Thomas Jefferson British America Summary

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 2, 1743, in Albemarle County, Virginia. Jefferson came from a wealthy family. Jefferson was six foot two and had long, thick, red hair His father, Peter Jefferson, was a surveyor and a plantar. Thomas Jefferson inherited 5,000 acres of land from his father. Jefferson began building his home, which he named Monticello, at the age of twenty-six. The word Monticello means small mountain in Italian. Jefferson was a slave-owner like many of the wealthy people of the times. He inherited over one-hundred-twenty slaves from his father-in-law. He attended William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. He read the law under George Wythe and became a very successful Lawyer. Many people considered him one of the

He used his writing skills to support the idea of independence from Great Britain. In the year of 1768 he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses which is like a legislature for colonial Virginia. In the year of 1772, at the age of twenty-nine, Jefferson married Martha Skelton. In ten years of marriage they produced six children but unfortunately only two of them would live to be adults. Jefferson’s first major writing was a short paper published in many colonial newspapers entitled a Summary View of the Rights of British America. This paper contained many views he incorporated later into the Declaration of Independence, which is said to be a charter of American and universal liberties. Jefferson was elected to the Second Continental Congress which convened in Philadelphia in 1776. While serving in the Second Continental Congress Jefferson, along with four others including Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. The other four members deferred to Jefferson because they realized what an eloquent and accomplished writer he was. During the Revolution from 1779-1781 Jefferson served as the Governor of Virginia. He was almost captured by British Colonel Banastre Tarleton at his home of Monticello but saw him coming and escaped through a back road. After the war Jefferson served in President George Washington’s cabinet as Secretary of

But then in 1800 he ran against John Adams again and won a close election that was decided by the House of Representatives. As the first Democratic- Republican President Jefferson believed in a “wise and frugal government.” He also believed that men should be free from government interference and free to govern themselves. While President, Jefferson commissioned a small fleet of warships to ensure the safety of American ships on the high seas. He put these to use against the Barbary coast pirates who were stealing American merchant ships and holding the sailors hostage. This resulted in a four year war with Tripoli. In the year 1803 Jefferson sent James Monroe to France and said “Here’s ten million dollars, buy me as much land as you can.” On April 30, 1803, the Louisiana area, which was 828,000 square miles, was bought for fifteen million dollars or three cents per acre. In 1804 Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the new land purchased. In Jefferson’s second term he experienced more conflict. He was notable for staying neutral in the French and British affairs but that wouldn’t be the same for President Madison with the War of