Thomas Jefferson

3rd President of the United States

### Children

Martha Jefferson Randolph (daughter), Jane Jefferson (daughter), Unnamed son, Mary Jefferson Eppes (daughter), Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson I (daughter), Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson II, (daughter), Harriet Hemings I (daughter), Beverley Hemings (daughter), Harriet Hemings II (daughter), Madison Hemings (son), Eston Hemings (son)

### Parents

Peter Jefferson (father)Jane Randolph (mother)

### Siblings

Jane Jefferson (sister), Mary Jefferson Bollings (sister), Elizabeth Jefferson (sister), Martha Jefferson Carr (sister), Peter Field Jefferson (brother)Unnamed Brother, Lucy Jefferson Lewis (sister), Anne Scott Jefferson Marks (sister), Randolph Jefferson (brother)

### Occupation

Lawyer, politician, diplomat, architect, philosopher

### Hair color

Sandy red

**Thomas Jefferson**, a spokesman for democracy, was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), second vice president under John Adams, and the third President of the United States (1801–1809).

*The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson spanned the period in United States history that encompasses the events of the Evolution Era. President Thomas Jefferson represented the Democratic-Republican political party which influenced the domestic and foreign policies of his presidency.*

## **Biography**

In the thick of party conflict in 1800, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a private letter, “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

This powerful advocate of liberty was born in 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia, inheriting from his father, a planter and surveyor, some 5,000 acres of land, and from his mother, a Randolph, high social standing. He studied at the College of William and Mary, then read law. In 1772 he married Martha Wayles Skelton, a widow, and took her to live in his partly constructed mountaintop home, Monticello.

Freckled and sandy-haired, rather tall and awkward, Jefferson was eloquent as a correspondent, but he was no public speaker. In the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress, he contributed his pen rather than his voice to the patriot cause. As the “silent member” of the Congress, Jefferson, at 33, drafted the Declaration of Independence. In years following he labored to make its words a reality in Virginia. Most notably, he wrote a bill establishing religious freedom, enacted in 1786.

Jefferson succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister to France in 1785. His sympathy for the French Revolution led him into conflict with Alexander Hamilton when Jefferson was Secretary of State in President Washington’s Cabinet. He resigned in 1793.

Sharp political conflict developed, and two separate parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, began to form. Jefferson gradually assumed leadership of the Republicans, who sympathized with the revolutionary cause in France. Attacking Federalist policies, he opposed a strong centralized Government and championed the rights of states.

As a reluctant candidate for President in 1796, Jefferson came within three votes of election. Through a flaw in the Constitution, he became Vice President, although an opponent of President Adams. In 1800 the defect caused a more serious problem. Republican electors, attempting to name both a President and a Vice President from their own party, cast a tie vote between Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The House of Representatives settled the tie. Hamilton, disliking both Jefferson and Burr, nevertheless urged Jefferson’s election.

When Jefferson assumed the Presidency, the crisis in France had passed. He slashed Army and Navy expenditures, cut the budget, eliminated the tax on whiskey so unpopular in the West, yet reduced the national debt by a third. He also sent a naval squadron to fight the Barbary pirates, who were harassing American commerce in the Mediterranean. Further, although the Constitution made no provision for the acquisition of new land, Jefferson suppressed his qualms over constitutionality when he had the opportunity to acquire the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803.

During Jefferson’s second term, he was increasingly preoccupied with keeping the Nation from involvement in the Napoleonic wars, though both England and France interfered with the neutral rights of American merchantmen. Jefferson’s attempted solution, an embargo upon American shipping, worked badly and was unpopular.

Jefferson retired to Monticello to ponder such projects as his grand designs for the University of Virginia. A French nobleman observed that he had placed his house and his mind “on an elevated situation, from which he might contemplate the universe.”

He died on July 4, 1826.

