Thomas Jefferson Biography By: Amalia
"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another... they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
- Thomas Jefferson
This is the biography of Thomas Jefferson's life to death story. Thomas Jefferson was born April 2 (Nowadays it would be April 13) in 1743. An interesting fact about Thomas Jefferson was when he was little he was called tall Tom because he was really tall.Thomas Jefferson grew up in Shadwell Virginia, he was a redhead and loved to dance and play the violin. Tom had two sisters Martha and Jane. Tom's sister Jane died in the fall of 1765. Thomas Jefferson was a very shy person, and he dreaded to speak in front of a crowd. Thomas Jefferson also hated to be in arguments. Thomas Jefferson's favorite animals were chickens and ducks which he had a lot of when he grew up and lived in his beautiful house Monticello. When Thomas Jefferson was older and was part of congress, whenever he was at meeting and he had an idea he would write his idea on a piece of paper.
Thomas Jefferson did not fight in the Revolution. Instead he helped George Washington and his troops by giving them mostly all his horses and wagons. He also helped by not fighting but giving powerful speeches that influenced France and Spain which helped because then they did not have a lot of conflict. He also became the ambassador of France. It was also his idea to make an Independent nation. In his free time he wrote " A summary view of the rights of British America."
Thomas Jefferson thought that Virginia lawmakers should pray and fast (not eat) to show support for Massachusetts. Thomas Jefferson and his colleagues marched and declared that americans were together. When the delegates approved of Thomas Jefferson's copy of the Declaration of Independence the delegates knew that this was an act of treason towards the king. When people saw the Declaration of Independence patriots celebrated when they heard about the Declaration. A group in Philadelphia cheered when they read it the first time on July 8th. General Washington's troops heard of the Declaration of Independence the next day. Then soldiers and citizen tore down a statue of King George the third.
A major event in Thomas Jefferson's life was when he was asked to make the draft of the Declaration of Independence from John Adams and Ben Franklin's. He also changed history by writing the summary view of the rights of British America. In 1775 when a Virginia convention selected delegates to the continental congress, Thomas Jefferson was selected as an alternate. Then from alternate he went to vice president then from vice president he went to president. Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd president of the United States of America. It is important to continue to study and learn about this person's role in history because, people should know what Thomas Jefferson did to help the Revolution even though he did not fight in it. It is also very important to know that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, because then you know some facts about how America started to start shaping into what it is today. It is also important to to study more about Thomas Jefferson because, Thomas Jefferson had a lot of slaves. Thomas Jefferson had a lot of slaves because his dad ( Peter Jefferson) was an aristocrat farmer and owned a plantation. Even though Thomas Jefferson had slaves he thought it was a "cruel war against human nature." When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence he added that line that it was a "cruel war against human nature." The delegates took that out of Thomas Jefferson's draft eve though some of them agreed with him. Thomas Jefferson also wrote on his draft that the king had denied the "sacred rights of life and liberty of distant people who have never offered him, captivating and carrying them into slavery." Thomas Jefferson blamed the king for refusing to let the colonies pass laws ending the slave trade. The delegates took out that part of Thomas Jefferson's draft. No one argued in favor of Thomas jefferson's wording. The final draft would say "All men are created equal." Although it would
not say anything about stopping slavery. When Thomas Jefferson was 66 he retired and went and lived in his beautiful house that he designed and his slaves built. Monticello had 35 rooms in his mansion that was built on a hilltop 4 miles from Shadwell and also near the town of Charlottesville. He called his new estate Monticello. The name Monticello means "little mountain."
When Thomas Jefferson was 19 he fell in love with one of his classmates sister whose name was Rebecca Burwell. Rebecca was 16. Thomas Jefferson carried a silhouette of Rebecca in his watch. He also had a pet named after her, Belinda. He was too shy to express his feelings to her. Thomas Jefferson tried to say something to her but he did not do it right. He said "one day we might be married." It was a very lousy proposal so she went with another man. It took Thomas Jefferson several years for his heart to heal. In 1770 Thomas Jefferson met Martha Waynes. They both fell in love with each other. Thomas Jefferson and Martha Waynes got married. The festivities lasted more than two weeks. Martha Waynes died when she was giving birth to her 6th and last child. Her last wish to Thomas Jefferson was to never get married again. At Martha's funeral Tom met her half sister Sally Heming. Sally Heming was a slave at Monticello. Sally fell in love with Thomas and Thomas fell in love with Sally. Thomas and Sally were in a relationship for 40 years. He never actually married Sally because of Martha's last request but Sally still had kids. A few of Sally kids died but in the end she was left with three kids.
Thomas Jefferson died on July 4th 1826. His death day was on the 15th anniversary of the Declaration Independence. He died because he had amoebic dysentery pneumonia debility. John Adams and him both died on the same day. He was happy that he got to die July 4th 1826 which was Independence day. Thomas Jefferson was the author of the draft of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States of America. He was also a spokesman for democracy. Over the years Thomas Jefferson became on a nickel, he is also on Mount Rushmore which is a sculpture in South Dakota. Jefferson memorial is a landmark in Washington D.C. There's also a Jefferson city in Missouri and Mount Jefferson which is in Oregon.
Thats why Thomas Jefferson was important in history. The sources I used were History book By: Tci on pg 164, History book By: Tci pg 165, President Thomas Jefferson By: Jim Hargrove, Who was Thomas Jefferson By: Dennis Brindell Fradin, Thomas Jefferson Architect of Democracy By: John B. Severance. Thomas Jefferson a picture book biography by James Cross Giblin, page 1-48. A website I found that helped me al lot was http://colonialhall.com/jefferson/jefferson.php
