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 |
|
| 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 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.
|