## Personality

The character traits of President Thomas Jefferson can be described as quiet, easy going, curious, highly intelligent, open and direct. It has been speculated that the Myers-Briggs personality type for Thomas Jefferson is an would be INTJ (introversion, intuition, thinking, judgment). A reserved, analytical and insightful character with a strong sense of independence. Thomas Jefferson Personality type: pragmatic, logical, individualist and creative.

## Nicknames

* "Father of the Declaration of Independence"
* "Long Tom"
* "Man of the People"
* "The Sage of Monticello"
* "The Apostle of Democracy"
* "The Pen of the Revolution"

*Meaning: The nickname of President Thomas Jefferson provides an insight into how the man was viewed by the American public during his presidency. The meaning of the nickname Father of the Declaration of Independence refers to his role as the author of this historical document for which he also had the nickname of "The Pen of the Revolution". His nickname "Sage of Monticello" is another reference to the man's great intellect meaning the sage or wise one of Monticello, the name of his Virginia plantation. The nickname "Long Tom" was in reference to his height.*

## Inaugurations

### First Inauguration

The **first inauguration of Thomas Jefferson** as the third president of the United States was held on Wednesday, March 4, 1801. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of Thomas Jefferson as president and the only four-year term of Aaron Burr as vice president. Jefferson was sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. It was a mild day in Washington, D.C., the first time an inauguration had been held in the city, with a High Noon temperature estimated at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. That morning an artillery company on Capitol Hill had shots fired to welcome the daybreak, and in a first for a newspaper, Jefferson gave a copy of his speech to the *National Intelligencer* for it to be published and available right after delivery. The theme of his address was reconciliation after his bitterly partisan election. In what would become standard practice, the Marine Band played for the first time at the inauguration. Outgoing President John Adams, distraught over his loss of the election as well as the death of his son Charles Adams to alcoholism, did not attend the inauguration. He left the President's House at 4 a.m. in the early morning on the early public stagecoach for Baltimore. This was the first time an outgoing president would not attend his successor's inauguration.

### Second Inauguration

The **second inauguration of Thomas Jefferson** as president of the United States took place on Monday, March 4, 1805 in the Senate Chamber of the United States Capitol. The inauguration marked the commencement of the second four-year term of Thomas Jefferson as president and the first four-year term of George Clinton as vice president. Giving the oath of office was Chief Justice John Marshall.

## Presidents born during his Presidency

* Franklin Pierce
* Abraham Lincoln
* Andrew Johnson

## Accomplishments and major events

*The major accomplishments and the main events that occurred during the time that Thomas Jefferson was president included the Barbary Wars (1801-1805), The Louisiana Purchase made (1803), The Embargo Act (1807) and the 1807 Act of Congress. Other famous events included the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the duel between Vice President Aaron Burr who shot Alexander Hamilton dead and the introduction of steamboats that revolutionized river travel and trade in the new nation.*

**The Judiciary Act of 1802**

Summary: The Judiciary Act of 1802 was authorized on March 8, 1802 by President Thomas Jefferson, leader of the Republicans (Anti-Federalists), to repeal the Midnight Judges Act of 1802 passed by his predecessor President John Adams.

**The Louisiana Purchase**

Summary: The 1803 Louisiana Purchase increased the lands of the United States by 828,000 square miles when it was sold by France to the US for 15 million dollars.

**The Lewis and Clark Expedition**

Summary: The Lewis and Clark Expedition was authorized by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the new unexplored lands purchased in the Louisiana Purchase. The expedition was headed by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark who led the Corps of Discovery, helped by Sacajawea, on the trip that began from the Missouri River to the Columbia River.

**The Aaron Burr duel**

Summary: The infamous Aaron Burr duel was fought in Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804 and involved Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury, who was shot dead by Vice President Aaron Burr.

**1807 Embargo Act and the 1809 Non-Intercourse Act**

Summary: The 1807 Embargo Act had averted war with Britain and France but had backfired on the government by effectively strangling all American overseas trade. The Non-Intercourse Act, 1809 replaced the Embargo Act and permitted trade and commerce with the rest of the world.

