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{{Infobox Officeholder
|name = Thomas Jefferson
|image = File:Official Presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson (by Rembrandt Peale, 1800).jpg{{!}}border
|alt = Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by [[Rembrandt Peale]]
|office = [[List of Presidents of the United States|3rd]] [[President of the United States]]
|vicepresident = [[Aaron Burr]] <small>(1801–1805)</small><br />[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] <small>(1805–1809)</small>
|term_start = March 4, 1801
|term_end = March 4, 1809
|predecessor = [[John Adams]]
|successor = [[James Madison]]
|office1 = [[List of Vice Presidents of the United States|2nd]] [[Vice President of the United States]]
|president1 = [[John Adams]]
|term_start1 = March 4, 1797
|term_end1 = March 4, 1801
|predecessor1 = [[John Adams]]
|successor1 = [[Aaron Burr]]
|office2 = [[List of Secretaries of State of the United States|1st]] [[United States Secretary of State]]
|president2 = [[George Washington]]
|term_start2 = March 22, 1790
|term_end2 = December 31, 1793
|predecessor2 = [[John Jay]] {{small|(Acting)}}
|successor2 = [[Edmund Randolph]]
|minister_from3 = United States
|country3 = France
|appointer3 = [[Congress of the Confederation]]
|term_start3 = May 17, 1785
|term_end3 = September 26, 1789
|predecessor3 = [[Benjamin Franklin]]
|successor3 = [[William Short (American ambassador)|William Short]]
|office4 = Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation from [[Virginia]]
|term_start4 = November 3, 1783
|term_end4 = May 7, 1784
|predecessor4 = James Madison
|successor4 = [[Richard Henry Lee]]
|office5 = [[List of Governors of Virginia|2nd]] [[Governor of Virginia]]
|term_start5 = June 1, 1779
|term_end5 = June 3, 1781
|predecessor5 = [[Patrick Henry]]
|successor5 = [[William Fleming (governor)|William Fleming]]
|office6 = Delegate to the [[Second Continental Congress]] from Virginia
|term_start6 = June 20, 1775
|term_end6 = September 26, 1776
|predecessor6 = George Washington
|successor6 = [[John Harvie]]
|birth_date = {{birth date|1743|4|13}}
|birth_place = [[Shadwell (Virginia)|Shadwell]], [[Colony of Virginia]], [[British America]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1826|7|4|1743|4|13}}
|death_place = [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]], [[Virginia]], U.S.
|restingplace = "[[Monticello]]", [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]
|party = [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]], (first Republican Party)
|spouse = {{marriage|[[Martha Jefferson|Martha Wayles]]|January 1, 1772|September 6, 1782|reason=died}}
|children = 6, including [[Martha Jefferson Randolph]] and [[Mary Jefferson Eppes]]
|alma_mater = [[College of William & Mary|College of William and Mary]], [[Williamsburg, Virginia]]
|religion = [[Christianity]] or [[Deism]]
|profession = Statesman, planter, lawyer, architect
|signature = Thomas Jefferson Signature.svg
|signature_alt = Th: Jefferson
}}

'''Thomas Jefferson''' (April 13 <small>&#91;[[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]] April 2&#93;</small>&nbsp;1743&nbsp;– July 4, 1826) was an American [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]], principal author of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] (1776), and third [[President of the United States]] (1801–1809). A proponent of democracy, Jefferson embraced the concepts of [[republicanism]] and individual rights. During the [[American Revolution]], he represented Virginia in the [[Continental Congress]] and later served as a wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781). In May 1785, he became the United States Minister to France and subsequently the first [[United States Secretary of State]] from 1790–1793, serving under President [[George Washington]]. Jefferson and [[James Madison]] organized the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] to oppose the [[Federalist Party]] led by [[Alexander Hamilton]] in the formation of the [[First Party System]]. He was elected to the office of [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] in 1796, the second in history, serving in the administration of President [[John Adams]]. Jefferson and Madison secretly wrote the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] in 1798–1799, documents intended to nullify the [[Alien and Sedition Acts]]; the resolutions were passed by the [[Federalist Party|Federalist-controlled]] [[United States Congress]].

As a Democratic-Republican, he was elected the third President of the United States in the [[United States presidential election, 1800|election of 1800]]. After peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. Three years later he waged a brief naval campaign against the [[Barbary Coast]] states in North Africa to defend American shipping. During his presidency, the United States purchased the vast western [[Louisiana Purchase|Louisiana Territory]] from Napoleonic France (1803), and sent out the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] (1804–1806) to explore the new West. His second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the failed treason trial of former Vice President [[Aaron Burr]].  Also, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson signed and implemented the [[Embargo Act of 1807]], in response to British threats to U.S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson initiated a controversial process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized  [[Louisiana Territory]] west of the [[Mississippi River]]. In 1807, he signed into law the intensely debated [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves]] that banned slave importation into the United States.

A champion of the [[Age of Enlightenment]], Jefferson, was diversely talented in the arts, sciences, agriculture and politics. He was a proven architect in the [[classical architecture|classical tradition]], and designed his home [[Monticello]], the [[Virginia State Capitol]] and other important buildings. His keen interest in religion and philosophy also earned him the presidency of the [[American Philosophical Society]]. Besides English, he was well versed in [[Latin language|Latin]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]].

He founded the [[University of Virginia]] in his retirement from public office. Although ineffectual as an orator, Jefferson was a skilled writer and corresponded with many influential people in America and Europe. Most historians believe that after the death of his wife Martha in 1782, he had a long-term relationship with his female slave [[Sally Hemings]], and fathered at least some of her children.

In the aggregate, Jefferson is ranked by historians as the [[Historical rankings of Presidents of the United States|fifth most successful President]].

==Early life and career==
{{main|Early life and career of Thomas Jefferson}}
[[File:Tuckahoe plantation.JPG|thumb|right|Tuckahoe Plantation, Jefferson's childhood home for 7 years]]
Jefferson was born the third of ten children, on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743 [[Old Style and New Style dates|OS]]) at the family home in [[Shadwell (Virginia)|Shadwell, Virginia]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 18</ref> His father was [[Peter Jefferson]], a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen. His mother was [[Jane Randolph Jefferson|Jane Randolph]], daughter of [[Isham Randolph of Dungeness|Isham Randolph]], a ship's captain and planter. He showed little interest in learning about his ancestry; on his father's side he only knew of the existence of his grandfather.<ref name=Brodie33/><ref name=Malone5/>{{efn|Malone, p. 5, notes that he "had a place on the Fluvanna River which he called Snowden after a mountain in Wales near which the Jeffersons were supposed once to have lived." TJ's knowledge of this was imperfect.}} Jefferson's earliest memory was being handed to a slave on horseback and carried 50 miles away to their new home which overlooked the [[Rivanna River]] in current [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle County]]. His facial appearance resembled that of his father but his slim physique was typical of his mother's family.<ref name=Brodie33>[[#Brodie|Brodie, 1974]], pp. 33–34</ref> He was of English and possible Welsh descent.<ref name=Malone5>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 5–6</ref>

Peter Jefferson's friend William Randolph died a widower in 1745, having appointed Peter as guardian to manage his [[Tuckahoe Plantation]] and care for his four children. That year the Jeffersons relocated to Tuckahoe where they lived for the next seven years before returning to Shadwell in 1752. Peter Jefferson died in 1757 and the Jefferson estate was divided between Peter's two sons, Thomas and [[Randolph Jefferson|Randolph]].<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 31–33</ref> Thomas inherited approximately {{convert|5000|acre|ha sqmi|lk=off}} of land, including [[Monticello]], and between 20 and 40 slaves, and unfettered control of the property at age 21.<ref name=Malone437>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 437–40</ref>

===Education===
{{Main|Thomas Jefferson and education}}
Jefferson began his childhood education beside the Randolph children with tutors at Tuckahoe.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 19</ref> In 1752, he began attending a local school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister. At age nine, he initiated his study of Latin, Greek, and French; he learned to ride horses, and began nature studies. He was taught from 1758 to 1760 by Reverend [[James Maury]] near [[Gordonsville, Virginia]] while boarding with Maury's family and there studied history, science and the classics.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 7–9</ref>

[[File:Rear view of the Wren Building, College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA (2008-04-23).jpg|thumb|Wren Building (rear), College of William & Mary where Jefferson studied]]
Jefferson entered [[the College of William & Mary]] in [[Williamsburg, Virginia]] at age 16, and studied mathematics, metaphysics and philosophy under Professor [[William Small]]. Small introduced him to the [[empiricism|British Empiricists]] including [[John Locke]], [[Francis Bacon]] and [[Isaac Newton]]. He also improved his French, Greek and his skill at the violin. Jefferson graduated in 1762, completing his studies in two years. Through Small he made the acquaintance of law professor [[George Wythe]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 20</ref> Jefferson [[reading the law|read the law]] under the tutelage of Wythe to obtain his law license, while working as a [[law clerk]] in Wythe's office. He also read a wide variety of English classics and political works.

Jefferson treasured his books, and in 1770 his Shadwell home, including a library of 200 volumes inherited from his father, was destroyed by fire;<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 42</ref> nevertheless, by 1773 he replenished his library with 1,250 titles, and in 1815 his collection had grown to almost 6,500 volumes, including some inherited from George Wythe.<ref>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 48</ref> He thus accumulated thousands of books for his library at Monticello. After the British burned the [[Library of Congress]] in 1814, he sold more than 6,000 books to the Library for $23,950. Then realizing he was no longer in possession of such a grand collection, he wrote to [[John Adams]], "I cannot live without books". He had intended to pay off some of his large debt, yet started buying more books.

===Marriage, family and Monticello===
On January 1, 1772 Jefferson married his third cousin [[Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson|Martha Wayles Skelton]], the 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton.<ref name="Tucker p.47">[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 47</ref><ref name='Roberts'>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanancestors.org/the-royal-descents-of-jane-pierce/ |title=The Royal Descents of Jane Pierce, Alice and Edith Roosevelt, Helen Taft, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Barbara Bush |last=Roberts |first=Gary Boyd |author= |authorlink= |last2= |first2= |author2= |authorlink2= |date=April–May 1993 |website=American Ancestors |series= |publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society|archive-url= |archive-date= |deadurl= |accessdate=18 October 2014|ref= |separator= |postscript= |subscription= |registration=}}</ref> Their marriage took place at the house of Martha's father and was conducted by the Reverend William Coutts.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 57</ref> She was a frequent hostess for Jefferson, managed the large household and their joyful marriage is considered the happiest period of his life.<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]]. p. 53</ref> Martha read widely, did fine needle work and was an skilled pianist; Jefferson, who was accomplished on the violin and cello, often accompanied her musically.<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 47, 158</ref> It is said that she was attracted to him largely because of their mutual love of music.<ref>[[#Halliday09|Halliday, 2009]] pp. 48–52</ref><ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]] p. 27</ref> During their ten years of marriage, Martha bore six children: [[Martha Jefferson Randolph|Martha]] "Patsy" (1772–1836); Jane (1774–1775); a son who lived for only a few weeks in 1777; [[Mary Jefferson Eppes|Mary Wayles]] "Polly" (1778–1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781); and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1785). Only Martha and Mary survived more than a few years.<ref name="Martha">[[#Skelton|White House Archives]]</ref> After her father John Wayles died in 1773, Martha and her husband inherited 135 slaves, {{convert|11000|acre|ha sqmi|lk=off}} and the debts of his estate. These took Jefferson and other co-executors of the estate years to satisfy, which contributed to his own financial problems.<ref name="Tucker p.47"/>
[[File:Monticello 2010-10-29.jpg|thumb|Jefferson's home, Monticello]]
Martha later suffered from ill health including diabetes, and frequent childbirth further weakened her. A few months after the birth of her last child, she died on September 6, 1782, at the age of 33 with Jefferson at her bedside. He was so distraught that in the following three weeks he shut himself in his room, where he paced back and forth nearly to the point of exhaustion. Later he often took long rides on secluded roads to mourn for his wife.<ref name="Martha"/><ref name=Halliday48>[[#Halliday09|Halliday, 2009]], pp. 48–53</ref> Martha's mother had died young, and as a girl Martha lived with two stepmothers. Shortly before her death, she told Jefferson that she could not bear to have another mother raise her children, and pleaded with him to never to marry again. He made and kept a solemn promise in that regard.<ref>[[#Pierson1862|Pierson, 1862]], p. 107</ref><ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], p. 145</ref>

Jefferson in 1768 had begun construction of his primary residence Monticello (Italian for "Little Mountain") on a hilltop overlooking a 5,000 acre plantation.{{efn|His other properties included [[Shadwell (Virginia)|Shadwell]], Tufton, Lego, Pantops, and his retreat, [[Poplar Forest]] He also owned an unimproved mountaintop, Montalto.<ref>[[#Bear|Bear, 1967]] p. 51</ref>}} Construction was done mostly by local masons and carpenters, appreciably assisted by Jefferson's slaves.<ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: ''Monticello (house)'']]</ref> He moved into the South Pavilion in 1770, where his wife Martha joined him in 1772. Turning Monticello into a neoclassical masterpiece in the [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style was his perennial project.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.architectureweek.com/topics/orders-01.html|title=The Orders&nbsp;– 01|journal=Architecture Week|accessdate=July 20, 2009}}</ref>

Jefferson mastered architecture through self-study, using various books and classical architectural designs of the day. His primary authority was [[Andrea Palladio]]'s ''The Four Books of Architecture'', which exposed him to the principles of classical design.<ref>[[#Brodie|Brodie, 1974]], pp. 87–88</ref><ref>[[#Bernstein|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 9</ref> While serving as Minister to France, Jefferson had the opportunity to survey the foremost classical buildings he had reviewed in his reading, as well the "modern" trends in French architecture then fashionable in Paris. After working as Secretary of State (1790–93), he began rebuilding Monticello based on the concepts he had acquired in Europe. The remodeling continued throughout most of his presidency, the most notable change being the octagonal dome.<ref>[[#Bernstein|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 109</ref><ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: ''Monticello, the House'']]</ref>

===Lawyer and House of Burgesses===
[[File:House of Burgesses in the Capitol Williamsburg James City County Virginia by Frances Benjamin Johnston.jpg|thumb|House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, VA where Jefferson served 1769–1775]]
Jefferson was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767 and then lived with his mother at Shadwell.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 36</ref> His law practice included clients from his mother's family, the Randolphs.,<ref name="HSR 47">Henry Stephens Randall, ''The Life of Thomas Jefferson''. p. 47</ref> and his work took him throughout the Shenandoah Valley.<ref>Meacham, Jon. Thomas Jefferson: the art of power. 2012 ISBN 978-1-4000-6766-4. p. 39.</ref> The fire at Shadwell had also claimed his legal papers and notes for the coming term of court, and though he was frantic, George Wythe consoled him with a line from Virgil, "Carry on, and preserve yourselves for better times."<ref>Meacham, Jon. 2012, pp. 45–47.</ref>

In addition to practicing law Jefferson represented [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle County]] as a delegate in the Virginia [[House of Burgesses]] from 1769 until 1775.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 40</ref> He proved more willing to reform slavery in his early career than later when he became a more substantial slaveholder. In 1769 he introduced legislation allowing masters to assume full control over the emancipation of slaves, taking the discretion away from the royal Governor and his General Court. Jefferson had persuaded his cousin Richard Bland to spearhead the legislation's passage, but the reaction in the House was strongly negative. He recalled Bland was "treated with the grossest indecorum."<ref>Meacham, Jon. 2012, pp. 47–49.</ref>

