Facts on Thomas Jefferson

This is a list of basic Facts on Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was a Virginia lawyer who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, the writer of the Declaration of Independence, a governor of Virginia, ambassador to France and Secretary of State under President George Washington. In addition to these achievements, Thomas Jefferson was elected the third President of the United States, serving two terms in this highest office in the land. This list of Facts on Thomas Jefferson contains basic things such as birth and death dates, marriage dates, number of children and offices he held. It also contains some interesting and less well known Facts on Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson

Facts on Thomas Jefferson
Birthdate	April 13, 1743
Birthplace	Shadwell, Virginia
Parents' names	Father - Peter Jefferson, born February 29, 1708, died August 17, 1757 Mother - Jane Randolph, born 1720, died1776
Parents' occupations	Father was a planter and surveyor in Albemarle County, Virginia
Number of siblings	9
Birth order	3rd of 10 children, two died in childhood
Nicknames	The Sage of Monticello Man of the People Father of the University of Virginia
Schools attended	In 1752 at age 9, Jefferson began attending a local school that was run by a Scottish minister named William Douglas, he studied Greek, Latin and French From 1758 - 1760, attended a school run by minister James Maury in Fredericksville Parish near Gordonsville, Virginia, received a classical education, studied history and science 1760 at age 16 entered College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, studied mathematics, philosophy and metaphysics, graduated with highest honors in 1762 Studied law with George Wythe, a later signer of the Declaration of Independence
Religious Views	Raised an Anglican, in later life Jefferson apparently believed in God and the moral teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible, he apparently did not believe, however, that Jesus Christ was divine
First Occupation	Lawyer, involved with hundreds of cases between 1768 and 1773
Thomas Jefferson Family
Date of marriage, wife's name	Married 23 year old widow Martha Wayles Skelton (October 30, 1748 - September 6, 1782) on January 1, 1772, they were distant cousins
Children's names and birth order	Martha Jefferson Randolph (also known as Patsy), September 27, 1772 - October 10, 1836, named in honor of Martha Washington Jane Randolph, 1774-1775 Unnamed son, 1777 Mary Wayles (also known as Polly), 1778-1804 Lucy Elizabeth, 1780-1781 Elizabeth, 1782-1785 (Only Martha and Mary live to adulthood)
Children's occupations later in life	Martha married cousin Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. who became Governor of Virginia from 1819-1822
Famous relatives	Jefferson's mother Jane Randolph was first cousin of Peyton Randolph who became the first President of the Continental Congress Jefferson's father Peter assumed charge of Thomas Mann Randolph when he was an infant, when his father, a relative of Jane's passed away, Thomas Mann Randolph later married Thomas Jefferson's daughter Martha and became a Governor of Virginia
Facts on Thomas Jefferson - The Revolutionary War
How he got involved in the independence effort?	Jefferson served in the Virginia House of Burgesses beginning in 1769 as a representative from Albemarle County, in 1774, the British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts, which punished Bostonians for the Boston Tea Party, colonists all over America were outraged by the acts and Jefferson wrote a set of resolutions condemning the acts, these resolutions were expanded into Jefferson's first published work called "A Summary View of the Rights of British America," the document was intended as instructions for Virginia's delegation to the Continental Congress, the document was widely distributed and made Jefferson into a widely respected patriot
Did he see military action during the war?	No, but narrowly escaped capture twice during the British invasion of Virginia, including once by General Banastre Tarleton, the notorious villain in Mel Gibson's "The Patriot"
Facts on Thomas Jefferson - Offices
Which party was he in?	Democrat-Republican (today's Democrat party)
Which government offices did he hold?	Representative to House of Burgesses from Albemarle County - 1769-1776 Delegate to Continental Congress - 1775-1776 and 1783-1784 Appointed Minister to negotiate treaties with Barbary States and various European nations - 1784 Member of Virginia House of Delegates - 1776-1779 Governor of Virginia - 1779-1781 Minister Plenipotentiary to France - 1785-1789 US Secretary of State - September 26, 1789 - December 31, 1793 Vice President of the United States - March 4, 1797 - March 4, 1801 President of the United States - March 4, 1801 - March 4, 1809