**Barbary Wars and Pirates**

Summary: The Barbary Wars and Pirates were fought along the coast of North Africa by African Pirates of the Barbary States that consisted of  Morocco, Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. President Thomas Jefferson decided to put an end to paying tributes to the Barbary Pirates and ordered a US naval fleet, under the command of Commodore Richard Dale, to attack the Muslem pirates.

**1800's Population, Cities and Travel**

Summary: The US History in 1800's - Population, Cities and Travel covers the growth and progress made during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Towns and cities were growing but travel was difficult because there were no roads. People moved about via the rivers on flatboats or steamboats

**Steamboats of the 1800's**

Summary of the Steamboats of the 1800's: The Steamboats of the 1800's revolutionized river travel and trade in the southern states. They replaced the slow flatboats and, powered by steam, made travel faster and had the advantage of also being able to travel upstream.

## Post Presidency

After his presidency, Jefferson remained influential and continued to correspond with many of the country's leaders (including his two protégées who succeeded him as president); the Monroe Doctrine strongly resembles solicited advice that Jefferson gave to Monroe in 1823.

### University of Virginia

Jefferson envisioned a university free of church influences where students could specialize in new areas not offered at other colleges. He believed that education engendered a stable society, which should provide publicly funded schools accessible based solely on ability. He initially proposed his University in a letter to Joseph Priestley in 1800 and, in 1819, founded the University of Virginia. He organized the state legislative campaign for its charter and, with the assistance of Edmund Bacon, purchased the location. He was the principal designer of the buildings, planned the university's curriculum, and served as the first rector upon its opening in 1825.

Jefferson was a strong disciple of Greek and Roman architectural styles, which he believed to be most representative of American democracy. Each academic unit, called a pavilion, was designed with a two-story temple front, while the library "Rotunda" was modeled on the Roman Pantheon. Jefferson referred to the university's grounds as the "Academical Village", and he reflected his educational ideas in its layout. The ten pavilions included classrooms and faculty residences; they formed a quadrangle and were connected by colonnades, behind which stood the student rooms. Gardens and vegetable plots were placed behind the pavilions and were surrounded by serpentine walls, affirming the importance of the agrarian lifestyle. The university had a library rather than a church at its center, emphasizing its secular nature—controversial at the time.

When Jefferson died in 1826, James Madison replaced him as rector. Jefferson bequeathed most of his reconstructed library of almost 2,000 volumes to the university. Only one other ex-president has founded a university; Millard Fillmore founded the University at Buffalo in 1846.

### Reconciliation with Adams

Jefferson and John Adams became good friends in the first decades of their political careers, serving together in the Continental Congress in the 1770s and in Europe in the 1780s. The Federalist/Republican split of the 1790s divided them, however, and Adams felt betrayed by Jefferson's sponsorship of partisan attacks, such as those of James Callender. Jefferson was angered by Adams' appointment of "midnight judges". The two men did not communicate directly for more than a decade after Jefferson succeeded Adams as president. A brief correspondence took place between Abigail Adams and Jefferson after Jefferson's daughter Polly died in 1804, in an attempt at reconciliation unknown to Adams. However, an exchange of letters resumed open hostilities between Adams and Jefferson.

As early as 1809, Benjamin Rush began to prod the two through correspondence to re-establish contact. In 1812, Adams wrote a short New Year's greeting to Jefferson, prompted earlier by Rush, to which Jefferson warmly responded. This initial correspondence began what historian David McCullough calls "one of the most extraordinary correspondences in American history". Over the next 14 years, Jefferson and Adams exchanged 158 letters discussing their political differences, justifying their respective roles in events, and debating the revolution's import to the world.

When Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, his last words were an acknowledgment of his longtime friend and rival. "Thomas Jefferson survives", Adams said, unaware that Jefferson had died a few hours earlier.

