Thomas Jefferson's Monticello--Presidents: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Monticello Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello Monticello, “Little Mountain,” was the home from 1770 until his death in 1826, of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States. It is also an architectural masterpiece. Jefferson was one of America’s first and finest architects and he created, rebuilt, and revised the house throughout his long life. No president’s home than Jefferson's Monticello better reflects the personality of its owner. Jefferson, a true Renaissance man, was a giant among the Founding Fathers. His deeply-rooted disputes with Alexander Hamilton created the two-party system in the United States and launched two competing visions of what the United States should be that dominated 19th-century politics and still survive today. He was also a complex man, made up of penetrating intelligence, insatiable curiosity, high ideals, and deep contradictions. The author of the ringing assertion that “all men are created equal” was also the master of 200 slaves.

The political theorist who saw the small-scale farmer as the bedrock of American democracy was himself the owner of many thousands of acres of land and a proud member of the Virginia plantation aristocracy. In 1769, Jefferson began building his house on the plantation that he inherited from his father, Peter Jefferson. He located it on top of a hill he explored as a child. The main house was still not finished two years later. When he married Martha W. Skelton in 1772, he brought her to the South Pavilion, his bachelor quarters, because the house was not yet habitable. The newlyweds arrived on horseback during a blizzard. The original eight-room house was apparently still incomplete in the 1780s, but even so impressed European visitors with the sophistication of its design. At this stage, Jefferson knew architecture only through books, and his house closely followed the designs of Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio. Educated at the College of William and Mary, Jefferson was “the penman” of the American Revolution.

His pamphlet, A Summary View of the Rights of British America, written at Monticello and published in 1774, demonstrated his knowledge of the law and his ability to write clearly. By the time Virginia sent him to the Second Continental Congress two years later, everyone recognized him as a fluent writer and superb legal draftsman. The committee appointed to draft a declaration of independence in June 1776 selected him to write it. He submitted his last draft on July 2. Two days later, Congress adopted the final version of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson served as governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781. During this time, he drafted the important Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, although it did not become law until 1786. Driven from his home by the British and heavily criticized during his last year in office, he decided to abandon politics and retire to Monticello. The death of his wife in 1782 changed his plans. Although he lost his wife at a young age long before residing in the White House, Thomas Jefferson never remarried. They had six children, but only two survived to adulthood.

Returning to politics, he served briefly in Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he laid the foundations for the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 that established the framework for westward expansion. In 1784, he went to France as a member of a trade commission. A year later, he succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister to France. Jefferson's office at Monticello Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello Jefferson’s five years in France had a dramatic impact both on his life and on his house. He thrived on the Enlightenment principles he encountered in France and was smitten with the new Neoclassical architecture that he saw. He witnessed the early days of the French Revolution, which he called “the first chapter of the history of European liberty". When Jefferson returned to America in 1789, George Washington asked him to serve as his secretary of state. He held that position until 1793, when he resigned after a series of bitter disputes with Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury. Hamilton generally distrusted the common man and favored a strong federal government that would encourage the development of industry in the new nation.

Jefferson, on the other hand, had an abiding faith in the ability of the people to govern themselves and saw no need for a strong central government. His vision of America was of an agrarian nation of educated small farmers. The Constitution made no provision for political parties, but the new Federalist Party soon coalesced around Hamilton and his allies. Jefferson was at the heart of the Democratic-Republican Party. In the election of 1796, Jefferson finished second to John Adams, the Federalist candidate. Under the Constitution at that time, Jefferson became vice president, although the fact that the two men were from different parties guaranteed conflict. In 1800, Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, received the same number of electoral votes, throwing the decision into the House of Representatives, which finally chose Jefferson in February 1801. The two confused elections led in 1804 to the adoption of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which corrected the problems by providing for separate voting for vice president. Many Federalists feared the onset of mob rule in America after Jefferson's election in 1800, but this first transition from one political party to another passed smoothly.