Jefferson worked on a number of lawsuits on behalf of freedom-seeking slaves.<ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], p. 348</ref> He took the case of Samuel Howell without charging him a fee.<ref name=Gordon99>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], pp. 99–100</ref> Howell, of inter-racial grandparents, claimed he should be freed before the statutory age of thirty-one required for emancipation in such a case. Jefferson, invoking [[Natural law|Natural Law]], argued, "everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will&nbsp;... This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance." The judge hearing the Howell case abruptly cut him off and ruled against his client. As a consolation, Jefferson gave Howell some money, presumably used to aid his escape shortly thereafter.<ref name=Gordon99/> Jefferson later successfully incorporated the argument into the Declaration of Independence.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 49</ref>

Although earlier discouraged, smallpox inoculation began  in 1768–1769 in Norfolk County, Virginia, and precipitated riots. Jefferson defended the riots' victims, including Dr. Archibald Campbell whose house was burned. Jefferson, himself inoculated at age 23, gave up his law practice before the case was resolved, but later served on a General Assembly committee which sought to reduce the 1769 restrictions on the inoculations.<ref name=TJFencyclopedia>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia]]</ref>

Following the passage of the [[Intolerable Acts]] by the British Parliament in 1774, Jefferson wrote a resolution against the acts calling for ''The day of Fasting and Prayer'' in protest. The resolution also called for a boycott of all British goods. These were later expanded into ''[[A Summary View of the Rights of British America]]'', in which he expressed his belief that people had the right to [[Self-governing colony|govern themselves]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 71–73</ref>

==Political career 1775–1800==

===Declaration of Independence===
[[File:Us declaration independence.jpg|thumb|right|U.S. Declaration of Independence - 1823 facsimile of the engrossed copy]]
Jefferson served as a delegate to the [[Second Continental Congress]] beginning in 1775 at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 77</ref> He sought out John Adams who, along with the latter's cousin Samuel, had emerged as a leader of the Congress.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], p. 87</ref> Jefferson and Adams established a permanent friendship which led to Jefferson primary drafting of the Declaration of Independence. Adams supported Jefferson's appointment to the [[Committee of Five]] formed to write the formal Declaration in furtherance of the [[Lee Resolution]] passed by the Congress.<ref>[[#Maier|Maier, 1997]], pp. 97–105</ref> After discussing the general outline of the document, the committee decided that Jefferson would write the first draft. The committee in general, and Jefferson in particular, thought Adams should write the document, but Adams persuaded the committee to choose Jefferson. Though he was reluctant to take the assignment, he agreed and Adams promised to consult with him upon completion.{{efn|Adams recorded his exchange with Jefferson on the question: Jefferson asked, "Why will you not? You ought to do it." To which Adams responded, "I will not – reasons enough." Jefferson replied, "What can be your reasons?" And Adams responded, "Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can." "Well," said Jefferson, "if you are decided, I will do as well as I can." Adams concluded, "Very well. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting."see Ferling, John. John Adams: A Life (1992), ch. 9.}}

Consulting with other committee members over the next seventeen days, Jefferson also drew on his own proposed draft of the [[Constitution of Virginia|Virginia Constitution]], [[George Mason]]'s draft of the [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]] and other sources.<ref>[[#Maier|Maier, 1997]], p. 104</ref> The other committee members made some changes; most notably, Jefferson had written, "We hold these truths to be sacred and un-deniable&nbsp;..." which Franklin changed to read, "We hold these truths to be self-evident."<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], p. 90</ref> A final draft was presented to the Congress on June 28, 1776.

Congress debated the Declaration and deleted nearly a fourth of the text, most notably a passage critical of the slave trade.<ref name="Ellis, 1996, p. 50">[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 50</ref> While Jefferson resented the changes, he did not speak publicly about the revisions. {{efn|Franklin, seated beside the author, observed him "writhing a little under the acrimonious criticisms on some of its parts."<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], p. 90</ref>}} On July 4, 1776, the Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence and the delegates signed the document on August 2. The Declaration is considered one of Jefferson's major achievements; his preamble is regarded as an enduring statement of human rights. Indeed, the phrase "[[all men are created equal]]" has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language" containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history".<ref name="Ellis, 1996, p. 50"/><ref>[[#Ellis2008|Ellis, 2008]], pp. 55–56</ref>

Jefferson viewed the independence of the American people from the mother country [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] as breaking away from "parent stock", and that the [[American Revolution|War of Independence]] from Britain was a natural outcome of being separated by the [[Atlantic Ocean]].<ref name=Hellenbrand_p70>Hellenbrand, Harold (1990), ''The Unfinished Revolution: Education and Politics in the Thought of Thomas Jefferson''. Univ. of Delaware Press. p. 70</ref> In his view, English colonists were compelled to rely on "common sense" and rediscover the "[[natural law|laws of nature]]".<ref name=Hellenbrand_p70/> He also maintained the Independence of the original British colonies was part of a historical pattern following a similar divergence when the [[Saxons]] left their mother country Europe hundreds of years earlier and colonized Britain.<ref name=Hellenbrand_p70/>

===Virginia state legislator and Governor===
After the colonies declared their Independence, Jefferson was elected to the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] for [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle County]] in September 1776, where the finalization of a state constitution was a priority.<ref name="Peterson pp. 101">[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 101–02, 140</ref><ref name=Fer26>[[#Ferling04|Ferling, 2004]], p. 26</ref> He commented on the drafting of the constitution, saying he supported freehold [[suffrage]], by which only landowners could vote. For nearly three years, he assisted with the constitution. He was especially proud of the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 102</ref> He served as a Delegate until 1779. Another object of importance to him was to disestablish the Anglican church in Virginia, but this was not done until 1786, while he was in France as US Minister.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 134, 142</ref> After [[Thomas Ludwell Lee]] died in 1778 Jefferson was given the task of studying and revising the state's laws. Jefferson drafted 126 bills in three years, including laws to establish fee simple tenure in land and to streamline the judicial system. Jefferson's statutes abolished [[primogeniture]] and provided for general education, which he considered the basis of "republican government."<ref name="Peterson pp. 101"/> His "Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge" led to some small changes at the College of William & Mary, and reduced control by clergy.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 146149</ref>
[[File:Colonial Williamsburg Governors Palace Front Dscn7232.jpg|thumb|right|[[Governor's Palace (Williamsburg, Virginia)|Governor's Palace]] - Governor Jefferson's residence in Williamsburg]]
In 1779, at the age of thirty-six, Jefferson was elected [[Governor of Virginia]] by the two houses of the legislature for a term of one year, then re-elected for an additional year.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 134</ref>  As governor in 1780, he transferred the state capital from Williamsburg to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]]. A range of measures were introduced by Jefferson during his time as Governor of Virginia, including public education, inheritance laws and religious freedom. He served as a wartime governor, as the united colonies continued the Revolutionary War against Great Britain, and prepared Richmond in 1780 for an attack, by moving all military supplies to a foundry located five miles outside of town. In January 1781 General [[Benedict Arnold]] captured the foundry during his invasion of Richmond. Jefferson called for the Virginia militia to defend the city, but when the defense arrived, led by [[Sampson Mathews]], it was too late to prevent the siege.<ref>[[#Waddell|Waddell, 1902]], p. 278</ref> Jefferson evacuated Richmond as the armies engaged.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 147</ref>

Cornwallis that spring dispatched a 250-man cavalry force led by [[Banastre Tarleton]] on a secret expedition to capture the Governor and members of the Assembly at Monticello but [[Jack Jouett]] of the Virginia militia thwarted the British plan. Jefferson escaped to [[Poplar Forest]], his plantation to the west.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 157</ref> His gubernatorial term expired in June and he spent much of the summer with his family at Poplar Forest. His tenure as governor in general, and his decision to flee the capital in particular, has been criticized.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 234–38</ref> The members of the General Assembly quickly reconvened in June 1781 in [[Staunton, Virginia]] across the Blue Ridge Mountains, and considered an official inquiry into Jefferson's actions, as they believed he had failed his responsibilities as governor. Jefferson was not re-elected.<ref name=Fer26/> In that year also his daughter Lucy died at age one. A second daughter of that name was born the following year but died as well at age 3.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 263</ref>

===''Notes on the State of Virginia''===
{{main|Notes on the State of Virginia}}
Jefferson received a letter of inquiry in 1780 about the geography, history and government of Virginia from French diplomat [[François Barbé-Marbois]], who was gathering data on the United States. Jefferson included his written responses in a book, ''[[Notes on the State of Virginia]]'' (1785).<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 165–166</ref> He compiled the book over five years, including reviews of scientific knowledge, Virginia's history, politics, laws, culture and geography. He was assisted by [[Thomas Walker (explorer)|Thomas Walker]], [[George Rogers Clark|George R. Clark]] and geographer [[Thomas Hutchins]].<ref>Shuffelton, Frank (1999) "Introduction" in ''Notes on the State of Virginia Thomas Jefferson''. Penguin</ref> The book is his argument about what constitutes a good society, which he believed was embodied in Virginia. It also included extensive data about the state's natural resources and its economy. He as well wrote extensively about slavery, [[miscegenation]] and his belief that blacks and whites could not live together as free people in one society because of resentments over slavery.<ref>[[#Jeff Notes|Notes on the State of Virginia]], p. 149</ref><ref>[[#Burstein2006|Burstein, 2006]], p. 146</ref> He said that, "Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had chosen a people."<ref>[[#Jeff Notes|Notes on the State of Virginia]], p. 176</ref><ref>[[#Nash2012|Nash, Russell, Hodges, 2012]], p. 46</ref> In 1785 Jefferson's ''Notes{{'}}'' was anonymously published in Paris in a limited French edition of a few hundred copies. Its first public English edition, issued by John Stockdale in London, appeared in 1787.<ref>[[#Bernstein2004|Bernstein, 2004]], p. 78</ref>

===Member of Congress===
[[File:Independence Hall Assembly Room.jpg|thumb|Independence Hall Assembly Room where Jefferson served in Congress]]
Following its victory in the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary War]] and [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|peace treaty]] with Great Britain in 1783, the United States formed a [[Congress of the Confederation|Continental Congress]] to which Jefferson was appointed as a Virginia delegate. As a member of the committee setting foreign exchange rates, he [[Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States|recommended]] an American currency based on the decimal system and his plan was adopted.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 172–173</ref> He also advised formation of the [[Committee of the States]], to fill the power vacuum when Congress was in recess.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], p. 275</ref> When Congress adjourned the following June, the Committee met but within two months disagreements divided the members. Jefferson learned of the ordeal while in France, and spoke to Franklin who compared the Committee to a "needed light house" and its members to a "raging sea", rendering it inaccessible and dysfunctional.<ref>[[#Rayner34|Rayner, 1834]] p. 207</ref>

In the 1783–84 session of the Congress Jefferson acted as chairman of important committees, to establish a viable system of government for the new Republic, and propose a policy for the settlement of the western territories. Jefferson was the principal author of the [[Land Ordinance of 1784]] whereby Virginia ceded to the national government the vast area it claimed northwest of the [[Ohio River]]. He insisted this territory not be used as colonial territory by any of the thirteen states, but that it be divided into sections which could become states.<ref name=Stewart39>[[#Stewart97|Stewart, 1997]], p. 39</ref> He plotted borders for nine new states in their initial stages and also wrote an ordinance banning slavery in all the nation's territories. Congress made extensive revisions including rejection of the ban of slavery. Jefferson thought that Congress had "mutilated" his work, but accepted the majority's changes.<ref name=Peretson189>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]], pp. 189–90</ref><ref>[[#Finkelman1989|Finkelman, 1989]] pp. 21–51</ref> The provisions banning slavery, known later as the ''Jefferson Proviso'', were modified and implemented three years later in the [[Northwest Ordinance|Northwest Ordinance of 1787]] and became the law for the entire Northwest.<ref name=Peretson189/>

===Minister to France===
[[File:Thomas Jefferson 1786 by Mather Brown.JPG|thumb|left|Portrait of Thomas Jefferson while in London in 1786, by [[Mather Brown]]]]

Jefferson was sent by the [[Congress of the Confederation|Confederation Congress]]{{efn|the immediate successor to the [[Second Continental Congress]]}} to join Benjamin Franklin and John Adams as ministers in Europe for negotiation of trade agreements with England, Spain, and France. Some believed the recently widowed Jefferson was depressed and that the assignment would distract him from his wife's death.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 289–94</ref> Taking his young daughter Patsy and two servants, he departed from Boston in July of 1784 and arrived in Paris the next month.<ref name=Stewart39/><ref>[https://jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/chronologies Jefferson Papers], chronology, Vol. 7:2, Princeton U., 2014. Retrieved 31 Dec. 2014.</ref> Jefferson taught himself to read and write Spanish during the nineteen-day voyage, using a copy of ''[[Don Quixote]]''.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 188</ref>

Four days after his arrival, Jefferson rode out to [[Passy]] to greet Franklin.<ref>[[#Randall|Randall, 1994]] p. 372</ref> When the French foreign minister, the [[Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes|Count de Vergennes]], commented to Jefferson, "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear," Jefferson replied, "I ''succeed'' him. No man can ''replace'' him."<ref name="Hale119">[[#Hale1896|Hale]], 1896 p. 119</ref><ref>[[#Randall|Randall, 1994]] p. 400</ref> Franklin resigned as minister to France in March 1785, and departed in July after a ceremony at Passy.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 194</ref>

Jefferson had Patsy educated at the [[Pentemont Abbey]]; he taught her French and helped her with her studies. To serve the [[:File:Thomas Jefferson's Paris house memorial.jpg|household]], Jefferson brought some of his slaves, including [[James Hemings]], whom he had trained in French cuisine.<ref>[[#Wiencek2012|Wiencek2012]], p. 181</ref> In 1786, Jefferson, through his artist friend [[John Trumbull]], met and fell in love with [[Maria Cosway]], an accomplished, and married, Italian-English musician of 27. They saw each other frequently over a period of six weeks. She returned to Great Britain, but they maintained a lifelong correspondence.<ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: Maria Cosway (Engraving)]]</ref> Jefferson sent for his youngest surviving child, nine-year-old Polly, in June 1787. She was accompanied by [[Sally Hemings]], a slave and younger sister of James. That year he suffered a fall and fractured his right wrist, requiring him to write with his left hand, at least for a time.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 240</ref>

While in France he became a regular companion of [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]], and used his influence to procure trade agreements with France. Duties on whale oil were removed, and Jefferson directed more of the tobacco trade directly to France eliminating British intermediaries.<ref name=Bowers328>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], p. 328</ref><ref name=Burstein120>[[#Burstein10|Burstein, 2010]], p. 120</ref> He often dined with many of the city's prominent people, and accumulated various wines for return to the United States.<ref>[[#Kaplan80|Kaplan, 1980]], p. 14</ref> Jefferson corresponded with many pivotal supporters of revolution including the [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Comte de Mirabeau]], a popular pamphleteer who repeated ideals that had been the basis for the American Revolution.<ref>Antonina Vallentin, ''Mirabeau'', trans. [[E. W. Dickes]], The Viking Press, 1948, p. 86.</ref><ref>"[http://www.isthisjefferson.org/DLP_D05.html Author of the Book: Comte de Mirabeau]." [http://www.isthisjefferson.org/DLP_D05.html isthisjefferson.org] Retrieved February 1, 2013.</ref> He wrote a letter to [[Edward Carrington]] expressing similar concepts he held of the natural tendencies of government and its relationship to the people, saying in one instance, "the natural process of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground."<ref>Jay Nock (1926). ''Jefferson''. Harcourt, Brace & Co., p. 100</ref>