### Autobiography

In 1821, at the age of 77, Jefferson began writing his *Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson: 1743–1790*, in which he said he sought to "state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself". He focused on the struggles and achievements he experienced until July 29, 1790, where the narrative stopped short. He excluded his youth, emphasizing the revolutionary era. He related that his ancestors came from Wales to America in the early 17th century and settled in the western frontier of the Virginia colony, which influenced his zeal for individual and state rights. Jefferson described his father as uneducated, but with a "strong mind and sound judgement". He also addressed his enrollment in the College of William and Mary and his election to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775.

He expressed opposition to the idea of a privileged aristocracy made up of large landowning families partial to the King, and instead promoted "the aristocracy of virtue and talent, which nature has wisely provided for the direction of the interests of society, & scattered with equal hand through all its conditions, was deemed essential to a well-ordered republic". The work is primarily concerned with the Declaration and reforming the government of Virginia. He used notes, letters, and documents to tell many of the stories. He suggested that this history was so rich that his personal affairs were better overlooked, but he incorporated a self-analysis using the Declaration and other patriotism.

## Death

Jefferson's approximately $100,000 of debt weighed heavily on his mind in his final months, as it became increasingly clear that he would have little to leave to his heirs. In February 1826, he successfully applied to the General Assembly to hold a public lottery as a fundraiser. His health began to deteriorate in July 1825, due to a combination of rheumatism from arm and wrist injuries, and intestinal and urinary disorders. By June 1826, he was confined to bed. On July 3, overcome by fever, Jefferson declined an invitation to attend an anniversary celebration of the Declaration in Washington.

During his last hours, he was accompanied by family members and friends. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, at 12:50 p.m. at age 83, on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. In the moments prior to his death, Jefferson instructed his treating physician, "No, doctor, nothing more", refusing laudanum. But his final significant words were, "Is it the Fourth?" or "This is the Fourth". When John Adams died later that same day, his last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives", though Adams was unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before. The sitting president was Adams's son, John Quincy Adams, and he called the coincidence of their deaths on the nation's anniversary "visible and palpable remarks of Divine Favor".