The greatest achievement of Jefferson’s first term was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, more than doubling the size of the United States. Jefferson immediately dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the new territory and to continue to the Pacific Coast. Easily re-elected in 1804, Jefferson had to deal with the effects of the Napoleonic Wars between Britain and France. The Federalists tended to support the English, while the Democratic-Republicans generally leaned towards the French. In 1807, Jefferson sought to avoid war by instituting an embargo prohibiting Americans from trading with both nations. The embargo turned out to do more damage to American traders than it did to the British and the French. It was so unpopular that Jefferson wisely decided not to run for president again in 1808. At the end of his term, he happily retired to Monticello. Dumbwaiter to wine cellar at Monticello Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello By 1809, Jefferson finished the rebuilding of Monticello begun in 1796.

He transformed the original eight room Palladian villa, with its tall two-story portico, into a 21-room house designed in the fashionable Neoclassical style he saw in France. The front elevation was a deceptively low horizontal composition centered on a pavilion dominated by a columned portico and a low dome. The renovation kept most of the rooms of the original house, but more than doubled its depth. By moving the front wall forward, Jefferson provided space for two new rooms on either side of a much larger two-story entrance hall. The interior incorporated many examples of Jefferson’s ingenuity: dumbwaiters, disappearing beds, unusual lighting and ventilating arrangements, a duplicate-writing machine, folding doors, bookshelves that become storage boxes, and an extraordinary clock, which still runs by a series of weights and pulleys. Closet-like alcoves hid two steep staircases that led to low bedrooms above the high first floor and to a “ballroom” under the dome. The house lay at the center of a U-shaped plan that embraced two sunken, terrace-covered service wings set into the hillside. House slaves could do their work in these wings out of sight of the public rooms.

Small temple-like pavilions sit at the ends of the wings. Vegetable Garden at Monticello Thomas Jefferson Foundation/Monticello Jefferson, an avid horticulturist, also created the gardens at Monticello, which were a botanic showpiece, a source of food, and an experimental laboratory of ornamental and useful plants from around the world. He experimented with plant species brought over from Europe and was particularly interested in developing vineyards. Jefferson spent most of his retirement at Monticello writing and pursuing his political interests. Continuing his life-long commitment to education, he established the University of Virginia and designed the buildings surrounding its “yard.” Debts inherited from his father-in-law, the cost of entertaining his many visitors, and his inability to curb his lavish tastes contributed to serious financial problems at the end of his life. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and only a few hours before his old friend and rival, John Adams. His tomb is in the family cemetery at Monticello.

Deeply in debt after her father’s death, Jefferson's only surviving child sold Monticello and 550 acres of land for $7,000 in 1831. Uriah Levy, a wealthy naval officer who revered Jefferson, bought the neglected property three years later. He renovated the house and apparently kept it and the grounds in good condition until his death in 1858. After a long dispute over Uriah Levy’s will, his 27-year old nephew, Jefferson Levy, acquired full possession in 1879. He again restored the decaying house, opening it to the public. He also enlarged the estate to about 2,000 acres. After resisting all efforts to buy the property for many years and after the Federal Government waived the opportunity to acquire it for the nation, he finally sold Monticello and 650 acres for $500,000 to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1923. The Foundation has meticulously restored the house, grounds, and working plantation landscape to their appearance when Jefferson lived there. Visitors can gain a unique insight into the life and character of this multi-faceted man.

Plan your visit Monticello, located in Albemarle County in the Piedmont region of Central Virginia, has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Click here for the National Historic Landmark registration file: text and photos . Monticello is also designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Monticello is on Va. Route 53 near the intersection of I 64 and Va. Rte. 20, approximately two miles southeast of Charlottesville. Monticello’s street address (for mapping purposes only) is 931 Thomas Jefferson Prkwy., Charlottesville. The house and grounds are open daily, March-October from 8:00am to 5pm; and November-February from 9:00am to 4:30pm, except for Christmas. Entry is permitted until the posted closing time. The grounds are closed approximately one hour later. There is an admission fee. A variety of tours and activities are offered. For more information visit the Monticello website or call 434-984-9822.

