Thomas Jefferson Research Paper

Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. He later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1909. Thomas Jefferson was the author of United States, and the Statute of Virginia of Religious freedom. President Jefferson was the founder of the University of Virginia. As a public official,historian,philosopher,and plantation owner, he served his country for over five decades.

He is best remembered as a great president and as the author of the Declaration of Independence. He also won lasting fame as a diplomat, a political thinker, and a founder of the Democratic Party. Jefferson's interests and talents covered an amazing range. He became one of the leading American architects of his time and designed the Virginia Capitol, the University of Virginia, and his own home, Monticello. He greatly appreciated art and music and tried to encourage their advancement in the United States. He arranged for the famous French sculptor Jean Houdon to come to America to make a statue of George Washington. Jefferson also posed for Houdon and for the famous American portrait painter Gilbert Stuart.

The United States paid around 15 million dollars for France for over 800,000 square miles of land. This land deal was one of the greatest accomplishments for Thomas Jefferson presidency but also caused a major philosophical problem for Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson felt that this deal was so necessary because in 1801, Spain and France signed a secret treaty ceding Louisiana to France. France then became a potential threat to America. He feared if America did not purchase New Orleans from France, war would break out. Jefferson sent envoys to France to secure the purchase, they returned with an agreement to buy the whole Louisiana territory. Napoleon needed the money to help pay for the war against England. American did not have the money to pay the 15 million dollars up front, however they borrowed the money from Great Britain at 6% interest. When America purchases this land, the land area of America nearly doubled. Jefferson is known for the great deed he did when purchasing this

After viewing the documentary about Thomas Jefferson in class, please answer in complete sentences the following three questions:

Thomas Jefferson was the first one to draft the declaration to defend to oppose English in which he chose “to die freeman rather than to live slaves”. The document he proposed includes principles of natural rights, equality, the right of revolution, and the consent of governed as the ground for government. He blamed the English kings for slavery and the draft he proposed prohibited slavery in nine new states. In addition, he favored democratic settlement to establish freeholders and demanded

The Louisiana Purchase was the largest land transaction for the United States, and the most important event of President Jefferson's presidency. Jefferson arranged to purchase the land for $11,250,000 from Napoleon in 1803. This land area lay between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. The purchase of this land greatly increased the economic resources of the United States, and proved Jefferson had expansionist dreams by doubling the size of the United States. Jefferson believed that the republic must be controlled by ambitious, independent, property-holding farmers, who would form

Fawn M. Brodie, in the biography, Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (1998), provides an in depth picture of the distressing private life and complex personality of Thomas Jefferson. When he was boy, he lived on a plantation in Virginia, where his father’s slaves raised him and became his alternative family. For Jefferson’s education, his father sent him to boarding school, where young Jefferson felt incongruous with a classroom filled with white children and missed dearly his slave friends. Later on, Jefferson studied to be a lawyer, a profession he hated and gladly abandoned for politics, which he did not fully embrace until the death of his wife. After Jefferson experienced the deaths of those he cared dearly, the frail nature of his

Thomas Jefferson was the Vice President of the Second Continental Congress. Also he wants Independence. He was part of the group (Adams and Franklin) for Independence to write the Declaration. He wrote the Declaration, he plays the violin, and he is not really talkative. He made the choices for the editing to the Declaration to what the representatives wanted to edit.

Thomas Jefferson was the third American President. Due to the fact that he was such an early President, he influenced our political system greatly, both in the short and long term with his seemingly quiet approach to congressional matters. During his presidency, many things happened that changed the United States as we know it. He coordinated the Louisiana Purchase, assisted in implementing the twelfth amendment, formed the character of the modern American President, and cut the U.S.’s war debt by a third.

When Jefferson was only in his 20’s, he was a leading figure of the American Revolution. He helped lead our troops through the seven year war to victory, Jefferson was not a person to back down when he faced difficulties. He then emerged as one of the ultimate men to ever live. After the American Revolution, Jefferson helped write the “Declaration

Thomas Jefferson was known as the third president who came into office, in United States. In his younger years, while attending College of William and Mary, he practiced law and became a member of the Continental Congress. (Monticello) He was considered part of the upper class and maintained a wholesome reputation. He later served as U.S minister to France and the U.S secretary of state. He then became the nation’s Vice President under the Presidency of John Adams, which led him to presidency where his first inaugural speech was presented on March 4, 1801 in Washington D.C. Before he became President of the United States, Jefferson took a major part in writing the Declaration of Independence. His first inaugural speech reflects his ideas of equality as well. This historical context has many disclosures that can be analyzed to understand the connection between our course material and the speech.

He contributed to the United States a lot. He was popularly appointed to be one of five-people committee in Congress to discuss about the possibility and format of independence declaration. That committee assigned young man from Virginia to produce a draft document that particularly stated these colonies had the right to rebel against the British government and become independent without the Great Britain Royal’s control. Thomas Jefferson idealized and wrote out the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In 17 days, he wrote the first draft of the document. That draft was considered to be predecessors of the final document. The committee passed the draft and submitted to the Continental Congress June 28, 1776. Besides, he also wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1777, which inspired the formation for the First Amendment of US Constitution. With the presence at the birth of a new country, Thomas Jefferson was considered as one of the nation Founding Fathers. In addition, when he has sworn into the office to become the third president, he reduced the national debt by a third and improved state of the economy. He sent an army to fight the Barbary pirates who were harassing American merchants and commerce in the

Thomas Jefferson's ideals and beliefs were derived from a deep regard for life, liberty, and freedom. His concept of individual freedoms strongly disagreed with the notion of a "guided republic" which he believed concentrated a great deal unchecked power among a few people. This could have the potential of tyrannical government that might suppress personal freedoms of any kind especially those of religion, which Jefferson feels very strongly felt should be protected. After fighting hard to rid America of British domination, Jefferson was determined to create a government that was responsible to, and derived its powers from, a free people. As the writer of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for

Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States of America who had strong beliefs about what was right and what was wrong. He himself not only upheld his beliefs, but he did betray his beliefs by doing certain things that directly went against his beliefs and his wrongful doings are noticed. Thomas Jefferson lived up to a high yet low extent regarding his ideals and beliefs for the United States of America.

Before the Declaration of Independence was signed, colonists were treated very unfairly by their mother-countries leader, King George III. King George had not helped the 13 colonies in any way and really only used them to gain wealth for Great Britain and himself. George’s method of gaining wealth from the 13 colonies was that they could only trade to Great Britain, which did not help the 13 colonies expand as a country. Also, he heavily taxed colonists on the western hemisphere because he needed aid to pay off his former war debts. The colonists were not happy about his acts because it gave them little opportunity of expanding their wealth or fortune which, is the main idea of coming to the “New World.” This made colonists very angry now was thickening the hatred for their leader they were now just as motivated as the politicians; resulting in, plenty of change, leading to the American Revolution. Jefferson understood the colonists and he was able to express or summarize their ideas, thoughts, and motivations through the document; “We the People”. Even though the Declaration of Independence was a main contribute to the ending of the American Revolution, the war had lasted an extra five years with Britain. Britain did not want to lose the 13 colonies