As the [[French Revolution]] began, Jefferson allowed his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Langeac, to be used for meetings by Lafayette and other republicans; he was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jefferson|first1=Thomas|title=Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Jay}}</ref> Jefferson often found his mail opened and inspected by various postmasters, so he began to write his important messages using a code, and invented his own enciphering device, the "Wheel Cipher".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Jefferson|first1=Thomas|title=Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, May 11, 1789, in Code, with Translation|url=http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw4/098/0500/0595.jpg|website=http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw4/098/0500/0595.jpg|publisher=Library of Congress|accessdate=September 29, 2014}}</ref> Indeed, he wrote important communications in codes the remainder of his career.<ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: Coded Messages]]</ref> Jefferson left Paris in September 1789, he thought temporarily,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jefferson|first1=Thomas|title=Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson|date=1830|publisher=Gray and Bowen|location=Boston|edition=2nd|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16781/16781-h/16781-h.htm#linkimage-0015|accessdate=September 29, 2014}}</ref> but was prevented from returning by virtue of his appointment as the nation's chief diplomat.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Washington|first1=George|title=George Washington to Senate, June 15, 1789, Jefferson to return from France |url=http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw2/025/0420041.jpg|website=http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw2/025/0420041.jpg|publisher=Library of Congress|accessdate=September 29, 2014}}</ref> He remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution, although he was opposed to some of its very violent elements.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, pp. 549–550</ref>

===Secretary of State===
{{See also|First Party System}}
[[File:T Jefferson by Charles Willson Peale 1791 2.jpg|right |thumb |Thomas Jefferson<br />Portrait by [[Charles Willson Peale|Charles Peale]], 1791]]
Soon after Jefferson's return from France, he accepted President Washington's invitation to serve as Secretary of State.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 334</ref> In his new position, Jefferson strongly opposed Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton on issues of national fiscal policy, especially the funding of war debts.<ref>Pearson, Ellen Holmes. "[http://www.teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24094 Jefferson versus Hamilton]." [http://www.teachinghistory.org/ Teachinghistory.org]. Retrieved July 14, 2011.</ref> He later associated Hamilton's [[Federalist Party]] with "Royalism," and said the "Hamiltonians were panting after&nbsp;... crowns, coronets and [[mitre]]s."<ref>[[#Ferling04|Ferling, 2004]], p. 59</ref>

The first major issues before the Cabinet were the national debt and the permanent location of the capital. Jefferson had always opposed the mounting debt. Hamilton, desirous of the national government consolidating the various states' debts, proposed his [[Funding Act of 1790|Assumption bill]] to which Jefferson found objection.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, pp. 364–369</ref> They also differed on the permanent location of the capital. Hamilton wanted the capital close to the major commercial centers of the Northeast, whereas Washington and Jefferson, along with other agrarians, wanted it located to the south. After much deliberation, the [[Compromise of 1790]] was struck at a private dinner including Madison. Under the terms of this agreement, the nation's capital was located on the [[Potomac River]], and the federal government assumed the war debts of all 13 states.<ref>Jacob E. Cooke, "The Compromise of 1790." ''William and Mary Quarterly''  (1970): 524–45. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1919703 in JSTOR]</ref>

In May 1792 Jefferson was alarmed at the political rivalries taking shape, and wrote to Washington, urging him to run for re-election that year as a unifying influence: "The confidence of the whole nation is centred in you. You being at the helm will be more than an answer to every argument which can be used to alarm and lead the people, in any quarter, into violence or secession."<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p. 429</ref> He entreated the president to rally the citizenry to a party that would defend democracy against the corrupting influence of banks and monied interests, as espoused by the Federalists. Historians recognize this letter as the earliest delineation of [[Democratic-Republican Party]] principles.<ref>William Greider (1992) ''Who Will Tell The People''. Simon & Schuster. New York NY. p. 246. ISBN 0-671-68891-X.</ref> In their opposition to Hamilton, Jefferson and other Democratic-Republican organizers favored [[states' rights]] and local control, and sought to prevent concentration of power in a administrative republic. He continued to work closely with Madison to strengthen the party.{{sfn|Derthick|1999|p=102}}

The French minister Citizen Genet said in 1793: "Senator Morris and Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton&nbsp;... had the greatest influence over the President's mind, and that it was only with difficulty that he [Jefferson] counterbalanced their efforts."<ref>Elkins, Stanley and Eric McKitrick (1995). ''The Age of Federalism''. Oxford Univ. Press. p. 344.</ref> Jefferson supported France against Britain when they fought in 1793.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, pp. 491–501</ref> He believed that political success at home depended on victory for the French army in Europe, with reservation as to the brutality of the French Revolution.

During his discussions with [[George Hammond (diplomat)|George Hammond]], first British Minister to the U.S. beginning in 1791, Jefferson tried unsuccessfully to obtain British agreement, 1) to acknowledge their violation of the Treaty of Paris, 2) to vacate their posts in the Northwest and 3) to compensate the United States for slaves whom the British had freed at the end of the war. In keeping with a passion for his private life, Jefferson resigned the cabinet position in December 1793. He is also said to have considered it an opportune time to bolster his political influence from outside the administration. Future developments indeed bore that out.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v.1, p.523</ref>

From his base at Monticello, he organized nationwide opposition to the [[Jay Treaty]] of 1794, thereby giving his party a bona fide cause to harness in combatting the Federalists.<ref>Todd Estes (2006), ''The Jay Treaty Debate, Public Opinion, and the Evolution of Early American Political Culture''. Univ. of Massachusetts Press.</ref> The treaty was designed by Hamilton and supported by Washington; it aimed to reduce tensions and enhance friendly relations as well as trade with Britain. Jefferson warned that it would increase British influence and subvert republicanism, saying, "Thus it is, that Hamilton, Jay, etc., in the boldest act they ever ventured on to undermine the government&nbsp;... A bolder party stroke was never struck."<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], ch.8 [e-book]</ref> The Treaty passed, but he made sure it was not renewed when it expired in 1805.  Jefferson continued his pro-French stance; during the violence of the [[Reign of Terror]] in France, he declined to disavow the revolution because "To back away from France would be to undermine the cause of republicanism in America."<ref>[[#Yarbrough2006|Yarbrough, 2006]], p. xx</ref>

===Election of 1796 and Vice Presidency===
{{further|United States presidential election, 1796|Democrat-Republican party}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1796.svg|thumb|right|1796 Electoral College Vote]]
In the presidential campaign of 1796 Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Federalist John Adams by 71–68, and he was thereby elected as Vice President. He initially intended to forego the swearing-in ceremony, which he thought monarchical, but relented.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p.7</ref> As the commensurate presiding officer of the Senate, Jefferson assumed a more passive role than Adams had as Vice President. He allowed the Senate to freely conduct debates and confined his participation to issues of procedure which brought him an "honorable and easy" role. He was concerned about the absence of rules as to his authority over the Senate. Years before holding this premier office, Jefferson had studied parliamentary law and procedure for forty years, and had transcribed notes on parliamentary law into a manual which he entitled ''Parliamentary Pocket Book'', making him uniquely qualified to preside in the Senate.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 117–118</ref> He had also served on the committee appointed to draw up the rules of order for the Continental Congress in 1776 and as Vice President, he was able to formulate some Senatorial procedures.

With the [[Quasi-War]] underway, the Federalists under John Adams rebuilt the military, levied new taxes and enacted the [[Alien and Sedition Acts]]. Jefferson believed that these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and also thought they were unconstitutional, saying, "The violations of the Constitution, propensities to war, to expense&nbsp;... which we have lately seen, are becoming evident to the people&nbsp;..."<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p.54</ref> To rally opposition, he and Madison anonymously wrote the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] respectively, declaring that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states.<ref name="Primary Documents, Alien and Sedition Acts">[[#acts|Library of Congress: Alien and Sedition Acts]]</ref> Though the resolutions followed the "[[interposition]]" approach of Madison, Jefferson advocated [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|nullification]]. Jefferson's Kentucky draft said: "where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact, (casus non fœderis) to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits.".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.org/cons/kent1798.htm|title=The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798|publisher=Constitution Society|accessdate=October 6, 2015}}</ref>

In writing the Kentucky Resolutions, Jefferson warned that, "unless arrested at the threshold," the Alien and Sedition Acts would "necessarily drive these states into revolution and blood."<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter S. Onuf|title=Jefferson's Empire: The Language of American Nationhood|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lyj04Yksc1kC&pg=PA73|year=2000|publisher=U of Virginia Press|page=73}}</ref> Historian Chernow has opined that the theoretical damage of the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions was "deep and lasting, and was a recipe for disunion."<ref>{{cite book|author=Ron Chernow|title=Alexander Hamilton|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=4iafgTEhU3QC&pg=PA574|year=2005|publisher=Penguin Books|page=574}}</ref> Washington was so appalled by them that he told Patrick Henry that if "systematically and pertinaciously pursued", they would "dissolve the union or produce coercion."<ref name="Chernow587">[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004, 1928]] p. 587</ref> The influence of Jefferson's doctrine of states' rights is said to have reverberated to the Civil War and beyond.<ref name="Chernow551">[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]] p. 551</ref>

He held four confidential talks with the French consul Joseph Letombe in the spring of 1797. In these meetings, Jefferson attacked Adams, predicted that he would only serve one term, and encouraged France to invade England. Jefferson advised Letombe to stall any American envoys sent to Paris by instructing him to "listen to them and then drag out the negotiations at length and mollify them by the urbanity of the proceedings." This toughened the tone that the French government adopted with the new Adams administration. Due to pressure on the Adams administration from Jefferson and his supporters, Congress released the papers related to the [[XYZ Affair]], which rallied a shift in popular opinion from Jefferson and the French government to the support of Adams.<ref name="Chernow551"/>

==Election of 1800==
[[File:ElectoralCollege1800.svg|thumb|right|1800 Electoral college vote]]
{{Main|United States presidential election, 1800}}
The presidential election of 1800 found Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party garnering the majority of votes in the electoral college; however, Jefferson and fellow party candidate [[Aaron Burr]] received an equal number of votes. Due to the tie, the election was decided by the Federalist-dominated House of Representatives.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p.75</ref> {{efn|This electoral process problem was addressed by the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] in 1804.}} Federalist leader [[Alexander Hamilton]] convinced his party that Jefferson would be a lesser political evil than Burr.

On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson President and Burr Vice President.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 82</ref> Jefferson is said to have owed his election victory to the South's inflated number of Electors, which counted slaves under the [[three-fifths compromise]].<ref name=History>[[#Huffington|Huffington Post, July 18, 2009]]</ref><ref name=NPR/> It was also alleged that Jefferson, through Maryland representative, [[Samuel Smith (Maryland)|Samuel Smith]], secured [[James Asheton Bayard II|James Asheton Bayard's]] tie-breaking electoral vote in exchange for guaranteeing the retention of various Federalist posts in the government.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 285, 383</ref> Jefferson disputed the allegation and no documents are conclusive.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, pp. 570–576</ref>

==Presidency 1801–1809==
{{Main|Presidency of Thomas Jefferson}}
[[File:ThomasJeffersonByRobertField.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Jefferson by [[Robert Field (painter)|Robert Field]] (1800)]]
Jefferson was sworn in by Chief Justice [[John Marshall]] at the new Capitol in Washington DC on March 4, 1801. In contrast to his predecessors, Jefferson exhibited a dislike of formal etiquette; he arrived alone on horseback without escort and dressed in plain attire.<ref>[[#Hale1896|Hale, 1896]], p. 124</ref>

He was regarded by his supporters as the 'People's President'. Jefferson's election was well received and the event was marked by celebrations throughout the country. Nevertheless, at the time partisan strife between the [[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)|Democratic-Republican]] and [[Federalist Party|Federalist]] parties had grown to new levels. Some of Jefferson's political opponents referred to him as the "Negro President", with critics like the ''Mercury and New-England Palladium of Boston'' stating that he had the gall to celebrate his election as a victory for democracy when he won "the temple of Liberty on the shoulders of slaves."<ref name=NPR>[[#NPR-Travis|NPR:The Tavis Smiley Show]]</ref>

Upon assumed office he first confronted an $83 million national debt.<ref>[[#Wheelan|Whellan, 2003]], p. 3</ref> He began to dismantle Hamilton's Federalist fiscal system. His Secretary of Treasury, [[Albert Gallatin]], claimed that "if this administration shall not reduce taxes, they never will be permanently reduced."<ref>[[#Coglian|Cogliano, 2008]], p. 188</ref> The Swiss born Gallatin was Jefferson's most valued administrator and a critic of Alexander Hamilton's fiscal policy.<ref name=Peterson41>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], p. 41</ref> Jefferson's administration began by eliminating the whiskey excise and all other federal internal taxes, claiming that closing "unnecessary offices", as well as cutting "useless establishments and expenses", allowed for the discontinuation of internal taxes.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 293</ref><ref>[[#Bailey2007|Bailey, 2007]], p. 216</ref> The new executive also attempted to disassemble the national bank and its effect of increasing the national debt. Also reduced was much of the Navy, deemed unnecessary during peacetime.<ref>[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 671</ref> Jefferson nominated moderate Republicans including James Madison as Secretary of State, [[Henry Dearborn]] Secretary of War, [[Levi Lincoln, Sr.|Levi Lincoln]] Attorney General, and [[Robert Smith (Cabinet member)|Robert Smith]] Secretary of Navy.<ref name=Peterson41/> At the conclusion of his two terms, he had reduced the national debt by over $12 million.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 197</ref>

In May 1801 the Secretary of War [[Henry Dearborn]] announced that the president had appointed Major [[Jonathan Williams (engineer)|Jonathan Williams]] to investigate the establishment of a national school of military education.<ref>[[#McDonald|McDonald, 2004]], pp. 120–21</ref> Following the advice of Washington, Adams, Hamilton and others,<ref>[[#McDonald|McDonald, 2004]], p. 194</ref> Jefferson and the Congress in 1802 authorized the funding and construction of the [[United States Military Academy]] at West Point on the Hudson River. On March 16, 1802, he signed the Military Peace Establishment Act, directing that a corps of engineers be established and "constitute a Military Academy." The Act provided well-trained officers for a professional army. The operation of the US Military Academy at West Point formally started on July 4, 1802.