Monticello - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google The First Monticello Born on April 13, 1743, Thomas Jefferson grew up at Shadwell, one of the largest tobacco plantations in Virginia . At the age of 21, he inherited several thousand acres of land that encompassed the family estate as well as his favorite boyhood haunt: a nearby hilltop called Monticello (Italian for “little mountain”) where he resolved to build his own home. In 1768, a year after the future president was admitted to the Virginia bar, workers broke ground on the site, beginning a decades-long process that would captivate Jefferson, bankrupt his family and produce one of America’s most iconic and historically significant architectural masterpieces. Did You Know? "I am as happy no where else and in no other society,” Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “and all my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello.” In those days, it was common for landowners to choose a stock design for their home from an English architectural handbook; a contractor would then oversee the project from start to finish.

But this particular landowner was Thomas Jefferson, the quintessential polymath, whose passions ranged from political philosophy, archaeology and linguistics to music, botany, bird watching and pasta making. (At a dinner honoring 49 American Nobel Prize winners, John F. Kennedy famously quipped, “I think that this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”) Remembered for drafting the Declaration of Independence , Jefferson also drafted the blueprints for Monticello’s neoclassical mansion, outbuildings, gardens and grounds. Though he had no formal training, he had read extensively about architecture, particularly that of ancient Rome and the Italian Renaissance . Years later, he would become an accomplished architect whose designs included the Virginia state capitol and the main buildings at the University of Virginia. Monticello was unique not only in its design but also in its use of local resources. At a time when most brick was still imported from England, Jefferson chose to mold and bake his own bricks with clay found on the property.

Monticello’s grounds provided most of the lumber, stone and limestone, and even the nails used to construct the buildings were manufactured on site. The Second Monticello In 1770, the family house at Shadwell burned down, forcing Jefferson to move into Monticello’s South Pavilion, an outbuilding, until the main house was completed. Two years later, he was joined by his new bride, Martha Wayles Skelton, the 23-year-old widowed daughter of a prominent Virginia lawyer. The couple had six children together, two of whom lived to adulthood, before Martha’s death in 1782. Devastated by the loss of his wife, Jefferson moved to France, where he served as the U.S. ambassador from 1785 to 1789. He was immediately struck by the architecture of the buildings there, particularly a certain Paris home with a U-shaped design, colonnades and a domed roof. Along with a massive trove of art, furniture and books, he returned home with a new vision for the estate.

Among other enhancements, he added a central hallway, a mezzanine bedroom floor and an octagonal dome–the first of its kind in the United States. This “second Monticello” was double the size of its original incarnation, designed to accommodate not only Jefferson’s steady stream of houseguests but also his boundless collections of books, European art, Native American artifacts, natural specimens and mementos from his travels. Monticello was also filled with Jefferson’s unique–and often ingenious–inventions. These included a revolving bookstand, a copying machine, a spherical sundial and a toenail clipper, among dozens of other devices. Monticello’s Gardens In addition to its architecture, Monticello is renowned for its extensive gardens, which Jefferson, an avid horticulturist, designed, tended and painstakingly monitored. Every year that he resided at Monticello, he kept a log of its flora–as well as the insects and diseases that ravaged them–in a diary known as the Garden Book. He grew hundreds of varieties of fruits and vegetables there, using cultivation techniques that were revolutionary for his time.

A connoisseur of European wines, Jefferson also attempted to plant a number of different grape varietals at Monticello; although his vines largely failed to thrive, he developed a reputation as America’s first serious viticulturist. Monticello the Plantation Monticello was not just a residence but also a working plantation, home to roughly 130 enslaved African Americans whose duties included tending its gardens and livestock, plowing its fields and working in its on-site textile factory. One of these slaves was Sally Hemings , who as a teenager accompanied Jefferson and his young daughters to Paris and later served as a chambermaid and seamstress at Monticello. For nearly two centuries, it has been speculated that Jefferson and Hemings had as many as six children together. These claims were bolstered by a 1998 DNA study that revealed a genetic link between their respective descendants (although some have argued that Jefferson’s younger brother, Randolph, could also have been the father).

