Thomas Jefferson was born in Virginia in1743. His father had been among the earliest settlers in this country. His position along with five thousand acres transferred to Jefferson, and he became one of the best-educated Americans of his time. At the age of seventeen he entered the College of William and Mary, where he got exciting glimpses of the expansion of science, and of the system of things in which we are placed. He read widely in the law, the sciences, and in both ancient and modern history, philosophy, and literature. Jefferson was admitted to an association for lawyers in 1767 and established a successful practice. Jeffersons public career began in 1769, when he served as a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses, the nations first elected body of government. The American Revolution (1795–83) forced him to abandon his practice in 1774, and he turned his legal skills to the rebel cause. About this time, he began building Monticello. The lovely home would become a lifelong occupation. Monticello, like the many other buildings Jefferson designed was an original, personal creation. Jefferson rose to fame as a spokesman during the Revolution. His political thought would become the centerpiece of liberalism, a movement to develop freedoms. In challenging the British Empire, Americans like Jefferson came to recognize their claims to an independent nation. Jeffersons most important contribution to the revolutionary debate was A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774). He argued that Americans possessed the same natural rights to govern themselves as their ancestors had exercised when they moved to England from Germany. The Revolutionary War (1775–83) had begun by the time Jefferson took his seat in the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in1775. The Congress brought together many of Americas prominent political figures of the time. It was chiefly as a legal writer that Jefferson would make his mark. Jefferson was surprised to find himself at the head of the committee to prepare a Declaration of Independence. He submitted a draft to John Adams (1735–1826) and Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), who suggested only minor changes. Signed by most parties on July 4, 1776, the Declaration formally announced that the American colonies were separating from Great Britain. Although many changes were made in the end, the declaration that emerged on July 4 bore the unmistakable stamp of Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence clearly set forth the problems with British rule and expressed a political philosophy and a national faith in only one paragraph. Here, for the first time in history, ideas were laid as the foundation of a nation. Natural equality, the inalienable (or not able to be taken away) rights of man, the freedom of the people, the right of revolution—these ideas gave the American Revolution high purpose. Jefferson became Virginias governor in June 1779 as the Revolutionary War entered a new phase. The British decision to attack in the South would, if successful, have made Virginia the critical battleground. Jefferson struggled against huge odds to aid the southern army in defending its territory from the invading British. Early in 1781 the British invaded Virginia from the coast, slashed through to Richmond, and put the government to flight. In May, General Charles Cornwallis (1738–1805) marched his army of British soldiers into Virginia, and the government moved to Charlottesville, Virginia and Jefferson was chased from Monticello. Wounded by the criticism of his retreat, Jefferson decided to quit public service. A series of personal setbacks, including his wifes death in September 1782, plunged him into gloom. It appeared the life he had sought in his family, farms, and books was suddenly out of reach. He eagerly accepted congressional appointment to the peace commission in Paris. He never sailed, however, and wound up in Congress instead. In Congress, from November 1783 to the following May, Jefferson laid the foundations of national policy in several areas. He drafted the first regulation of government for the western territory, where free and equal states would be created. Jefferson also took a leading part in creating foreign policy. The American economy rested on foreign commerce, but only France was open to trade with America. In 1784 he was appointed with Adams and Franklin to negotiate treaties of commerce with the other European powers. He then replaced Franklin as the representative to France and spent the next five years in Europe. On Jeffersons return George Washington (1732–1799) appointed him secretary of state. For the next three years he was chiefly engaged in fruitless negotiations with the European powers. With Spain he sought to secure free navigation of the Mississippi River through Spanish territory to the Gulf of Mexico. With Britain he sought the removal of English troops from the Northwest and settlement of issues left over from the peace treaty. In 1793 war erupted between France and Britain the opposing views of the Federalists and Republicans worsened. Jefferson attempted to keep America neutral and support neither side. By doing this he hoped to force cooperation from Britain and to improve relations between the nations of the Western world. Soon relations with France grew poor and severely damaged Jeffersons political system. Jefferson gave up his post at the end of 1793, again determined to quit public life. In 1796 the Republicans made him their presidential candidate against John Adams. Losing by only a slim margin, Jefferson became vice president. Republicans doubled their efforts to elect the man of the people in the unusually bitter campaign of 1800. Jefferson topped Adams in the election and became president on March 4, 1801. In his inaugural address Jefferson summed up the Republican ideas and appealed for harmony among all political parties. Reform, or improving American society, was the order of the day. Working effectively with Congress, Jefferson restored freedom of the press, scaled down the army and the navy, ended all internal taxes, and began paying off the national debt. The Jeffersonian reformation was based on the economic plans of the government by reducing the means and powers of government. The reformation sought to further peace, equality, and individual freedoms, and to help solidify the American way of life. The presidents greatest triumph came in foreign affairs. Spain turned over the port of New Orleans to France in 1800. This action posed a serious threat to American shipping on the international waterway. Jefferson skillfully managed this crisis and America gained an uncharted region of some 800,000 square miles, doubling the nations size, for $11.25 million. 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Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:45:30 +0000
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