Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743. He was a good leader. He helped to build this country when it was founded.
From an early age Tom Jefferson went to school. He was a good student. One of his skills was his writing. He learned to write well. He learned to play the violin. When he could, he would practice three hours a day. As he got a little older he often studied 15 hours a day.
Jefferson went to the College of William and Mary. After college he studied law for five more years. Then he practiced law as a lawyer. He was someone who worked hard to learn many things. He learned all that he could about many different things.
Jefferson was chosen to be a leader for his colony and state. He believed that the people should have freedoms and rights. He used his writing to tell other people how he believed. Many people read and heard what he wrote. They wanted the freedoms that he wrote about. Jefferson represented Virginia at the Continental Congress. They talked about the rights of the people at the Congress meetings. They talked about what ideas to use for the colonies.
Thomas Jefferson did most of the writing for the Declaration of Independence. Others could see that he could write well. They also could see that he was very smart. He had learned many things in his years of study and service. He also helped decide what the laws would be in this country’s new constitution.
In the Declaration of Independence Jefferson said many bold things. He said that ‘all men are created equal.’ Men have rights that come from God. They have rights of ‘life,’ ‘liberty,’ and ‘happiness.’ Government gets its rights from the people. England was ignoring the rights of the people. Now, the people had the right to change or fix the laws. It also said that British taxes were not fair. The colonists were leaving the British and kicking them out of the colonies. The colonies were fighting a war of independence. Now they were not just fighting against Britain. They were fighting to have their own government.
It was now all-out war with England. Next, Jefferson went home and became the governor of Virginia. This was during the war. He was the governor for two years.
There were also other ways that he served the country. The Continental Congress asked him to be a diplomat. He said he would and was sent to France for this assignment. While he was away the Constitutional Convention was held. He missed it because of his work as a diplomat for the country.
When he got home from France, George Washington was waiting for him. Washington asked Jefferson to be the first secretary of state. Washington was the president. After Washington was president, John Adams was elected. He asked Jefferson to be the vice president.
From 1801 to 1809 Thomas Jefferson was the president of the United States. He was the third president of this new country.
Jefferson wanted to have certain laws. One thing he wanted was to have freedom of worship. First, he worked to make this the law in his state. Then he tried to pass it for the country. He also thought that slavery was wrong and tried to pass laws to stop it.
Jefferson felt that the time in office for president should not be too long. He did not want presidents to have too much power.
Since 1800 a Library or Congress had been set up to have books that Congress might need. There were 740 books and three maps in the early library. It was housed or kept in the new Capitol building. Then something terrible happened to it. In 1814 the British burned it. The then former President Jefferson had a library at his home. He had retired and was living there in Monticello, Virginia. He offered his personal library as replacement for the one that was destroyed. He told Congress that he would sell it for any price they felt was right. Congress decided on $23,950 and paid it to Jefferson. His collection had 6,487 books. This was the start of a new Library of Congress. This library is a good monument or symbol left to Jefferson’s memory. He had a thirst for learning throughout his life.
The Library of Congress expanded in 1897. At that time it moved out of the Capitol and into the Jefferson Building. It became the first building in Washington D.C. to have electricity installed (Notice the light bulbs if you visit.) As of 2015 the library was the largest collecting place for knowledge and creativity in the world. At that time it had more than 150 million items of many types.
Jefferson also started the University of Virginia. He wanted to build places where learning could take place.
Jefferson had an interesting habit. He would soak his feet in cold water every morning. He did this for 60 years. He felt that soaking his feet helped him to be healthy. Jefferson lived to be 83 years old.
Thomas Jefferson died July 4, 1826. John Adams also died that same day. July fourth was when the Declaration of Independence was signed. He was the main writer of that document.