Thomas Jefferson

This article is about the United States president. For other uses, see Thomas Jefferson (disambiguation).

Thomas Jefferson
3rd President of the United States
In office March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809
Vice President	Aaron Burr (1801–1805) George Clinton (1805–1809)
Preceded by	John Adams
Succeeded by	James Madison
2nd Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801
President	John Adams
Preceded by	John Adams
Succeeded by	Aaron Burr
1st United States Secretary of State
In office March 22, 1790 – December 31, 1793
President	George Washington
Preceded by	John Jay (Foreign Affairs)
Succeeded by	Edmund Randolph
United States Minister to France
In office May 17, 1785 – September 26, 1789
Appointed by	Congress of the Confederation
Preceded by	Benjamin Franklin
Succeeded by	William Short
Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation from Virginia
In office November 3, 1783 – May 7, 1784
Preceded by	James Madison
Succeeded by	Richard Henry Lee
2nd Governor of Virginia
In office June 1, 1779 – June 3, 1781
Preceded by	Patrick Henry
Succeeded by	William Fleming
Delegate to the Second Continental Congress from Virginia
In office June 20, 1775 – September 26, 1776
Preceded by	George Washington
Succeeded by	John Harvie
Personal details
Born	(1743-04-13)April 13, 1743 Shadwell, Colony of Virginia, British America
Died	July 4, 1826(1826-07-04) (aged 83) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia
Political party	Democratic-Republican, (first Republican Party)
Spouse	Martha Wayles ​ ​ (m. 1772; died 1782)​
Children	6, including Martha Jefferson Randolph and Mary Jefferson Eppes
Alma mater	College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Profession	Statesman, planter, lawyer, architect
Signature

Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S. April 2] 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American lawyer, a Founding Father and principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776). He was elected the second Vice President of the United States (1797–1801) and the third President of the United States (1801–1809). Jefferson, primarily of English ancestry, was born and educated in Virginia, where he graduated from the College of William & Mary, practiced law and married Martha Wayles Skelton; they had six children, two of whom survived to adulthood.

Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism and the individual rights theory, which motivated American colonists to break from Great Britain and form a new nation. He advanced his convictions by assuming influential political positions, producing formative documents and decisions governing the United States, at both the state and national level. During the American Revolution, he represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration, drafted legislation on religious freedom for the Virginia legislature, and served as a wartime governor (1779–1781). He became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the first United States Secretary of State in 1790–1793, serving under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party led by Alexander Hamilton in the formation of the First Party System. He was elected Vice President of the United States in the election of 1796, serving in the administration of President John Adams. Jefferson and Madison in 1798–1799 anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which sought to embolden the rights of the states as opposed to the national government; the enactments were specifically intended to nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Jefferson became President of the United States in the election of 1800, and as such pursued the nation's interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies, while almost doubling the country's territory and curtailing the international slave trade. After peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. His administration waged a brief naval campaign against the Barbary Coast states in North Africa to defend American shipping. In 1802, Jefferson founded the United States Military Academy at West Point. After his re-election in 1804, his second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the acquittal of former Vice President Aaron Burr for treason. American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson signed and implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, in response to British threats to U.S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson initiated a controversial process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River and also signed into law in 1807 the intensely debated Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, which stopped short of addressing domestic slavery. His approach to the Indians and slavery has received substantial debate, though historians generally rank Jefferson as one of the most successful U.S. Presidents.

As a polymath with work as an "architect, horticulturalist, mathematician, cryptographer, surveyor, paleontologist, author, lawyer, inventor, violinist" Jefferson displayed a diversity of talents. His foremost book publication, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), is considered the most important American book published prior to 1800. He was a proven architect in the classical tradition, and designed his home Monticello, the Virginia State Capitol and other important buildings. His keen interest in religion and philosophy also earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society. He shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. Besides English, he was well versed in Latin, Greek, French, Italian and Spanish. He founded the University of Virginia in his retirement from public office. Although ineffectual as an orator, he was a skilled writer and corresponded with many influential people in America and Europe. Jefferson owned hundreds of slaves and most historians believe that after the death of his wife Martha in 1782, he had a long-term relationship with his slave Sally Hemings, and fathered at least some of her children. Jefferson died at his home on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Early life and career

Main article: Early life and career of Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson was born the third of ten children, on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743 OS), at the family home in Shadwell, Virginia. His father was Peter Jefferson, a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen. His mother was Jane Randolph, daughter of Isham Randolph, a ship's captain and planter. Jefferson showed little interest in learning about his ancestry; on his father's side he only knew of the existence of his grandfather. Jefferson's earliest memory was being handed to a slave on horseback and carried 50 miles away to their new home, which overlooked the Rivanna River in current Albemarle County. He was of English and possible Welsh descent.

Peter Jefferson's friend William Randolph died a widower in 1745, having appointed Peter as guardian to manage his Tuckahoe Plantation and care for his four children. That year the Jeffersons relocated to Tuckahoe, where they lived for the next seven years before returning to Shadwell in 1752. Peter Jefferson died in 1757, and the Jefferson estate was divided between Peter's two sons, Thomas and Randolph. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres (2,000 ha; 7.8 sq mi) of land, including Monticello, and between 20 and 40 slaves, and had unfettered control of the property at age 21.

Education

Wren Building (rear), College of William & Mary where Jefferson studied

Jefferson began his childhood education beside the Randolph children with tutors at Tuckahoe. In 1752, he began attending a local school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister. At age nine, he initiated his study of Latin, Greek and French; he learned to ride horses and began nature studies. He was taught from 1758 to 1760 by Reverend James Maury near Gordonsville, Virginia, while boarding with Maury's family and there studied history, science and the classics.

Jefferson entered the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, at age 16, and studied mathematics, metaphysics and philosophy under Professor William Small. Small introduced him to the British Empiricists including John Locke, Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton. He also improved his French, Greek and his skill at the violin. Jefferson graduated in 1762, completing his studies in two years. He read the law under the tutelage of professor George Wythe to obtain his law license, while working as a law clerk in Wythe's office. He also read a wide variety of English classics and political works.

Jefferson treasured his books, and in 1770 his Shadwell home, including a library of 200 volumes inherited from his father, was destroyed by fire. Nevertheless, by 1773 he replenished his library with 1,250 titles, and in 1814, his collection had grown to almost 6,500 volumes. After the British burned the Library of Congress that year, he sold more than 6,000 books to the Library for $23,950. Though he had intended to pay off some of his large debt, he resumed collecting for his personal library, writing to John Adams, "I cannot live without books".

Lawyer and House of Burgesses

House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, Virginia, where Jefferson served 1769–1775

Jefferson was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767 and then lived with his mother at Shadwell. In addition to practicing law, Jefferson represented Albemarle County as a delegate in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 until 1775. He proved more willing to reform slavery in his early career than later when he became a more substantial slaveholder. In 1769 he introduced legislation allowing masters to assume full control over the emancipation of slaves, taking the discretion away from the royal Governor and his General Court. Jefferson had persuaded his cousin Richard Bland to spearhead the legislation's passage, but the reaction in the House was strongly negative.

Jefferson litigated issues on behalf of freedom-seeking slaves. One such client, Samuel Howell, of inter-racial grandparents, claimed he should be freed before the statutory age of thirty-one required for emancipation in such a case. Jefferson, who waived his fee, invoked Natural Law and argued in court, "everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will ... This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance." The judge hearing the Howell case cut him off and ruled against his client. As a consolation, Jefferson gave Howell some money, conceivably used to aid his escape shortly thereafter. Jefferson later incorporated the argument into the Declaration of Independence.

Following the passage of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament in 1774, Jefferson wrote a resolution against the acts, calling for a 'Day of Fasting and Prayer' in protest, as well as a boycott of all British goods. His resolution was later expanded into A Summary View of the Rights of British America, in which he expressed his belief that people had the right to govern themselves.

Monticello, marriage and family

Jefferson in 1768 began construction of his primary residence Monticello (Italian for "Little Mountain") on a hilltop overlooking a 5,000-acre plantation. Construction was done mostly by local masons and carpenters, assisted by Jefferson's slaves. He moved into the South Pavilion in 1770. Turning Monticello into a neoclassical masterpiece in the Palladian style was his perennial project.

Jefferson's home, Monticello

On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married his third cousin Martha Wayles Skelton, the 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton and she moved into the South Pavilion. She was a frequent hostess for Jefferson and managed the large household; biographer Dumas Malone described the marriage as the happiest period of Jefferson's life. Martha read widely, did fine needlework and was a skilled pianist—Jefferson often accompanied her on the violin or cello. During their ten years of marriage, Martha bore six children: Martha "Patsy" (1772–1836); Jane (1774–1775); a son who lived for only a few weeks in 1777; Mary Wayles "Polly" (1778–1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781); and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1785). Only Martha and Mary survived more than a few years. After her father John Wayles died in 1773, Martha and her husband inherited 135 slaves, 11,000 acres (4,500 ha; 17 sq mi) and the debts of his estate. The latter took Jefferson years to satisfy and contributed to his own financial problems.

Martha later suffered from ill health, including diabetes, and frequent childbirth further weakened her. Martha's mother had died young, and as a girl Martha lived with two stepmothers. Shortly before her death, she reportedly told Jefferson that she could not bear to have another mother raise her children, and made him promise never to marry again. A few months after the birth of her last child, she died on September 6, 1782, at the age of 33 with Jefferson at her bedside. Grief-stricken in his room, he relentlessly paced back and forth for three weeks, nearly to the point of exhaustion. He emerged, taking long rambling rides on secluded roads with daughter Martha—by her description, "a solitary witness to many a violent burst of grief".