While the true nature of Jefferson’s relationship with Sally Hemings may never come to light, it would be impossible to tell the story of Monticello without acknowledging the irony of a home whose library shelves overflowed with the great works of the Enlightenment yet were dusted by slaves. This paradox is inherent in the legacy of Jefferson himself, who wrote that all men were created equal yet made no secret of his ambivalence toward the institution of slavery. Monticello After Jefferson Known for spending lavishly on books, wine and, above all else, his beloved Monticello, Jefferson left his heirs under a small mountain of debt when he died on July 4, 1826. His daughter, Martha Randolph, was forced to sell the estate, which had already entered the early stages of decay due to years of neglect. In 1836, it was bought by Uriah Levy, a real estate speculator who was the first Jewish American to serve an entire career as a commissioned Navy officer; he and his nephew, Jefferson Monroe Levy, are largely responsible for its restoration and preservation. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, a nonprofit organization, purchased the property in 1923 and continues to operate it as a museum and educational institution.

Tags The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson | History | Smithsonian Contact Privacy Policy Terms of Use The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson A new portrait of the founding father challenges the long-held perception of Thomas Jefferson as a benevolent slaveholder (Illustration by Charis Tsevis) Smithsonian Magazine | Subscribe October 2012 With five simple words in the Declaration of Independence—“all men are created equal”—Thomas Jefferson undid Aristotle’s ancient formula, which had governed human affairs until 1776: “From the hour of their birth, some men are marked out for subjection, others for rule.” In his original draft of the Declaration, in soaring, damning, fiery prose, Jefferson denounced the slave trade as an “execrable commerce ...this assemblage of horrors,” a “cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberties.” As historian John Chester Miller put it, “The inclusion of Jefferson’s strictures on slavery and the slave trade would have committed the United States to the abolition of slavery.” From This Story Conceived by Jefferson as an agrarian idyll, Monticello (seen today) “operated on carefully calibrated brutality.” (Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, Photograph by Leonard Phillips

) (Illustration by Charis Tsevis) A 1950s editor of Jefferson’s Farm Book (a ledger page) withheld a revelation that young slave boys in the nailworks were whipped.

(The Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts at the Massachusetts Historical Society) Sewing tools attest to the slave labor that funded luxury and ease. (Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello) Nailmaking implements from Thomas Jefferson's nailery at Monticello. The young boys known as nailers hammered out 5,000 to 10,000 nails per day. (Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello) As a young man at Monticello, Isaac Granger (a freedman by 1847) produced a half ton of nails in six months. (Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA) Founding Fathers and Slaveholders That was the way it was interpreted by some of those who read it at the time as well. Massachusetts freed its slaves on the strength of the Declaration of Independence, weaving Jefferson’s language into the state constitution of 1780. The meaning of “all men” sounded equally clear, and so disturbing to the authors of the constitutions of six Southern states that they emended Jefferson’s wording. “All freemen,” they wrote in their founding documents, “are equal.” The authors of those state constitutions knew what Jefferson meant, and could not accept it.

The Continental Congress ultimately struck the passage because South Carolina and Georgia, crying out for more slaves, would not abide shutting down the market. “One cannot question the genuineness of Jefferson’s liberal dreams,” writes historian David Brion Davis. “He was one of the first statesmen in any part of the world to advocate concrete measures for restricting and eradicating Negro slavery.” But in the 1790s, Davis continues, “the most remarkable thing about Jefferson’s stand on slavery is his immense silence.” And later, Davis finds, Jefferson’s emancipation efforts “virtually ceased.” Somewhere in a short span of years during the 1780s and into the early 1790s, a transformation came over Jefferson. The very existence of slavery in the era of the American Revolution presents a paradox, and we have largely been content to leave it at that, since a paradox can offer a comforting state of moral suspended animation. Jefferson animates the paradox. And by looking closely at Monticello, we can see the process by which he rationalized an abomination to the point where an absolute moral reversal was reached and he made slavery fit into America’s national enterprise.

