Full Name: Mr. Thomas Jefferson Date of Birth: April 13, 1743 Place of Birth: Shadwell, Virginia USA Died: July 4, 1826 Place of Death: Charlottesville, Virginia, USA Classification: Leaders & Revolutionaries

A violin player, linguist, archaeologist, lawyer, politician, theologian, agriculturist, and inventor, Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States in 1801. He was one of the founders of the Democratic-Republican Party, which vied for less federal control in individual State governments and fought for the separation of church and state.

Jefferson was born into a wealthy family where his father owned thousands of farmable acreage, which was supported by the labor of hundreds of slaves. With such a prosperous upbringing, Jefferson, being the third of ten children, was able to attend the best schools of the area. By the age of ten, he became obsessed with learning all he could about the world around him, and by the age of twelve had already studied three languages, including Greek, Latin, and French. Many of his friends witnessed that by the age of fourteen, young Jefferson would spend hours upon hours studying each day, a habit that never left him without a book.

At the young age of 16, Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary and stayed for two years, indulging his passions of learning, while reading authors whom he had never had access to before, namely Francis Bacon, John Locke, and Isaac Newton. Following, he studied to become a lawyer and was admitted into the Virginia Bar in 1767. Within three years, he had become an advocate of working out an agreement that would allow America to separate from Britain. He alone drafted the first Constitution of the United States.

After the War of Independence, Jefferson became even more involved in politics by becoming the governor of Virginia and for five years until 1789, he served as a Minister to France. He served as vice-president before his election to become the president. When he moved into the Presidential Mansion (White House), he started new policies that would give more freedom to the individual, the farmer, and even the slave.

Jefferson also was involved in the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France for an estimated fifteen million dollars, which actually doubled the size of the US territories. He then funded the Lewis and Clarke Expedition to explore further west, a two-year investment of time and money that would lead to future US expansion.

After his presidency, Thomas Jefferson worked hard to establish an institution that would give students the right to select their own coursework, where religion and education could be separate affairs. And, in 1819, the University of Virginia was founded and opened its doors in 1825.

In his life, Jefferson was a shy and private individual who spread his word most eloquently through his writings, beliefs, and services. The word “liberty” has much more meaning because of Jefferson. The United States enjoys its individual freedoms of religion, assembly, and speech thanks to one of its greatest forefathers.

• Benjamin Franklin
• John Adams
• George Washington
• James Madison
• Alexander Hamilton
• Patrick Henry
• John Locke
• Joseph Priestley
• Sally Hemings
• Lewis and Clark
• Edgar Allan Poe