After working as Secretary of State (1790–93), he returned to Monticello and initiated a remodeling based on the concepts he had acquired in Europe. The work continued throughout most of his presidency.

Political career 1775–1800

Declaration of Independence

U.S. Declaration of Independence - 1823 facsimile of the engrossed copy

Main article: United States Declaration of Independence

Jefferson served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress beginning in 1775 at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. He sought out John Adams who, along with the latter's cousin Samuel, had emerged as a leader of the Congress. Jefferson and Adams established a permanent friendship which led to Jefferson's work on the Declaration of Independence. Adams supported Jefferson's appointment to the Committee of Five formed to write the Declaration in furtherance of the Lee Resolution passed by the Congress. After discussing the general outline of the document, the committee decided that Jefferson would write the first draft. The committee in general, and Jefferson in particular, initially thought Adams should write the document, but Adams persuaded the committee to choose Jefferson.

Consulting with other committee members over the next seventeen days, Jefferson also drew on his own proposed draft of the Virginia Constitution, George Mason's draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and other sources. The other committee members made some changes; Jefferson had written, "We hold these truths to be sacred and un-deniable ..." which Benjamin Franklin changed to read, "We hold these truths to be self-evident." A final draft was presented to the Congress on June 28, 1776.

Congress debated the Declaration and deleted nearly a fourth of the text, including a passage critical of the slave trade. While Jefferson resented the changes, he did not speak publicly about the revisions. On July 4, 1776, the Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence, and the delegates signed the document on August 2. Jefferson's preamble is regarded as an enduring statement of human rights, and the phrase "all men are created equal" has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language" containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history".

Jefferson viewed the independence of the American people from Britain as breaking away from "parent stock", and that the War of Independence was a natural outcome of being separated by the Atlantic Ocean. In his view, English colonists were compelled to rely on "common sense" and rediscover the "laws of nature". He also maintained the independence of the original British colonies was part of a historical pattern, following a similar divergence when the Saxons left mainland Europe hundreds of years earlier and colonized Britain.

Virginia state legislator and governor

After the colonies declared their Independence, Jefferson was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates for Albemarle County in September 1776, where the finalization of a state constitution was a priority. For nearly three years, he assisted with the constitution and was especially proud of his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, which forbade state support of religious institutions or enforcement of religious doctrine. The bill failed to pass at the time, as did Jefferson's legislation to disestablish the Anglican church, but both would later be revived by James Madison and passed during Jefferson's stay in France. The political alliance Jefferson began with Madison in the Virginia legislature would prove the most important of either man's life; Madison eventually served as his chief lieutenant in the Republican party, his Secretary of State, and his successor.

In 1778, Jefferson was given the task of studying and revising the state's laws. He drafted 126 bills in three years, including laws to establish fee simple tenure in land and to streamline the judicial system. Jefferson's proposed statutes abolished primogeniture and provided for general education, which he considered the basis of "republican government". Like his religious legislation, Jefferson's bill abolishing primogeniture would not be passed until Madison reintroduced it in the 1780s.

Governor's Palace - Governor Jefferson's residence in Williamsburg

Jefferson was elected governor for one-year terms in 1779 and 1780. He transferred the state capital from Williamsburg to Richmond, and introduced measures for public education, religious freedom and revision of inheritance laws.

During General Benedict Arnold's 1781 invasion of Virginia, Jefferson was slow to understand the situation and summon the Virginia militia to defend Richmond. He escaped the poorly defended city just ahead of the British forces, and the city was burned to the ground. General Charles Cornwallis that spring dispatched a 250-man cavalry force led by Banastre Tarleton to capture Jefferson and members of the Assembly at Monticello, but Jack Jouett of the Virginia militia thwarted the British plan. Jefferson escaped to Poplar Forest, his plantation to the west. His tenure as governor in general, and his decision to flee the capital in particular, was criticized by both contemporary rivals and some later historians. The members of the General Assembly reconvened in June 1781 and considered an official inquiry into Jefferson's actions, as they believed he had failed his responsibilities as governor. The inquiry eventually concluded Jefferson had acted with honor, but he was not re-elected.

In April of the same year, his daughter Lucy died at age one. A second daughter of that name was born the following year but died at age three.

Notes on the State of Virginia

Main article: Notes on the State of Virginia

Jefferson received a letter of inquiry in 1780 about the geography, history and government of Virginia from French diplomat François Barbé-Marbois, who was gathering data on the United States. Jefferson included his written responses in a book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785). He compiled the book over five years, including reviews of scientific knowledge, Virginia's history, politics, laws, culture and geography. The book explores what constitutes a good society, using Virginia as an exemplar. Jefferson included extensive data about the state's natural resources and economy, and wrote at length about slavery, miscegenation and his belief that blacks and whites could not live together as free people in one society because of resentments over slavery. Notes was first published in 1785 in French and appeared in English in 1787. Biographer George Tucker considers the work "surprising in the extent of the information which a single individual had been thus able to acquire, as to the physical features of the state", and Merrill D. Peterson describes it an accomplishment for which all Americans should be grateful.

Member of Congress

Independence Hall Assembly Room where Jefferson served in Congress

Following its victory in the Revolutionary War and peace treaty with Great Britain in 1783, the United States formed a Continental Congress, to which Jefferson was appointed as a Virginia delegate. As a member of the committee setting foreign exchange rates, he recommended an American currency based on the decimal system, and his plan was adopted. He also advised formation of the Committee of the States, to fill the power vacuum when Congress was in recess. The Committee met when Congress adjourned the following June, but within two months, disagreements rendered the Committee dysfunctional.

In the Congress's 1783–84 session, Jefferson acted as chairman of committees to establish a viable system of government for the new Republic and propose a policy for the settlement of the western territories. Jefferson was the principal author of the Land Ordinance of 1784, whereby Virginia ceded to the national government the vast area it claimed northwest of the Ohio River. He insisted this territory not be used as colonial territory by any of the thirteen states, but that it be divided into sections which could become states. He plotted borders for nine new states in their initial stages and also wrote an ordinance banning slavery in all the nation's territories. Congress made extensive revisions, including rejection of the ban of slavery. The provisions banning slavery, known later as the 'Jefferson Proviso', were modified and implemented three years later in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and became the law for the entire Northwest.

Minister to France

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson while in London in 1786, by Mather Brown

Jefferson was sent by the Confederation Congress to join Benjamin Franklin and John Adams as ministers in Europe for negotiation of trade agreements with England, Spain, and France. Some believed the recently widowed Jefferson was depressed and that the assignment would distract him from his wife's death. Taking his young daughter Patsy and two servants, he departed in July 1784 and arrived in Paris the next month. When the French foreign minister, the Count de Vergennes, commented to Jefferson, "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear," Jefferson replied, "I succeed. No man can replace him." Franklin resigned as minister to France in March 1785, and departed in July.

Jefferson had Patsy educated at the Pentemont Abbey. To serve the household, Jefferson brought some of his slaves, including James Hemings, whom he had trained in French cuisine. In 1786, Jefferson met and fell in love with Maria Cosway, an accomplished, and married, Italian-English musician of 27. They saw each other frequently over a period of six weeks. She returned to Great Britain, but they maintained a lifelong correspondence. Jefferson sent for his youngest surviving child, nine-year-old Polly, in June 1787. She was accompanied by Sally Hemings, a slave and younger sister of James. That year Jefferson suffered a fall and fractured his right wrist, requiring him to write with his left hand for a time.

While in France he became a regular companion of the Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero of the American Revolutionary War, and used his influence to procure trade agreements with France. As the French Revolution began, Jefferson allowed his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Langeac, to be used for meetings by Lafayette and other republicans; he was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille and consulted with Lafayette while the latter drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Jefferson often found his mail opened by postmasters, so he invented his own enciphering device, the 'Wheel Cipher'; he wrote important communications in code for the rest of his career. Jefferson left Paris in September 1789 with the intention of returning soon; however, President George Washington appointed him the nation's first Secretary of State, forcing him to remain in the U.S. Jefferson remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution, although he opposed some of its more violent elements.

Secretary of State

See also: First Party System

Thomas Jefferson portrait by Charles Peale, 1791

Soon after Jefferson's return from France, he accepted Washington's invitation to serve as Secretary of State. In his new position, Jefferson strongly opposed Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton on issues of national fiscal policy, especially the funding of war debts. He later associated Hamilton's Federalist Party with "Royalism," and said the "Hamiltonians were panting after ... crowns, coronets and mitres."

The first major issues before the Cabinet were the national debt and the permanent location of the capital. Jefferson had always opposed the mounting debt. Hamilton, desirous of the national government consolidating the various states' debts, proposed his Assumption bill to which Jefferson objected. They also differed on the permanent location of the capital: Hamilton wanted the capital close to the major commercial centers of the Northeast, whereas Washington and Jefferson, along with other agrarians, wanted it located to the south. After much deliberation, the Compromise of 1790 was struck at a private dinner including James Madison. Under this agreement, the nation's capital was located on the Potomac River, and the federal government assumed the war debts of all 13 states.

In May 1792 Jefferson was alarmed at the political rivalries taking shape, and wrote to Washington, urging him to run for re-election that year as a unifying influence. He entreated the president to rally the citizenry to a party that would defend democracy against the corrupting influence of banks and monied interests, as espoused by the Federalists. Historians recognize this letter as the earliest delineation of Democratic-Republican Party principles. Jefferson, Madison and other Democratic-Republican organizers favored states' rights and local control and opposed federal concentration of power, whereas Hamilton sought more power for the federal government.