## Facts and Trivia

* Thomas Jefferson is praised as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
* Jefferson was of English, and possibly Welsh, descent and was born a British subject.
* Jefferson's father Peter Jefferson, was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen. Afterwards, Peter Harvie became his guardian.
* Jefferson began his education together with the Randolph children by tutors at Tuckahoe. Thomas' father Peter was self-taught, regretted not having a formal education, and entered Thomas into an English school at age five. In 1752, at age nine, he attended a local school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister and also began studying the natural world, which he grew to love. At this time he began studying Latin, Greek, and French, while also learning to ride horses.
* Jefferson entered the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia at age 16 and studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy with Professor William Small. Under Small's tutelage, Jefferson encountered the ideas of the British Empiricists, including John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton.
* In 1753 he attended the wedding of his uncle Field Jefferson to Mary Allen Hunt, who became a close friend and early mentor. Jefferson inherited approximately 5,000 acres (2,000 ha; 7.8 sq mi) of land, including Monticello, and assumed full authority over his property at age 21.
* The year 1765 was an eventful one in Jefferson's family. In July, his sister Martha married his close friend and college companion Dabney Carr, which greatly pleased Jefferson. In October, he mourned his sister Jane's unexpected death at age 25 and wrote a farewell epitaph in Latin.
* In 1768, Jefferson began constructing his primary residence Monticello (Italian for "Little Mountain") on a hilltop overlooking his 5,000-acre (20 km2; 7.8 sq mi) plantation. He spent most of his adult life designing Monticello as architect and was quoted as saying, "Architecture is my delight, and putting up, and pulling down, one of my favorite amusements." Construction was done mostly by local masons and carpenters, assisted by Jefferson's slaves.
* During his lifetime, Jefferson owned over 600 slaves, who were kept in his household and on his plantations.
* Jefferson felt slavery was harmful to both slave and master but had reservations about releasing slaves from captivity, and advocated for gradual emancipation. In 1779, he proposed gradual voluntary training and resettlement to the Virginia legislature, and three years later drafted legislation allowing slaveholders to free their own slaves.
* On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married his third cousin Martha Wayles Skelton, the 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton, and she moved into the South Pavilion. She was a frequent hostess for Jefferson and managed the large household. Biographer Dumas Malone described the marriage as the happiest period of Jefferson's life. Martha read widely, did fine needlework, and was a skilled pianist; Jefferson often accompanied her on the violin or cello. During their ten years of marriage, Martha bore six children: Martha "Patsy" (1772–1836); Jane (1774–1775); a son who lived for only a few weeks in 1777; Mary "Polly" (1778–1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781); and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1784). Only Martha and Mary survived to adulthood.
* Jefferson, while primarily a plantation owner, lawyer, and politician, mastered many disciplines, ranging from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and mechanics. He was also an architect in the classical tradition.
* Jefferson championed the ideals, values, and teachings of the Enlightenment.
* Jefferson's keen interest in religion and philosophy led to his presidency of the American Philosophical Society; he shunned organized religion but was influenced by Christianity, Epicureanism, and deism. Jefferson rejected fundamental Christianity, denying Christ's divinity.
* A philologist, Jefferson knew several languages.
* Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
* During the American Revolution, Jefferson represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration of Independence. As a Virginia legislator, he drafted a state law for religious freedom.
* Jefferson served as the second Governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781, during the Revolutionary War. During his tenure, he resided at the Governors Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia.
* Jefferson invented many small practical devices and improved contemporary inventions, including a revolving book-stand and a "Great Clock" powered by the gravitational pull on cannonballs. He improved the pedometer, the polygraph (a device for duplicating writing), and the moldboard plow, an idea he never patented and gave to posterity. Jefferson can also be credited as the creator of the swivel chair, the first of which he created and used to write much of the Declaration of Independence.
* In 1784, Jefferson was sent by the Congress of the Confederation to join Benjamin Franklin and John Adams in Paris as Minister Plenipotentiary for Negotiating Treaties of Amity and Commerce with Great Britain and other countries. Some believed that the recently widowed Jefferson was depressed and that the assignment would distract him from his wife's death.
* With his young daughter Patsy and two servants, Jefferson departed in July 1784, arriving in Paris the next month. Jefferson had Patsy educated at the Pentemont Abbey. Less than a year later he was assigned the additional duty of succeeding Franklin as Minister to France. French foreign minister Count de Vergennes commented, "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear." Jefferson replied, "I *succeed*. No man can replace him." During his five years in Paris, Jefferson played a leading role in shaping U.S. foreign policy.
