April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826
Personal Data
Married: Martha Wayles Skelton, January 1, 1772
They had six children, two of whom survive
Into adulthood
Martha Washington Jefferson, 1772-1836
Jane Randolph Jefferson, 1774-75
Infant son, 1777
Mary Jefferson, 1778-1804
Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson I, 1780-81
Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson II, 1782-84
Parents: Peter Jefferson, wealthy landowner, planter, and surveyor
Jane Randolph Jefferson, member of first family in Virginia
Education
Law Degree from the College of William and Mary, 1762
Employment
1768-1773 Practiced law in Colonial Virginia
1776 Elected to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence
1775-79 Delegate, House of Delegates and one of the two houses of the General Assembly of
Virginia
1779 Introduced a bill on religious liberty. The bill passed in 1786.
1779 Governor, Virginia. In 1781, he retired from the governorship
1784 Submitted Notes on the Establishment of a Money Unit and of a Coinage for the United States in which the recommendation of a decimal system was introduced. Adoption of this report was in 1792.
1784-89 Commissioner, Paris. Sent initially to assisted with the negotiation of commercial treaties
1785 Minister, France
1789 Secretary of State in the first administration of George Washington. Resigned in 1793.
1797-1801 2nd Vice President of the United States, John Adams, President.
1801-09 3rd President of the United States
Awards and Honors
1943 Jefferson Memorial Dedication in Washington, D.C.
Appears in the stone at the Mount Rushmore Memorial
Portrait appears on the U.S. $2.oo dollar bill, nickel and the $100 Series EE Savings Bond
2005 A bronze monument was placed in Jefferson Park, Chicago
Membership-Professional Organizations
1797-1815 Served as president of the American Philosophical Society
Publications
1774 Wrote A Summary View of the Rights of British America
1776 Drafted Declaration of Independence
1777 Drafted Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom, passed by General Assembly in 1786
1778 Drafted Bill for the More General Diffusion on Knowledge
1787 Published Notes on the State of Virginia
Professional Interest Areas
Religious Freedom (enacted in 1786)
Leader in the Republican Party (opposed Federalism)
Education (freedom maintained through education)
Freedom of conscience
Freedom from Britain
Major Contributions to Adult Education
Founded the University of Virginia (1819)
First to offer graduate and professional studies. These offerings included law, medicine,
And the equivalent of graduate-level work in modern and ancient languages, history, math, chemistry, botany, zoology, government, ethics, and other fields.
Supported the idea of a free and open elementary school and provide instruction in reading, writing and “common arithmetic.” His views on who could have access to a free and open education beyond elementary school differed by class designation. For the rich children, they would be afforded an education at any level they chose. For the poor children, they have to show exceptional ability and were chosen to receive scholarships offered by the state, if they wanted to pursue their education beyond the elementary level.
Promoted the creation of public libraries to include books on history, geography, the elements of natural philosophy, agriculture, and mechanics.
Additional Resources
Articles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson
http://www.amazon.com/Memoir-Correspondence-Miscellanies-Papers-Jefferson/dp/B003YL3FUY/ref=sr_1_14_title_1_p?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310735547&sr=1-14
Photo Gallery
Video/Audio
Presentations
Books
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-R-B-Bernstein/dp/0195181301/ref=sr_1_25?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310735580&sr=1-25
http://www.amazon.com/American-Sphinx-Character-Thomas-Jefferson/dp/0679764410/ref=sr_1_21?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310735547&sr=1-21
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Thomas-Jefferson-American-Classic/dp/0880800062/ref=sr_1_19?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310735547&sr=1-19
http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Thomas-Jefferson/dp/1604597801/ref=sr_1_6_title_1_h?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310735518&sr=1-6
Interesting Facts
Recent DNA testing and research has suggested that President Jefferson had children with Slave Sally Hemmings. This is to this day an extremely sensitive subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Hemings
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became close friends after being bitter enemies early in their career, particularly while Adams was President. Their late life correspondence is fascinating as is the fact that they both died on the same day, July 4th. John Adams' last words in Massachusetts were, "Jefferson Lives!". However, not for much longer as Jefferson died later the same day in Virginia. http://www.amazon.com/Adams-Jefferson-Letters-Complete-Correspondence-Jefferson/dp/0807842303/ref=sr_1_26?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310735580&sr=1-26
References
Grattan, C.H. (1971). In quest of knowledge: A historical perspective on adult education. New York:
Arno Press.
The White House, Biography of Thomas Jefferson. Retrieved on July 1, 2008. From:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tj3.html
Halstead, D. (1997) Thomas Jefferson Biography. Retrieved on July 8, 2008. From:
http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/tjefferson.html
Thomas Jefferson Monticello- Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. Retrieved on July 2, 2008.
From: http://www.monticello.org/includes/printpage.php
University of Virginia, Short History of U.Va. Was the University of Virginia the first state university?
Retrieved on July 9, 2008. From: http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/shorthistory/first.html
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