Jefferson supported France against Britain when the two nations fought in 1793, though his arguments in the Cabinet were undercut by French Revolutionary envoy Edmond-Charles Genêt's open scorn for President Washington. Jefferson believed that political success at home depended on victory for the French. In his discussions with British Minister George Hammond, Jefferson tried unsuccessfully to persuade the British to acknowledge their violation of the Treaty of Paris, to vacate their posts in the Northwest and to compensate the U.S. for slaves whom the British had freed at the end of the war. Seeking a return to private life, Jefferson resigned the cabinet position in December 1793. Jefferson's Federalist critics and some later historians believed he also considered it an opportune time to bolster his political influence from outside the administration.

After the Washington administration negotiated the unpopular Jay Treaty with Great Britain (1794), Jefferson saw a cause around which to rally his party and organized opposition from Monticello. The treaty, designed by Hamilton, aimed to reduce tensions and increase trade. Jefferson warned that it would increase British influence and subvert republicanism, calling it "the boldest act [Hamilton and Jay] ever ventured on to undermine the government". The Treaty passed, but Jefferson made sure it was not renewed when it expired in 1805. Jefferson continued his pro-French stance; during the violence of the Reign of Terror, he declined to disavow the revolution because "To back away from France would be to undermine the cause of republicanism in America."

Election of 1796 and Vice Presidency

Further information: United States presidential election, 1796 and Democratic-Republican Party

1796 Electoral College vote

In the presidential campaign of 1796, Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Federalist John Adams by 71–68, and he was thereby elected as Vice President. As the presiding officer of the Senate, Jefferson assumed a more passive role than Adams had as Vice President. He allowed the Senate to freely conduct debates and confined his participation to issues of procedure, which he called an "honorable and easy" role. Jefferson had previously studied parliamentary law and procedure for forty years, making him unusually well qualified to serve as presiding officer. In 1800, he published his assembled notes on Senate procedure as A Manual of Parliamentary Practice.

Jefferson held four confidential talks with the French consul Joseph Létombe in the spring of 1797 in which he attacked Adams, predicted that his rival would serve only one term, and encouraged France to invade England. Jefferson advised Létombe to stall any American envoys sent to Paris by instructing him to "listen to them and then drag out the negotiations at length and mollify them by the urbanity of the proceedings." This toughened the tone that the French government adopted toward the new Adams administration. After Adams' initial peace envoys were rebuffed, Jefferson and his supporters lobbied for the release of papers related to the incident, soon called the XYZ Affair after the letters used to disguise the identities of the French officials involved. However, the tactic backfired when the papers revealed that the French officials had demanded bribes, rallying public support against the French and behind Adams. The U.S. then began an undeclared naval war with France known as the Quasi-War.

During the Adams presidency, the Federalists rebuilt the military, levied new taxes and enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson believed that these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered the laws unconstitutional. To rally opposition, he and Madison anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, declaring that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states. Though the resolutions followed the "interposition" approach of Madison—in which states may shield their citizens from federal laws they deem unconstitutional—Jefferson advocated nullification, allowing states to outright invalidate federal laws. Jefferson also warned that, "unless arrested at the threshold", the Alien and Sedition Acts would "necessarily drive these states into revolution and blood".

Historian Ron Chernow writes that "the theoretical damage of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions was deep and lasting, and was a recipe for disunion", contributing to the American Civil War as well as later events. Washington was so appalled by the resolutions that he told Patrick Henry that if "systematically and pertinaciously pursued", the resolutions would "dissolve the union or produce coercion."

Election of 1800

1800 Electoral College vote

Main article: United States presidential election, 1800

In the 1800 presidential election, Jefferson contended once more against Federalist John Adams. He secretly financed James Callender to write inflammatory pamphlets attacking the administration, and when Callender was prosecuted and jailed under the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Republicans made his case a cause célèbre for press freedom and a major issue in the election. Adams' campaign was further weakened by unpopular taxes and vicious Federalist infighting over his actions in the Quasi-War. Republicans accused Adams and other Federalists of being secret monarchists, while Federalists charged that Jefferson was a godless libertine in thrall to the French. Both sides saw the survival of the nation at stake, and historian Joyce Appleby describes the resulting election as "one of the most acrimonious in the annals of American history".

Republicans ultimately won more electoral college votes, but Jefferson and his vice-presidential candidate Aaron Burr unexpectedly received an equal total. Due to the tie, the election was decided by the Federalist-dominated House of Representatives. Hamilton lobbied Federalist representatives on Jefferson's behalf despite their rivalry, believing him a lesser political evil than Burr. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson President and Burr Vice President.

The event was marked by Republican celebrations throughout the country. Some of Jefferson's opponents argued that he owed his victory over Adams to the South's inflated number of electors, due to counting slaves as partial population under the Three-Fifths Compromise. Federalist Timothy Pickering called him the "Negro President", and critics like the Mercury and New-England Palladium of Boston charged that he had the gall to celebrate his election as a victory for democracy when he won "the temple of Liberty on the shoulders of slaves." Others alleged that Jefferson secured James Asheton Bayard's tie-breaking electoral vote by guaranteeing the retention of various Federalist posts in the government. Jefferson disputed the allegation, and the historical record is inconclusive.

Despite Federalist dismay, the transition proceeded smoothly, marking a watershed in American history. As historian Gordon S. Wood writes, "it was one of the first popular elections in modern history that resulted in the peaceful transfer of power from one 'party' to another."

Presidency (1801–1809)

Main article: Presidency of Thomas Jefferson

The Jefferson cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	Thomas Jefferson	1801–1809
Vice President	Aaron Burr	1801–1805
George Clinton	1805–1809
Secretary of State	James Madison	1801–1809
Secretary of the Treasury	Samuel Dexter	1801
Albert Gallatin	1801–1809
Secretary of War	Henry Dearborn	1801–1809
Attorney General	Levi Lincoln, Sr.	1801–1804
	John Breckinridge	1805–1806
Caesar A. Rodney	1807–1809
Secretary of the Navy	Benjamin Stoddert	1801
Robert Smith	1801–1809

Jefferson was sworn in by Chief Justice John Marshall at the new Capitol in Washington DC on March 4, 1801. In contrast to his predecessors, Jefferson exhibited a dislike of formal etiquette; he arrived alone on horseback without escort and dressed in plain attire. His inaugural address struck a note of reconciliation, declaring, "We have been called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." Jefferson nominated moderate Republicans to his cabinet: James Madison as Secretary of State, Henry Dearborn as Secretary of War, Levi Lincoln as Attorney General and Robert Smith as Secretary of Navy.

Upon assuming office, he first confronted an $83 million national debt. He began to dismantle Hamilton's Federalist fiscal system with the help of his Secretary of Treasury, Albert Gallatin. Jefferson's administration began by eliminating the whiskey excise and all other federal internal taxes, stating that closing "unnecessary offices" and cutting "useless establishments and expenses" allowed for the discontinuation of internal taxes. The new executive also attempted to disassemble the national bank and its effect of increasing the national debt, but was dissuaded by Gallatin. Jefferson also significantly reduced the Navy, deemed unnecessary during peacetime. At the conclusion of his two terms, he had lowered the national debt from $83 million to $57 million.

Jefferson pardoned several of those imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts, including Callender. Congressional Republicans successfully repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which removed nearly all of Adams' 'midnight judges' from office. A subsequent appointment battle led to the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Marbury v. Madison, which asserted judicial review over executive branch actions. Jefferson appointed three Supreme Court justices in the course of his presidency: William Johnson (1804), Henry Brockholst Livingston (1807) and Thomas Todd (1807).

Following the advice of Washington, Adams, Hamilton and others, Jefferson and the Congress in 1802 authorized the funding and construction of the United States Military Academy at West Point on the Hudson River. On March 16, 1802, Jefferson signed the Military Peace Establishment Act, directing that a corps of engineers be established and "constitute a Military Academy." The Act would provide well-trained officers for a professional army. The Academy officially opened on July 4, 1802, and began providing trained officers for a professional army.

On April 30, 1802, Jefferson signed a bill to allow Ohio to hold a state constitutional convention. Ohio became a state on March 1, 1803, the first state admitted under the Northwest Ordinance.

First Barbary War

Main article: First Barbary War

Barbary Coast of North Africa 1806. Left is Morocco at Gibraltar, center is Tunis, and right is Tripoli.

As long as the U.S. remained a colony, its merchant ships had been protected from Barbary Coast pirates by the British navy. After independence, however, pirates often captured U.S. merchant ships, pillaged cargoes and enslaved or held crew members for ransom. Jefferson had opposed paying tribute to the Barbary States since as far back as 1785, and in 1801, he authorized a U.S. Navy fleet under Commodore Richard Dale to make a show of force in the Mediterranean, the first American naval squadron to cross the Atlantic. Following the fleet's first engagement, Jefferson successfully asked Congress for a declaration of war. The subsequent 'First Barbary War' was the first foreign war fought by the U.S.

After Yusuf Karamanli, the pasha of Tripoli, captured the USS Philadelphia, Jefferson authorized the U.S. Consul to Tunis, William Eaton, to lead a force to restore the pasha's older brother to the throne. The American navy forced Tunis and Algiers into breaking their alliance with Tripoli. After Jefferson ordered five separate naval bombardments of Tripoli, the pasha signed a treaty that restored peace in the Mediterranean. Though this victory proved only temporary, according to Wood, "many Americans celebrated it as a vindication of their policy of spreading free trade around the world and as a great victory for liberty over tyranny." Jefferson continued to pay the remaining Barbary States until the end of his presidency.