Did he hold any office under the Royal government?	No
Significant accomplishments while in office?	Wrote Declaration of Independence - 1776 Signed Declaration of Independence - 1776 Directed Louisiana Purchase, purchase of much of the land west of the Mississippi from France - 1803 Sent Meriwether Lewis and Thomas Clark on their famous expedition to explore the Western United States - 1804-1806, Lewis was an aide to President Jefferson
Facts on Thomas Jefferson - Other Personal info
Selected Thomas Jefferson writings and their dates	A Summary View of the Rights of British America - July 1774 Thomas Jefferson's draft Constitution for the State of Virginia - June 1776 Original unedited draft of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson - June 1776, this is the version that Jefferson actually wrote, it was edited by the drafting committee and the full Congress into the version we know today Notes on the State of Virginia - 1781-1782 - Thomas Jefferson's only published work Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address - March 1, 1801 Thomas Jefferson's personal account of writing the Declaration of Independence - January 6, 1821 Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson - January 6, 1821
Thomas Jefferson Quotes	"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." - from "A Summary View of the Rights of British America" - 1774 "All persons shall have full and free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious institution." - from Jefferson's draft Constitution for the State of Virginia - June 1776 "He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions." - Letter to Peter Carr, his nephew, August 19, 1785 More Thomas Jefferson Quotes here.
Character and disposition	Greeted people at the White House in a robe and slippers, made formal White House dinners more casual affairs - these things earned him the nickname "Man of the People," great intellect, learned several languages, often considered a very private man - he burned all the letters between himself and his wife after her death, a terrible money manager, was heavily in debt most of his life, including at his death
Facts on Thomas Jefferson - The end of his life
Date and age of retirement	Left public office for the last time in 1809, but continued to be President of the American Philosophical Society until 1815, and designed and oversaw building of University of Virginia from roughly 1819-1825
Date of death	July 4th, 1826 (the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence) at age 83, this is the same day that Jefferson's one time rival, former President John Adams died (they became friends later in life), Jefferson died a few hours before Adams
Location of grave	Monticello, Jefferson's estate near Charlottesville, Virginia
Epitaph on gravestone	This epitaph was written by Jefferson himself. He insisted that not a word be changed: 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 BORN APRIL 2 1743 O.S. DIED JULY 4 1826 The O.S. in the birthdate stands for "Old Style," referring to the old Julian calendar used in English nations at the time of Jefferson's birth, the calendar was changed to the Gregorian in 1752
Other interesting Facts on Thomas Jefferson
Landmarks for Thomas Jefferson	Jefferson Memorial, Washington DC, dedicated on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth, the most prominent inscription, in his own words, reads: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Mount Rushmore, near Keystone, South Dakota, features the heads of Washington, Roosevelt, Lincoln and Jefferson carved into the side of a mountain Monticello, Jefferson's famous home near Charlottesville, Virginia, the home was designed by Jefferson himself - you can visit the Monticello website here
Other interesting Facts on Thomas Jefferson	One of the primary founders of the University of Virginia - 1819, Jefferson designed the original architecture and curriculum While in the Virginia legislature, Thomas Jefferson introduced a bill to outlaw the death penalty for all crimes except murder and treason, the bill failed by one vote Spearheaded the hiring of George Wythe as the first professor of law at an American university at the College of William and Mary Jefferson was six feet tall and had red hair President of the American Philosophical Society from 1797-1815 Jefferson sold his personal library of 6,487 books to the Federal government in 1815 to restart the Library of Congress which had been burned during the British invasion of Washington DC during the War of 1812 Jefferson was a slaveholder all his life, he also fought vigorously at the state and national level to abolish slavery Thomas Jefferson's likeness is feature on the United States $2 bill and the United States 5 cent nickel.