**Thomas Jefferson Paper I did for US History to 1865. Let me know what you think!**
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). These words were penned by a man with intelligence, stubbornness, and skepticism. This man’s name was President Thomas Jefferson. One thing of two things come to mind when this man’s name is mentioned- his controversial relationship with Sally Hemmings or his authorship of the Declaration of Independence. These two things are not the only mentionable things about this man. This paper is designed to describe the person of Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, to parents Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph (Garrett 13, 14). His mother, Jane Randolph, gave birth to him at Shadwell- a frame house in Albemarle County, Virginia (Garret 13, 14). She was twenty-three years old when Jefferson was born (14). Wendell D. Garrett, Vice President and Secretary of The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, points out that Jefferson was the third of ten children (14).
Knowing that Jefferson was born is not quite enough, Jefferson’s parents are important characters to study in themselves. Knowing about the parents gives better insight into the person of Thomas Jefferson. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a surveyor, magistrate, justice of the peace, sheriff, colonel of the military, and member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (Garrett 13). He was a self-educated man and very successful (Garrett 13). Thanks to his father’s career, Thomas was able to have his first experiences with Indians (14). Garrett relates them to “friendly” encounters (14). Sadly, Peter Jefferson died when Thomas was fourteen on August 7, 1757 (14). When Peter died, there were two sons and six daughters still living (14). Jefferson’s mother, Jane, was a very accomplished woman (14). Not much is known about his mother other than there was an interesting relationship between them two that is discovered upon research. It can be assumed that Jefferson got some of his great ideals from the influence of two very intelligent parents.
Now knowing his beginnings on earth, his beginnings on the political scene need to be observed. Jefferson chose to attend college at William and Mary (Sanford 7 and Garrett 22). Charles B. Sanford, a United Methodist Minister, points out that Jefferson was exposed to deistic and enlightenment thinking during his college years (14). This exposure is argued to have had an effect on Jefferson’s religious ideals (Sanford 14). Jefferson began to practice law at age twenty-four (Garrett 31). He became a member of the House of Burgesses, like his father, when he was twenty-five in 1768 (Hitchens 14). Thus began his rise to the political grounds.
Stating that Jefferson’s college years had an effect on his religion imposes a force to look deeper into his religious life. It is known that he was a member of Charlottesville Episcopal Church (Sanford 4). Sanford points out that “[one of] Jefferson’s lifelong convictions was that religion was a personal or private matter” (12). With that said, there is not much known about Jefferson’s in-depth religious life. What is known, though, does give a somewhat wobbly foundation with which to begin a reflection of the inner mind of Thomas Jefferson. “He was called an ‘atheist, deist, or devil,’” claims Sanford (6). It is known that he did not believe in the trinity (4). Sanford also tells of Jefferson’s view of life after death- “he did not reject a belief in life after death, despite his questions on the subject, but he refused to be told that there was only one orthodox ‘way which according to the sacred geography leads to Jerusalem straight” (142). Jefferson did have some skepticism in him, but Christopher Hitchens, who was called “one of the most controversial and compelling voices in Anglo-American journalism,” tells that upon Jefferson’s death he made affirmation that he was ready to die (Hitchens 3). Whether this means he finally came to a conclusion on life after death or not is unknown. One very interesting fact about Jefferson is that he cut out his favorite New Testament passages and pasted them in a bound book reading through them for an hour every night (Sanford 3). Although much is not known about his religious life, it is concluded that he had some religious ideals one being the fact that he thought it best that religion should be a “private matter.”