Louisiana Purchase

Main article: Louisiana Purchase

In 1802, fearing for the security of Mississippi River shipping, Jefferson ordered James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston to negotiate with Napoleon to purchase New Orleans and adjacent coastal areas from France. Napoleon made a counteroffer to sell a territory in excess of a million square miles for $15 million, and the U.S. negotiators quickly accepted. The Senate ratified the purchase treaty by a vote of 24–7. Most thought this was an exceptional opportunity, despite Republican reservations about the Constitutional authority of the federal government to acquire land. The purchase doubled the nation's size, and the new territory included some of the most fertile land on Earth. The sale also marked the end of French imperial ambitions in North America, removing an obstacle to U.S. westward expansion.

After the purchase, Jefferson preserved the region's Spanish legal code and instituted a gradual approach for integrating white residents into U.S. democracy; he believed a period of autocratic rule would be necessary while Louisianians adjusted to their new nation. Historians have differed in their assessments regarding constitutional and racial implications of the sale, which preserved slavery in the territory and cleared the way for Indian removal. However, Jefferson's acquisition is generally considered a major accomplishment and a pivotal contribution toward America's western growth; Frederick Jackson Turner called it the formative event in U.S. history, and Henry Adams compared it to the winning of the Revolutionary War itself.

Lewis and Clark and other expeditions

Main articles: Lewis and Clark Expedition, Red River Expedition (1806), and Pike expedition

Map of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark Expedition

Anticipating further westward settlements as a result of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson arranged for the exploration and mapping of the uncharted territory. He also sought to establish a U.S. claim ahead of competing European interests and to find the remote Northwest Passage. Influenced by exploration accounts of Le Page du Pratz in Louisiana (1763) and Captain James Cook in the Pacific (1784), Jefferson and others persuaded Congress in 1804 to fund an expedition to explore and map the newly acquired territory to the Pacific Ocean.

Jefferson appointed Meriwether Lewis and William Clark leaders of the Corps of Discovery, to explore and document scientific and geographic knowledge. Lewis and Clark recruited 45 men and spent a winter preparing near St. Louis. Setting out in May 1804 and guided by Sacagawea and various Native American tribes along the way, the expedition traced the Columbia River and reached the Pacific Ocean by November 1805. They returned to St. Louis September 23, 1806, having lost only one man to disease. The expedition obtained a wealth of scientific and geographic knowledge, including knowledge of many Indian tribes.

In addition to the Corps of Discovery, Jefferson organized three other western expeditions: the William Dunbar and George Hunter expedition on the Ouachita River (1804–1805), the Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis expedition (1806) on the Red River, and the Zebulon Pike expedition (1806–1807) into the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. All three produced valuable information about the American frontier.

Native American and Haitian policies

Main article: Thomas Jefferson and Indian removal

Engraved portrait of Jefferson, Bureau of Engraving and Printing

As governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, Jefferson had recommended forcibly moving the Cherokee and Shawnee tribes who had allied with the British to lands west of the Mississippi River. But once in the White House, with the colonial and native civilizations in collision and the British inciting Indian tribes, Jefferson quickly took measures to avert another major conflict. He struck a deal with officials of Georgia: if Georgia would release its legal claims to lands to its west, the U.S. military would help expel the Cherokee people from Georgia. This facilitated his policy of western expansion, to "advance compactly as we multiply". His deal arguably violated the existing treaty between the United States government and the Cherokee Nation, which guaranteed its people the right to their historic lands.

Jefferson believed that natives should abandon their own cultures, religions and lifestyles, and assimilate to western European customs and agriculture. As he told Secretary of War Dearborn, then in charge of Indian affairs, the alternative to peaceful assimilation was extinction: "if ever we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe, we will never lay it down until that tribe is exterminated, or driven beyond the Mississippi ... we shall destroy all of them." Historians such as Peter S. Onuf and Merrill D. Peterson argue that Jefferson's actual Indian policies did little to promote assimilation and simply acted as a pretext to seize Native American lands, and Joseph Ellis and Jon Meacham describe him as an early architect of Indian removal.

Haiti was founded in 1804 as the second republic in the world after its successful slave revolution in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Jefferson refused to diplomatically recognize Haiti, fearing the success of the "slave republic" would rouse the American South's slaves to rebellion. Jefferson also supported an arms and trade embargo against Haiti. Nevertheless, during the Haitian revolution, when Jefferson wanted to discourage French control in 1802–1803, he allowed arms and contraband goods to reach Saint-Domingue.

Re-election in 1804 and second term

Further information: United States presidential election, 1804

1804 Electoral College vote

Jefferson's successful first term occasioned his re-nomination for president by the Republican party, with George Clinton replacing Burr as his running mate. The Federalist party ran Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, John Adams' vice-presidential candidate in the 1800 election. The Jefferson-Clinton ticket won overwhelmingly in the electoral college vote, by 162 to 14, promoting their achievement of a strong economy, lower taxes and the Louisiana Purchase.

A split developed in the Republican party, led by fellow Virginian John Randolph of Roanoke in March 1806. Jefferson and Madison had backed resolutions to limit or ban British imports in retaliation for British actions against American shipping. Madison also proposed spending $20 million in roads and canals in infrastructure, leading to the National Road west from Maryland. Randolph felt these measures were akin to Federalist activism, and he formed a congressional caucus of "Quids", calling for purity in republican principles and roundly denouncing Jefferson and Madison.

Jefferson's popularity further suffered in his second term due to his response to wars in Europe. Positive relations with Great Britain had diminished due partly to the antipathy between Jefferson and the British diplomat Anthony Merry. And after Napoleon's decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, Napoleon became more aggressive in his negotiations over trading rights, which American efforts failed to counter. Jefferson then led the enactment of the Embargo Act of 1807, directed at both France and Great Britain. This triggered economic chaos in the US and was strongly criticized at the time, resulting in Jefferson having to abandon the policy a year later.

During the revolutionary era the states abolished the international slave trade, but South Carolina reopened it. Jefferson in his annual message of December 1806 denounced the "violations of human rights" attending the international slave trade, calling on the newly elected Congress to criminalize it immediately. In 1807, Congress passed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, which Jefferson signed. While the act established severe punishment against international slave trade, it did not address the issue domestically.

In the wake of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson sought to annex Florida from Spain, as brokered by Napoleon. Congress agreed to the president's request to secretly appropriate purchase money, in the "$2,000,000 Bill". The Congressional funding drew criticism from Randolph who believed the money would wind up in coffers of Napoleon. The bill was signed into law; however, negotiations for the project failed. Jefferson lost clout among fellow Republicans and his use of unofficial Congressional channels was sharply criticized.

Burr conspiracy

Further information: Burr–Hamilton duel and Burr conspiracy

Aaron Burr, early 1800s

Following the 1801 electoral deadlock, Jefferson's relationship with Vice President Aaron Burr had rapidly eroded. Jefferson suspected Burr of seeking the presidency for himself, while Burr was angered by Jefferson's refusal to appoint some of Burr's supporters to federal office. Burr was dropped from the Republican ticket in 1804. Later that year, he killed Hamilton in a duel and was indicted for murder, ending his political career.

Burr headed west, and with Louisiana Territory governor James Wilkinson, began large-scale recruitment for a military expedition. Burr appears to have discussed a number of possible plots—seizing control of Mexico or Spanish Florida, or forming a secessionist state in New Orleans or the Western U.S.—and historians remain unclear as to his true goal. Wilkinson, perhaps fearing for his own safety, eventually reported Burr's actions to Jefferson, who ordered Burr's arrest for treason.

Burr's 1807 conspiracy trial became a national issue. Jefferson attempted to preemptively influence the verdict by telling Congress that Burr's guilt was "beyond question", but the case came before his longtime political foe John Marshall, who dismissed the treason charge. Burr's legal team presented a capable defense on the remaining charge of conspiracy, and at one stage, attempted to subpoena Jefferson. Jefferson refused to testify, making the first argument for executive privilege in U.S. history, but agreed to provide relevant documents. After a three-month trial, the jury acquitted Burr and was denounced by an enraged Jefferson.

Chesapeake–Leopard Affair and Embargo Act

Main article: Chesapeake–Leopard Affair

The British conducted raids on American shipping and kidnapped seamen in 1806–07; thousands of Americans were thus impressed into their service. In 1806 Jefferson issued a call for a boycott of British goods; on April 18 Congress passed the Non-Importation Acts but they were never enforced. Later that year Jefferson asked James Monroe and William Pinkney to negotiate with Great Britain to end the harassment of American shipping, though Britain showed no signs of improving relations. A treaty was finalized but lacked any provisions to end impressment.

The British ship HMS Leopard fired upon the USS Chesapeake off the Virginia coast in June 1807, and Jefferson prepared for war. He issued a proclamation banning armed British ships from U.S. waters. He presumed unilateral authority to call on the states to prepare 100,000 militia and ordered the purchase of arms, ammunition and supplies, writing, "The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation [than strict observance of written laws]". The USS Revenge, dispatched to demand an explanation from the British government, was also fired upon. Jefferson called for a special session of Congress in October to enact an embargo or in the alternative consider war.

A political cartoon showing merchants dodging the "Ograbme", which is 'Embargo' spelled backwards (1807)

In December news arrived that Napoleon had extended the Berlin Decree, globally banning British imports. In Britain, George III ordered redoubling efforts at impressment, including American sailors. But the war fever of the summer faded–Congress had no appetite to prepare the U.S. for war. Jefferson asked for and received the Embargo Act, an alternative that allowed the U.S. more time to build up defensive works, militias and naval forces. Later historians have seen irony in Jefferson's assertion of such federal power. Meacham opines that the Embargo Act was a projection of power that surpassed the Alien and Sedition Acts, and R.B. Bernstein writes that Jefferson "was pursuing policies resembling those he had cited in 1776 as grounds for independence and revolution".

