed to the creation of the United States. Jefferson was the third President of the United States. He was born in the Virginia colony and his father owned a plantation where he grew up. Jefferson’s family was better off financially than most. He grew up around slavery which would play a big part in his later life. He had nine other siblings. and enjoyed reading books and going on adventures deep inside the woods. Thomas Jefferson married a woman named Martha Wayles Skeleton in 1772. They settled in Monticello and ended up having

Declaration of Independence. It was 1776 when he drafted it, he was 33, and received input from John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Jefferson became the third president after John Adams. He first ran in 1796 but ended up losing to John Adams. He ran again four years later, and this time became the third President of the United States. During the Revolutionary War, Jefferson served three years as the governor of Virginia and after the war in 1783 he became part of Congress. Only two years later, in 1785, Congress appointed Jefferson ambassador to France. In 1809 Jefferson helped create the University of Virginia. Jefferson claimed to not like slavery, however he owned over 600 slaves and believed that white citizens were better than African Americans. Jefferson was also rumored to have had 6 children with one of his

The Lewis and Clark expedition began in 1804. Thomas Jefferson had picked Meriwether Lewis to go on the expedition to explore the newly purchased land. Meriwether Lewis was born in Virginia in 1774, but he moved to Georgia when he was young and then moved back to Virginia when he was a teenager. Lewis ended up joining the Virginia State Militia. Then, at the age of 27, he became president Thomas Jefferson's personal secretary. When president Thomas Jefferson asked Lewis to perform this expedition, he decided to have William Clark as his co-leader. William Clark was born in Virginia in 1770, but then at age 15 he moved to Kentucky. Then, at age 19, he joined the Virginia State Militia and served with Meriwether Lewis. They studied medicine, astronomy, and zoology to prepare for this expedition. Clark took a boat up to the Mississippi River while Lewis rode on horseback to collect additional supplies. Some supplies collected were clothes, maps, books, weapons, and medical supplies Lewis also collected things to give to the Native Americans along the journey. Some of those things were face paint, beads, cloth, ribbons, and mirrors. Lewis had trusted Clark to recruit men for the expedition. Clark recruited unmarried men who knew survival skills and who were good hunters. Lewis and Clark did not let anyone get out of line; they even had harsh punishments like bareback lashing.