* As Minister to France, Jefferson was impressed by the military standardization program known as the *Système Gribeauval*, and initiated a program as president to develop interchangeable parts for firearms. For his inventiveness and ingenuity, he received several honorary Doctor of Law degrees.
* In 1786, Jefferson met and fell in love with Maria Cosway, an accomplished—and married—Italian-English musician of 27. They saw each other frequently over a period of six weeks. She returned to Great Britain, but they maintained a lifelong correspondence.
* During the summer of 1786, Jefferson arrived in London to meet with John Adams, the United States Ambassador to Britain. Adams had official access to George III and arranged a meeting between Jefferson and the king. Jefferson later described the king's reception of the men as "ungracious." According to Adams's grandson, George III turned his back on both Adams and Jefferson in a jesture of public insult. Jefferson returned to France in August.
* Jefferson sent for his youngest surviving child, nine-year-old Polly, in June 1787, who was accompanied on her voyage by a young slave from Monticello, Sally Hemings. He had taken her older brother James Hemings to Paris as part of his domestic staff and had him trained in French cuisine. According to Sally's son, Madison Hemings, the 16-year-old Sally and Jefferson began a sexual relationship in Paris, where she became pregnant. The son also indicated Hemings agreed to return to the United States only after Jefferson promised to free her children when they came of age.
* While in France, Jefferson became a regular companion of the Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero of the American Revolutionary War, and Jefferson used his influence to procure trade agreements with France. As the French Revolution began, he allowed his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Langeac, to be used for meetings by Lafayette and other republicans. He was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille and consulted with Lafayette while the latter drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
* Jefferson often found his mail opened by postmasters, so he invented his own enciphering device, the "Wheel Cipher"; he wrote important communications in code for the rest of his career.
* Unable to attend the 1787 Convention, Jefferson supported the Constitution but desired the addition of the promised bill of rights. Jefferson left Paris for America in September 1789, intending to return to his home soon; however, President George Washington appointed him the country's first secretary of state, forcing him to remain in the nation's capital. Jefferson remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution while opposing its more violent elements.
* Soon after returning from France, Jefferson accepted Washington's invitation to serve as the first secretary of state. He opposed a national debt, preferring that each state retire its own, in contrast to Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who desired consolidation of various states' debts by the federal government. Hamilton also had bold plans to establish the national credit and a national bank, but Jefferson strenuously opposed this and attempted to undermine his agenda, which nearly led Washington to dismiss him from his cabinet. He later left the cabinet voluntarily.
* Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton had a longstanding rivalry due to their deep philosophical differences regarding the direction of the nation.
* After working as secretary of state (1790–93), Jefferson returned to Monticello and initiated a remodeling based on the architectural concepts which he had acquired in Europe. The work continued throughout most of his presidency and was completed in 1809.
* Among Jefferson's books is *Notes on the State of Virginia* (1785), considered perhaps the most important American book published before 1800.
* Jefferson was deeply engaged in economic theory, which he learned to love during his time in France. He was a friend and translator to leading European theorists; he believed in the free market policies, and he opposed bank notes as currency.
* Jefferson wrote letters and speeches prolifically, and these show him to be conversant and well read in the philosophical literature of his day and of antiquity. However, since Jefferson did not produce a formal work on philosophy, scholars, in general, do not take him seriously as a philosopher. Nonetheless, Jefferson left behind a "rich philosophical legacy" in his presidential messages, letters to philosophically minded people, and his public papers.
* Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System. With Madison, he anonymously wrote the provocative Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798 and 1799, which sought to strengthen states' rights by nullifying the federal Alien and Sedition Acts.
* Jefferson had always admired George Washington's leadership skills but felt that his Federalist party was leading the country in the wrong direction. Jefferson thought it wise not to attend his funeral in 1799 because of acute differences with Washington while serving as secretary of state, and remained at Monticello.
* Jefferson and Federalist John Adams became friends as well as political rivals, serving in the Continental Congress and drafting the Declaration of Independence together. In the 1796 presidential election between the two, Jefferson came in second, which according to electoral procedure at the time, made him vice president to Adams. Jefferson challenged Adams again in 1800 and won the presidency. After his term in office, Jefferson eventually reconciled with John Adams and they shared a correspondence that lasted fourteen years.
