Summary
Thomas Jefferson was the third president of America. He led America from 1801-1809. In addition, Jefferson was philosopher, a scientist, violinist, architect, inventor, lawyer, and landscape. He is recognized as the most intelligent person to have lead America. Jefferson was born in Sandwell, Virginia on April 1, 1743. He was raised in a wealthy family comprising of seven siblings including one brother and six sisters. His father was Peter Jefferson, who was part of the Virginia House Burgesses and his mother was Jane Randolph. In addition, his father was a cartographer who drew the first correct map of the Virginia Province, a successful farmer, and a skilled surveyor. Jefferson began school in 1752 in Tuckahoe. At nine years old, Jefferson began studying French and Latin Greek. He developed an interest in Greek and French from his childhood teacher. He studied science in New Gordonsville in 1758-1760 by James Maury. Additionally, Maury taught Jefferson the religious and educational principles that he would apply in his life. At the age of 16 years, Jefferson enrolled into William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. At the college, he studied various subjects including philosophy, metaphysics, and mathematics under George Wythe and William Small. Through these instructors, Jefferson was able to acquire acquaintance with Francis Fauqier, who was a governor at that time. He obtained his first outlooks of the development of science and the system where things were put. Jefferson developed a love for North American exploration, cartography, geology, and botany from his father and his environment. He finished his college education in 1762 and studied law afterwards with Wythe. During this period, Jefferson realized that there is an escalating tension between the Great Britain and America. He obtained an admission to the bar in 1767 and practiced law successfully, where he engaged most of his time. He made a design of his house at his Shadwell home, where supervised the building. He married Martha Wayles Skeleton in 1772 and had six children that is five daughters and a son. His four children died as well as his wife and Jefferson had to take care of the remaining two children (Slade, 2015). Therefore, it is evident that Jefferson experienced various failures and successes in his lifetime in attempts to achieve his goals.
Jefferson’s Life and Achievements
In 1769, Jefferson was elected to be a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He exhibited the ability to write resolutions and laws. He soon become part of the opposing group, which took action in resolving the conflicts between Britain and its colonies. After contributing to calming these conflicts, the colonist began experiencing challenges again prompting Jefferson to establish another agreement on nonimportation and mobilizing colonies to hold a protest. Because of his action, Jefferson was selected to attend the First Virginia Convention and represent the Albemarle County. In 1775, Jefferson was selected as one of Second Virginia Convention ( Slade, 2015).
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In June 1776, Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Although the document was redrafted because the Congress felt, it was too strong, the new version comprised most of Jefferson’s original ideas and text. The Declaration of Independence document contained information regarding the natural rights of the people, reckoned specific protests against King George III, which liberated the colonies of the U.S from any loyalty to Britain. Between 1776 and 1779, Jefferson worked as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. In this position, Jefferson focused on revising the laws of Virnia to match the ideals of the U.S that he had provided in the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence document has served as the opening text for the American democracy. In addition, it is recognized as one of the vital documents in the global history. He is known as the one of the great Founding Fathers of America. He eradicated the doctrine of entail successfully, which stated that only the heir of the owner of a property could receive it. In addition, Jefferson abolished the doctrine of entail, which dictated that in cases where the owner of a property does not provide a will, it is the oldest son who will inherit the whole property. In 1777, he drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. The statute involved separation of the state and the church as well as creating freedom of religion. Although the document was not incorporated in the law of Virginia, it is considered one of the most honored accomplishments of Jefferson ( Wills, 2018).
Jefferson became the governor of Virginia in 1779, as the second governor of Virginia. He led the Virginians through the last period of Revolutionary War. He drafted a proposal for decimal coinage as the Second Continental Congress member. Additionally, he drafted an ordinance for the Northwest Territory that established a basis for the 1787 Ordinance. In 1790, Jefferson was appointed in President Washington’s Cabinet as the secretary of state. In this position, Jefferson was able to fight for the local interests against the policies of Alexander Hamilton. In addition, he led a group of individuals recognized as the Republicans. He became a minister of France in 1785. He became the vice president in 1796 and opposed the presentation of the Sedition and the Alien Acts by drafting The Kentucky Resolutions. He served as the vice president for four years and during his term, he wrote “A Manual of Parliamentary Practice”, which acted as a guide to the legislative proceedings. This was considered one of the most suitable guides to have ever been written regarding the legislative proceedings. Additionally, Jefferson worked as the president of the American Philosophical Society ( Washington, 2018).
