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Thomas Jefferson History
Thomas Jefferson was not only the third president of the United States, he was also an advocate of liberty and freedom. Born in 1743, he belonged to a wealthy family. His father was a successful plantation owner and surveyor, while his mother belonged to one of the most influential families of Virginia. |
Jefferson finished his education from the College of William and Mary, and then went on to study law. In 1769, he inherited sizeable amount of land from his father, which prompted him to build his own home, Monticello. Three years later, in 1772, he married Martha Wayles Skelton, who was widow, and they both went off to live in Monticello, which was not completed at that point.
Although Jefferson could write magnificently, he was not much of a public speaker. In fact, while he was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress, he stayed silent for all the meets. Instead, he contributed through writing for the patriot cause. As the age of 33, young Jefferson was selected to draft the Declaration of Independence. Then in 1786, he wrote the bill that gave religious freedom in the state of Virginia.
In 1785, Jefferson became the minister to France, replacing Benjamin Franklin. Here he sympathized with the French Revolution. In fact, this led to a conflict between Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton while Jefferson was the Secretary of State in George Washington's cabinet. He resigned from the position in 1793.
In 1796, Jefferson was the Democratic-Republican Party's presidential candidate. He lost the election to John Adams by three electoral votes. This ended with him becoming the vice president. In the next election, Jefferson was once again selected as the presidential candidate, and this time round he defeated John Adams to take over the mantle of presidency.
On becoming the president, Jefferson cut Army and Navy spending, he cut the budget and removed the taxes from whiskey. With all this, he managed to reduce the national debt by a third. In addition, he sent the navy to fight Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean. He purchased Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803.
In his second term, Jefferson was kept busy trying to be neutral in the conflict that was raging between France and Britain. However, this did not stop both countries from interfering with the American merchants. Jefferson tried to solve this problem by placing an embargo on American shipping which proved to be highly unpopular and also, it did not work out the way he envisaged.
After his second term in office ended, Jefferson retired to Monticello. He died on July 4, 1826 just a few hours before his former political rival and current friend John Adams.
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