* Jefferson was sworn in by Chief Justice John Marshall at the new Capitol in Washington, D.C. on March 4, 1801. His inauguration was not attended by outgoing President Adams. In contrast to his predecessors, Jefferson exhibited a dislike of formal etiquette; he arrived alone on horseback without escort, dressed plainly and, after dismounting, retired his own horse to the nearby stable.
* Jefferson needed a hostess when ladies were present at the White House. His wife, Martha, had died in 1782. Jefferson's two daughters, Martha Jefferson Randolph and Maria Jefferson Eppes, occasionally served in that role. On May 27, 1801, Jefferson asked Dolley Madison, wife of his long-time friend James Madison, to be the permanent White House hostess. She accepted, realizing the diplomatic importance of the position. She was also in charge of the completion of the White House mansion.
* During his tenure, Jefferson feared that the Federalist system enacted by Washington and Adams had encouraged corrupting patronage and dependence. He tried to restore a balance between the state and federal governments more nearly reflecting the Articles of Confederation, seeking to reinforce state prerogatives where his party was in a majority.
* As president, Jefferson pursued the nation's shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies.
* Starting in 1803, he promoted a western expansionist policy with the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the nation's claimed land area. To make room for settlement, Jefferson began the process of Indian tribal removal from the newly acquired territory.
* Following the 1801 electoral deadlock, Jefferson's relationship with his vice president, former New York Senator Aaron Burr, rapidly eroded. Jefferson suspected Burr of seeking the presidency for himself, while Burr was angered by Jefferson's refusal to appoint some of his supporters to federal office. Burr was dropped from the Republican ticket in 1804.
* Jefferson was re-elected in 1804, but his second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former vice president Aaron Burr.
* Jefferson's administration eliminated the whiskey excise and other taxes after closing "unnecessary offices" and cutting "useless establishments and expenses". They attempted to disassemble the national bank and its effect of increasing national debt, but were dissuaded by Gallatin. Jefferson shrank the Navy, deeming it unnecessary in peacetime. Instead, he incorporated a fleet of inexpensive gunboats used only for defense with the idea that they would not provoke foreign hostilities. After two terms, he had lowered the national debt from $83 million to $57 million.
* During his presidency, Jefferson allowed the diffusion of slavery into the Louisiana Territory hoping to prevent slave uprisings in Virginia and to prevent South Carolina secession. In 1804, in a compromise on the slavery issue, Jefferson and Congress banned domestic slave trafficking for one year into the Louisiana Territory. In 1806 he officially called for anti-slavery legislation terminating the import or export of slaves. Congress passed the law in 1807.
* Jefferson pardoned several of those imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts.
* In 1807, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act in response to British threats to U.S. shipping. The same year, Jefferson signed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves.
* As Jefferson saw his Democratic-Republican party triumph in two terms of his presidency and launch into a third term under James Madison, his view of the U.S. as a continental republic and an "empire of liberty" grew more upbeat. On departing the presidency in 1809, he described America as "trusted with the destines of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, and the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom and self-government."
* In December 1807, Jefferson announced his intention not to seek a third term. He turned his attention increasingly to Monticello during the last year of his presidency, giving Madison and Gallatin almost total control of affairs.
* Shortly before leaving office in March 1809, Jefferson signed the repeal of the Embargo. In its place, the Non-Intercourse Act was passed, but it proved no more effective.
* The day before Madison was inaugurated as his successor, Jefferson said that he felt like "a prisoner, released from his chains".
* After retiring from public office, Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, and designed the State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia.
* In retirement, Jefferson continued to correspond with many of the country's leaders (including his two protégées who succeeded him as president), and the Monroe Doctrine bears a strong resemblance to solicited advice that Jefferson gave to Monroe in 1823.
* Jefferson, after his retirement, sold his library of 6,500 volumes to the Library of Congress after it was ransacked by the British. Jefferson needed the cash to pay off debts, but he started buying more books. "I cannot live without books," he told John Adams.
* As he settled into private life at Monticello, Jefferson developed a daily routine of rising early. He would spend several hours writing letters, with which he was often deluged. In the midday, he would often inspect the plantation on horseback. In the evenings, his family enjoyed leisure time in the gardens; late at night, Jefferson would retire to bed with a book. However, his routine was often interrupted by uninvited visitors and tourists eager to see the icon in his final days, turning Monticello into "a virtual hotel".