Getting more personal with the religious aspect of Jefferson, the next topic to be discussed is the very “personal” love life of Thomas Jefferson. His first love is known to be a woman whom he found, after she rejected all his advancements, to be betrothed to another man (Hitchens 8). Hitchens’ claims that this was the cause of his plaguing headaches he had for the rest of his life (8). In 1770, he met his wife, Martha Wales Skelton (Garrett 34). Garrett says she was beautiful, smart, a wonderful musician, and Jefferson loved her (34). She was a widow with one son from her previous marriage to Barthhurst Skelton (34). It was said that she kept her father’s accounts to his plantation (34). Thomas and Martha were engaged in 1771 and were married on New Year’s Day 1772 (34). Martha died in September of 1782 (Hitchens 50 and Garrett 34). Hitchen’s asserts her death with the birth of Jefferson and Martha’s sixth child, Lucy (50). It is true that Jefferson promised her on her dying breath that he would never remarry (50). As the editor of Reason magazine, Damon W. Root, asserts, Jefferson’s promise to Martha did not mean he would “become celibate” (Root). Sally Hemmings was Martha’s illegitimate half-sister by her father’s slave (Hitchens 15 and Root). Both Root and Hitchens assert that the affair or sexual relationship between Jefferson and Hemmings started in 1788 when Hemmings was only sixteen years old during one of Jefferson’s trip to France (Root and Hitchens 64). Hitchens says that at that time Sally began to receive payment, nice clothes, and different housing accommodations (Hitchens 64). Root claims that Sally and Thomas could have been considered husband and wife according to law because it was a monogamous relationship, but because Sally was a slave she was left to be considered Jefferson’s concubine (Root). This relationship stirs the great Thomas Jefferson controversy which Root’s article, “The Trouble with Thomas Jefferson,” discusses. The controversy is the fact that Jefferson despised slavery going so far as to include “all men are created equal” into the Declaration, yet he held slave as well as had a sexual relationship with one of his slaves (Root). It is surmised that Jefferson indeed had a very interesting love life.
Now that Jefferson’s love life has been established, his family life or at least his family size needs to be mentioned. Jefferson had a grand total of thirteen children. Six of those children were from his marriage to Martha (Hitchens 15 and Sanford 3). Only two of those children outlived infancy (Hitchens 15). One child, Martha, survived to adulthood (Sanford 3). Jefferson also had children by Sally Hemmings (Hitchens 64 and Root). Hitchens says, “When they left for America [from France], with Jefferson insisting that [Sally] be berthed [sic] next to him on shipboard, it has been suggested by some historians that Sally was pregnant, though the child, if there was a child, did not survive. But all her subsequent children, duly entered in the log of Jefferson’s ‘farm book’ at Monticello, were born exactly nine months after one of his much-punctuated sojourns at the house. No other possible father was present at such times…” (Hitchens 64). Sally’s first child of Jefferson’s was born in 1795 which was the same year Jefferson became a grandfather by one of Martha’s sons (104). All of their children were eventually freed (64). They had seven children, but only four of them survived to adulthood (Root). Jefferson freed two of them himself, but the other two left Monticello on their own (Root). Root confesses that Jefferson never did free Sally, but she could have easily freed herself while in France (Root). He says that she did not do that because Jefferson promised that if she stayed with her he would free all of her children (Root). It can be well assumed that Jefferson had a rather large, interesting family.
Now that who Jefferson was has been asserted, a deeper look can be taken into this man’s ideals to see where he stood on issues. Thomas Jefferson has been called a republican. Forrest McDonald, a professor at the University of Alabama, says- “Jeffersonian republicanism was an ideology and an idea” (McDonald 161). Hitchens tells that Jefferson in 1778 proposed “a bill of proportion in crimes and punishments” to the Virginia House of Burgesses (Hitchens 40). This action shows a little of where he stood on some issues. His contradictory view of slavery is often talked about which shows a confusing side of Jefferson on the issues. Hitchens assess that Jefferson often said, when referring to Haiti and Virginia, that “the abolition of slavery could be as dangerous as slavery itself” (101). Not only is his statement true, but Jefferson’s struggle with this issue can also be seen. Slavery was bad, but would making it illegal really solve anything? It may be assumed that Jefferson was fearful of the changes this move would make. It is possible another war among the states would break out sooner rather than later. America was just starting. This issue was a very dangerous one to mingle in and Jefferson’s wisdom and yet skepticism can be seen here. It is also known that Jefferson recommended the Spanish dollar with its decimal principle to become the American currency (Hitchens 30). Jefferson was not only a republican, but a wise man despite his struggle with the slavery issue. Even the issue of slavery points out his wisdom as a politician.