Secretary of State James Madison supported the embargo with equal vigor to Jefferson, while Treasury Secretary Gallatin opposed it, due to its indefinite time frame and the risk it posed to the policy of American neutrality. The U.S. economy suffered, criticism grew, and opponents began evading the embargo. Instead of retreating, Jefferson sent federal agents to secretly track down smugglers and violators. Three acts were passed in Congress during 1807 and 1808, called the Supplementary, the Additional and the Enforcement acts. Though the government could not prevent American vessels from trading with the European belligerents once they had left American ports, the embargo triggered a devastating decline in exports.

Most historians consider Jefferson's embargo to have been ineffective and harmful to American interests. Appleby describes the strategy as Jefferson's "least effective policy", and Joseph Ellis calls it "an unadulterated calamity". Others, however, portray it as an innovative, nonviolent measure which aided France in its war with Britain while preserving American neutrality. Jefferson believed that the failure of the embargo was due to selfish traders and merchants showing a lack of "republican virtue", and maintained that had the embargo been widely observed, it would have avoided war in 1812.

In December 1807, with his popularity at its lowest ebb, Jefferson announced his intention to not to seek a third term. He turned his attention increasingly to Monticello during the last year of his presidency, giving Madison and Gallatin almost total control of affairs. Shortly before leaving office in March 1809, Jefferson signed the repeal of the Embargo. In its place the Non-Intercourse Act was passed, but it proved no more effective. The day before Madison was inaugurated as his successor, Jefferson said that he felt like "a prisoner, released from his chains".

Later years

Main article: Thomas Jefferson and education

Following his political retirement, Jefferson spent most of his time pursuing educational interests–selling his vast collection of books to the Library of Congress, and founding and building the University of Virginia.

As he settled into private life at Monticello, Jefferson developed a daily routine of rising early. He would spend several hours writing letters, with which he was often deluged. In the midday, he would often inspect the plantation on horseback. In the evenings, his family often recreated in the gardens; late at night, Jefferson would retire to bed with a book. However, his routine was often interrupted by uninvited visitors and tourists eager to see the icon in his final days, turning Monticello into "a virtual hotel".

University of Virginia

Main article: University of Virginia

The University of Virginia, Jefferson's "Academical Village"

Jefferson envisioned a university free of church influences where students could specialize in many new areas not offered at other colleges. He believed education engendered a stable society, which should provide publicly funded schools accessible to students from all social strata, based solely on ability. He initially proposed his University in a letter to Joseph Priestley in 1800, and in 1819 the 76-year-old Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. He organized the state legislative campaign for its charter and with the assistance of Edmund Bacon, purchased the location. He was the principal designer of the buildings, planned the University's curriculum and served as the first rector upon its opening in 1825.

Jefferson was a strong disciple of Greek and Roman architectural styles, which he believed to be most representative of American democracy. Each academic unit, called a pavilion, was designed with a two-story temple front, while the library 'Rotunda' was modeled on the Roman Pantheon. The layout of the university's grounds, which Jefferson called the 'Academical Village', reflected his educational ideas. The ten pavilions, which included classrooms and faculty residences, formed a quadrangle, and were connected by colonnades behind which stood the students' rows of rooms. Gardens and vegetable plots were placed behind the pavilions and were surrounded by serpentine walls, affirming the importance of the agrarian lifestyle. The university had a library rather than a church at its center, emphasizing its secular nature—a controversial aspect at the time.

When Jefferson died in 1826, James Madison replaced him as rector. Jefferson bequeathed most of his library to the University.

Reconciliation with Adams

In the first decades of their political careers, Jefferson and John Adams had been good friends, serving together in the Continental Congress in the 1770s and in Europe in the 1780s. The Federalist/Republican split of the 1790s divided them, however, and Adams felt betrayed by Jefferson's sponsorship of partisan attacks, such as the libels of James Callender. After Jefferson succeeded Adams as president, the two men did not communicate directly for more than a decade.

In 1812, prompted by mutual friend Benjamin Rush, Adams wrote a short New Year's greeting to Jefferson, to which the latter warmly responded. Thus began what historian David McCullough calls "one of the most extraordinary correspondences in American history". Over the next fourteen years, the former presidents exchanged 158 letters discussing their political differences, justifying their respective roles in events, and debating the revolution's import to the world. When Adams died, his last words included an acknowledgement of his longtime friend and rival: "Thomas Jefferson survives".

Lafayette's visit

Main article: Visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States

In the summer of 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette accepted an invitation from President James Monroe to visit the U.S. Jefferson and Lafayette had not seen each other since 1789. After visiting friends and dignitaries in New York, New England and Washington, Lafayette arrived at Monticello on November 4.

Jefferson's grandson Randolph was present and recorded the historic reunion: "As they approached each other, their uncertain gait quickened itself into a shuffling run, and exclaiming, 'Ah Jefferson!' 'Ah Lafayette!', they burst into tears as they fell into each other's arms." Jefferson and Lafayette then retired to the house to reminisce. The next morning Jefferson, Lafayette and James Madison attended a tour and banquet at the University of Virginia. Jefferson had someone else read a speech he had prepared for Lafayette, as his voice was weak and could not carry. This was his last public presentation. After an eleven-day visit, Lafayette bid Jefferson goodbye and departed Monticello.

Final days

Jefferson's gravesite

Jefferson's approximately $100,000 of debt weighed heavily on his mind in his final months, as it became increasingly clear he would have little to leave to his heirs. In February 1826, he successfully applied to the Virginia legislature to hold a public lottery as a fundraiser. His health began to deteriorate in July 1825, due to a combination of rheumatism from arm and wrist injuries, as well as intestinal and urinary disorders, and by June 1826 he was confined to bed. On July 3 Jefferson was overcome by fever and declined an invitation to Washington to attend an anniversary celebration of the Declaration.

During the last hours of his life, he was accompanied family members and friends. On July 4 at 12:50 p.m., Jefferson died at age 83; it was the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and just a few hours before the death of John Adams. The sitting president, Adams' son John Quincy, called the coincidence of their deaths on the nation's anniversary "visible and palpable remarks of Divine Favor".

Jefferson's remains were buried at Monticello, under a self-written epitaph: "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." Jefferson died deeply in debt, unable to pass on his estate freely to his heirs. Though he gave instructions for disposal of his assets in his will, including the freeing of Sally Hemings' children, his estate, possessions and slaves were sold at public auctions starting in 1827. In 1831 Monticello was sold by Martha Jefferson Randolph and the other heirs.

Political and religious views

See also: Jeffersonian democracy and Republicanism in the United States

Jefferson's political ideals were greatly influenced by the writings of Locke, Bacon and Newton, whom he considered the three greatest men that ever lived. He was also influenced by the writings of Gibbon, Hume, Robertson, Bolingbroke, Montesquieu and Voltaire. He thought the independent yeoman and agrarian life were ideals of republican virtues. He distrusted cities and financiers, favored decentralized government power, and believed that the tyranny that had plagued the common man in Europe was due to corrupt political establishments and monarchies. Having supported efforts to disestablish the Church of England, and having authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he pressed for a wall of separation between church and state. The Republicans under Jefferson were strongly influenced by the 18th-century British Whig Party, who believed in limited government. His Democratic-Republican Party became dominant in early American politics, and his views became known as Jeffersonian democracy.

Society and government

According to Jefferson, citizens have "certain inalienable rights" and "rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others." Jeffersonian government not only prohibited individuals in society from infringing on the liberty of others, but also restrained itself from diminishing individual liberty as a protection against tyranny from the majority. While he believed most people could not escape corrupting dependence, the franchise should be extended only to those who could, including the yeoman farmer. He disliked inter-generational dependence, such as national debt and unalterable governments. He was convinced that individual liberties were the fruit of equality, threatened only by government. Excesses of democracy in his view were caused by institutional corruptions rather than human nature. He remained less suspicious of working democracy than many of his contemporaries.

As president, Jefferson tried to restore the balance between the state and federal governments as it existed under the Articles of Confederation, seeking to shift the balance of power back to the states. He acted out of his republican theory that liberty could only be retained in small, homogeneous societies. He felt that the Federalist system enacted by Washington and Adams had encouraged corrupting patronage and dependence.

Democracy

Sully's portrait of Jefferson at West Point (1821)

As a proponent of democracy, Jefferson considered it to be the very expression of society as a whole, and called for national self-determination, cultural uniformity and education of all males of the commonwealth. He supported public education and a free press as essential components of a democratic nation.

After leaving Washington's cabinet as Secretary of State, by October 1795 Jefferson's thoughts turned to the electoral bases of the Republicans and Federalists. The "Republican" classification of the United States for which he advocated included 1) "the entire body of landholders" everywhere, and 2) "the body of laborers" without land. Republicans united behind Jefferson as Vice President, with the election of 1796 expanding democracy nationwide, including local committees and correspondence networks. County committees framed local Republican tickets and spawned partisan Republican newspapers. Privately, Jefferson promoted Republican candidates to run for local state offices. He sought an aristocracy of merit, an example being his vice presidential candidate choice in George Clinton, the child of Irish immigrants.