Jefferson pardoned several of those imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts. He repealed the [[Midnight Judges Act|Judiciary Act of 1801]], which removed nearly all of Adams' "midnight judges" from office, and led to the Supreme Court's decision in the landmark case of ''[[Marbury v. Madison]]''. Another provision was repealed in the Judiciary Act which had required supreme court justices to travel the country extensively to serve as circuit court judges. Jefferson also signed into law a bill that officially segregated the U.S. postal system by not allowing blacks to carry the mail.{{why?|date=January 2014}}<ref>Franklin, John H. (1989) ''Race and History: Selected Essays 1938–1988''. Louisiana State University Press,  p. 336</ref><ref>Franklin, John H. (1976) ''Racial Equality in America''. Univ. of Missouri Press, pp. 24–26</ref>

===First Barbary War===
{{main|First Barbary War}}
[[File:1800 map Afrique by Arrowsmith BPL 15210 detail2.jpg|thumb|alt=Map. Barbary Coast of North Africa 1806.|Barbary Coast of North Africa 1806 - left is Morocco at Gibraltar, center is Tunis, right is Tripoli]]
The First Barbary War was declared during Jefferson's initial term as president and was the first conducted by the U.S. on foreign soil and seas.<ref>[[#Wheelan|Wheelan, 2003]], pp. 1–2</ref> American merchant ships had previously been protected from the Barbary pirates by the British navy.<ref>[[#Fremont-Barnes|Fremont-Barnes, 2006]], p. 32</ref> For decades later, [[Barbary Coast|North African]] pirates captured American merchant ships, pillaged valuable cargoes and enslaved crew members, followed by ransom demands.<ref name=Barnes36>[[#Fremont-Barnes|Fremont-Barnes, 2006]], p. 36</ref>

Jefferson had previously recommended naval forces be limited to those required for coastal defense, but the pirate attacks and the systematic kidnapping of American crew members expanded the need. In 1801 the cabinet voted unanimously to send a fleet of three [[frigates]] and a [[schooner]] to the [[Mediterranean]] under the command of [[Richard Dale]], with orders to make a show of force while negotiating for peace if possible; nevertheless, Tripoli declared war upon the United States.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 108</ref> The American navy forced [[Tunis]] and [[Algiers]] into breaking their alliance with Tripoli which ultimately left it disarmed. Jefferson also ordered five separate naval bombardments of Tripoli, which temporarily restored peace in the Mediterranean,<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein. 2003]], p. 146</ref>

===Louisiana Purchase===
{{Main|Louisiana Purchase}}
In 1802, Jefferson initiated a negotiation for the purchase of the city of New Orleans and adjacent coastal areas from France. The area under discussion mushroomed, and Napoleon I agreed to sell a territory in excess of a million square miles for $15 million, less $3.75 million in previously settled debts owed to the U.S.. Total inhabitants were 80,000–90,000 including about 40,000 slaves. The purchase was ratified by the Senate by a vote of 24–7.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, pp. 152–154</ref> Most thought this was an exceptional opportunity, apart from Constitutional reservations as to the power of the government to acquire land.<ref name="The Rise of American Democracy">[[#Wilentz|Wilentz, 2005]], p. 108</ref> The new territory proved to be one of the largest fertile tracts of land on the planet, and it marked the end of French imperial ambitions in North America which  conflicted with American expansion west.<ref name=Ellis208>[[#Ellis2008|Ellis, 2008]], p. 208</ref>

The Louisiana Purchase was domestically complicated by the pre-existing establishment of French slaveholders there. Faced with the option to confiscate the slaves of French nationals, Jefferson chose to quickly integrate resident settlers politically and legally into U.S. territories, allowing for slavery to continue in the newly acquired territory along with the local adoption of the [[Napoleonic Code|Code Napoleon]]. Since the purchase, historians have differed in their assessments regarding constitutional and slavery issues, but Jefferson's acquisition is considered a pivotal contribution toward America's western growth.<ref name=Malone_DOAB_p21>[[#Malone1933|Malone, 1933]], p. 21</ref>

===Lewis and Clark and other expeditions===
{{Main|Lewis and Clark Expedition|Red River Expedition (1806)|Pike Expedition}}
[[File:Lewis and Clark Map.png|thumb|right|Map of Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark Expedition]]
Anticipating further westward settlements as a result of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson arranged for the exploration and mapping of the unchartered territory. It was also important to establish a U.S. claim ahead of competing European interests, and to find the remote [[Northwest passage]].<ref name="Ambrose76">[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]] pp. 76, 418</ref> Knowledge of the western continent was limited to what had been learned casually from trappers and traders.<ref name="Ambrose, 1996 p. 76">[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]] p. 76</ref> Influenced by exploration accounts of Le Page du Pratz in Louisiana (1763) and Captain [[James Cook]] in the Pacific (1784),<ref>[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]] p. 154</ref> Jefferson and others persuaded Congress in 1804 to fund an expedition to explore and map the newly acquired territory to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>[[#Rodriguez|Rodriguez, 2002]] pp. xxiv, 162, 185</ref>

Jefferson appointed [[Meriwether Lewis]] and [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]] leaders of the [[Corps of Discovery]], to explore and document scientific and geographic knowledge.<ref>[[#Rodriguez|Rodriguez, 2002]] pp. 112, 186</ref> Lewis had extensive military woodlands experience and proved an apt student of the sciences of mapping, botany, natural history, mineralogy and navigation.<ref name="Ambrose, 1996 p. 76"/> Lewis and Clark recruited a company of 45 men and spent a winter preparing near St. Louis.<ref>[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]] p. 128</ref> Setting out in May 1804 and guided by [[Sacagawea]] and various Native-American tribes along the way, the expedition traced the Columbia River and reached the Pacific Ocean by November 1805. They returned to St. Louis September 23, 1806, having lost only one man to disease. The expedition obtained a wealth of scientific and geographic knowledge, including knowledge of the many Indian tribes.<ref>[[#Fritz|Fritz, 2004]], p. 3</ref>

In addition to the ''Corps of Discovery'', Jefferson organized three other western expeditions including the [[William Dunbar (explorer)|William Dunbar]] and George Hunter expedition on the Ouachita River (1804–1805), the [[Red River Expedition (1806)|Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis expedition]] (1806) on the [[Red River of the South|Red River]], and the [[Pike Expedition|Zebulon Pike expedition]] (1806–1807) into the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest.<ref name="Berry, Beasley, Clements 2006 p. xi" >Berry, Beasley, Clements, ed. (2006), ''The Forgotten Expedition, 1804–1805: The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter'', Louisiana State Univ. Press, p. xi</ref> All of the excursions sent out under Jefferson's presidency produced valuable information about the American frontier.<ref name="Berry, Beasley, Clements 2006 p. xi"/>

===Native American and Haitian policies===
{{main|Thomas Jefferson and Indian removal}}
[[File:JEFFERSON, Thomas-President (BEP engraved portrait).jpg|thumb|right|[[Bureau of Engraving and Printing|BEP]] Engraved portrait of Jefferson]]
As governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, Jefferson had recommended forcibly moving to lands west of the [[Mississippi River]] the [[Cherokee]] and [[Shawnee]] tribes who had allied with the British. But once in the White House, Jefferson wanted to avoid an armed conflict with Native Americans.<ref>Bernard W. Sheehan  (1974) ''Seeds of Extinction: Jeffersonian Philanthropy and the American Indian''. W.W. Norton & Co., pp. 120–21</ref> He told his Secretary of War, General [[Henry Dearborn]], then in charge of Indian affairs: "if we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe, we will never lay it down until that tribe is exterminated, or driven beyond the Mississippi."<ref>[[#Moore2006|Moore, 2006]], p. 10</ref> With the colonial and native civilizations in collision, compounded by British incitement of Indian tribes, Jefferson's administration took quick measures to avert another major conflict.<ref name="Miller2008"/>

He made a deal with officials of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]: if Georgia would release its legal claims to lands to its west, the U.S. military would help expel the Cherokee people from Georgia. This facilitated his policy of western expansion, to "advance compactly as we multiply".<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], ch. 9 [e-book]</ref> His deal arguably violated an existing treaty between the United States government and the [[Cherokee Nation (19th century)|Cherokee Nation]], which guaranteed its people the right to their historic lands.<ref name="Miller2008">[[#Miller08|Miller, 2008]] p. 90</ref> Jefferson believed that natives should abandon their own cultures, religions and lifestyles, and assimilate to western European customs and agriculture, which was considered more beneficial.<ref name="Miller2008"/><ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 392</ref> He also contended that integration of Native Americans into the European-American economy would make them more dependent on trade, and they would eventually be willing to give up land in exchange for trade goods or debt curtailments.<ref name=letterharrison1803>[[#Jeff'letter|Jefferson letter to Harrison]]</ref> In keeping with his trade and acculturation policy, Jefferson kept [[Benjamin Hawkins]] as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southeastern peoples, who became known as the [[Five Civilized Tribes]] for their adoption of European-American ways.

[[Haiti]] was founded in 1804 as the second republic in the world after its successful slave revolution in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Jefferson refused to diplomatically recognize Haiti, fearing the success of the "slave republic" would rouse the American South's slaves to rebellion. Jefferson also supported an arms and trade embargo against Haiti.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Matthewson |first=Tim |year=1996 |title=Jefferson and the Non-recognition of Haiti |journal=American Philosophical Society |volume=140 |page=22}}</ref> Nevertheless, during the Haitian revolution, when Jefferson wanted to discourage French control in 1802–1803, he allowed arms and contraband goods to reach Saint-Domingue.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Matthewson |first1=Tim |year=1995 |title=Jefferson and Haiti |journal=The Journal of Southern History |volume=61 |issue=2 |page=221 |doi=10.2307/2211576 |jstor=2211576}}  Retrieved October 12, 2015</ref>

===Burr–Wilkinson collusions===
{{further|Burr–Hamilton duel|Burr conspiracy}}
[[File:Hamilton-burr-duel.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Picture of Burr-Hamilton duel July 11, 1804, from the painting by J. Mund]]

Frustrated by Republican Party national dominance, a few New England Federalists in 1804 launched a misguided effort to secede northern states from the Union. {{sfn|Bannner 1974|pp= 34, 35}}  [[Aaron Burr]], Jefferson's Vice President, ran for governor of New York, and showed interest in the movement; however, Burr lost the election and the New England conspiracy ended. Burr ended his political career when he mortally wounded Hamilton in a duel at [[Weehawken, New Jersey|Weehawken]] that year.{{sfn|Bannner 1974|p= 35}}

During 1805 the Jefferson administration was faced with disputes over the exact boundaries of the Louisiana Territory with Mexico, and the fate of the Floridas, which Spain refused to cede to the United States.<ref>[[#Meacham12|Meacham, 2012]], p. 413</ref> Burr in 1806 spread rumors of military adventurism, troop enlistment, increases in arms and ships on the upper Ohio River. Conspiring with Burr in this misinformation was Jefferson appointee Governor [[James Wilkinson]] who acted as a spy for Spain.{{sfn|Banner 1974|p=37}} {{sfn|Banner 1974|p=35}} Burr's plan included the capture of [[New Orleans]], invading [[Mexico]] and uniting the Western part of the United States with the conquered country, by an army led by Wilkinson.<ref name=Melton_2002>Melton (2002), ''Aaron Burr: Conspiracy to Treason'', pp. 116–17</ref> Wilkinson inexplicably renounced the plot and reported Burr's treachery to Jefferson from New Orleans. {{sfn|Banner 1974|p=37}} In November Jefferson issued a proclamation that persons including "citizens of the United States" were conspiring to take over Spanish territory.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 235</ref>

Jefferson requested Congressional authority to employ land or naval forces of the U.S. "in cases of insurrection", and in his message to Congress on January 1807, he declared Burr's "guilt is placed beyond question". By late March 1807 Burr was arrested and charged with treason but was acquitted at trial. Wilkinson, who barely escaped indictment, had deleted from court documents evidence of his earlier collaboration with Burr. {{sfn|Banner 1974|p=37}} Jefferson did not appear in person to answer Chief Justice John Marshall's subpoena to testify, but sent relevant documents instead, setting a precedent for executive privilege. Though Burr's acquittal enraged Jefferson, his career was shattered.<ref>[[#Meacham12|Meacham, 2012]], pp.&nbsp;421–422</ref> Jefferson removed Wilkinson as territorial governor but retained him in the U.S. military. {{sfn|Banner 1974|p=37}}

===Reelection in 1804===
{{further|United States presidential election, 1804}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1804.svg|thumb|right|1804 Electoral college vote]]
Jefferson's successful first term occasioned his re-nomination for president by the Republican party and his re-election in 1804 for a second term.<ref>[[#Meacham12|Meacham, 2012]], p. cxxxvi</ref> [[George Clinton  (vice president)|George Clinton]] replaced Burr as his running mate following Burr's killing of Hamilton in their [[Burr-Hamilton duel|duel]] of July that year. The Federalist party ran [[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]] of South Carolina, who had been John Adam's vice presidential candidate. The Jefferson-Clinton ticket won overwhelmingly in the electoral college vote, by 162 to 14, promoting their achievement of lower taxes, booming economic prosperity and the Louisiana Purchase.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 403–06</ref>

A split developed in the Republican party, led by fellow Virginian [[John Randolph of Roanoke]] in March 1806. Jefferson and Madison had backed resolutions to limit or ban British imports in retaliation for British actions against American shipping. Madison also proposed spending $20 million in roads and canals in infrastructure, leading to the National Road west from Maryland. Randolph felt these measures were akin to Federalist activism, and he formed a congressional caucus of "[[Tertium quids|Quids]]", calling for purity in republican principles and roundly denouncing both Jefferson and Madison.<ref>[[#Meacham12|Meacham, 2012]], pp.&nbsp;415–17</ref>

Jefferson's popularity further suffered in his second term due to his response to wars in Europe. Positive relations with Great Britain had diminished due partly to the antipathy between Jefferson and the British Ambassador, [[Anthony Merry]]. And after Napoleon's decisive victory at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] in 1805, Napoleon became more aggressive in his negotiations over trading rights, which American efforts failed to counter. Jefferson then led the enactment of the [[Embargo Act of 1807]], directed at both France and Great Britain. This triggered economic chaos in the US and was strongly criticized at the time, resulting in Jefferson having to abandon the policy a year later.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 291–294</ref>

Following the Revolution the states abolished the international slave trade, but South Carolina reopened it. Jefferson in his annual message of December 1806 denounced the "violations of human rights" attending the international slave trade, calling on the newly elected Congress to criminalize it immediately.<ref>{{cite book|first=John Paul|last= Kaminski|title=A Necessary Evil?: Slavery and the Debate Over the Constitution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t3SDQgfxsCIC&pg=PA256|year=1995|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|page=256|isbn=978-0-945612-33-9}}</ref> In 1807, congress passed the [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves]], which Jefferson signed.<ref name="miller145">[[#Miller|Miller, 1980]] pp. 145–46</ref><ref name="Randal583">[[#Randall|Randall, 1994]] p. 583</ref> While the act established severe punishment against international slave trade, it did not address the issue domestically.