Politician he was indeed. This moves the discussion now into his careers where his particular view of government and politics would be utilized. His first career outside of the House of Burguesses was Governor of Virginia. At age 36 in the year 1779, Jefferson became the second governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry (Hitchens 40). He then became the next minister to France after Benjamin Franklin in 1785 according to the official site of the Whitehouse in Washington, D.C. (“Thomas Jefferson”). On February 14, 1790, at age 46, Jefferson made his next political move (Garrett 141 and Hitchens 75). Jefferson hearkened to the call of President George Washington to become the first Secretary of State (Garrett 141 and Hitchens 75). The next move was not made on Jefferson’s part. Upon the farewell address of Washington in 1796, Madison arranged a ticket with Jefferson’s name mentioned for the Presidency (Hitchens 107). On March 4, 1797, John Adams won the Presidency with Thomas Jefferson coming in second winning the Vice-Presidency (Garrett 155 and Hitchens 107-108). Thus, Jefferson became the second American Vice-President. The last political move by Jefferson came in 1800 where he and Aaron Burr became President and Vice President (McDonald 22). Jefferson won the presidency with seventy-three electoral votes, fifty-three of those coming from slaveholders (22). Columnist and Commentator for Fox News, Robert D. Novak shows the fact that Jefferson and Burr actually tied originally for the presidency (Novak). Although there was in fact a tie, Jefferson was dubbed the third President of the United States (Hitchens 121). His inaugural address took place on March 4, 1801 (122). Just three hours before Jefferson’s presidency was to take place, President John Adam’s made a series of “midnight appointments” under the provision of the Judiciary Act of 1801 (McDonald 35). These “midnight appointments” made Jefferson first term start off with slight difficulty. A lot took place during the two terms of Thomas Jefferson- the Barbary Wars, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Louis and Clark Expedition (Hitchens 125). In 1802, Jefferson put into action the Treaty of 1802 which is said by McDonald to “become the basis for Andrew Jackson’s ‘death-march’ policy of Indian removal” (McDonald 47). The original terms of this treaty were as follows- “to liquidate, by purchase or otherwise, Indian land claims in what remained of Georgia and to set aside one-tenth of the acquired lands for the compensations of Yazoo claims” (47). On January 6, 1802, the Judiciary Act of 1802 to repeal the Act of 1801 was submitted to Congress (50). With a tie, Vice-President Burr cast the final vote to send the bill back for revisions (50). The bill was passed a few weeks later (50). Marbury vs. Madison took place in 1802 judging the constitutionality of Adam’s “midnight appointments” (49-51). On March 3, 1803, the case of impeachment of Federal District Judge John Pickney went underway (51). He was being tried on drunkenness and insanity (51). On March 12, 1804, Pickney was simply removed from office (80). The Mobile Act of 1804, the embargo bill of 1804, and the enforcement act of 1808 also took place during Jefferson’s presidency (73, 143, and 149). March 1, 1809, Jefferson signed the repeal of the embargo act of 1804 (158). The Non-Intercourse Act was Jefferson’s last act of President (Hitchens 166). His presidency ended on March 4, 1809 (McDonald 158). There were also trials during his Presidency. The most notable trial was his opposition with Burr. Although Burr was not his Vice President for his second term, Jefferson still had to deal with him. Richard Brookhiser, renowned journalist and historian, shows in his article, “Plots and executive privilege: Jefferson and Burr squared off first in a trial about high treason,” that Aaron Burr was arrested for treason, but acquitted despite Jefferson’s testimony (Brookhiser). There were times in all this where Jefferson hoped and attempted to retire. Each attempt though was foiled by the call back into the political scene. It can now be assessed that although a very prosperous political career Jefferson still went through some big trials.
Even the greatest minds do not live forever. Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 (Garrett 205). At 12:50 pm, on the fiftieth anniversary of his great work- the Declaration of Independence- a great mind was lost (205). It is said that he died of wasting diarrhea and an infection of the urinary tract (Hitchens 2). Due to his skepticism, he was ready- complete with will and designed tombstone (3). His legacy lives on in the Declaration of Independence and his movements toward the expansion of America with the Louisiana Purchase and his referral of the Spanish dollar as the American currency.
Thomas Jefferson was a great man. This is evident in his works, his actions, and his ideals. As seen, he is a man that dealt with hardship and enemies. Any great mind would deal with these things. Although Jefferson was not without great controversy, he was still a great man. Hopefully now the person of Thomas Jefferson can be better understood. Indeed a great man wrote these words- “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson).
Works Cited
Brookhiser, Richard. "Plots and executive privilege: Jefferson and Burr squared off first in a trial about high treason." U.S. News & World Report 124 (1998): 24. OmniFile Full Text Select. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
Garrett, Wendell D. The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Weathervane Books, 1971. Print.
Hitchens, Christopher. Thomas Jefferson: Author of America. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. Print.
Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia: Independence Hall, 4 July 1776. Web. 13 April 2010.
McDonald, Forrest. The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1976. Print.
Novak, Robert D. "Our Founding Partisans." The American Spectator 41.7 (2008): 42-3. OmniFile Full Text Select. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
Root, Damon W. "The Trouble With Thomas Jefferson." Reason 40.8 (2009): 61-3. OmniFile Full Text Select. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
Sanford, Charles B. The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984. Print.