We can be forgiven if we interrogate Jefferson posthumously about slavery. It is not judging him by today’s standards to do so. Many people of his own time, taking Jefferson at his word and seeing him as the embodiment of the country’s highest ideals, appealed to him. When he evaded and rationalized, his admirers were frustrated and mystified; it felt like praying to a stone. The Virginia abolitionist Moncure Conway, noting Jefferson’s enduring reputation as a would-be emancipator, remarked scornfully, “Never did a man achieve more fame for what he did not do.” Thomas Jefferson’s mansion stands atop his mountain like the Platonic ideal of a house: a perfect creation existing in an ethereal realm, literally above the clouds. To reach Monticello, you must ascend what a visitor called “this steep, savage hill,” through a thick forest and swirls of mist that recede at the summit, as if by command of the master of the mountain. “If it had not been called Monticello,” said one visitor, “I would call it Olympus, and Jove its occupant.” The house that presents itself at the summit seems to contain some kind of secret wisdom encoded in its form.

Seeing Monticello is like reading an old American Revolutionary manifesto—the emotions still rise. This is the architecture of the New World, brought forth by its guiding spirit. In designing the mansion, Jefferson followed a precept laid down two centuries earlier by Palladio: “We must contrive a building in such a manner that the finest and most noble parts of it be the most exposed to public view, and the less agreeable disposed in by places, and removed from sight as much as possible.” The mansion sits atop a long tunnel through which slaves, unseen, hurried back and forth carrying platters of food, fresh tableware, ice, beer, wine and linens, while above them 20, 30 or 40 guests sat listening to Jefferson’s dinner-table conversation. At one end of the tunnel lay the icehouse, at the other the kitchen, a hive of ceaseless activity where the enslaved cooks and their helpers produced one course after another. Thomas Jefferson - U.S. Presidents - HISTORY.com Thomas Jefferson A+E Networks Introduction Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president, was a leading figure in America’s early development.

During the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), Jefferson served in the Virginia legislature and the Continental Congress and was governor of Virginia. He later served as U.S. minister to France and U.S. secretary of state, and was vice president under John Adams (1735-1826). Jefferson, who thought the national government should have a limited role in citizens’ lives, was elected president in 1800. During his two terms in office (1801-1809), the U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory and Lewis and Clark explored the vast new acquisition. Although Jefferson promoted individual liberty, he was also a slaveowner. After leaving office, he retired to his Virginia plantation, Monticello, and helped found the University of Virginia. Google Thomas Jefferson’s Early Years Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, a plantation on a large tract of land near present-day Charlottesville, Virginia .

His father, Peter Jefferson (1707/08-57), was a successful planter and surveyor and his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson (1720-76), came from a prominent Virginia family. Thomas was their third child and eldest son; he had six sisters and one surviving brother. Did You Know? In 1815, Jefferson sold his 6,700-volume personal library to Congress for $23,950 to replace books lost when the British burned the U.S. Capitol, which housed the Library of Congress, during the War of 1812. Jefferson's books formed the foundation of the rebuilt Library of Congress's collections In 1762, Jefferson graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he reportedly enjoyed studying for 15 hours then practicing violin for several more hours on a daily basis. He went on to study law under the tutelage of a respected Virginia attorney (there were no official law schools in America at the time), and began working as a lawyer in 1767.

As a member of colonial Virginia’s House of Burgesses from 1769 to 1775, Jefferson, who was known for his reserved manner, gained recognition for penning a pamphlet, “A Summary View of the Rights of British America” (1774), which declared that the British Parliament had no right to exercise authority over the American colonies. Marriage and Monticello After his father died when Jefferson was a teen, the future president inherited the Shadwell property. In 1768, Jefferson began clearing a mountaintop on the land, in preparation for the elegant brick mansion he would construct there called Monticello (“little mountain” in Italian). Jefferson, who had a keen interest in architecture and gardening, designed the home and its elaborate gardens himself. Over the course of his life, he remodeled and expanded Monticello and filled it with art, fine furnishings and interesting gadgets and architectural details. He kept records of everything that happened at the 5,000-acre plantation, including daily weather reports, a gardening journal and notes about his slaves and animals.

On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton (1748-82), a young widow. The couple moved to Monticello and eventually had six children; only two daughters–Martha (1772-1836) and Mary (1778-1804)–survived into adulthood. In 1782, Jefferson’s wife Martha died at age 33 following complications from child-birth. Jefferson was distraught and never remarried. However, it is believed he fathered more children with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings (1773-1835). Slavery was a contradictory issue in Jefferson’s life. Although he was an advocate for individual liberty and at one point promoted a plan for gradual emancipation of slaves in America, he owned slaves throughout his life. Additionally, while he wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal,” he believed African Americans were biologically inferior to whites and thought the two races could not co-exist peacefully in freedom.

