Jefferson ran against Adams again in the presidential election of , which turned into a bitter battle between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Jefferson defeated Adams; however, due to a flaw in the electoral system, Jefferson tied with fellow Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr The House of Representatives broke the tie and voted Jefferson into office.
In order to avoid a repeat of this situation, Congress proposed the Twelfth Amendment to the U. Constitution, which required separate voting for president and vice president. The amendment was ratified in Jefferson was sworn into office on March 4, ; his was the first presidential inauguration held in Washington , D. George Washington was inaugurated in New York in ; in , he was sworn into office in Philadelphia, as was his successor, John Adams, in Instead of riding in a horse-drawn carriage, Jefferson broke with tradition and walked to and from the ceremony.
At more than , square miles, the Louisiana Purchase which included lands extending between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico to present-day Canada effectively doubled the size of the United States.
Jefferson then commissioned explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore the uncharted land, plus the area beyond, out to the Pacific Ocean. At the time, most Americans lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. In , Jefferson ran for re-election and defeated Federalist candidate Charles Pinckney of South Carolina with more than 70 percent of the popular vote and an electoral count of However, after Great Britain and France, who were at war, both began harassing American merchant ships, Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of The act, which closed U.
Jefferson chose not to run for a third term in and was succeeded in office by James Madison , a fellow Virginian and former U. Jefferson spent his post-presidential years at Monticello, where he continued to pursue his many interests, including architecture, music, reading and gardening.
He also helped found the University of Virginia, which held its first classes in Jefferson died at age 83 at Monticello on July 4, , the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was buried at Monticello. However, due to the significant debt the former president had accumulated during his life, his mansion, furnishing and slaves were sold at auction following his death. The statute declares that no one can be compelled to attend religious services or be persecuted for religious beliefs and practices.
Thomas Jefferson. Grade Level:. Jefferson was able to hold many political offices during his lifetime including governor of Virginia, U.
Jefferson wanted to be remembered as the "author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia". Susan Mark Biographical Highlights Thomas Jefferson was able to hold many political offices during his lifetime including governor of Virginia, U.
Historic Roots Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, , to a well-to-do landowner. Importance Declaration of Independence Continental Congress appointed Jefferson in to a five-member committee that included Benjamin Franklin , John Hancock , John Adams , Roger Sherman , and Robert Livingston , for the drafting of a declaration of independence.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition Jefferson sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition on a mapping and scientific exploration from the Mississippi River to the Pacific fulfilling his life-long commitment to the support of western exploration and American expansion to the west Library of Congress.
Ties to the Philanthropic Sector Thomas Jefferson contributed much to the nonprofit and philanthropic world. Related Resources. Philanthropy and the Bill of Rights. Freedom of Religion. Freedom of Speech. But the founders' fantasy of faction-free politics was not to be fulfilled. Emerging splits among Republicans themselves pitted orthodox, strict constructionist "Old Republicans" against "National Republicans" who favored a more positive and activist according to critics, Hamiltonian conception of federal power.
Quarrels among Jeffersonian-Republicans foreshadowed the division between Jacksonian Democrats, self-proclaimed legatees of Jeffersonian orthodoxy, and Whigs who promoted a neo-Federalist, National Republican policy agenda while warning against "King Andrew's" dangerous consolidation of authority. Jefferson's performance as President justified divergent conceptions of executive power.
Known for his hostility to strong central government and the judicial overreach of the Supreme Court under John Marshall, Jefferson nonetheless jettisoned strict construction when the nation's vital interests were threatened. Self-preservation—the first law of nature and nations—took precedence over the constitutional limitations that he scrupulously observed in peacetime. Andrew Jackson embraced this robust conception of his presidential power, even as Whig opponents drew inspiration from Jefferson's anti-monarchical precepts.
Jefferson has been a great democratic icon precisely because he so eloquently articulated fundamental tensions in Americans' understanding of the people's power. Yet the people's great and irresistible power was a function of their devotion to a free government that guaranteed their rights: this was the only government "where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern.
Jefferson will always be celebrated for articulating the American national creed, the fundamental and universal principles of self-government that he set forth in the Declaration of Independence. However, the greatest challenges of Jefferson's second term were posed by the war between Napoleonic France and Great Britain.
Both Britain and France attempted to prevent American commerce with the other power by harassing American shipping, and Britain in particular sought to impress American sailors into the British Navy. In response, Jefferson passed the Embargo Act of , suspending all trade with Europe. The embargo also led to the War of with Great Britain after Jefferson left office. On March 4, , after watching the inauguration of his close friend and successor James Madison , Jefferson returned to Virginia to live out the rest of his days as "The Sage of Monticello.
Jefferson's primary pastime was endlessly rebuilding, remodeling and improving his home and estate, at considerable expense.
A Frenchman, Marquis de Chastellux, quipped, "it may be said that Mr. Jefferson is the first American who has consulted the Fine Arts to know how he should shelter himself from the weather.
Jefferson also dedicated his later years to organizing the University of Virginia , the nation's first secular university. He personally designed the campus, envisioned as an "academical village," and hand-selected renowned European scholars to serve as its professors. The University of Virginia opened its doors on March 7, , one of the proudest days of Jefferson's life. Jefferson also kept up an outpouring of correspondence at the end of his life.
In particular, he rekindled a lively correspondence on politics, philosophy and literature with John Adams that stands out among the most extraordinary exchanges of letters in history. Nevertheless, Jefferson's retirement was marred by financial woes. To pay off the substantial debts he incurred over decades of living beyond his means, Jefferson resorted to selling his cherished personal library to the national government to serve as the foundation of the Library of Congress.
Jefferson died on July 4, — the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — only a few hours before John Adams passed away in Massachusetts. In the moments before he passed, Adams spoke his last words, eternally true if not in the literal sense in which he meant them, "Thomas Jefferson survives.
As the author of the Declaration of Independence, the foundational text of American democracy and one of the most important documents in world history, Jefferson will be forever revered as one of the great American Founding Fathers. However, Jefferson was also a man of many contradictions. Jefferson was the spokesman of liberty and a racist enslaved people owner, a champion of the common people and a man with luxurious and aristocratic tastes, a believer in limited government and a president who expanded governmental authority beyond the wildest visions of his predecessors, a quiet man who abhorred politics and arguably the most dominant political figure of his generation.
The tensions between Jefferson's principles and practices make him all the more apt a symbol for the nation he helped create, a nation whose shining ideals have always been complicated by a complex history. Jefferson is buried in the family cemetery at his beloved Monticello, in a grave marked by a plain gray tombstone. The brief inscription it bears, written by Jefferson himself, is as noteworthy for what it excludes as what it includes. The inscription suggests Jefferson's humility as well as his belief that his greatest gifts to posterity came in the realm of ideas rather than the realm of politics: "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and father of the University Of Virginia.
We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. John Adams was a Founding Father, the first vice president of the United States and the second president.
His son, John Quincy Adams, was the nation's sixth president. The fourth U. Jefferson Davis was a 19th century U. Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, a Constitutional Convention delegate, author of the Federalist papers and the first secretary of the U. Benjamin Franklin is best known as one of the Founding Fathers who never served as president but was a respected inventor, publisher, scientist and diplomat.
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He is known for founding the Democratic Party and for his support of individual liberty. Declaration of Independence.
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