“Thomas Jefferson.” Whitehouse.gov. Web. 13 April 2010.
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, to parents Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph (Garrett 13, 14). His mother, Jane Randolph, gave birth to him at Shadwell- a frame house in Albemarle County, Virginia (Garret 13, 14). She was twenty-three years old when Jefferson was born (14). Wendell D. Garrett, Vice President and Secretary of The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, points out that Jefferson was the third of ten children (14).
Knowing that Jefferson was born is not quite enough, Jefferson’s parents are important characters to study in themselves. Knowing about the parents gives better insight into the person of Thomas Jefferson. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a surveyor, magistrate, justice of the peace, sheriff, colonel of the military, and member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (Garrett 13). He was a self-educated man and very successful (Garrett 13). Thanks to his father’s career, Thomas was able to have his first experiences with Indians (14). Garrett relates them to “friendly” encounters (14). Sadly, Peter Jefferson died when Thomas was fourteen on August 7, 1757 (14). When Peter died, there were two sons and six daughters still living (14). Jefferson’s mother, Jane, was a very accomplished woman (14). Not much is known about his mother other than there was an interesting relationship between them two that is discovered upon research. It can be assumed that Jefferson got some of his great ideals from the influence of two very intelligent parents.
Now knowing his beginnings on earth, his beginnings on the political scene need to be observed. Jefferson chose to attend college at William and Mary (Sanford 7 and Garrett 22). Charles B. Sanford, a United Methodist Minister, points out that Jefferson was exposed to deistic and enlightenment thinking during his college years (14). This exposure is argued to have had an effect on Jefferson’s religious ideals (Sanford 14). Jefferson began to practice law at age twenty-four (Garrett 31). He became a member of the House of Burgesses, like his father, when he was twenty-five in 1768 (Hitchens 14). Thus began his rise to the political grounds.
Stating that Jefferson’s college years had an effect on his religion imposes a force to look deeper into his religious life. It is known that he was a member of Charlottesville Episcopal Church (Sanford 4). Sanford points out that “[one of] Jefferson’s lifelong convictions was that religion was a personal or private matter” (12). With that said, there is not much known about Jefferson’s in-depth religious life. What is known, though, does give a somewhat wobbly foundation with which to begin a reflection of the inner mind of Thomas Jefferson. “He was called an ‘atheist, deist, or devil,’” claims Sanford (6). It is known that he did not believe in the trinity (4). Sanford also tells of Jefferson’s view of life after death- “he did not reject a belief in life after death, despite his questions on the subject, but he refused to be told that there was only one orthodox ‘way which according to the sacred geography leads to Jerusalem straight” (142). Jefferson did have some skepticism in him, but Christopher Hitchens, who was called “one of the most controversial and compelling voices in Anglo-American journalism,” tells that upon Jefferson’s death he made affirmation that he was ready to die (Hitchens 3). Whether this means he finally came to a conclusion on life after death or not is unknown. One very interesting fact about Jefferson is that he cut out his favorite New Testament passages and pasted them in a bound book reading through them for an hour every night (Sanford 3). Although much is not known about his religious life, it is concluded that he had some religious ideals one being the fact that he thought it best that religion should be a “private matter.”
Getting more personal with the religious aspect of Jefferson, the next topic to be discussed is the very “personal” love life of Thomas Jefferson. His first love is known to be a woman whom he found, after she rejected all his advancements, to be betrothed to another man (Hitchens 8). Hitchens’ claims that this was the cause of his plaguing headaches he had for the rest of his life (8). In 1770, he met his wife, Martha Wales Skelton (Garrett 34). Garrett says she was beautiful, smart, a wonderful musician, and Jefferson loved her (34). She was a widow with one son from her previous marriage to Barthhurst Skelton (34). It was said that she kept her father’s accounts to his plantation (34). Thomas and Martha were engaged in 1771 and were married on New Year’s Day 1772 (34). Martha died in September of 1782 (Hitchens 50 and Garrett 34). Hitchen’s asserts her death with the birth of Jefferson and Martha’s sixth child, Lucy (50). It is true that Jefferson promised her on her dying breath that he would never remarry (50). As the editor of Reason magazine, Damon W. Root, asserts, Jefferson’s promise to Martha did not mean he would “become celibate” (Root). Sally Hemmings was Martha’s illegitimate half-sister by her father’s slave (Hitchens 15 and Root). Both Root and Hitchens assert that the affair or sexual relationship between Jefferson and Hemmings started in 1788 when Hemmings was only sixteen years old during one of Jefferson’s trip to France (Root and Hitchens 64). Hitchens says that at that time Sally began to receive payment, nice clothes, and different housing accommodations (Hitchens 64). Root claims that Sally and Thomas could have been considered husband and wife according to law because it was a monogamous relationship, but because Sally was a slave she was left to be considered Jefferson’s concubine (Root). This relationship stirs the great Thomas Jefferson controversy which Root’s article, “The Trouble with Thomas Jefferson,” discusses. The controversy is the fact that Jefferson despised slavery going so far as to include “all men are created equal” into the Declaration, yet he held slave as well as had a sexual relationship with one of his slaves (Root). It is surmised that Jefferson indeed had a very interesting love life.