In the wake of the [[Louisiana Purchase]], Jefferson sought to annex Florida from Spain, as brokered by Emperor [[Napoleon]].<ref name=Peterson2002p49>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], p. 49</ref> Congress agreed to the president's request to secretly appropriate purchase money, in the "$2,000,000 Bill".<ref name=Peterson2002p49/> The Congressional funding drew criticism from Randolph who believed the money would wind up in coffers of Napoleon. The bill was signed into law; however, negotiations for the project failed. Jefferson lost clout among fellow Republicans and his use of unofficial Congressional channels was sharply criticized.<ref name=Peterson2002p49/>

===Chesapeake–Leopard Affair and Embargo Act===
{{main|Chesapeake–Leopard Affair}}
The British conducted raids on American shipping and kidnapped seamen in 1806–07; thousands of Americans were thus [[Impressment|impressed]] into their service. In 1806 Jefferson issued a call for a boycott of British goods; on April 18 Congress passed the Non-Importation Acts but they were never enforced. Later that year Jefferson asked James Monroe and [[William Pinkney]] to negotiate with Great Britain to end the harassment of American shipping, though Britain showed no signs of improving relations. A treaty was finalized, however it lacked any provisions to end impressment.<ref name=Hayes505>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2008]], pp. 504–05</ref>

The British ship ''HMS Leopard'' fired upon the [[USS Chesapeake (1799)|USS ''Chesapeake'']] off the Virginia coast in June 1807, and Jefferson prepared for war.<ref name=embargo>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: Embargo of 1807]]</ref> He issued a proclamation banning armed British ships from U.S. waters.  He presumed unilateral authority to call on the states to prepare 100,000 militia and ordered the purchase of arms, ammunition and supplies, saying "The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation [than strict observance of written laws]". The [[USS Revenge (1806)|USS Revenge]], dispatched to demand an explanation from the British government, was also fired upon. Jefferson called for a special session of Congress in October to enact an embargo or in the alternative consider war.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 425–29</ref>
[[File:Ograbme.jpg|thumb|A political cartoon showing merchants dodging the "Ograbme", which is 'Embargo' spelled backwards (1807)]]
In December news arrived that Napoleon had extended the Berlin Decree, globally banning British imports. In Britain, George III ordered redoubling efforts at impressment, including American sailors. But the war fever of the summer faded–Congress had no appetite to prepare the U.S. for war. Jefferson asked for and received the [[Embargo Act of 1807|Embargo Act]], the optimal choice for him, as it gained more time for building up defensive works, militias and naval forces. Historian Jon Meecham opined the Embargo Act was a projection of power which surpassed the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Secretary of State James Madison supported the embargo with more vigor than Jefferson, while the Secretary of the Treasury [[Albert Gallatin]] opposed, due to its indefinite time frame and the risk it posed to the policy of American neutrality.<ref name=adams>[[#Adams79|"Gallatin to Jefferson, December 1807" Vol.1]], p. 368</ref>  The U.S. economy suffered and criticism grew, with Jefferson's party losing support, and efforts began to work around the embargo. Instead of retreating, Jefferson sent federal agents to secretly track down smugglers and violators.<ref>[[#Tucker90|Tucker, 1990]], v.1, pp. 204–09, 232</ref> Three acts were passed in Congress during 1807 and 1808, called the ''Supplementary'', the ''Additional'' and the ''Enforcement'' acts.<ref name=embargo/> Though the government could not prevent American vessels from trading with the European belligerents once they had left American ports, the embargo triggered a devastating decline in exports. Shortly before leaving office in March 1809, Jefferson signed the repeal of the Embargo. In its place the [[Non-Intercourse Act]] was passed, but it proved no more effective.<ref name=embargo/>

Jefferson believed that the failure of the embargo was due to selfish traders and merchants showing a lack of "republican virtue" by not complying with it.<ref name=Hayes505/> Many historians have considered that Jefferson's embargo was ineffective and harmful to American interests,<ref>[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2008]], p. 250</ref> Others portray it as an innovative non violent measure which aided France in its war with Britain, while preserving American neutrality.<ref name=Hayes505/><ref>[[#Kaplan99|Kaplan, 1999]], pp. 166–68</ref> Jefferson maintained that, had the embargo been widely observed, it would have avoided war in 1812.<ref>[[#Merwin|Merwin, 1901]] p. 142</ref><ref>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]] pp. 289–90</ref>

===Judicial and Supreme Court appointments===
{{main|List of federal judges appointed by Thomas Jefferson}}
[[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]]
* [[William Johnson (judge)|William Johnson]] – 1804
* [[Henry Brockholst Livingston]] – 1807
* [[Thomas Todd]] – 1807

===Administration and Cabinet===
[[File:Jefferson Portrait West Point by Thomas Sully.jpg|thumb|right|<center>[[Thomas Sully|Sully]]'s portrait of Jefferson at West Point (1821)</center>]]
{{Infobox U.S. Cabinet |align=left |Name=Jefferson
|President=Thomas Jefferson |President start=1801 |President end=1809
|Vice President=[[Aaron Burr]] |Vice President start=1801 |Vice President end=1805
|Vice President 2=[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] |Vice President start 2=1805 |Vice President end 2=1809
|State=[[James Madison]] |State start=1801 |State end=1809
|Treasury=[[Samuel Dexter]] |Treasury date=1801
|Treasury 2=[[Albert Gallatin]] |Treasury start 2=1801 |Treasury end 2=1809
|War=[[Henry Dearborn]] |War start=1801 |War end=1809
|Justice=[[Levi Lincoln, Sr.]] |Justice start=1801 |Justice end=1804
|Justice 2=[[John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General)|John Breckinridge]] |Justice start 2=1805 |Justice end 2=1806
|Justice 3=[[Caesar A. Rodney]] |Justice start 3=1807 |Justice end 3=1809
|Navy=[[Benjamin Stoddert]] |Navy date=1801
|Navy 2=[[Robert Smith (cabinet)|Robert Smith]] |Navy start 2=1801 |Navy end 2=1809
}}
{{clear}}

===States admitted to the Union===
* [[Ohio]] – March 1, 1803

As president, Jefferson used his influence to bring Ohio into the Union on April 30, 1802, the first state under the Northwest Ordinance. In Congress, Jefferson had authored the Ordinance of 1787 in Congressional committee under the Articles of Confederation. He was therefore instrumental in prohibiting slavery not only to new territories, but in new states beginning with Ohio.<ref>[[#Coles56|Coles, 1856]], p. 29</ref>

==American Philosophical Society==

Jefferson was for 35 years a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]], founded in 1743 by [[Benjamin Franklin]], Through the Society he advanced the sciences and Enlightenment ideals, emphasizing that knowledge of science reinforced and extended freedom.<ref name=Hayes432>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2008]], p. 432</ref> He was elected to the Society in January 1780 while Governor of Virginia and the following year was elected a Counsellor. During his long tenure he served on many committees. He became the Society's third President on March 3, 1797, only days after he was elected Vice President under Adams.<ref name=JeffAPS>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: American Philosophical Society]]</ref><ref name=Berstein118>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 118–19</ref> Upon his acceptance Jefferson stated: "I feel no qualification for this distinguished post but a sincere zeal for all the objects of our institution and an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated through the mass of mankind that it may at length reach even the extremes of society, beggars and kings."<ref name=Hayes432/> During this time he was compiling data for his ''[[Notes on the State of Virginia]]'' which he later shared with the Society. He served as the Society's president for the next eighteen years through both terms of his presidency.<ref name=JeffAPS/> Along with topics on science and discovery, he often discussed ideas of abolition with dedicated abolitionist Society members including [[Comte de Volney]] and [[Tadeusz Kosciuszko]].<ref name=Nash142>[[#Nash2012|Nash, Hodges, Russell, 2012]], p. 142</ref><ref>[[#Storozynski2009|Storozynski, 2009]], p. 232</ref> Jefferson also introduced [[Meriwether Lewis]] to the Society where various scientists tutored him in preparation for the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]].<ref name=JeffAPS/><ref name="Ambrose, 1996, p. 126">[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]], p. 126</ref> He offered his letter of resignation on three separate occasions, with the Society refusing each time. The Society finally accepted his resignation at the meeting of January 20, 1815 "with great reluctance". He remained active through correspondence.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 399</ref> After Jefferson's death in 1826 the Society draped the chair he had occupied in black for six months.<ref name=JeffAPS/> Jefferson was also elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1787.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter J|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterJ.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=July 28, 2014}}</ref> He became an associated member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences|Royal Institute of the Netherlands]] in 1809,<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00001107 |title=Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |date= |accessdate=22 July 2015}}</ref> and was a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]].<ref>[http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistj American Antiquarian Society Members Directory] Retrieved October 12, 2015</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofame18121849amerrich/|title= ''Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 1812–1849''|page=41|year=1912|accessdate=October 12, 2015}}</ref>

==Later years==
In the years following Jefferson's political retirement he spent most of his time pursuing educational interests–selling his vast collection of books to the Library of Congress, and founding and building the University of Virginia.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 479</ref>

As he settled into private life at Monticello, Jefferson developed a daily routine of rising early, once remarking, "Whether I retire to bed early or late, I rise with the sun." He would spend several hours writing letters, with which he was often deluged. In the midday, he would often inspect the plantation on horseback, visiting the fields and the nailery. In the evenings, his family ate dinner and often recreated in the gardens; late at night, Jefferson would retire to bed with a book. He once wrote, "I never go to bed without an hour, or half hour's previous reading of something moral, whereon to ruminate in the intervals of sleep."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/i-rise-sun|title=I Rise with the Sun|publisher= Monticello.org.|accessdate=October 12, 2015}}</ref>

===University of Virginia===
{{main|University of Virginia}}
[[File:University-of-Virginia-Rotunda.jpg|thumb|236px|The Rotunda, University of Virginia|alt=Winter landscape of the Rotunda at the University of Virginia]]

He wanted to found a new institution of higher learning free of church influences where students could specialize in many new areas not offered at other universities. Jefferson believed educating people was a effective way to establish an stable society and that schools should be paid for by the general public in order to be accessible to students from all social strata.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1370.htm |title=Univ. of Virginia Guide to Jefferson Collections|publisher=Univ. of Virginia Library|accessdate=September 2, 2009}}</ref>

In 1800, Jefferson wrote a letter to [[Joseph Priestley]] about his proposed University.<ref>[[#Adams88|Adams, 1888]], p. 48</ref> In 1819, the 76-year-old Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. He initiated and organized the legislative campaign for its charter and with the assistance of [[Edmund Bacon (1785–1866)|Edmund Bacon]], purchased the location. Jefferson was the principal designer of the buildings. He also planned the University's curriculum and served as the first rector. Upon opening in 1825, it was the first university to offer a full slate of elective courses to its students. With no campus chapel included in the original plans, the university was notable for being centered about a library rather than a church, reinforcing the principle of separation of church and state.

Stylistically, Jefferson was a proponent of the Greek and Roman styles, which he believed to be most representative of American democracy by historical association. Each academic unit was designed with a two-story temple front facing the quadrangle, while the library was modeled on the [[Pantheon, Rome|Roman Pantheon]]. In his vision, any citizen of the state could attend school with the sole criterion being ability.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virginia.edu/academicalvillage/vision.html |title=Jefferson's Academical Village–Univ. of Virginia|publisher=University of Virginia |date=October 14, 2010 |accessdate=June 19, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/shorthistory|title=Founding of the Univ. of Virginia|publisher=Univ. of Virginia|accessdate=October 13, 2015}}</ref>

Jefferson's educational ideas were expressed in the configuration of his campus plan, which he called the "[[The Lawn|Academical Village]]". Individual academic units were defined as distinct structures, each housed classrooms, faculty offices, and residences. Gardens and vegetable plots are placed behind and surrounded by serpentine walls, affirming the importance of the agrarian lifestyle.

After Jefferson died in 1826, James Madison replaced him as the University Rector.<ref>Jefferson Foundation: University of Virginia</ref> In a codicil to his last will, Jefferson left most of his library to the University.<ref>[[#Crawford2008|Crawford, 2008]], p. 235</ref> Until his death, Jefferson invited students and faculty of the college to his home.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=J. Houston|title=Settlers by the Long Gray Trail|year=1975|publisher=Genealogical Publ. Co.}}</ref>

===Lafayette's visit===
{{main|Visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States}}
Jefferson learned in the summer of 1824 that [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]] had accepted an invitation from President [[James Monroe]] to visit the United States. Lafayette arrived at Monticello on November 4 in a carriage provided by Jefferson with a military escort of 120 men. Some 200 friends and neighbors also arrived for the reunion. Jefferson's grandson Randolph was present and witnessed the historic reunion: "As they approached each other, their uncertain gait quickened itself into a shuffling run, and exclaiming, 'Ah Jefferson!' 'Ah Lafayette!', they burst into tears as they fell into each other's arms." Everyone in attendance stood in respectful silence, many of them stifling sobs of their own. Jefferson and Lafayette then retired to the privacy of the house and began reminiscing the many events and encounters they shared years before.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mapp|first=Alf J.|title=Jefferson: Passionate Pilgrim|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=1991|page=328}}</ref>

The next morning Jefferson, Lafayette and James Madison rode to the Central Hotel in Charlottesville. After being greeted and honored with speeches they departed the hotel at noon and set out for a tour and banquet at the University of Virginia. In the rotunda of the university with Jefferson seated between Lafayette and Madison they had dinner, with French wine from Monticello. It was the first public function at the University. Jefferson had someone read a speech he had prepared, as his voice was weak. This was Jefferson's last public statement. Lafayette later accepted Jefferson's invitation for honorary membership to the University's [[Jefferson Literary and Debating Society]]. After an eleven-day visit Lafayette departed Monticello on November 15.<ref>[[#Malone81|Malone, 1981]], pp. 403–04</ref><ref>[[#Brodie|Brodie]], 1998, p. 460</ref><ref>[[#Crawford2008|Crawford, 2008]], pp. 202–03</ref>

===Final days===
[[File:Thomas Jefferson's Grave Site.jpg|thumb|Jefferson's gravesite|alt=Obelisk at Thomas Jefferson's gravesite]]

Jefferson's health began to deteriorate in July 1825 from a combination of toxemia, uremia, and pneumonia and by June he was confined to bed. He spent most of his waking hours going over his finances and debts. On May 22 he made his last entry in the 'Farm Book', noting the price of lamp oil  and the cost of lighting his estate. On June 24 he wrote his last letter, to Roger Weightman of a Washington newspaper, the ''[[National Intelligencer]]'',<ref>[[#Malone91|Malone, 1981]], p. 497</ref> in which he reaffirmed his principles in the Declaration of Independence. On July 3 Jefferson was overcome by fever and declined an invitation to Washington to attend an anniversary celebration of the Declaration.

During the last hours of his life he was accompanied by his grandson [[Thomas Jefferson Randolph]] and his doctor, [[Robley Dunglison]], and other family members and friends, and was at ease with the immediacy of death. He said to Dunglison, "Well Doctor, you see I am still here yet." To the family's words of hope Jefferson impatiently replied, "Do not imagine for a moment that I feel the smallest solicitude as to the result," at which point he gave directions for his funeral, requesting no sort of celebration. He declared, "I have done for my country, and for all mankind, all that I could do, and I now resign my soul, without fear, to my God, – my daughter to my country."<ref name="rayner428–29">[[#Rayner34|Rayner, 1834]] pp. 428–29</ref> After falling back asleep, Jefferson later woke at eight o'clock that evening with a final inquiry, "Is it the fourth yet?" His doctor replied, "It soon will be."<ref name=Berstein189>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 189</ref> On July 4 at 12:50&nbsp;p.m., Jefferson died at age 83; it was the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and just a few hours before John Adams.<ref name="rayner428–29"/><ref name=Berstein189/>

Jefferson's funeral, held July 5 and performed by Reverend Charles Clay, was a simple affair. No invitations were sent, but some friends and visitors came to the ceremony and burial to pay their respects. Jefferson's remains were carried by "servants, family and friends" to the family grave site at Monticello.<ref>[[#Bear74|Bear, 1974]], p. 77</ref> He wrote his own epitaph, which reads, "HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA."

