Thomas Jefferson

3rd President of the United States
(March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1809)

Nicknames: "Man of the People"; "Sage of Monticello"

Born: April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia
Died: July 4, 1826, at Monticello (near Charlottesville, Virginia)

Father: Peter Jefferson
Mother: Jane Randolph Jefferson
Married: Martha Wayles Skelton (1748-1782), on January 1, 1772
Children: Martha Washington Jefferson (1772-1836); Jane Randolph Jefferson (1774-75); infant son (1777); Mary Jefferson (1778-1804); Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson (1780-81); Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson (1782-85)

Religion: No formal affiliation
Education: Graduated from College of William and Mary (1762)
Occupation: Lawyer, planter
Political Party: Democratic-Republican
Other Government Positions:

• Member of Virginia House of Burgesses, 1769-74

• Member of Continental Congress, 1775-76

• Governor of Virginia, 1779-81

• Member of Continental Congress, 1783-85

• Minister to France, 1785-89

• Secretary of State, 1790-93 (under  Washington)

• Vice President, 1797-1801 (under  J. Adams)

Presidential Salary: $25,000/year

Vice Presidents: Aaron Burr (1801-05); George Clinton (1805-09)

Cabinet:

Secretary of State

 James Madison (1801-1809)

Secretary of the Treasury

Samuel Dexter (1801)

Albert Gallatin (1801-09)

Secretary of War

Henry Dearborn (1801-1809)

Attorney General

Levi Lincoln (1801-04)

John Breckinridge (1805-06)

Caesar A. Rodney (1807-09)

Secretary of the Navy

Benjamin Stoddert (1801)

Robert Smith (1801-09)

Notable Events:

• 1803

  • Supreme Court ruled in Marbury v. Madison . Any law passed by Congress can be declared unconstitutional by the courts.
    The Louisiana Territory was purchased from France for $15 million dollars. The price works out to three cents per acre for the 512 million acres.

• 1804

  • 12th Amendment changed Presidential election rules.
    Jefferson reelected.
    Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began exploration of the Northwest.
    Vice President Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in a duel July 11.

• 1807

  • Congress outlaws importing slaves from Africa, March 2.
    Embargo Act, December 22, forbids American ships to leave American waters.

• 1808

  • Slave importation outlawed. Yet, another 1/4 million brought in by 1860.

• 1809

  • Non-Intercourse Act, March 1, repeals the Embargo Act, which didn't work.

Internet Biographies:

Thomas Jefferson -- from The Presidents of the United States of America

Compiled by the White House.

Thomas Jefferson -- from Table of Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States - MSN Encarta

Grolier Online has created this resource from its collection of print articles in Encyclopedia Americana. Contains a full biography, written by Dumas Malone of the University of Virginia and author of Jefferson and His Time, along with suggestions for further reading.

Thomas Jefferson -- from The American President

From the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, in addition to information on the Presidents themselves, they have first lady and cabinet member biographies, listings of presidential staff and advisers, and timelines detailing significant events in the lives of each administration.

Thomas Jefferson -- from From Revolution to Reconstruction

Biography written by Harrie Scholte Albers for this American Revolution HTML project. Still under construction, but does contain some original material.

Thomas Jefferson, Son of Virginia -- from Colonial Williamsburg

This article by Dennis Montgomery, and originally published in Colonial Williamsburg Journal Vol. 15, No. 3 (Spring 1993) p. 14., addresses more of the personal life of Jefferson, including excerpts from correspondences.

Encyclopedic entry that is very well presented and organized.

Thomas Jefferson -- from Supercomputing '94

Tourist information for the 1994 Conference on High Performance Computing & Communications included this biography.

Historical Documents:

Thomas Jefferson Papers

Collection of some letters by Jefferson, Inaugural Addresses, State of the Nation Addresses and more by The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School

First Inaugural Address (1801)

Second Inaugural Address (1805)

Summary View of the Rights of British America

Jefferson's Draft of the Declaration of Independence (1776)

Indian Addresses (1781-1806)

Notes on the State of Virginia (1781)

A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia (1785)

Jefferson on Separation of Church and State (1802)

Special Message on the Burr Conspiracy (1807)

Special Message on Gun-Boats (1807)

Autobiography (1821)

Jefferson on Slavery (1829)

Other Internet Resources:

Monticello

The home of Thomas Jefferson. This site includes tour information, a day in the life of Jefferson, quotations and other facts.

Mount Rushmore

Located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the faces of  Washington, Jefferson,  Lincoln and  Teddy Roosevelt stand 60 feet tall.

Poplar Forest

Jefferson's Virginia retreat. Learn the history of the octagonal house and the archaeological discoveries on this 4800-acre plantation.

Thomas Jefferson Building

Inscriptions and quotations in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Photographs and floor plans of this building of the Library of Congress are included.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

A virtual tour of this monument along with the history of its development from the National Park Service.

Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government

Quotations from the writings of Jefferson arranged in a convenient table of contents. Also includes links to other Jefferson sites.

Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village: The Lawn at the University of Virginia

As founder of the University of Virginia, Jefferson envisioned this Academical Village, but died before its completion. This virtual tour shows off the history of the University.

Points of Interest:

• Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C.

• Approximately 6,000 books from Jefferson's private library were purchased for $23,950 to help start the Library of Congress.

• Bears brought back from Lewis and Clark's famous expedition were displayed in cages on the White House lawn. For years the White House was sometimes referred to as the "president's bear garden."

• The only presidents to sign the Declaration of Independence,  Adams and Jefferson both died on its 50th anniversary, July 4, 1826. Adams' dying words were "Thomas Jefferson survives". Jefferson, however, had passed on a few hours earlier.

• Jefferson is credited with several inventions, including the swivel chair, a pedometer, a machine to make fiber from hemp, a letter-copying machine, and the lazy susan.

• Jefferson wrote his own epitaph without mentioning that he served as president of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson

3rd President of the United States
(March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1809)

Martha Jefferson

Videos