Beginning with Jefferson's electioneering for the "revolution of 1800", his democratic efforts were based on egalitarian appeals. Jefferson in his later years referred to the 1800 election "as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of '76 was in its form", one "not effected indeed by the sword ... but by the ... suffrage of the people." Voter participation grew in Jefferson's two terms, increasing to "unimaginable levels" compared to the Federalist Era, with doubled turnouts. John Quincy Adams noted following Jefferson's 1804 election, "The power of the Administration rests upon the support of a much stronger majority of the people throughout the Union than the former Administrations ever possessed."

In retirement, Jefferson gradually became critical of his home state for violating "the principle of equal political rights"–the social right of universal male suffrage. Initially, with the onset of the Revolution, Jefferson had accepted Blackstone's principle that property ownership would lead to the independent will required from voters in a republic, but he sought to further expand suffrage by land distribution to the poor. In the heat of the Revolutionary Era and afterward, with Jefferson's support, several states expanded voter eligibility from landed gentry to include male Euro-American tax-paying citizens, those owning either their own houses or their own tools and paying taxes on them. In response to a pamphlet advocating a Virginia Constitutional Convention, he went further than the radical convention promoters. He sought a "general suffrage" of all taxpayers and militia-men, as well as equal representation by voter population in the state legislature, not skewed to favor slave-holding regions of the state. He also favored a reform of Virginia's county courthouse system, to more nearly resemble that of the more democratic townships of New England.

Benefits of rebellion

In a 1787 letter to Madison, Jefferson wrote, "A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. ... It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." He wrote to Abigail Adams the same year that "the spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all." Concerning the casualties in Shays' Rebellion, Jefferson wrote, "What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

As late as 1804 before his second term began, Jefferson even seemed at ease with the prospect of dividing the nation into separate democracies. In view of a prospective republic in the Mississippi River Valley, they would be "as much our children and our descendants" alongside any coastal confederacy remaining. "I feel myself as much identified with that [western] country ... as with this [United States].

He said of the French Revolution, "The liberty of the whole world was depending on the issue of the contest". Jefferson once argued that America would become the world's great "empire of liberty"—that is, the model for democracy and republicanism. On departing the presidency in 1809, he described America as "trusted with the destinies of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, and the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom and self-government".

Religion

Further information: Religious views of Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson's Bible featuring only the words of Jesus from the evangelists, in parallel Greek, Latin, French and English

Jefferson was influenced by deism, although he generally referred to himself as a Christian. He abandoned "orthodox" Christianity after his review of New Testament teachings. Jefferson praised the morality of Jesus and edited a compilation of his biblical teachings, omitting miraculous or supernatural references, and titled it The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (now referred to as Jefferson Bible). He was a governing member of his local Episcopal Church, which he attended with his daughters. Peterson states that Jefferson was a theist "whose God was the Creator of the universe ... all the evidences of nature testified to His perfection; and man could rely on the harmony and beneficence of His work."

In 1777, he drafted Virginia's An Act of Establishing Religious Freedom. The Act was ratified in 1786, making it unlawful to compel men to attend or donate money to religious establishments, and declaring that men "shall be free to profess ... their opinions in matters of religion." Jefferson was firmly anticlerical, writing that in "every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty ... they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon ... the safer for their purposes." He once supported banning clergy from public office but later relented.

Jefferson's unorthodox religious beliefs became an important issue in the 1800 presidential contest, when Federalist pamphleteers described him as an atheist and infidel; Wood describes these attacks as "the most damaging charge [Jefferson's] opponents ever made against him". As president, Jefferson countered the accusations by praising religion in his inaugural address and attending services at the Capitol.

Banks

Alexander Hamilton, proponent of the national bank and Jefferson's principal political adversary

Jefferson distrusted government banks, and opposed public borrowing which he thought created long-term debt, bred monopolies and invited dangerous speculation as opposed to productive labor. In one letter to Madison, he argued that each generation should curtail all debt within 19 years, and not impose a long-term debt on subsequent generations.

In 1791, President Washington asked Jefferson, then Secretary of State and Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, if the Congress had the authority to create a national bank. While Hamilton believed Congress had the authority, Jefferson and Madison thought a national bank would ignore the needs of individuals and farmers, and would violate the Tenth Amendment by assuming powers not granted to the federal government by the states.

Jefferson used the agrarian resistance to banks and speculators as the first defining principle of an opposition party, recruiting candidates for Congress on the issue as early as 1792. As president, Jefferson was persuaded by Gallatin to leave the national bank intact, but still sought to restrain its influence.

Slavery

Main article: Thomas Jefferson and slavery

Jefferson's 1795 Farm Book, page 30, lists 163 slaves at Monticello.

Jefferson lived in a planter economy largely dependent upon slavery, and as a wealthy slave owner, used slave labor for his household, plantation and workshops. He first recorded his slaveholding in 1774, when he counted 41. In his lifetime he owned over 600 slaves, about 175 of which he inherited from his father and father-in-law; most of the remainder were born on his plantations. Jefferson also purchased slaves in order to unite their families or to fill specific labor needs, and he sold about 110 individuals for economic reasons, primarily slaves from his outlying farms. Historians have generally described Jefferson as a benevolent slaveowner. Nevertheless, some have expressed doubts.

Though he felt slavery was harmful to both slave and master, Jefferson continued to use slaves for profit. Historians are divided on the degree to which he opposed the institution–he was silent on emancipation during his presidency and only freed a few slaves. In 1779, Jefferson proposed gradual voluntary training and resettlement to the Virginia legislature, and three years later drafted legislation allowing owners to free their own slaves. In his draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson had included a section, stricken by other Southern delegates, criticizing George III's support of the slave trade. He proposed legislation to the Congress in 1784 to end slavery in the Western Territories in the year 1800, but was defeated by one vote. In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, a partial victory for Jefferson that terminated slavery in the Northwest Territory. As president, he supported and signed legislation banning the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Jefferson considered blacks mentally and physically inferior to whites and "as incapable as children", but argued that they nonetheless had innate human rights. In Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson infuriated fellow Virginians by calling slavery a moral evil: "I tremble for my country. When I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever". However, he feared that a large population of freed slaves would lead to interracial violence, stating that "nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government." He compared the situation of Southern slaveholders to having "the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other." Jefferson therefore supported colonization plans that would transport freed slaves to another country, such as Liberia or Sierra Leone, though he recognized the impracticability of such proposals.

Jefferson–Hemings controversy

Main article: Jefferson–Hemings controversy

The claim that Thomas Jefferson fathered the children of his slave Sally Hemings has been debated since 1802. That year James T. Callender, after Jefferson denied him a position as postmaster, alleged that Jefferson had taken Hemings as a concubine and had fathered several children with her. John Wayles, her father and slavemaster, was also the father of Jefferson's wife Martha. Hemings was three-quarters white and some have described her to have similar features to Jefferson's late wife.

In 1998, a panel of researchers conducted a Y-DNA study of living descendants of Jefferson's uncle, Field, and of a descendant of Hemings' son, Eston Hemings. The results, published in the journal Nature, showed a Y-DNA match with the male Jefferson line, and were accompanied by an article by previously skeptical biographer Joseph Ellis endorsing the findings. Since the DNA tests, most biographers and historians have concluded that Jefferson had a long-term relationship with Hemings. In 2000, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (TJF) assembled a team of historians whose report concluded that "the DNA study, combined with multiple strands of currently available documentary and statistical evidence, indicates a high probability that Thomas Jefferson fathered Eston Hemings, and that he most likely was the father of all six of Sally Hemings's children appearing in Jefferson's record". Other scholars maintain that the evidence is insufficient to prove Jefferson's paternity conclusively, and note the possibility that other family members, including his brother Randolph and Randolph's five sons, could have fathered Hemings' children.

Hemings' first child was conceived while she and Jefferson were in France during his term as US Ambassador. Her son Madison stated that since slavery had been abolished in France, Hemings only agreed to come home with Jefferson on condition that their children would be freed at the age of 21, and that Jefferson kept this promise. Jefferson freed two slaves of the extended Hemings family in the 18th century, and later allowed two of her children to leave Monticello without formal manumission when they came of age. Five other Hemings family members, including her two remaining sons, were freed by his will upon his death. Although not formally emancipated, Hemings herself was allowed by Jefferson's daughter Martha to live in Charlottesville as a free woman until Hemings' death in 1835.

Interests and activities

Virginia State Capitol, designed by Jefferson (wings added later)

Jefferson was a farmer, with a keen curiosity in new crops, soil conditions, garden designs and scientific agricultural techniques. His main cash crop was tobacco, but its price was usually low and it was rarely profitable. He tried to achieve self-sufficiency with wheat, vegetables, flax, corn, hogs, sheep, poultry and cattle to supply his family, slaves and employees, but he had cash flow problems and was always in debt.

In the field of architecture, Jefferson helped popularize the Neo-Palladian style in the United States through designs for the Virginia State Capitol, the University of Virginia, Monticello and others. Jefferson mastered architecture through self-study, using various books and classical architectural designs of the day. His primary authority was Andrea Palladio's The Four Books of Architecture, which exposed him to the principles of classical design.

He was interested in birds and wine, and was a noted gourmet; he was also a prolific writer and linguist, and spoke several languages. As a naturalist, he was fascinated by the Natural Bridge geological formation, and in 1774 successfully applied to George III to be granted the Bridge and surrounding land.

American Philosophical Society

Jefferson was a member of the American Philosophical Society for 35 years, beginning in 1780. Through the Society he advanced the sciences and Enlightenment ideals, emphasizing that knowledge of science reinforced and extended freedom. His Notes on the State of Virginia was written in part as a contribution to the Society. He became the Society's third president on March 3, 1797, a few months after he was elected U.S. Vice President. In accepting, Jefferson stated: "I feel no qualification for this distinguished post but a sincere zeal for all the objects of our institution and an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated through the mass of mankind that it may at length reach even the extremes of society, beggars and kings."