Though born into a wealthy family, Jefferson died deeply in debt, unable to pass on his estate freely to his heirs.<ref>[[#Berstein2003|Bernstein, 2003]], p. xii</ref> Though he gave instructions for disposal of his assets in his will,<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 556</ref> his estate, possessions, and slaves were sold at public auctions starting in 1827.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 15</ref><ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: Sale of Monticello]]</ref> In 1831 Monticello was sold by Martha Jefferson Randolph and the other heirs.

==Historical reputation==
[[File:Jefferson Memorial (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Jefferson Memorial, Washington, DC]] 
Jefferson is a historical icon of individual liberty, democracy and republicanism. Some have hailed him as among the most effective architects of the American Revolution, and as a renaissance man who promoted science and scholarship.<ref>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]], pp. 5, 67–69, 189–208, 340.</ref> Abraham Lincoln called Jefferson "the most distinguished politician in our history."<ref>{{cite book|first=James M.|last=McPherson|title=We Cannot Escape History: Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnJZAJSNCUsC&pg=PA17|year=1995|publisher=University of Illinois Press|page=17|accessdate=October 13, 2015}}</ref> Jefferson is widely championed as the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, and for having written more than 18,000 letters of political and philosophical substance during his life.<ref>[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2008]], p. 75</ref>

Historians have also noted the discrepancy between his articulated views of slavery and his slaveholding, a controversial tenure as governor of Virginia, arguable disloyalty under Washington and Adams, his [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions|advocacy of nullification and secession]], some personal spending excesses and his diminished second term presidency.<ref>[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], pp. 585–87</ref> Some historians have also criticized the harsh treatment of Native Americans during his tenure.<ref>[[#Drinnon|Drinnon, 1997]], pp. 787–79</ref> Yet others have noted Jefferson was predominantly a kind and generous employer and master, who expressed deep moral convictions against slavery.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], p. 534</ref><ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery]]</ref> A number maintain that many of the criticisms leveled at Jefferson overlook much and are politically and racially biased.<ref>[[#Hyland2009|Hyland, 2009]], pp. 30–31, 122, 127</ref>

==Political philosophy and views==
{{see also|Jeffersonian democracy|Republicanism in the United States}}

Jefferson's political ideals were greatly influenced by the writings of [[John Locke]], [[Francis Bacon]] and [[Isaac Newton]],<ref>[[#Kayes|Hayes, 2008]], p. 10</ref> whom he considered the three greatest men that ever lived.<ref>[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2003]], p. 14</ref> He was also influenced by the writings of [[Edward Gibbon|Gibbon]], [[David Hume|Hume]], [[William Robertson (historian)|Robertson]], [[Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke|Bolingbroke]], [[Montesquieu]] and [[Voltaire]].<ref>[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2003]], p. 26</ref> He thought the independent [[Yeoman#United States|yeoman]] and agrarian life were ideals of republican virtues. He was distrusting of cities and financiers, favored decentralized government power, and believed that the tyranny that had plagued the common man in Europe was due to corrupt political establishments and monarchies. Having supported efforts to disestablish the [[Church of England]],<ref>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 158</ref> and having authored the [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]], he pressed for a [[separation of church and state|wall of separation between church and state]].<ref>[[#Mayer|Mayer, 1994]] p. 76</ref> The Republicans under Jefferson were strongly influenced by the 18th-century British [[Whig (British political party)|Whig Party]], who believed in limited government.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 287</ref> His [[Democratic-Republican Party]] became dominant in [[First Party System|early American politics]] and his views became known as [[Jeffersonian democracy]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, pp.&nbsp;559–567</ref>

===Society and government===

According to Jefferson, citizens have "certain inalienable rights" and "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others&nbsp;..."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/founders/default.xqy?keys=FOEA-print-04-02-02-0303|title=Jefferson, Thomas, Letter to Isaac H. Tiffany, April 4, 1819|publisher=Univ. of Virginia Press|accessdate=October 13, 2015}}</ref> Jeffersonian government not only prohibited individuals in society from infringing on the liberty of others, but also restrained itself from diminishing individual liberty as a protection against tyranny from the majority.<ref>[[#Mayer|Mayer, 1994]] p. 328</ref> While he believed most people could not escape corrupting dependence, the franchise should be extended only to those who could, including the yeoman farmer. He disliked inter-generational dependence, such as national debt and unalterable governments.<ref name=Wood220/> He was convinced that individual liberties were the fruit of equality, threatened only by government.<ref>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]] p. 340</ref> Excesses of democracy in his view were caused by institutional corruptions rather than human nature. He remained less suspicious of working democracy than many of his contemporaries.<ref name=Wood220>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 220–227</ref>

As president, Jefferson tried to re-create the balance between the state and federal governments as it existed under the Articles of Confederation, seeking to shift the balance of power back to the states. He acted out of his republican theory that liberty could only be retained in small, homogeneous societies. He felt that the Federalist system enacted by Washington and Adams had encouraged corrupting patronage and dependence.<ref name=Wood220/> Many of Jefferson's contradictions can be understood within this philosophical framework. For example, he opposed women's right to vote or any participation in politics because a government must be controlled by the economically independent. Instead he argued: "our good ladies&nbsp;... are contented to soothe and calm the minds of their husbands returning ruffled from political debate."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-13-02-0076|title=Jefferson, Thomas, Letter to Anne Willing Bingham, May 11, 1788|publisher=Founders Online|accessdate=October 13, 2015}}</ref>

===Democracy===
As a proponent of democracy, Jefferson considered it to be the very expression of society as a whole, and called for national self-determination, cultural uniformity and education of all males of the commonwealth.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 277</ref> In his view, public education and a free press were essential to a democratic nation: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free it expects what never was and never will be.&nbsp;... The people cannot be safe without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe".<ref>[[#Jeff Cyclo|''The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia'' (1900)]] pp. 605, 727</ref>

After leaving Washington's cabinet as Secretary of State, by October 1795 Jefferson's thoughts turned to the electoral bases of the Republicans and Federalists. The "Republican" classification of the United States for which he advocated included 1) "the entire body of landholders" everywhere, and 2) "the body of laborers" without land.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 298</ref> Republicans united behind Jefferson as Vice President, with the election of 1796 expanding democracy nationwide, including local committees and correspondence networks. County committees framed local Republican tickets and spawned partisan Republican newspapers.<ref>Wilentz (2005) p. 85.</ref> Privately, Jefferson promoted Republican candidates to run for local state offices.<ref>Meacham (2012) p. 318.</ref> He sought an aristocracy of merit, an example being his vice presidential candidate choice in George Clinton, the child of Irish immigrants.<ref name=Meacham405>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 405–06</ref>

Beginning with Jefferson's electioneering for the "revolution of 1800", his democratic efforts were based on egalitarian appeals.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilentz|first=Sean|url=http://www.amazon.com/The-Rise-American-Democracy-Jefferson/dp/0393329216|title=The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.|year=2006|pages=97–98}}</ref> Jefferson in his later years referred to the 1800 election "as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of '76 was in its form", one "not effected indeed by the sword&nbsp;... but by the&nbsp;... suffrage of the people."<ref>Wilentz (2005) p. 97.</ref> Voter participation grew in Jefferson's two terms, increasing to "unimaginable levels" compared to the Federalist Era, with doubled turnouts.<ref>Wilentz (2006), p. 138.</ref> John Quincy Adams noted following Jefferson's 1804 election, "The power of the Administration rests upon the support of a much stronger majority of the people throughout the Union than the former Administrations ever possessed."<ref name=Meacham405 />

In retirement, Jefferson gradually became critical of his home state for violating "the principle of equal political rights"–the social right of universal male suffrage.<ref>{{cite web|last=Keyssar|first=Alexander|url=http://www.amazon.com/The-Right-Vote-Contested-Democracy/dp/0465005020|title=The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States|publisher=Basic Books|year=2009|page=37}}</ref> Initially, with the onset of the Revolution, Jefferson had accepted Blackstone's principle that property ownership would lead to the independent will required from voters in a republic, but he sought to further expand suffrage by land distribution to the poor.<ref>Keyssar (2009) p. 10.</ref> In the heat of the Revolutionary Era and afterward, with Jefferson's support, several states expanded voter eligibility from landed gentry to include male [[European Americans|Euro-American]] tax-paying citizens, those owning either their own houses or their own tools and paying taxes on them.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ferling|first=John|url=http://www.amazon.com/Adams-vs-Jefferson-Tumultuous-Election/dp/019518906X|title=Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|year=2005|page=86}}</ref> In response to a pamphlet advocating a Virginia Constitutional Convention, he went further than the radical convention promoters. He sought a "general suffrage" of all taxpayers and militia-men, as well as equal representation by voter population in the state legislature, not skewed to favor slave-holding regions of the state. He also favored a reform of Virginia's county courthouse system, to more nearly resemble that of the more democratic townships of New England.<ref>Wilentz (2005) p. 200.</ref>

===Banks===
[[File:FirstBankofUS00 crop.jpg|right|thumb|First Bank of U.S., Philadelphia, 1791–1811]]
Jefferson distrusted government banks, and opposed public borrowing which he thought created long-term debt, bred monopolies and invited dangerous speculation as opposed to productive labor.<ref>[[#Malone81|Malone, 1981]], pp. 140–43</ref><ref>[[#H.A.Washington|Washington, 1907]], p. 395</ref> He argued that each generation should curtail all debt within 19 years, and not impose a long-term debt on subsequent generations.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p.321</ref>

In 1791, President [[George Washington|Washington]] asked Jefferson, then [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] and [[Alexander Hamilton]], the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]], if the Congress had the authority to create a [[First Bank of the United States|national bank]]. While Hamilton believed Congress had the authority, Jefferson thought a national bank would ignore the needs of individuals and farmers. He also was convinced it would assume powers not granted to the federal government by the States, and therefore would violate the [[Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Tenth Amendment]] as well as the laws of ''Mortmain, Alienage, Forfeiture, Distribution, and Monopolies''.<ref>[[#Jefferson1829|Jefferson, 1829]] pp. 536–37</ref><ref>[[#Jefferson1900|Jefferson, 1900]] p. 68</ref><ref>[[#Bailey2007|Bailey, 2007]] p. 82</ref>

Jefferson used the agrarian resistance to banks and speculators as the first defining principle of an opposition party, recruiting candidates for congress on the issue as early as 1792.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ferling|first=John|title=Jefferson and Hamilton: the rivalry that forged a nation|publisher=Bloomsbury Press|year=2013|pages=221–22}}</ref> In retirement, Jefferson reminded John Taylor in 1816 that they had ever hated the banks which could destroy the state constitutions, already suffering from speculators who "sweep away the fortunes and morals of our citizens". He thought banks were more dangerous than standing armies–"swindling futurity on a large scale".<ref>[[#Jefferson1829|Jefferson, 1829]] pp. 285–88</ref><ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p.541</ref>

===Benefits of rebellion===
In a letter to James Madison in 1787, Jefferson wrote, "A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.&nbsp;... It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."<ref name="Melton 2004 277">{{cite book|last=Melton|first=Buckner F. ed.|title=The Quotable Founding Fathers|publisher=New England Publishing Assoc.|year=2004|page=277}}</ref> Similarly, in a letter to Abigail Adams on February 22, 1787 he wrote, "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all."<ref name="Melton 2004 277"/> Concerning [[Shays' Rebellion]] after he had heard of the bloodshed, Jefferson wrote to [[William Stephens Smith|William S. Smith]], John Adams' son-in-law, "What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must from time to time be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."<ref>{{cite web|last=Jefferson|first=Thomas|url=http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html|title=Letter to William Smith, November 13, 1787|publisher=Library of Congress|accessdate=October 13, 2015}}</ref> In another letter to Smith that year Jefferson wrote: "And what country can preserve its liberties, if the rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."<ref name="Melton 2004 277"/>

As late as 1804 before his second term began, Jefferson even seemed at ease with the prospect of dividing the nation into separate democracies. In view of a prospective republic in the Mississippi River Valley, they would be "as much our children and our descendants" alongside any coastal confederacy remaining. "I feel myself as much identified with that [western] country&nbsp;... as with this [United States].<ref>[[#Stewart97|Stewart, 1997]] pp. 58–59</ref>{{efn|Quoting from Jefferson's letter to Joseph Priestley, January 29, 1804, Library of Congress.}}

He said of the French revolution, "The liberty of the whole world was depending on the issue of the contest".<ref>[[#Malone62|Malone, 1962]], pp. 48–49</ref> Jefferson once argued that America would become the world's great "empire of liberty"—that is, the model for democracy and republicanism.<ref>{{cite book|first=Francis D.|last=Cogliano|title=Emperor of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson's Foreign Policy|publisher=Yale Univ. Press|year= 2014}}</ref> On departing the presidency in 1809, he described America as, "...&nbsp;trusted with the destinies of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, and the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom and self-government, from hence it is to be lighted up in other regions of the earth, if other regions of the earth shall ever become susceptible of its benign influence."<ref>{{cite book|last=Foley|first=John P., ed.|title=The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia|publisher=Funk & Wagnalls|year=1900|page=895}}</ref>

==Slavery==
{{Main|Thomas Jefferson and slavery}}
[[File:Jefferson slaves.jpg|thumb|right|Jefferson's 1795 Farm book, page 30, lists 163 slaves at Monticello.]]

