Thomas Jefferson was a politician, a lawyer, an author, and a person that encouraged freedom. He was born on April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia. He lived near the western edge of Great Britain’s American Empire. He was the third born of ten siblings. He liked to play in the woods, practice the violin, and read. When he was nine, he studied Greek and Latin. When he was fourteen, he learned more languages, plus literature and mathematics. When he was 17, he attended the College of William and Mary, which was not especially an academic institution. He wondered why people were betting on horse races, playing cards, and dating women, rather than studying. He read law under George Wythe. In 1764, he has come of age and inherited his father’s 2,750 acres of land. …show more content…
In 1768, he was elected to the House of Burgesses, and four years later, he married Martha Wayles Skelton, and their first daughter, Martha, was born. In 1774, he wrote A Summary View of the Rights of British America, and he inherited 11,000 more acres of land, and 135 slaves. A year later, he was elected to join the Continental Congress, and was soon assigned to write the first draft of The Declaration of Independence. At that time, some of his children died at very young ages, and one of them was born, and then a minute later, he died. From 1779-1781, he served as the governor of