Jefferson served as APS President for the next eighteen years, including through both terms of his presidency. He introduced Meriwether Lewis to the Society, where various scientists tutored him in preparation for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He finally resigned on January 20, 1815, but remained active through correspondence.

Linguistics

Jefferson had a lifelong interest in linguistics, could read and write in a number of languages and was fluent in several, including Greek, Italian, French and German. He claimed to have taught himself Spanish in nineteen days, using only a grammar guide and a copy of Don Quixote. He also collected and understood a number of American Indian vocabularies and instructed Lewis and Clark to record and collect various Indian dialects during their Expedition. In his early years he excelled in classical language while at boarding school where he received a classical education in Greek and Latin. He later came to regard the Greek language as the "perfect language" as expressed in its laws. While attending the College of William & Mary, he taught himself Italian.

Linguistics played a significant role in how Jefferson modeled and expressed political and philosophical ideas. He believed that the progression of language provided a good model for the advancement of political thought and that change in language was the result of common sense, natural law and consequently public acceptance and usage. He believed that the study of ancient languages was essential in understanding the roots of modern language. While criticizing the British for not recognizing various colonial dialects, Jefferson wanted the English language largely left intact, and taught that way to American school children. Jefferson later included Italian and Anglo-Saxon among the languages taught at the University of Virginia.

Jefferson was not a good orator and preferred to communicate through writing or remain silent if possible. Instead of delivering his State of the Union addresses himself, Jefferson wrote the annual messages and sent a representative to read them aloud in Congress. This started a tradition which continued until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson chose to deliver his own State of the Union address.

Inventions

Jefferson invented many small practical devices and improved contemporary inventions, including a revolving book-stand and a "Great Clock" powered by the gravitational pull on cannonballs. He improved the pedometer, the polygraph (a device for duplicating writing) and the moldboard plow, an idea he never patented and gave to posterity. Jefferson can also be credited as the creator of the swivel chair, the first of which he created and used to write much of the Declaration of Independence.

As Minister to France, Jefferson was impressed by the military standardization program known as the Système Gribeauval, and initiated a program as president to develop interchangeable parts for firearms. For his inventiveness and ingenuity, he received several honorary Doctor of Law degrees.

Historical reputation

Further information: List of places named for Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC

Jefferson is a historical icon of individual liberty, democracy and republicanism, hailed as the author of the Declaration of Independence, an architect of the American Revolution and a renaissance man who promoted science and scholarship. The participatory democracy and expanded suffrage he championed defined his era and became a standard for later generations. Meacham writes that "judged by the raw standard of the winning and the keeping of power ... Thomas Jefferson was the most successful political figure of the first half-century of the American republic. For thirty-six of the forty years between 1800 and 1840, either Jefferson or a self-described adherent of his served as president of the United States: James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren." Jefferson is also recognized for having written more than 18,000 letters of political and philosophical substance during his life, which Francis D. Cogliano describes as "a documentary legacy ... unprecedented in American history in its size and breadth".

Jefferson's reputation declined during the American Civil War due to his perceived support of states' rights. In the late 19th century, his legacy was widely criticized; conservatives felt his democratic philosophy had led to that era's populist movement, while Progressives sought a more activist federal government than Jefferson's philosophy allowed. Both groups saw Hamilton's views as vindicated by history, rather than Jefferson's, and President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) described Jefferson as "not a great American".

In the 1930s, however, Jefferson was held in higher esteem as President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–45) and New Deal Democrats celebrated his struggles for "the common man" and reclaimed him as their party's founder. Jefferson subsequently became a symbol of American democracy in the incipient Cold War, and the 1940s and '50s saw the zenith of his popular reputation. Following the African-American Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and '60s, Jefferson's slaveholding came under new scrutiny, causing another decline in his reputation, particularly after a 1998 DNA test supported allegations that he had a sexual relationship with Sally Hemings. The Siena Research Institute poll of presidential scholars, begun in 1982, has consistently ranked Jefferson as one of the five best U.S. presidents, and a 2015 Brookings Institution poll of American Political Science Association members ranked him as the fifth greatest president.

Memorials and honors

Jefferson has been memorialized with buildings, sculptures, postage and currency. Jefferson has been honored on U.S. Postage since 1856, and was the second president to be featured. His portrait appears on the U.S. $2 bill, the nickel and a presidential dollar coin. In the 1920s, Jefferson, together with George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, was chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and approved by President Calvin Coolidge to be depicted in stone at the Mount Rushmore Memorial.

The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. in 1943, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. The interior of the memorial includes a 19-foot (6 m) statue of Jefferson and engravings of passages from his writings. Most prominent are the words inscribed around the monument near the roof: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Writings

• A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)
• Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775)
• Declaration of Independence (1776)
• Memorandums taken on a journey from Paris into the southern parts of France and Northern Italy, in the year 1787
• Notes on the State of Virginia (1781)
• Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States A report submitted to Congress (1790)
• "An Essay Towards Facilitating Instruction in the Anglo-Saxon and Modern Dialects of the English Language" (1796)
• Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States (1801)
• Autobiography (1821)
• Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

See also

• Jefferson Monroe Levy
• List of Presidents of the United States by previous experience

