Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, doubled the size of the United States, and enslaved more than six hundred people. Born in Virginia in 1743 to a planter and surveyor, he inherited land and slaves at fourteen, studied at William and Mary, and trained as a lawyer. He was a poor public speaker and an exceptional writer, which is why the Continental Congress gave him the drafting in June 1776. The assertion that all men are created equal, with unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, is his. He served as governor of Virginia, wrote its statute for religious freedom, and was minister to France from 1785, witnessing the early revolution. He was the first secretary of state, resigning over Hamilton's financial programme, and founded with Madison the opposition that became the Democratic-Republican party. He was vice-president under Adams, and drafted the Kentucky Resolution against the Alien and Sedition Acts. As president from 1801 he cut taxes, the debt and the army, and in 1803 bought Louisiana from Napoleon for fifteen million dollars, doubling the country's territory by an act he privately doubted the constitution permitted. He sent Lewis and Clark to survey it. His embargo of 1807 was an economic disaster. He founded the University of Virginia and designed it, along with Monticello. He wrote that slavery was a moral depravity and freed only a handful of people, all connected to Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman with whom DNA and documentary evidence indicate he fathered children. He died on 4 July 1826, hours before John Adams.
- Lived: 1743 CE – 1826 CE
- Nationality: American
- Roles: statesman, philosopher, founding_father
