Thomas Jefferson's Grievances During The American Revolution

Jefferson in America

"Give me liberty or give me death.", Patrick Henry eloquently stated, this was the sentiment that colonists strongly felt during the American Revolution. This is but one of the many influential phrases voiced throughout the war that occurred between American colonists and Great Britain. The American Revolution began once all delegates from the continental congress signed the Declaration of Independence authored by Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was born in Shadwell, Virginia on April 13, 1743. He was the the third eldest out of six children and his parents were wealthy plantation owners. He was married to Martha Skelton who bore six children with him, however only two of them lived more than a few years.("Thomas Jefferson")

This congress was made up of very influential men including George Washington, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. A committee was formed among the continental congress to draft the Declaration of Independence. At this time, Thomas Jefferson was chosen as the primary author as his style of writing was more superior than those of his peers. As the author, he expressed the grievances the British had inflicted upon the American colonists. These grievances included cutting off their trade with many other parts of the world and depriving them of trial by jury. This was a massive mockery to the colonists as they believed they had rights as Englishmen under British rule and that this deprivation was a grave injustice. From this document comes one of the most powerful axioms, " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." this states that all individuals are equal and should have unalienable rights which they receive at birth and should not be taken from them. The declaration was submitted on June 28th ,however .revisions had to be made, these revisions included omitting a passage where

This stalemate brought on another revision to the constitution where it was proposed to vote separately for President and Vice. This was known as the 12th amendment which was ratified in 1804. Jefferson served as the 3rd president of the United States and served for two terms. He was sworn into office in 1808 as the first to ever be sworn in at Washington D.C. His biggest achievement as president was accomplished during his first term where he was able to successfully achieve the Louisiana Purchase. He was able to purchase more than 800,000 square miles from France for only $15 million dollars. He was able to acquire this land from Napoleon Bonaparte, the French ruler at the time, due to the ongoing chaos happening to France such as the slave revolt in Haiti and the threat of war with Britain. (History.com Staff) After this purchase, he pushed for the Lewis and Clark expedition to commence. This voyage was to assess the new property they had just acquired and to explore the prospects for military, commercial, and oceanic aspects of the land. Although it was discovered that the imaginary water route that many had envisioned turned out to be just that, imaginary, invaluable information was discovered during this trip in terms of scientific research. Without Jefferson, many of this might not have been accomplished and we might be living differently today if it were not for him.

Therefore, Thomas Jefferson was instrumental in the way the United States was founded and how the