Bibliography

Main article: Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson

Scholarly studies

• Adams, Herbert Baxter (1888). Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia. U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Alexander, Leslie (2010). Encyclopedia of African American History (American Ethnic Experience). ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-769-2.
• Ambrose, Stephen E. (1996). Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-81107-9.
• Andresen, Julie (2006). Linguistics in America 1769–1924: A Critical History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-97611-9.
• Appleby, Joyce Oldham; Jr., Arthur M. Schlesinger, (February 1, 2003). Thomas Jefferson: The American Presidents Series: The 3rd President, 1801–1809. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-6924-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Bailey, Jeremy D. (2007). Thomas Jefferson and Executive Power. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 978-1-139-46629-5.
• Banner Jr., James M. (1974). C. Vann Woodward (ed.). Responses of the Presidents to Charges of Misconduct. Delacorte Press Dell Publishing Co., Inc. ISBN 0-440-05923-2.
• Bassani, Luigi Marco (2010). Liberty, State & Union: The Political Theory of Thomas Jefferson. Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-88146-186-2.
• Bear, James Adam (1967). Jefferson at Monticello. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-0022-3.
• Bear, James A. (1974). "The Last Few Days in the Life of Thomas Jefferson". Magazine of Albemarle County History. 32. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Bernstein, Richard B. (2003). Thomas Jefferson. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-518130-2.
• Bernstein, Richard B. (2004). The Revolution of Ideas. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514368-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Berry, Trey; Beasley, Pam; Clements, Jeanne (2006). The Forgotten Expedition, 1804–1805: The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter. LSU Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-3165-7.
• Bober, Natalie (2008). Thomas Jefferson: Draftsman of a Nation. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2732-9.
• Brodie, Fawn (1974). Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-31752-7.
• Bowers, Claude (1945). The Young Jefferson 1743–1789. Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Burstein, Andrew (2006). Jefferson's Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-00813-1.
• Burstein, Andrew; Isenberg, Nancy (2010). Madison and Jefferson. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6728-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Burstein, Andrew (2015). Democracy's Muse: How Thomas Jefferson Became an FDR Liberal, a Reagan Republican, and a Tea Party Fanatic, All the While Being Dead. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-3722-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Chernow, Ron (2004). Alexander Hamilton. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-009-0.
• Cogliano, Francis D (2008). Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2499-7.
• Cooke, Jacob E. (1970). "The Compromise of 1790". William and Mary Quarterly. 27 (4): 523–545. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
• Crawford, Alan Pell (2008). Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson. Random House Digital. ISBN 978-1-4000-6079-5.
• Davis, David Brion (1999). The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770–1823. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-988083-6.
• Drinnon, Richard (1997). Facing West: The Metaphysics of Indian-Hating and Empire-Building. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2928-0.
• Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt (1904). The suppression of the African slave-trade to the United States of America. Longmans, Green and Co.
• Elkins, Stanley M.; McKitrick, Eric L. (1993). The Age of Federalism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-506890-0.
• Ellis, Joseph J. (1996). American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-44490-9.
• Ellis, Joseph J. (2000). Thomas Jefferson: Genius of Liberty. Viking Studio. ISBN 978-0-670-88933-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Ellis, Joseph J. (2003). Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4000-7768-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Ellis, Joseph J. (2008). American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding of the Republic. Random House LLC. ISBN 978-0-307-26369-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Ferling, John (2000). Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513409-4.
• Ferling, John (2004). Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-516771-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Ferling, John (2013). Jefferson and Hamilton: the rivalry that forged a nation. Bloomsbury Press. ISBN 978-1-60819-542-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Finkelman, Paul (1989). "Evading the Ordinance: The Persistence of Bondage in Indiana and Illinois". Journal of the Early Republic, vol.9, issue 1. doi:10.2307/3123523.
• Finkelman, Paul, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties A-F Index. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-135-94704-0.
• Fliegelman, Jay (1993). Declaring Independence. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-2076-2.
• Foster, Eugene A.; et al. (November 5, 1998). "Jefferson fathered slave's last child". Nature (396): 27–28. doi:10.1038/23835. Retrieved November 2, 2015. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first1= (help)
• Frawley, William J., ed. (2003). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513977-8 https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC&q=Jefferson#v=snippet&q=Jefferson&f=false. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2006). The Wars of the Barbary Pirates: To the Shores of Tripoli – The Rise of the US Navy and Marines. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-030-7.
• Fritz, Harry W. (2004). The Lewis and Clark Expedition. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-31661-6.
• Gordon-Reed, Annette (1997). Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. University Press of Virginia. ISBN 978-0-8139-1698-9.
• Gordon-Reed, Annette (2008). The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-06477-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Gray, Edward; Kamensky, Jane (2013). The Oxford Handbook of the American Revolution. Oxford University Press USA. ISBN 978-0-19-974670-5.
• Greider, William (2010). Who Will Tell the People. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-2874-9.
• Guttridge, Leonard F. (2005). Our Country, Right Or Wrong: The Life of Stephen Decatur. Tom Doherty Associates. ISBN 978-0-7653-0702-6.
• Halliday, E. M. (2009). Understanding Thomas Jefferson. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-019793-3.
• Harrison, John Houston (1935). Settlers by the Long Grey Trail: Some Pioneers to Old Augusta County, Virginia, and Their Descendants of the Family of Harrison and Allied Lines. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 978-0-8063-0664-3.
• Hart, Charles Henry (1899). Browere's Life Masks of Great Americans. De Vinne Press for Doubleday and McClure Company.
• Hayes, Kevin J. (2008). The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530758-0.
• Hellenbrand, Harold (1990). The Unfinished Revolution: Education and Politics in the Thought of Thomas Jefferson. Associated University Presse. ISBN 978-0-87413-370-7.
• Helo, Ray (2013). Thomas Jefferson's Ethics and the Politics of Human Progress: The Morality of a Slaveholder. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-43555-1.
• Herring, George C. (2008). From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-974377-3.
• Hogan, Pendleton (1987). The Lawn: A Guide to Jefferson's University. University Press of Virginia. ISBN 978-0-8139-1109-0.
• Howe, Daniel Walker (2009). Making the American Self: Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-974079-6.
• Hyland, William G (2009). In Defense of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemings Sex Scandal. Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-89089-085-1.
• Kaminski, John Paul (1995). A Necessary Evil?: Slavery and the Debate Over the Constitution. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-945612-33-9.
• Kaplan, Lawrence S. (1980). Jefferson and France: An Essay on Politics and Political Ideas. Yale University Press.
• Kaplan, Lawrence S. (1999). Thomas Jefferson: Westward the Course of Empire. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8420-2630-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Kastning, Ernst H. (2014). Natural Bridge. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-4777-6.
• Keyssar, Alexander (2009). The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-01014-1.
• Maier, Pauline (1997). American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-45492-2.
• Malone, Dumas, ed. (1933). "Jefferson, Thomas". Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. 10. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 17–35.
• Malone, Dumas. Jefferson (6 vol. 1948–1981)
  • Malone, Dumas (1948). Jefferson, The Virginian. Jefferson and His Time. Vol. 1. Little Brown. OCLC 1823927. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help), E'book
  • Malone, Dumas (1951). Jefferson and the Rights of Man. Jefferson and His Time. Vol. 2. Little Brown. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
  • Malone, Dumas (1962). Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty. Jefferson and His Time. Vol. 3. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-54475-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
  • Malone, Dumas (1970). Jefferson the President: First Term, 1801–1805. Jefferson and His Time. Vol. 4. Little Brown. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
  • Malone, Dumas (1974). Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805–1809. Jefferson and His Time. Vol. 5. Little Brown. OCLC 1929523. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
  • Malone, Dumas (1981). The Sage of Monticello. Jefferson and His Time. Vol. 6. Little Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-54478-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Mapp, Alf J. (1991). Jefferson: Passionate Pilgrim. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-517-09888-2.
• Matthewson, Tim (1995). "Jefferson and Haiti". The Journal of Southern History. 61 (2): 209–48. doi:10.2307/2211576. JSTOR 2211576.
• Matthewson, Tim (1996). "Jefferson and the Non-recognition of Haiti". American Philosophical Society. 140 (1): 22–48. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Mayer, David N. (1994). The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson (Constitutionalism and Democracy). University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-1485-5.
• McCullough, David (2001). John Adams. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4711-0452-7.
• McDonald, Robert M. S. (2004). Thomas Jefferson's Military Academy: Founding West Point. Jeffersonian America. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2298-0.
• McEwan, Barbara (1991). Thomas Jefferson, Farmer. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-89950-633-3.
• Meacham, Jon (2012). Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Random House LLC. ISBN 978-0-679-64536-8.
• Melton, Buckner F. (2001). Aaron Burr: Conspiracy to Treason. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-39209-5.
• Melton, Buckner F. (2004). The Quotable Founding Fathers. Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1-61234-287-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Merwin, Henry Childs (1901). Thomas Jefferson. Houghton, Mifflin.
• Miller, John Chester (1980). The Wolf by the Ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 0-452-00530-2.
• Miller, Robert J. (2008). Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-1598-6.
• Onuf, Peters S. (2000). Jefferson's Empire: The Language of American Nationhood. U of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2204-1.
• Onuf, Peter S. (2007). The Mind of Thomas Jefferson. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2611-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Peterson, Merrill D. (1960). The Jefferson Image in the American Mind. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 0-8139-1851-0.
• Peterson, Merrill D. (1970). Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation; a Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-500054-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Peterson, Merrill D. (1977). The Portable Thomas Jefferson. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-101-12766-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Peterson, Merrill D. (2002). "Thomas Jefferson". In Graff, Henry (ed.). The Presidents: A Reference History (7th ed.). Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 39–56. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Phillips, Julieanne (1997). "Northwest Ordinance (1787)". In Rodriguez, Junius (ed.). The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery. ABC-CLIO. pp. 473–74.
• Randall, Willard Sterne (1994). Thomas Jefferson: A Life. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-097617-9.
• Rayner, B. L. (1834). Life of Thomas Jefferson. Lilly, Wait, Colman, & Holden.
• Rodriguez, Junius (2002). The Louisiana Purchase: a historical and geographical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-188-5.
• Schwabach, Aaron (2010). "Thomas Jefferson, Slavery, and Slaves". Thomas Jefferson Law Review. 33 (1): 1–60.
• Sheehan, Bernard (1974). Seeds of Extinction: Jeffersonian Philanthropy and the American Indian. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-00716-9.
• Shuffelton, Frank (1974). "Introduction". In Jefferson, Thomas. (ed.). Notes on the State of Virginia. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-043667-9.
• Stewart, John J. (1997). Thomas Jefferson: Forerunner to the Restoration. Cedar Fort. ISBN 978-0-88290-605-8.
• Tucker, George (1837). The Life of Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States; 2 vol. Carey, Lea & Blanchard.
• Tucker, Robert W. (1990). Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson. Cogliano Press. ISBN 978-0-19-802276-3.
• Urofsky, Melvin, I., ed. (2006). Biographical Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court: The Lives and Legal Philosophies of the Justices. CQ Press. ISBN 978-1-4522-6728-9. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Wilentz, Sean (2005). The Rise of American Democracy. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 108–11. ISBN 0-393-05820-4.
• Wood, Gordon S (2006). Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-093-9.
• Wood, Gordon S (2010). Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-503914-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Wood, Gordon S. (2011). The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-290-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• Yarbrough, Jean M.; Jefferson, Thomas (2006). The Essential Jefferson. Hackett Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60384-378-2.

Web site sources

• "American President: A Reference Resource". University of Virginia: Miller Center. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
• Barger, Herbert. "The Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study". Jefferson DNA Study Group. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
• "Carving History". Mount Rushmore National Memorial. National Park Service. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
• "Founding of the University". University of Virginia. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
• Haimann, Alexander T. (May 16, 2006). "5-cent Jefferson". Arago, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
• "Jefferson's library". Library of Congress. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
• "Jefferson Nickel". U.S. Mint. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
• "Jefferson's Vision of the Academical Village". University of Virginia. October 14, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
• "Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson". The White House. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
• Roberts, Gary Boyd (April–May 1993). "The Royal Descents of Jane Pierce, Alice and Edith Roosevelt, Helen Taft, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Barbara Bush". American Ancestors. New England Historic Genealogical Society. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
• Rottinghaus, Brandon and Justin S. Vaughn (February 13, 2015). "Measuring Obama against the great presidents". Brookings Institution. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
• "The Scholars Commission on the Jefferson-Hemings Issue". Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society. 2001. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
• "Siena Poll: American Presidents". Siena Research Institute. July 6, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
• "Thomas Jefferson: Biography". National Park Service. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
• "Thomas Jefferson Foundation". Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
• "The Thomas Jefferson Papers Timeline: 1743–1827". Retrieved July 19, 2009.
• "Thomas Jefferson Presidential $1 Coin". U.S. Mint. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
• "U.S. Currency: $2 Note". U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
• Wiencek, Henry. "The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson". Smithsonian Magazine online. Retrieved January 6, 2014.

Primary sources

• Jefferson, Thomas (November 10, 1798). "Thomas Jefferson, Resolutions Relative to the Alien and Sedition Acts". The Founder's Constitution. University of Chicago Press. Retrieved November 2, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
• "Thomas Jefferson". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved September 2, 2009.

External links

• United States Congress. "Thomas Jefferson (id: J000069)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Thomas Jefferson at Curlie
• Thomas Jefferson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
• Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive at the Massachusetts Historical Society
• Thomas Jefferson collection at the University of Virginia Library
• The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, subset of Founders Online from the National Archives
• Jefferson, Thomas, Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774), online through World Digital Library
• Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson
• Poplar Forest, Jefferson's second home in Virginia
• The Papers of Thomas Jefferson at the Avalon Project
• Works by Thomas Jefferson at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Thomas Jefferson at Internet Archive
• Works by Thomas Jefferson at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)