Thomas Jefferson Accomplishments

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 at Shadwell Plantation in western Virginia. His parents were Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph. His family included nine siblings plus one adopted sibling. He began boarding school at age nine. When Thomas was 14 years old, his father passed away leaving behind the family land and slaves. In 1760, he enrolled at the College of William and Mary, taking classes in science, math, philosophy, literature, and rhetorics. He pursued legal studies unger George Wythe and emerged as the nation's best-read lawyer among the Virginia bar. He soon fell in love with Martha Wayles Skelton and married on January 1, 1772. Jefferson and his slaves built the newly-wed couple's home and nicknamed it Monticello. She had
problems with bearing children and gave birth to six of them in ten years. Only two lived, Martha and Mary. After she passed away on September 6, 1782, he never remarried. He played an active role in the Virginia Committee of Correspondence, and in 1774 he wrote “Summary View of the Rights of British America.” Before long, he was one of the leading radicals who argued against the British Parliament. In 1776, he became one of the Founding fathers when he was appointed to write a declaration of independence. After serving as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, he served as the governor of Virginia. After serving two years, he wrote his only book titled “Notes on the State of Virginia” which included his thoughts on slavery and statehood. Beginning in 1785, he served as America’s minister to France. While in France, he corresponded with the members of the Constitutional Convention. In 1790, he agreed to serve as Washington’s secretary of state. This sparked his interest in presidency. He noticed Alexander Hamilton had a strong influence in Washington’s decisions and it did not settle well. The nation split into two types of parties: the Federalists, led by Hamilton, and the Republicans, led by Jefferson.
Each party wanted totally different things. Frustrated by this, Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State. In 1797, he was chosen as the Republican candidate to succeed Washington’s presidency. He came in a close second to John Adams, which made him the Vice President. During these four years, he wrote “A Manual of Parliamentary Practice.” In 1800, Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied for president with 73 electoral votes. After debate, the House of Representatives chose Thomas Jefferson to serve as the third U.S. President. His accomplishments include the Louisiana Purchase and ending Barbary pirates disrupting American ships. After easily winning the re-election in 1804, he didn't have much success. He failed to impeach many Federalist judges by the Judiciary Act of 1801. His greatest challenge was the war between France and Britain. The countries tried to prevent American commerce by harassing American ships. To handle this, Jefferson passed the Embargo Act of 1807, which consequently wrecked the American economy and sparked the war of 1812 after he left office. He died on July 4, 1826. He is forever known as a founding father and a man of many
contradictions.

The Louisiana Purchase was one of Thomas Jefferson’s greatest accomplishments.
It stretched from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to the Canadian border in the north, and it nearly doubled the size of the United States. In 1796, Spain allied itself with France, leading Britain to use its powerful navy to cut off Spain from America. Then in 1801, Spain signed a secret treaty with France to return Louisiana Territory to France. In 1802, the Spanish took back a treaty between the U.S. and Spain that granted Americans the right to store goods in New Orleans. In response, Jefferson sent Livingston to Paris to negotiate. In April of 1803, the French asked Livingston if the United States was interested in purchasing all of Louisiana Territory. America agreed to pay almost $12 million and to assume claims of Americans again France in almost $4 million. The treaty was signed May 2, and the Senate ratified the treaty in October. In December, the land was officially U.S. territory. Because of this massive purchase, America expanded westward and created the 18th state,
Louisiana.