Jefferson inherited some 175 slaves from his father and father-in-law and owned an estimated 600 slaves over the course of his life. He freed only a small number of them in his will; the majority were sold following his death. Thomas Jefferson and the American Revolution In 1775, with the American Revolutionary War recently under way, Jefferson was selected as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. Although not known as a great public speaker, he was a gifted writer and at age 33, was asked to draft the Declaration of Independence (before he began writing, Jefferson discussed the document’s contents with a five-member drafting committee that included John Adams and Benjamin Franklin ). The Declaration of Independence, which explained why the 13 colonies wanted to be free of British rule and also detailed the importance of individual rights and freedoms, was adopted on July 4, 1776. In the fall of 1776, Jefferson resigned from the Continental Congress and was re-elected to the Virginia House of Delegates (formerly the House of Burgesses).

He considered the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which he authored in the late 1770s and which Virginia lawmakers eventually passed in 1786, to be one of the significant achievements of his career. It was a forerunner to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects people’s right to worship as they choose. From 1779 to 1781, Jefferson served as governor of Virginia, and from 1783 to 1784, did a second stint in Congress (then officially known, since 1781, as the Congress of the Confederation). In 1785, he succeeded Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) as U.S. minister to France. Jefferson’s duties in Europe meant he could not attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787; however, he was kept informed of the proceedings to draft a new national constitution and later advocated for including a bill of rights and presidential term limits.

Jefferson’s Path to the Presidency After returning to America in the fall of 1789, Jefferson accepted an appointment from President George Washington (1732-99) to become the new nation’s first secretary of state. In this post, Jefferson clashed with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1755/57-1804) over foreign policy and their differing interpretations of the U.S. Constitution. In the early 1790s, Jefferson, who favored strong state and local government, co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose Hamilton’s Federalist Party , which advocated for a strong national government with broad powers over the economy. In the presidential election of 1796, Jefferson ran against John Adams and received the second highest amount of votes, which according to the law at the time, made him vice president. Jefferson ran against Adams again in the presidential election of 1800, which turned into a bitter battle between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Jefferson defeated Adams; however, due to a flaw in the electoral system, Jefferson tied with fellow Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr (1756-1836).

The House of Representatives broke the tie and voted Jefferson into office. In order to avoid a repeat of this situation, Congress proposed the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which required separate voting for president and vice president. The amendment was ratified in 1804 Jefferson Becomes Third U.S. President Jefferson was sworn into office on March 4, 1801; his was the first presidential inauguration held in Washington , D.C. (George Washington was inaugurated in New York in 1789; in 1793, he was sworn into office in Philadelphia, as was his successor, John Adams, in 1797.) Instead of riding in a horse-drawn carriage, Jefferson broke with tradition and walked to and from the ceremony. One of the most significant achievements of Jefferson’s first administration was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million in 1803. At more than 820,000 square miles, the acquisition (which included lands extending between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico to present-day Canada) effectively doubled the size of the United States.

Jefferson then commissioned Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770-1838) to explore the uncharted land, plus the area beyond, out to the Pacific Ocean. (At the time, most Americans lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean). The expedition, known today as the Corps of Discovery, lasted from 1804 to 1806 and provided valuable information about the geography, American Indian tribes and animal and plant life of the western part of the continent. In 1804, Jefferson ran for re-election and defeated Federalist candidate Charles Pinckney (1746-1825) of South Carolina with more than 70 percent of the popular vote and an electoral count of 162-14. During his second term, Jefferson focused on trying to keep America out of Europe’s Napoleonic Wars (1803-15). However, after Great Britain and France, who were at war, both began harassing American merchant ships, Jefferson implemented the Embargo of 1807. The act, which closed U.S.