Now that Jefferson’s love life has been established, his family life or at least his family size needs to be mentioned. Jefferson had a grand total of thirteen children. Six of those children were from his marriage to Martha (Hitchens 15 and Sanford 3). Only two of those children outlived infancy (Hitchens 15). One child, Martha, survived to adulthood (Sanford 3). Jefferson also had children by Sally Hemmings (Hitchens 64 and Root). Hitchens says, “When they left for America [from France], with Jefferson insisting that [Sally] be berthed [sic] next to him on shipboard, it has been suggested by some historians that Sally was pregnant, though the child, if there was a child, did not survive. But all her subsequent children, duly entered in the log of Jefferson’s ‘farm book’ at Monticello, were born exactly nine months after one of his much-punctuated sojourns at the house. No other possible father was present at such times…” (Hitchens 64). Sally’s first child of Jefferson’s was born in 1795 which was the same year Jefferson became a grandfather by one of Martha’s sons (104). All of their children were eventually freed (64). They had seven children, but only four of them survived to adulthood (Root). Jefferson freed two of them himself, but the other two left Monticello on their own (Root). Root confesses that Jefferson never did free Sally, but she could have easily freed herself while in France (Root). He says that she did not do that because Jefferson promised that if she stayed with her he would free all of her children (Root). It can be well assumed that Jefferson had a rather large, interesting family.
Now that who Jefferson was has been asserted, a deeper look can be taken into this man’s ideals to see where he stood on issues. Thomas Jefferson has been called a republican. Forrest McDonald, a professor at the University of Alabama, says- “Jeffersonian republicanism was an ideology and an idea” (McDonald 161). Hitchens tells that Jefferson in 1778 proposed “a bill of proportion in crimes and punishments” to the Virginia House of Burgesses (Hitchens 40). This action shows a little of where he stood on some issues. His contradictory view of slavery is often talked about which shows a confusing side of Jefferson on the issues. Hitchens assess that Jefferson often said, when referring to Haiti and Virginia, that “the abolition of slavery could be as dangerous as slavery itself” (101). Not only is his statement true, but Jefferson’s struggle with this issue can also be seen. Slavery was bad, but would making it illegal really solve anything? It may be assumed that Jefferson was fearful of the changes this move would make. It is possible another war among the states would break out sooner rather than later. America was just starting. This issue was a very dangerous one to mingle in and Jefferson’s wisdom and yet skepticism can be seen here. It is also known that Jefferson recommended the Spanish dollar with its decimal principle to become the American currency (Hitchens 30). Jefferson was not only a republican, but a wise man despite his struggle with the slavery issue. Even the issue of slavery points out his wisdom as a politician.