* Jefferson's approximately $100,000 of debt weighed heavily on his mind in his final months, as it became increasingly clear that he would have little to leave to his heirs.
* In his advanced years, Jefferson became increasingly concerned that people understand the principles in, and the people responsible for writing, the Declaration of Independence, and he continually defended himself as its author. He considered the document one of his greatest life achievements, in addition to authoring the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and his founding of the University of Virginia.
* Jefferson's health began to deteriorate in July 1825, due to a combination of rheumatism from arm and wrist injuries, as well as intestinal and urinary disorders and, by June 1826, he was confined to bed. On July 3, Jefferson was overcome by fever and declined an invitation to Washington to attend an anniversary celebration of the Declaration.
* During the last hours of his life, Jefferson was accompanied by family members and friends, including his longtime slave mistress, Sally Hemings. Jefferson died on July 4 at 12:50 p.m. at age 83, the same day as the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. His last recorded words were "No, doctor, nothing more," refusing laudanum from his physician, but his final significant words are often cited as "Is it the Fourth?" or "This is the Fourth."
* When John Adams died later the same day as Jefferson, his last words included an acknowledgment of his longtime friend and rival: "Thomas Jefferson survives," though Adams was unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before. The sitting president was Adams's son, John Quincy Adams, and he called the coincidence of their deaths on the nation's anniversary "visible and palpable remarks of Divine Favor."
* Jefferson's remains were buried at Monticello, under an epitaph that he wrote: HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. Plainly absent from his epitaph were his political roles, including President of the United States.
* Presidential scholars and historians generally praise Jefferson's public achievements, including his advocacy of religious freedom and tolerance in Virginia. Historians also admire President Jefferson's peaceful acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from France without war or controversy, in addition to the success of his ambitious Lewis and Clark Expedition. Though modern historians are critical of his involvement with slavery, Jefferson is overwhelmingly ranked as one of the greatest presidents in American history.
* Jefferson's reputation declined during the American Civil War, due to his support of states' rights. In the late 19th century, his legacy was widely criticized; conservatives felt that his democratic philosophy had led to that era's populist movement, while Progressives sought a more activist federal government than Jefferson's philosophy allowed. Both groups saw Alexander Hamilton as vindicated by history, rather than Jefferson, and President Woodrow Wilson even described Jefferson as "though a great man, not a great American".
* In the 1930s, Jefferson was held in higher esteem; President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) and New Deal Democrats celebrated his struggles for "the common man" and reclaimed him as their party's founder.
* Jefferson became a symbol of American democracy in the incipient Cold War, and the 1940s and 1950s saw the zenith of his popular reputation.
* Following the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Jefferson's slaveholding came under new scrutiny, particularly after DNA testing in the late 1990s supported allegations that he had fathered multiple children with Sally Hemings.
* Jefferson has been memorialized with buildings, sculptures, postage, and currency. In the 1920s, Jefferson, together with George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, was chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and approved by President Calvin Coolidge to be depicted in stone at the Mount Rushmore Memorial.
* The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. in 1943, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. The interior of the memorial includes a 19-foot (6 m) statue of Jefferson by Rudulph Evans and engravings of passages from Jefferson's writings. Most prominent are the words inscribed around the monument near the roof: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
* Since Jefferson's time, controversy has revolved around his relationship with Sally Hemings, a mixed-race enslaved woman, and his late wife's half-sister. According to DNA evidence from surviving descendants and oral history, Jefferson fathered at least six children with Hemings, including four that survived to adulthood. Evidence suggests that Jefferson started the relationship with Hemings when they were in Paris, some time after she arrived there at the age of 14 or 15, when Jefferson was 44. By the time she returned to the United States at 16 or 17, she was pregnant.
* In October 2021, in response to lobbying by activists, the New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously to remove a statue of the former president from the New York City Council chamber where it had stood for more than a century. The statue was taken down in November 2021.

## References

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas\_Jefferson
* https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/thomas-jefferson/
* https://www.american-historama.org/presidents-united-states/thomas-jefferson.htm
* https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jefferson-1