Jefferson lived in the Virginia planter economy largely dependent upon [[slavery]]. As a wealthy slave owner, he used slave labor to run his household, plantation, tobacco fields and various shops. The first record Jefferson made in regard to slave ownership was in 1774, when he owned 41.<ref>[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2006]], p. 219</ref><ref>[[#Onuf12|Onuf, 2012]], p. 258</ref> In his lifetime he owned about 600 slaves, buying and selling them for the management of his affairs, and regularly maintaining about 130 .<ref>{{cite book|last=Jaffe|first=Steven H.|publisher=Henry Holt & Co.|year=1996|title=Who Were the Founding Fathers? Two Hundred Years of Reinventing America|page=209}}</ref><ref name="FinkelmanMyth">[[#FinkelmanMyth|Finkelman, 1994]] pp. 201–02</ref> Jefferson purchased slaves on occasion in order to unite their families.<ref>[[#Malone62|Malone, 1962]], p. 207</ref><ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: ''Families'']]</ref>

He felt slavery was harmful to both slave and master while utilizing many slaves for profit.<ref>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 161</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Howe|first=Daniel Walker|year=1997|title=Making the American Self: Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|page=74}}</ref> Historians are divided on whether he opposed the institution, largely because he was silent on emancipation during his presidency and only freed a few slaves on his Monticello plantation.<ref name=EOAAH_p53>[[#Alexander10|Alexander, 2010]]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=David Brion|year=1999|title=Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|page=179}}</ref> Some researchers suggest Jefferson's slave ownership contrasted with his philosophy of "all men are created equal".<ref name=EOAAH_p53/> Other historians, however, maintain that the sentiment in this statement is what actually inspired Jefferson to advance legislation to abolish slavery and that he believed slavery was "contrary to the laws of nature" where everyone had a right to personal liberty.<ref>[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2006]], p. 142</ref><ref name="treatment"/>

In the 1790s, Jefferson opened his own mechanized nailery which enabled mostly younger slaves to make nails. However, while machinery in his shop allowed Jefferson's slaves to work more efficiently, he failed to convince southern farmers that machinery could displace slavery. Instead of eliminating the need for slaves, he realized just how dependent on slave labor the south was.<ref name="Hodin, Stephen B 2006">Hodin, Stephen B. "The Mechanisms of Monticello: Saving Labor in Jefferson's America." Journal of The Early Republic 26, no. 3 (Fall 2006): 377–418. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 16, 2014).</ref> Jefferson wrote in 1816 that "where the disease is most deeply seated, there it will be slowest in eradication. In the Northern States it was merely superﬁcial, and easily corrected. In the Southern States it is incorporated in the whole system."<ref name="Hodin, Stephen B 2006"/>

Jefferson accepted the consensus of his time that Africans were an inferior race. However, a section on slavery was included in his first draft of the Declaration of Independence, where he stated, "[The King] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation hither."<ref name="Schwabach, Aaron 2010">Schwabach, Aaron. "Thomas Jefferson, Slavery, and Slaves." Thomas Jefferson Law Review 33, no. 1 (Fall 2010): 1–60. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 16, 2014).</ref> This section of the Declaration was omitted because it alarmed southerners, who did not agree with such a bold statement and northerners who feared the disagreement on the matter would endanger a united front against Britain.<ref name="Schwabach, Aaron 2010"/> In his ''[[Notes on the State of Virginia]]'' (1785), he expressed a "strong suspicion" that the Negro was inferior to whites in both the endowments of body and mind but wasn't sure if it was because they were a "distinct race" or were so because of "time and circumstances".<ref name="Peterson p. 167">[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]] p. 167</ref>

Historians have generally described Jefferson as a benevolent slaveowner,<ref name="Bear, 1967, p. 99">[[#Bear|Bear, 1967]], p. 99</ref><ref name="Peterson p. 535">[[#Peterson86|Peterson, 1986]] p. 535</ref><ref name="Halliday p. 236">[[#Halliday09|Halliday, 2009]], p. 236</ref> though some historians have expressed doubts.<ref>[[#Wiencek|Wiencek, 2012]]</ref> Jefferson did not allow his slaves to be overworked and gave them Sundays, Christmas and Easter off.<ref name="Bear, 1967, p. 99"/><ref name="Peterson p. 535"/> According to a former Monticello slave, slaves were seldom punished except for stealing, fighting or other serious offenses, though there were some cases of excessive whippings at the hands of overseers.<ref name=treatment>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: ''Treatment'']]</ref><ref>[[#Miller94|Miller, 1994]], p. 106</ref> Slaves were provided with log cabins with a fireplace, good clothing and food and were allowed to have their own gardens and raise chickens which, along with eggs and produce, were sold by more than half the adult slaves to the Jefferson household.<ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: ''In Our Own Time'']]</ref>

As previously noted, President Jefferson called for outlawing the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and he signed the [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves]] into law.<ref>[[#Du Bois|Du Bois, 1904]], pp. 95–96; [[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: ''Jefferson and Slavery'']]</ref> Southern contemporary critics viewed Jefferson as opposed to slavery for his ''Notes on the State of Virginia'', his letter to [[Benjamin Banneker]] in 1791, and his reference to St. George Tucker's federal plan to purchase and free slaves.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bernstein|first=R.B.|year=2004|title=Thomas Jefferson: The Revolution of Ideas|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|page=138}}</ref>

===Abolition and colonization===
Although Jefferson owned many slaves during his life, it is widely held that he was opposed to the institution of slavery on moral and practical grounds.<ref>[[#TJF|Jefferson Foundation:Thomas Jefferson and Slavery]]</ref> He made several attempts to advance legislation to abolish slavery, and later proposed colonization of freed slaves to an independent country of their own in [[Liberia]].<ref>[[#Helo|Helo, 2013]], p. 105</ref><ref>[[#Hanson|Hanson, McPherson, 1891]], p. 17</ref> In 1779 he proposed a plan of gradual voluntary training, sponsorship and resettlement for slave families to the Virginia legislature. Three years hence he helped draft legislation to enable owners to free ([[manumit|"manumit"]]) slaves; owners would only need a written manumission, whereas owners previously had to pay to transport their slave out of state, and the slave could only be freed for doing an act of public service, or with permission from the commonwealth.<ref name="Schwabach, Aaron 2010"/> Jefferson proposed to the Congress legislation in 1784 that would end slavery in the Western Territories in the year 1800; however, this legislation was defeated by one vote. In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, a partial victory for Jefferson that terminated slavery in the North West Territory. Much of Virginia society, as proven by [[Robert Carter III|Robert Carter]]'s slave emancipation in 1791, was strongly opposed to freed slaves becoming citizens, while their colonization was viewed as an alternative. Following the [[Gabriel Prosser|Gabriel Prosser rebellion]] in the summer of 1800, Jefferson again proposed a colonization plan for freed slaves to prevent a race war.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 326</ref> Colonization became popular throughout the early 19th Century. While President, he attempted to colonize emancipated Virginia slaves to Sierra Leone off the coast of [[Africa]] through British and Portugal companies but these efforts were unsuccessful.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 998–999</ref> The idea of recolonization was met with mixed reactions from proponents and critics among different political and religious groups.<ref>Sherwood, Henry Noble. "[http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/sherwood/sherwood.html The Formation of the American Colonization Society]", The Journal of Negro History, Carter G. Woodson, ed., 1917 vol. II, pp. 210–11.</ref>

While Jefferson on occasion had expressed reservations about releasing unprepared slaves into freedom, it was something he had sought according to his main overseer of slaves, [[Edmund Bacon (1785–1866)|Edmund Bacon]] and his slave Joseph Fossett. Jefferson freed five slaves in his will providing a monetary endowment and trade tools to aid in making a living. Jefferson also successfully petitioned the Virginia legislature to allow freed slaves to remain in Virginia. His encumbered debt from an agricultural depression and the mortgaging of his slaves legally prevented him from freeing the remaining slaves who were later auctioned locally by his heirs to pay his creditors and avoid their confiscation.<ref>[[#Brodie|Brodie, 1974]], p. 466</ref><ref>[[#Malone62|Malone, 1962]], p. 178</ref>

===Jefferson–Hemings controversy===
{{main|Jefferson–Hemings controversy}}

The claim that Thomas Jefferson fathered children by his slave, [[Sally Hemings]], has been a matter of debate since 1802. That year journalist [[James T. Callender]], after being denied a position as [[postmaster]] by Jefferson, published allegations that Jefferson had taken Hemings as a [[Concubinage|concubine]] and had fathered several children with her.<ref>[[#Hyland2009|Hyland, 2009]], pp. ix, 2–3</ref> John Wayles, her father and slavemaster, was also the father of Jefferson's wife Martha. Hemings was three-quarters white and strikingly similar in looks and voice to Jefferson's late wife.<ref name=Meacham>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 55</ref>

In 1998, in order to establish the male DNA line, a panel of researchers conducted a [[Y-DNA]] study of living descendants of Jefferson's uncle, Field, and of a descendant of Hemings' son, [[Eston Hemings]]. The results, published in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]],''<ref>[[#Hyland2009|Hyland, 2009]] p. 4</ref> showed a Y-DNA match with the male Jefferson line. In 2000, the [[Thomas Jefferson Foundation]] (TJF) assembled a team of historians whose report concluded that, together with the DNA and historic evidence, there was a high probability that Jefferson was the father of Eston and likely of all Hemings' children. W. M. Wallenborn who worked on the Monticello report disagreed, claiming the committee's report was a "rush to judgement," and that the claims of Jefferson's paternity were unsubstantiated and politically driven.<ref name=Hyland76>[[#Hyland2009|Hyland, 2009]] pp. 76, 119</ref>

Since the DNA tests were made public most biographers and historians have concluded that the widower Jefferson had a long-term relationship with Hemings.<ref>Leary, Helen F. M. ''National Genealogical Society Quarterly'', Vol. 89, No. 3, September 2001, pp. 207, 214 – 218</ref> Other scholars, including a team of professors associated with the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society, maintain that the evidence is insufficient to prove Jefferson's paternity conclusively, and note the possibility that other family members, including his brother [[Randolph Jefferson]] and his five sons, who often fraternized with slaves, could have fathered Hemings' children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tjheritage.org/scholars.html|title=The Scholars Commission on the Jefferson-Hemings Issue|year=2001|publisher=Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society|accessdate=October 14, 2015}}</ref><ref>[[#Hyland2009|Hyland, 2009]] pp. 30–31</ref>

Hemings' first child was conceived while she and Jefferson were in France during his term as US Ambassador. The claim has been made that since slavery had been abolished in France, Hemings only agreed to come home with Jefferson on condition that their children would be freed at the age of 2, and that Jefferson kept this promise.<ref name="Schwabach, Aaron 2010"/> However, there is no written record or oral history of a claim by Hemings that Jefferson fathered any of her children.<ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: ''Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account'']]</ref> Jefferson [[manumission|freed]] two slaves of the extended Hemings family in the 18th century. He allowed two of her children to leave Monticello without formal manumission when they came of age. Five other slaves, including the two remaining sons of Hemings, were freed by his will upon his death. Although not freed in Jefferson's will, Hemings herself was freed by Jefferson's daughter, [[Martha Jefferson Randolph]], after his death.<ref name="Schwabach, Aaron 2010"/> She then left Monticello with her sons, and they were counted as free whites in the 1830 census.<ref>[[#Reed97|Gordon-Reed, 1997]], p. 209</ref>

==Religion==
{{Further|Thomas Jefferson and religion}}
[[File:Thomas Jefferson Bible Lined Cover.jpg|thumb|right|190|<center>Jefferson's Bible featuring only the words of Jesus from the evangelists, in parallel Greek, Latin, French and English</center>]]
Although Jefferson generally referred to himself as a Christian, by 1764 he had withdrawn from an "orthodox" Christian belief after his personal scrutiny of [[New Testament]] teachings found intolerable inconsistencies. Jefferson later wrote that he found two strains within the Bible, one that was as "diamonds" of the "purest moral teaching",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/jefferson.html|title=Thomas Jefferson and his Bible|publisher=PBS Frontline|first=Marilyn|last=Mellowes|year=2014|accessdate=October 14, 2015}}</ref> and another that was as a "dunghill" of "priestcraft and roguery".<ref>Onuf, Peter (2007). ''The Mind of Thomas Jefferson'', Univ. of Virginia Press,  pp. 139–68</ref>

In 1777, Jefferson drafted Virginia's ''[[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom|An Act of Establishing Religious Freedom]]''. Submitted in 1779, the Act was ratified in 1786 by the [[Virginia]] legislature. The Act made it unlawful to compel men to attend or donate money to religious establishments, and declared that men "shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of [[religion]]."<ref>[[#Yarbrough2006|Yarbrough, 2006]], p. 28</ref> Jefferson initially supported restrictions banning [[clergy]] from holding public office; however, later in life he changed this view, believing the clergy had the same rights as others to hold public office.<ref>[[#Finkelman2006|Finkelman, 2006]] p. 921</ref>

Jefferson praised the morality of Jesus and edited a compilation of his teachings, omitting the miracles and supernatural references of the biblical account, and titling it ''[[Jefferson Bible|The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth|url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefJesu.html|year=1820|accessdate=August 12, 2010}}</ref> This book is now known as the [[Jefferson Bible]]. He claimed that Christianity  possessed, "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."<ref>[[#H.A.Washington|Jefferson, Washington, 1907]], p. 89</ref> He was firmly [[anticlerical]], saying that in "every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty&nbsp;... they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon, unintelligible to all mankind, and therefore the safer for their purposes."<ref>{{cite book|last=Jefferson|first=Thomas|title=Letter to Horatio Spafford, March 17, 1814. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series|publisher=Princeton University Press. 2001}}</ref>

Jefferson's personalized Christianity included a strict code of [[morality|moral]] conduct and was inspired by classical literature.<ref name=Malone_DOAB_p18>[[#Malone1933|Malone, 1933]], p. 18</ref> His belief system retained some Christian principles but rejected many of the orthodox tenets of that time and was critical of the [[Catholic Church]] as he had observed it in France. He advanced the idea of ''Separation of Church and State'', that the government should not have an official religion nor should it prohibit any particular religious expression. He initially offered these thoughts in an 1802 letter to the [[Danbury Baptists]] in Connecticut.<ref>[[#Bailey2007|Bailey, 2007]], pp. 23, 239</ref> In a private letter to [[Benjamin Rush]] in 1803 he explained some aspects of his personal belief system regarding Christianity: "To the corruptions of Christianity I am, indeed, opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence&nbsp;..."<ref>{{cite web|last=Jefferson|first=Thomas. Letter to Benjamin Rush, April 21, 1803|title=Writings of Thomas Jefferson|url=http://lonestar.texas.net/~mseifert/rush.html|accessdate=October 16, 2015}}</ref>

Jefferson noted both benevolence and contradictions in Christian doctrine.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jefferson|first=Thomas. Letter to William Short, April 13, 1820|title=Writings of Thomas Jefferson|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EqvTAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA244|accessdate=October 16, 2015}}</ref> In an 1820 letter to his close friend [[William Short (American ambassador)|William Short]], he stated, "it is not to be understood that I am with him [Jesus] in all his doctrines. I am a [[Materialism|Materialist]]; he takes the side of Spiritualism; he preaches the efficacy of repentance toward forgiveness of sin; I require a counterpoise of good works to redeem it." In 1824, four years later, Jefferson had changed on his view of the "materialism" of Jesus, clarifying then that "...&nbsp;the founder of our religion, was unquestionably a materialist as to man."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://founders.archives.gov/?q=%20Author%3A%22Jefferson%2C%20Thomas%22%20jesus%20materialist&s=1111311111&r=4|last=Jefferson|first=Thomas|title=Letter to Augustus Elias Brevoort Woodward, March 24, 1824|accessdate=October 15, 2015}}</ref>

As a landowner Jefferson played a role in governing his local [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal Church]]. When he was home he attended the Episcopal church and raised his daughters in that faith.<ref name="Randall, 1994 p. 203">[[#Randall|Randall, 1994]] p. 203</ref><ref>[[#Merwin|Merwin, 1901]] p. 10</ref> Jefferson was influenced by [[Deism]], but was  generally reluctant to discuss his personal religious beliefs.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jefferson's Religious Beliefs|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs|website=Monticello|publisher=[[Thomas Jefferson Foundation]]|accessdate=23 October 2015}}</ref>  Biographer Peterson contends that he was a [[theist]] "whose God was the Creator of the universe. Such a God exemplified workmanship and design; all the evidences of nature testified to His perfection; and man could rely on the harmony and beneficence of His work."<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], ch. 2 [ebook]</ref>

==Interests and activities==

Jefferson was a farmer, with a keen curiosity in new crops, soil conditions, garden designs and scientific agricultural techniques. His main cash crop was tobacco, but its price was usually low and it was rarely profitable. He tried to achieve self-sufficiency with wheat, vegetables, flax, corn, hogs, sheep, poultry and cattle to supply his family, slaves, and employees, but he had cash flow problems and was always in debt. <ref>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2008]], p. 100</ref><ref>[[#McEwan|McEwan, 1991]], pp. 20–39</ref>

