Thomas Jefferson's Life

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia. He was born into a wealthy family and tutored at home. When he was 17 he attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia; he learned to speak French, Italian, and Spanish. Jefferson studied law for five years; he was admitted to the bar when he was 24 and practiced law until the American Revolution closed the courts. On January 1, 1772 Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton. Together they had six children, but four died in infancy and two daughters lived to adulthood. In 1776, when he was 33, he was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. The same year he became a member of the United State House of Delegates. He introduced  the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in 1779 and it which passed seven years later. Jefferson served two terms as Governor of Virginia. In 1782 his wife died; he never remarried.  He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1783 where he presented the concept of the dollar and decimal system of money.  In 1785 George Washington appointed Jefferson, Ben Franklin's successor as minister to France; he lived there for five years. Jefferson left France at the start of the French Revolution in 1789. Jefferson ran against Adams to the presidency and lost by three electoral votes. He became the Vice President. In 1800 he ran against Adams again and won the office of President; he served two terms. As President he bought the Louisiana Territory for $15,000,000 doubling the size of the United States. In 1819 he chartered the University of Virginia. He died at his home, Monticello, on July 4, 1826, the same day as the death of President John Adams, the fiftieth approval of the Declaration of Independence. Note: Thomas Jefferson was President from 1801 through 1809 and the Vice Presidents were Aaron Burr and George Clinton.