ports to foreign trade, proved unpopular with Americans and hurt the U.S. economy. It was repealed in 1809 and, despite the president’s attempts to maintain neutrality, the U.S. ended up going to war against Britain in 1812. Jefferson chose not to run for a third term in 1808 and was succeeded in office by James Madison (1751-1836), a fellow Virginian and former U.S. secretary of state. Thomas Jefferson’s Later Years Jefferson spent his post-presidential years at Monticello, where he continued to pursue his many interests, including architecture, music, reading and gardening. He also helped found the University of Virginia, which held its first classes in 1825. Jefferson was involved with designing the school’s buildings and curriculum, and ensured that unlike other American colleges at the time, the school had no religious affiliation or religious requirements for its students. Jefferson died at age 83 at Monticello on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Coincidentally, John Adams, Jefferson’s friend, former rival and fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, died the same day. Jefferson was buried at Monticello. However, due to the significant debt the former president had accumulated during his life, his mansion, furnishing and slaves were sold at auction following his death. Monticello was eventually acquired by a non-profit organization, which opened it to the public in 1954. Jefferson remains an American icon. His face appears on the U.S. nickel and is carved into stone at Mount Rushmore . The Jefferson Memorial, near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth. Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault . Start your free trial today. Tags The Homes of Thomas Jefferson - Coldwell Banker Blue Matter General The Homes of Thomas Jefferson Founding Father. Principal Author of the Declaration of Independence. Farmer. Author. Scholar. Third President of the United States.

As if these titles were not enough, Thomas Jefferson also can add owner of one of the most famous homes in the country to his list of accomplishments David Marine Sep 14, 2012 Founding Father. Principal Author of the Declaration of Independence. Farmer. Author. Scholar. Third President of the United States. As if these titles were not enough, Thomas Jefferson also can add owner of one of the most famous homes in the country to his list of accomplishments. While many people know about Monticello, Jefferson also lived in some other interesting homes throughout his life. Let’s take a look. Poplar Forest Known as the first octagonal home in the United States, this retreat outside is located in what is now Forest, Virginia just miles outside of Lynchburg. Thomas Jefferson built this estate towards the end of his life as an escape from the hordes of visitors that came to Monticello. It was in essence a retreat, or vacation home, for this Founding Father. Jefferson is quoted as saying “It is the most valuable of my possessions” when speaking about his home at Poplar Forest. Jefferson intended to give the home to his youngest daughter, Mary Jefferson, who unfortunately died at the early age of 26.

Many refer to this home as an embodiment of Jefferson himself as it is representative of many forms of excellence including architecture, landscaping and an engineering marvel. Poplar Forest is one of only two homes that Thomas Jefferson designed and built for himself. Find out more information on this national landmark at PoplarForest.org . Tuckahoe Plantation Credited as being the boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson, it is currently part of a historic district located near Manakin Virginia. The home is estimated to have been built in 1710 although construction on it and the surrounding grounds lasted into the 1740’s. Through additions of rooms and living spaces, the home was made into an “H” shaped structure with each wing mirroring the other and connected by a main hallway. Some of the notable elements of the house include a gabled roof, 2 brick chimneys on either side of the home and beautifully wooded grounds. A small schoolhouse was built close to the home and is where Thomas Jefferson first received his education. Jefferson’s parents and families are both buried in the cemetery on the property. To learn more about Tuckahoe Plantation and its history click here .

Monticello After the White House, Monticello is arguably the most famous residence in the United States. Designed by Thomas Jefferson the home was built to reflect Italian Renaissance architecture. Located just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia, the home is perched on top of an 850 ft. high hill giving it an exceptional view of the surrounding grounds and area. The decor and other elements of the home are truly one of a kind. In the ceiling of the main entrance, Jefferson had a wind plate installed and connected to a weather vane on the roof so that just by looking up one could tell which way the wind was blowing. On the exterior East wall of the house is clock that only has an hour hand because Jefferson felt that was all that was necessary for day laborers to be able to tell what time it was. Inside the home are some amazing historical touches. The entrance hall has a collection of items gathered during the expedition of Lewis and Clark. The library is a much smaller possession of books than Jefferson’s original collection which was actually used to start the Library of Congress. Yes, Jefferson was an avid reader.

