Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was a true renaissance man that was an inventor and known as an expert in law, politics, architecture, philosophy, and writing. Many know him most commonly as the third president of the United States but his most important accomplishments came outside of the presidency. Jefferson was a primary founding father and known to have written the Declaration of Independence.

* Thomas Jefferson lived most of his life in Monticello, Virginia where he became one of its most famous sons. At the peak of his prominence, Virginia was known as the most powerful colony and wielded great power in the political decisions of the day. Scholars note that by agreeing with the northern colony of Massachusetts, Jefferson–representing Virginia alongside George Washington at the continental congress–became one of the biggest proponents of the American Revolutionary War.

* Jefferson writing the Constitution remains common knowledge for Americans of all ages. Many do not know, however, that Thomas Jefferson was greatly dissatisfied with the finished product. The Revolutionary War is generally treated as this great tide in America that most supported at the outset. This was simply not the case. As part of a committee directed to write the Declaration of Independence, it was still to be seen if the second continental congress would even pass the motion to sign it. Alongside John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson wrote poetic prose containing elements of high-minded enlightenment thinking. Adams and Franklin noting the impracticality of attempting to have such a weighty document signed, they were forced to water down much of Jefferson’s most important ideals.

* Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could not have been more polarizing figures. Jefferson, tall and slender, and Adams, short and chubby, joined forces bringing Massachusetts and Virginia to the forefront of the revolutionary effort. After 1776 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson and Adams agreed on little else during their lifetimes and became the most famous political foes in American history. Thomas Jefferson would come to exalt state rights as a leader of the Democratic-Republicans, while John Adams represented the Federalists and a stronger national government. One of the most famous last words ever uttered were on July 4, 1826 when Adams muttered with dying breath, “Jefferson still lives;” when in actuality he died earlier that same day on the 50th anniversary of the singing of the Declaration of Independence.

* Jefferson became the third American president, under the Democratic-Republican banner, and the major decisions of his presidency actually strengthened the central government he so despised. He unseated his political foe John Adams, disallowing him from winning a second term, from which Jefferson went to preside over two terms himself. One decision that Thomas Jefferson struggled with throughout his life was the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Purchasing a vast wealth of land from France for just over 16 million dollars was legally ambiguous, but with that decision Jefferson widely expanded the role of the federal government.

Thomas Jefferson remains on the prominent figures of republicanism and democracy. Although he was a wealthy farmer that owned hundred of slaves, Jefferson is know to have represented the people at every juncture during his long life.