Jefferson was nominated as the president by the Republicans while Aaron Burr as his vice-president. He won the presidency by 73 electoral votes against his rival John Adams. His election was revolutionary of the world history because it was the first time power was transferred to another party peacefully. He was inaugurated in Washington as the president, which marked the beginning of changes in the government. After taking office, Jefferson swore to lead America with essential principles as a guidance to his administration, which will provide equal support to all states. The actual changes of Jefferson’s administration has been recorded as the most peaceful compared to all others that ruled previously. During his first term in office, Jefferson made crucial achievements that were productive and successful. For instance, he reduced the national debt to $57 million from $80 million within the first two years of taking office. Additionally, Jefferson removed the presidency from the hands of the European royalty. The most profound accomplishment of Jefferson as the president was his courageous assertions of the power of the national government and the substantial interpretations of the U.S Constitution. Another one of Jefferson’s accomplishments included simplifying the Republican government by eliminating the irrelevant branches as well as other positions that were less useful. In addition, he replaced the Federalists with Republicans. In 1808, the Republicans held most positions in government offices. Jefferson fought hard to prevent the growth of the size of the government ( Washington, 2018).
He also worked meticulously with the congress to modify the Alien Acts. The main reason behind this change was to develop a naturalization that was more relaxed. This Act required foreigners to reside in America for a period of five years before attaining citizenships of the country as opposed to the fourteen years as had previously stated in the Act. He attained credit for letting the local and state governments to handle their affairs and allowing the Federal governments to put foreign affairs first. In addition, Jefferson played an important role in the Louisiana Purchase that resulted in securing an area from Canada to the Rockies passing through the Gulf and Mississippi. The land was purchased only for fifteen million dollars, which in turn contributed to the arrangement and organization of the expedition of Clark and Lewis. He used his presidential power to achieve his interest of exploring North America and purchased the Louisiana from France. He provided William Clark and Meriwither Lewis the obligation to explore the North American territory ( Lerner, 2017).
Moreover, as the president, Jefferson was able to end the problem of Tripoli pirates who were affecting the U.S shipping in the Mediterranean. The Tripoli pirates were from North Africa, and they had disrupted these shipping activities for a very long time. He was re-elected in 1804, but he faced many challenges in accomplishing most of his goals in his second term. For instance, he failed to impeach several judges of the Federalists. Other challenges were caused by attempts by France to hinder the U.S trade by disrupting the American shipping. Also, the war between Great Britain and the Napoleonic contributed to the many challenges faced by Jefferson. However, despite the many challenges Jefferson faced, his accomplishments are astounding ( Lerner, 2017).
Jefferson wish was to be remembered through freedom maintained through education, freedom from conscience, and freedom from Britain. In addition, he opposed slavery claiming it was a violation of the natural human rights. He believe the eventual solution to the problem of race in America was banning slavery. He died in Monticello, on the 50 th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which was on July 4, 1826. In Jefferson’s final years of living, his key achievements was establishing the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. He was the founder of the University and he was personally involved in devising the idea, planning, designing, and monitoring it from its construction to recruitment of workers. This was the first secular university in the U.S. He also rekindled correspondence in the final years of his life on literature, philosophy, and politics, which is recognized as outstanding. He sold to the government his personal library to function as the basis of the Library of Congress ( Lerner, 2017).
Conclusion
It is evident that Jefferson contributed significantly towards creating change in America. He provided effective leadership during difficult times in history of America. He demonstrated leadership, diligence, and intelligence in every phase of his life. It is clear that his life involved adventure, politics, and education. Examples of some of his accomplishments include; he was the third president of the United States (1801-1809), the second vice president of America (1797-1801), the first secretary of state (1789-1794), and he drafted the Declaration of Independence of America. Through examining Jefferson’s life, one is able to understand his leadership qualities, his beliefs, and life story. He defined the true culture of America as it is today as well as shaped the lives of many people in America through his contributions both during his time and during the present time. He is revered as the spokesperson of liberty, the defender of the common people, a devotee in limited government, and the prevailing political figure during his time. Moreover, he is identified as a president who increased the authority of the government beyond the visions of his antecedents. Therefore, his practices and principles contributed significantly to making the U.S a better nation with superior ideals that have always been part of the American history and some are still being practiced today.
References
Lerner, M. (2017). Thomas Jefferson : America's Philosopher-King . Routledge.
Slade, J. W. (2015). Thomas Jefferson. American Literature and Science , 58.
Washington, H. A. (2018). The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Vol. 7). BoD–Books on Demand.
Wills, G. (2018). Inventing America : Jefferson's declaration of independence . Vintage.