Monticello is estimated to boast over 11,000 square feet of living space in addition to having one of the most exceptional vegetable gardens and is considered an architectural marvel. If you’ve never seen Monticello in person, it’s well worth a trip. Find out more at Monticello.org . Poplar Forest image courtesy of Poplar Forest on Facebook Tuckahoe Plantation photo copyright 2010 Hannah V. Warfield Visiting Monticello | Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Save on select tours when purchasing online Featured Tours Daily, year-round Spend a day on the beautiful grounds of Monticello and get an intimate look at Thomas Jefferson. Offered two to six times a day throughout the year Have you always wanted to go upstairs at Monticello? Now you can. Hemings Family Tour Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, April through November See Monticello through the lens of the Hemings Family, the best documented enslaved family in the United States. Suggested Itineraries Monticello Neighborhood Pass - A discount combination adult ticket to tour Monticello, Highland, and Michie Tavern's Tavern Museum.

Presidents Passport - Plan your next visit to Charlottesville and Albemarle County, and Alexandria, VA, with insider travel tips and with more than 50 special offers. Presidential Itinerary - Discover three Founding Fathers within 30 miles. A Fun-filled Day with the Kids - When was the last time you touched a mastodon jawbone (well, a model of one, at least)? Wine Weekend Getaway - A toast to the good life, the weather is perfect for this trek through Virginia wine country. President's Tour Home > Area Tours > President's Tour The Presidents' Tour A wonderful way to see the local Presidents' homes and travel in comfort. You will see Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home), Ash Lawn (James Monroe's home) and Michie Tavern (18th century tavern). The trip is offered on Tuesdays departing Massanutten Resort at 7:15am (check-in at 7:00am) and returning at 5:00pm. The price is $85 for adults and $75 for children 12 and under. There is a $20 discount with the Activity Card .

Monticello Monticello is the autobiographical masterpiece of Thomas Jefferson, author of the declaration of Independence and third President of the United States, designed and redesigned and built and rebuilt for more than forty years. The gardens at Monticello were a botanical showpiece, a source of food, and an experimental laboratory of ornamental and useful plants from around the world. The Monticello plantation of 5,000 acres was a center of agriculture and industry, and was home not only to the Jefferson family, but to workers, black and white, enslaved and free. The Original building began in 1768 and continued until Jefferson's death. The home shows Jefferson's many facets, from author to inventor. In addition the new exhibit "Framing the West" commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and includes many items brought back by the pair of explorers. Michie Tavern Michie Tavern has welcomed travelers for more than 200 years. Imagine arriving by horseback, on foot, or by coach. The rooms would be thick with the scent of cooked venison and tobacco. Voices, some raised in heated political debate, would carry from room to room.

As you cross the threshold of old Michie's Tavern you enter another time. A costumed hostess welcomes you into the past as "Stranger," an early 18th-century term for a traveler. Guests will have the option of staying for "Midday Fare" offered by servers in period attire in a rustic tavern setting. The bill of fare features colonial fried chicken, black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, biscuits, cornbread, and a variety of hot and cold dishes. Virginia wines and traditional lagers are also available to complement your meal. Ash Lawn-Highland Ash Lawn-Highland is a historic house museum, 535-acre working farm, and performing arts site in Albermarle County, Virginia. President James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Kortright Monroe of New York, owned Ash Lawn-Highland from 1793 to 1826 and made it their official residence from 1799 to 1823. After the Monroes' death, the name of their farm was changed from "Highland" to "Ash Lawn"; today both names are used.

Ash Lawn-Highland continues the tradition begun by the Monroes of welcoming friends, neighbors, dignitaries, and visitors. James Monroe's "place of comfort and hospitality" is the scene of meetings, parties, picnics, a summer music festival, and a variety of educational and special events. It continues to provide an authentic view of nineteenth-century life for our many visitors through examples of early American and Victorian architecture, decorative arts from those periods, and craft demonstrations on the grounds. Click here to request your reservation now! Thomas Jefferson | whitehouse.gov Air Force One Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson, a spokesman for democracy, was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and the third President of the United States (1801–1809).

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. The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey.

Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association.

Question: """Monticello"" was the mansion owned by which US president?"
Answer: Thomas Jefferson