Politician he was indeed. This moves the discussion now into his careers where his particular view of government and politics would be utilized. His first career outside of the House of Burguesses was Governor of Virginia. At age 36 in the year 1779, Jefferson became the second governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry (Hitchens 40). He then became the next minister to France after Benjamin Franklin in 1785 according to the official site of the Whitehouse in Washington, D.C. (“Thomas Jefferson”). On February 14, 1790, at age 46, Jefferson made his next political move (Garrett 141 and Hitchens 75). Jefferson hearkened to the call of President George Washington to become the first Secretary of State (Garrett 141 and Hitchens 75). The next move was not made on Jefferson’s part. Upon the farewell address of Washington in 1796, Madison arranged a ticket with Jefferson’s name mentioned for the Presidency (Hitchens 107). On March 4, 1797, John Adams won the Presidency with Thomas Jefferson coming in second winning the Vice-Presidency (Garrett 155 and Hitchens 107-108). Thus, Jefferson became the second American Vice-President. The last political move by Jefferson came in 1800 where he and Aaron Burr became President and Vice President (McDonald 22). Jefferson won the presidency with seventy-three electoral votes, fifty-three of those coming from slaveholders (22). Columnist and Commentator for Fox News, Robert D. Novak shows the fact that Jefferson and Burr actually tied originally for the presidency (Novak). Although there was in fact a tie, Jefferson was dubbed the third President of the United States (Hitchens 121). His inaugural address took place on March 4, 1801 (122). Just three hours before Jefferson’s presidency was to take place, President John Adam’s made a series of “midnight appointments” under the provision of the Judiciary Act of 1801 (McDonald 35). These “midnight appointments” made Jefferson first term start off with slight difficulty. A lot took place during the two terms of Thomas Jefferson- the Barbary Wars, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Louis and Clark Expedition (Hitchens 125). In 1802, Jefferson put into action the Treaty of 1802 which is said by McDonald to “become the basis for Andrew Jackson’s ‘death-march’ policy of Indian removal” (McDonald 47). The original terms of this treaty were as follows- “to liquidate, by purchase or otherwise, Indian land claims in what remained of Georgia and to set aside one-tenth of the acquired lands for the compensations of Yazoo claims” (47). On January 6, 1802, the Judiciary Act of 1802 to repeal the Act of 1801 was submitted to Congress (50). With a tie, Vice-President Burr cast the final vote to send the bill back for revisions (50). The bill was passed a few weeks later (50). Marbury vs. Madison took place in 1802 judging the constitutionality of Adam’s “midnight appointments” (49-51). On March 3, 1803, the case of impeachment of Federal District Judge John Pickney went underway (51). He was being tried on drunkenness and insanity (51). On March 12, 1804, Pickney was simply removed from office (80). The Mobile Act of 1804, the embargo bill of 1804, and the enforcement act of 1808 also took place during Jefferson’s presidency (73, 143, and 149). March 1, 1809, Jefferson signed the repeal of the embargo act of 1804 (158). The Non-Intercourse Act was Jefferson’s last act of President (Hitchens 166). His presidency ended on March 4, 1809 (McDonald 158). There were also trials during his Presidency. The most notable trial was his opposition with Burr. Although Burr was not his Vice President for his second term, Jefferson still had to deal with him. Richard Brookhiser, renowned journalist and historian, shows in his article, “Plots and executive privilege: Jefferson and Burr squared off first in a trial about high treason,” that Aaron Burr was arrested for treason, but acquitted despite Jefferson’s testimony (Brookhiser). There were times in all this where Jefferson hoped and attempted to retire. Each attempt though was foiled by the call back into the political scene. It can now be assessed that although a very prosperous political career Jefferson still went through some big trials.
Even the greatest minds do not live forever. Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 (Garrett 205). At 12:50 pm, on the fiftieth anniversary of his great work- the Declaration of Independence- a great mind was lost (205). It is said that he died of wasting diarrhea and an infection of the urinary tract (Hitchens 2). Due to his skepticism, he was ready- complete with will and designed tombstone (3). His legacy lives on in the Declaration of Independence and his movements toward the expansion of America with the Louisiana Purchase and his referral of the Spanish dollar as the American currency.
Thomas Jefferson was a great man. This is evident in his works, his actions, and his ideals. As seen, he is a man that dealt with hardship and enemies. Any great mind would deal with these things. Although Jefferson was not without great controversy, he was still a great man. Hopefully now the person of Thomas Jefferson can be better understood. Indeed a great man wrote these words- “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson).
Works Cited
Brookhiser, Richard. "Plots and executive privilege: Jefferson and Burr squared off first in a trial about high treason." U.S. News & World Report 124 (1998): 24. OmniFile Full Text Select. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
Garrett, Wendell D. The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Weathervane Books, 1971. Print.
Hitchens, Christopher. Thomas Jefferson: Author of America. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. Print.
Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia: Independence Hall, 4 July 1776. Web. 13 April 2010.
McDonald, Forrest. The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1976. Print.
Novak, Robert D. "Our Founding Partisans." The American Spectator 41.7 (2008): 42-3. OmniFile Full Text Select. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
Root, Damon W. "The Trouble With Thomas Jefferson." Reason 40.8 (2009): 61-3. OmniFile Full Text Select. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.
Sanford, Charles B. The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1984. Print.
“Thomas Jefferson.” Whitehouse.gov. Web. 13 April 2010.
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