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Thomas Jefferson

Founding Father, U.S. president from 1801 to 1809 (1743-1826) · United States · Politicians · Died at 83

Thomas Jefferson is read about 8,333 times a day, in 166 languages.

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The man who wrote 'all men are created equal' while owning hundreds of human beings. Jefferson's Declaration gave the revolution its moral language, but his contradictions - philosopher of liberty, architect of expansionism, lifelong enslaver - became the country's.

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A life in dates

2026200 years since their death, on 4 July.4 July 20251826Died4 July 18261801President of the United StatesOffice1801-1809President-elect of the United StatesOffice1797Vice President of the United StatesOffice1797-18011790United States Secretary of StateOffice1790-17931787Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAward1785United States Ambassador to FranceOffice1785-17891779Governor of VirginiaOffice1779-17811776“In the middle ages of Christianity opposition to the State opinions was hushed. The consequence was, Christianity became loaded with all the Romish follies.”In their wordsOctober 1776Notes on Religion (October 1776), published in The Works of Thomas Jefferson in Twelve Volumes, Federal Edition, Paul Leicester Ford, ed.,

“No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms [within his own lands].”In their wordsJune 1776Draft Constitution for Virginia (June 1776) This quote often appears with the parenthetical omitted and with the spurious extension, "The

1775“Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable.”In their wordsDeclaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775); Jefferson composed the first draft of this document, but the final work

1774“For the most trifling reasons, and sometimes for no conceivable reason at all, his majesty has rejected laws of the most salutary tendency.”In their wordsJuly 1774A Summary View of the Rights of British America (July 1774)

“Let those flatter, who fear: it is not an American art.”In their wordsSummary View of the Rights of British America (1774)

1763“To begin an affair of that kind now, and carry it on so long a time in form, is by no means a proper plan ...”In their words15 July 1763Letter to John Page (15 July 1763); published in The Works of Thomas Jefferson (1905)

1743Born2 April 1743

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Photos 12

The Wren Building at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, where Jefferson studied in 1761 and 1762The Wren Building at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, where Jefferson studied in 1761 and 1762Monticello, Jefferson's home near Charlottesville, VirginiaMonticello, Jefferson's home near Charlottesville, VirginiaThe Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson largely wrote in isolation between June 11 and 28, 1776, from a floor he was renting in a home at 700 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia,[59] contain "the most potent and consequential words in American history," historian Joseph Ellis later wrote.The Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson largely wrote in isolation between June 11 and 28, 1776, from a floor he was renting in a home at 700 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia,[59] contain "the most potent and consequential words in American history," historian Joseph Ellis later wrote.Governor's Palace, Jefferson's residence in Williamsburg during his term as Virginia's governor from 1779 to 1781Governor's Palace, Jefferson's residence in Williamsburg during his term as Virginia's governor from 1779 to 1781The Assembly Room at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where Jefferson served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and where the Congress edited but unanimously ratified his draft of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776The Assembly Room at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where Jefferson served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and where the Congress edited but unanimously ratified his draft of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776

In their own words 10

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Thomas Jefferson
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10 statements, newest first

  1. Truth will do well enough if left to shift for herself. She seldom has received much aid from the power of great men to whom she is rarely known & seldom welcome.

    Oct 1776, Notes on Religion (October 1776), published in The Writings of Thomas Jefferson : 1816-1826 (1899) edited by Paul Leicester Ford, v. 2, p., Own words

  2. In the middle ages of Christianity opposition to the State opinions was hushed. The consequence was, Christianity became loaded with all the Romish follies.

    Oct 1776, Notes on Religion (October 1776), published in The Works of Thomas Jefferson in Twelve Volumes, Federal Edition, Paul Leicester Ford, ed.,, Own words

  3. All persons shall have full and free liberty of religious opinion; nor shall any be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious institution.

    Jun 1776, Draft Constitution for Virginia (June 1776), Own words

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Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences1787

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Born into Virginia's planter class in 1743, Jefferson represented the colony in the Second Continental Congress and became primary author of the Declaration of Independence. He served as Virginia's second governor from 1779 to 1781, then U.S. Minister to France from 1785 to 1789 before Washington appointed him the nation's first secretary of state. He organized the Democratic-Republican Party with Madison, lost to Adams in 1796 and became vice president, then won the presidency in 1800. His first term bought the Louisiana Territory and doubled the nation's size; his second dealt with the Embargo Act and the Aaron Burr trial. He died July 4, 1826 - fifty years to the day after the Declaration - ranked among the upper tier of presidents, praised for religious freedom and peaceful expansion, and questioned for enslaving large numbers of people his entire life.

Country
United States
Category
Politicians
Type
Politician
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1743 to 1826 · aged 83

Politicians from the United States 6

Abraham Lincoln90.0George W. Bush89.7Ronald Reagan90.1George Washington89.5Franklin D. Roosevelt92.0Hillary Clinton89.3

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