In the field of architecture, Jefferson helped popularize the [[Palladian architecture|Neo-Palladian]] style in the United States through designs for the [[Virginia State Capitol]] in addition to the University of Virginia and his own home, among others.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Berstein, 2003]], p. 193</ref><ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], p.202</ref> He was interested in birds and wine, and was a noted [[gourmet]]; he was also a prolific writer and linguist, and spoke several languages.<ref name=Hayes135>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2008]], pp. 135–136</ref> As a naturalist, he was compelled to purchase the [[Natural Bridge, Virginia|Natural Bridge]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], p.214</ref>

===Linguistics===
Jefferson had a lifelong interest in [[linguistics]], could read and write in a number of languages and was fluent in several, including Greek, Italian, French and German. He claimed to have taught himself Spanish in nineteen days, using only a grammar guide and a copy of ''[[Don Quixote]]'', though colleagues were skeptical. [[John Quincy Adams]] dismissed Jefferson's account as one of the exaggerative "large stories" he was inclined to tell.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wilson|first1=Gaye|title=Spanish Language|url=http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/spanish-language|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation|accessdate=May 2, 2015}}</ref> He also collected and understood a number of American Indian vocabularies and instructed Lewis and Clark to record and collect various Indian dialects during their Expedition.<ref>[[#Frawley|Frawley, 2003]], p. 96</ref> He studied the ancient Anglo-Saxon language in a linguistic and philosophical capacity. In his early years he excelled in classical language while at boarding school<ref>[[#Miller|Univ. Virginia archives: Miller Center]]</ref> where he received a classical education in Greek and Latin<ref>[[Andresen|Andresen, 2006]], Chap. 1</ref> and was known to keep his Greek grammar book with him everywhere he went. He later came to regard the Greek language as the "perfect language" as expressed in its laws<ref name=Boberchap1>[[#Bober|Bober, 2008]], p. 16</ref> consequently becoming keenly interested in linguistics and political philosophy altogether. While attending the [[College of William & Mary]] he taught himself Italian.<ref name=Italy>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: Italy – Language]]</ref> Here Jefferson first became familiar with the Anglo-Saxon language, especially as it was associated with English Common law and system of government. He was so interested in the subject that, while pursuing law, he set aside time to devote to its study, as the college offered no such curriculum.

Linguistics played a significant role in how Jefferson modeled and expressed political and philosophical ideas. He believed that the progression of language provided a good model for the advancement of political thought, that change in language was the result of common sense, natural law and consequently public acceptance and usage.<ref name=Hellen155>[[#Hellenbrand|Hellenbrand, 1990]], pp. 155–56</ref> He understood the study of ancient languages was essential in understanding the roots of modern language. While criticizing the British for not recognizing various colonial dialects, Jefferson wanted the English language largely left intact, and taught that way to American school children.<ref name=Hellen155/> He owned a wide variety of multiple language dictionaries, including Webster's ''A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language'', 1806.<ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: English Language Dictionaries]]</ref> Much of Jefferson's correspondence is earmarked with Greek and Latin quotations and other references to language.<ref name=Boberchap1/><ref>[[#Kaplan99|Kaplan, 1999]], p. 62</ref> Jefferson later included Italian and Anglo-Saxon among the languages taught at the University of Virginia.<ref name=Italy/><ref name=Anglo>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: Anglo-Saxon Language]]</ref>

Although his political career and private activities required him to speak in public and his writing on a wide range of topics was regarded as brilliant, Jefferson was not known as a good orator and preferred to remain silent if possible. Instead of delivering his [[State of the Union]] addresses himself, Jefferson wrote the annual messages and sent a representative to read them aloud in Congress. This started a tradition which continued until 1913, when [[Woodrow Wilson]] chose to deliver his own State of the Union address.<ref>[[#TJF|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: ''Public speaking'']]</ref>

===Inventions===
[[File:Jefferson's+deskdetail.jpg|thumb|Portable writing desk invented and used by Jefferson in writing the Declaration]]
Jefferson invented many small practical devices and improved contemporary inventions. These include the design for a revolving book-stand to hold five volumes at once to be viewed by the reader. Another was the "Great Clock", powered by the Earth's gravitational pull on Revolutionary War cannonballs. Louis Leschot, a machinist, aided Jefferson with the clock. Jefferson invented a {{convert|6|in|cm|abbr=on}} long coded wooden [[Jefferson disk|cipher wheel]] mounted on a metal spindle, to keep State Department messages secure, while he was Secretary of State. The messages were scrambled and unscrambled by 26 alphabet letters on each circular segment of the wheel. He improved the [[moldboard plow]], an idea he never patented and gave to posterity,<ref>[[#Malone62|Malone, 1962]], pp. 213–15</ref> and the [[polygraph (duplicating device)|polygraph]], in collaboration with [[Charles Willson Peale]].<ref>[[#cipher|Univ. Virginia archives]]</ref> As Minister to France, Jefferson was impressed by France's military standardization program known as the ''[[Gribeauval system|Système Gribeauval]]''. As president, he initiated a program at the Federal Armories to develop [[interchangeable parts]] for firearms. He made improvements and introduced innovations on an English printing press he had brought back with him. He also improved the [[pedometer]], a device for counting the number of steps taken while walking, and gave one to James Madison. For Jefferson's inventiveness and ingenuity he received several Honorary Doctor of Law degrees.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 335–36</ref> Jefferson can also be accredited as the creator of the [[swivel chair#Origin|swivel chair]], the first of which he created and used to write much of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref>[[#Fliegelman|Fliegelman, 1993]], p. 72</ref>

==Memorials and honors==
{{Further|List of places named for Thomas Jefferson}}
<!--[[File:Jefferson Memorial (cropped).jpg|thumb|Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.]]-->
[[File:Jefferson Memorial with Declaration preamble.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Jefferson Memorial]] statue by [[Rudulph Evans]], the preamble of the Declaration of Independence at right|alt=[[Rudulph Evans]]' statue of Jefferson with excerpts from the Declaration of Independence to the right]]
Jefferson has been memorialized with buildings, sculptures, postage and currency. The [[Jefferson Memorial]] was dedicated in [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1943, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. The interior of the memorial includes a {{convert|19|ft|m|0|sing=on}} statue of Jefferson and engravings of passages from his writings. Most prominent are the words inscribed around the monument near the roof: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."<ref>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]], p. 378</ref> During the [[New Deal]] era of the 1930s, Democrats honored Jefferson and [[Andrew Jackson]] as their party's founding fathers and continued inspiration. He was portrayed by them as the spokesman for democracy and the common man. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] led the effort to gain approvals for his monument in Washington.<ref>[[#FAM|FAMous People: Thomas Jefferson]]</ref>

Jefferson has been honored on U.S. postage since the first Jefferson postage stamp was released in 1856. Jefferson was the second president to be featured on [[U.S. Presidents on U.S. postage stamps|U.S. Postage]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Scott Stamp Catalog, Index of Commemorative Stamps</ref> His portrait appears on the U.S. [[United States two-dollar bill|$2 bill]], [[Nickel (United States coin)|nickel]], and the $100 Series EE [[Treasury security|Savings Bond]], and a Presidential Dollar which released into circulation on August 16, 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://coins.about.com/od/presidentialdollars/a/jeffersondollar.htm|title=The Thomas Jefferson Presidential Dollar|publisher=Coins.about.com |date=August 16, 2007|accessdate=November 7, 2010}}</ref>

His original tombstone, now a [[cenotaph]], is located on the campus in the [[University of Missouri]]'s [[David R. Francis Quadrangle|Quadrangle]]. A life mask of Jefferson was created by [[John Henri Isaac Browere]] in the 1820s.<ref>[[#Hart|Hart, 1899]], pp.xiii, 17, 36</ref>

Jefferson, together with George Washington, [[Theodore Roosevelt]], and [[Abraham Lincoln]], was chosen by sculptor [[Gutzon Borglum]] and approved by President [[Calvin Coolidge]] to be depicted in stone at the [[Mount Rushmore|Mount Rushmore Memorial]].<ref name="rushmore">[[#Rushmore|NPS: Mt. Rushmore]]</ref>

Other memorials to Jefferson include the commissioning of the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] ship ''Thomas Jefferson'' in [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], Virginia on July 8, 2003, in commemoration of his establishment of a Survey of the Coast, the predecessor to NOAA's National Ocean Service. A bronze monument to Jefferson was erected in [[Jefferson Park, Chicago]] along Milwaukee Avenue in 2005. In honor of Jefferson's support, the Library of Congress' website for legislative information is named THOMAS.<ref name="RobertsNYT">[[#books|NY Times: A Founding Father's Books Turn Up]]</ref>

==Writings==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=yes|viaf=41866059}}
* ''[[A Summary View of the Rights of British America]]'' (1774)
* ''[[Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms]]'' (1775)
*  [http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html Declaration of Independence (1776)]
* ''[[Memorandums taken on a journey from Paris into the southern parts of France and Northern Italy, in the year 1787]]''
* ''[[Notes on the State of Virginia]]'' (1781)
* ''[[Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States]]'' A report submitted to Congress (1790)
* ''[[Jefferson's Manual|Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States]]'' (1801)
* ''Autobiography'' (1821)
* ''[[Jefferson Bible|Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth]]''
* [https://archive.org/stream/anessaytowardsf00jeffgoog#page/n6/mode/2up An essay towards facilitating instruction in the Anglo-Saxon and modern dialects of the English language'']

==See also==
{{Portal|American Revolutionary War|Government of the United States|right=yes}}
{{Wikipedia books|Presidents of the United States (1789–1860)}}
* [[List of Presidents of the United States]]
* [[List of Presidents of the United States, sortable by previous experience]]
* [[Founding Fathers of the United States]]
* [[France in the American Revolutionary War]]
* [[American gentry]]
* [[Jefferson Monroe Levy]]
* [[U.S. Presidents on U.S. postage stamps]]
* [[List of slave owners]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|26em}}

==Bibliography==
:{{main|Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson}}

===Scholarly studies===
<!-- Please place 'Web site sources' in subsection below -->
{{refbegin|32em}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=Herbert Baxter Adams |last=Adams |first=Herbert Baxter |year=1888 |title=Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |ref=Adams88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qkTPAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |first=Leslie |last=Alexander |title=Encyclopedia of African American History (American Ethnic Experience) |publisher=ABC-CLIO |ref=Alexander10 |isbn=978-1-85109-769-2 |year=2010 |url=http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-African-American-History-Experience/dp/1851097694/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279676272&sr=8-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Ambrose |first=Stephen E. |title=Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West |ref=Ambrose |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-684-81107-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1qG28l85r-oC}}
* {{cite book |title=Linguistics in America 1769–1924: A Critical History |year=2006 |last=Andresen |first=Julie |publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K67T2V0KdgQC&source=gbs_navlinks_s |ref=Andresen}}
* {{cite book |last=Appleby |first=Joyce |ref=Appleby |title=Thomas Jefferson |editor=Arthur M. Schlesinger |year=2003 |publisher=Times Books|isbn=0-8050-6924-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JWP1AAAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Jeremy D. |title=Thomas Jefferson and Executive Power |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-139-46629-5 |ref=Bailey2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mWu7GGgkDJUC}}
* {{cite book |ref={{sfnRef|Banner 1974}} |last=Banner Jr. |first=James M. |title=Responses of the Presidents to Charges of Misconduct |publisher=Delacorte Press Dell Publishing Co., Inc. |editor=C. Vann Woodward |location=|date=1974 |isbn=0-440-05923-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bear |first=James Adam |title=Jefferson at Monticello |ref=Bear |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-8139-0022-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bi5N1j829BQC}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Bear |first=James A. |title=The Last Few Days in the Life of Thomas Jefferson |journal=Magazine of Albemarle County History |volume=32 |ref=Bear74 |year=1974 |authormask=2 }} <!-- <ref>[[#Bear74|Bear, 1974]], p. 77</ref> -->
* {{cite book |last=Becker |first=Carl |authorlink=Carl L. Becker |isbn=978-0-394-70060-1 |title=The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1970 |ref=Becker|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpMaAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Richard B. |authorlink=Richard B. Bernstein |ref=Bernstein03 |isbn=978-0-19-518130-2 |title=Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4vrD1WKLicwC}}
* {{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Richard B.|title=The Revolution of Ideas |authormask=2 |ref=Bernstein2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-514368-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uh4RcHoZP0cC}}
* {{cite book |last=Blessing |first=Tim H. |first2=Robert K. |last2=Murray | title=Greatness In The White House: Rating The Presidents, From George Washington |ref=Blessing |publisher=Penn State University Press |page=180 |year=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dl8RAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{cite book |title=Thomas Jefferson: Draftsman of a Nation |first=Natalie |last=Bober |publisher=University of Virginia Press|isbn=978-0-8139-2732-9 |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J7TePIQzpSIC&source=gbs_navlinks_s |ref=Bober}}
* {{cite book |last=Brodie |first=Fawn |title=Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1974 |ref=Brodie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4VT7_0NbxUC}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowers |first=Claude |year=1945 |title=The Young Jefferson 1743–1789 |publisher= Houghton Mifflin Company, 544 pages |url=https://archive.org/details/youngjefferson17001142mbp |ref=Bowers45}}
* {{cite book |last=Burstein |first=Andrew |isbn=978-0-465-00813-1 |title=Jefferson's Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello |publisher=Basic Books|year=2006 |ref=Burstein2006}}
* {{cite book|last=Burstein|first=Andrew|title=Democracy's Muse: How Thomas Jefferson Became an FDR Liberal, a Reagan Republican, and a Tea Party Fanatic, All the While Being Dead|publisher=University of Virginia Press|year=2015}}
* {{cite book |last=Chernow |first=Ron |authorlink=Ron Chernow |isbn=978-1-59420-009-0 |title=Alexander Hamilton |publisher=Penguin Press |ref=Chernow04 |year=2004 |page=818 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y1_R-rjdcb0C}}
* {{cite book |last=Cogliano |first=Francis D |isbn=978-0-7486-2499-7 |title=Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy |publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2008 |ref=Cogliano |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1f-wAfE0mpsC}}
* {{cite book|last=Cogliano|first=Francis D.|title=Emperor of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson's Foreign Policy|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2014}}
* {{cite book |last=Coles |first=Edward |authorlink=Edward Coles |title=Ordinance of 1787 |publisher=Historical Society of Pennsylvania |year=1856 |ref=Coles56 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mS9CAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Curtis |first=Christopher Michael |year=2012 |title=Jefferson's Freeholders and the Politics of Ownership in the Old Dominion|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|isbn=978-1-107-01740-5 |ref=Curtis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSpVb1mzGgsC}}
* {{cite book |last=Crawford |first=Alan Pell |title=Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Random House Digital |year=2008 |ref=Crawford2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrxRSwAK578C}}
* {{cite book|ref=harv|first=Martha|last=Derthick|title=Dilemmas of Scale in America's Federal Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X11p-A_vbpoC|accessdate=5 March 2015|date=13 June 1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-64039-8}}
* {{cite book |first=Richard |last=Drinnon |title='Facing West: The Metaphysics of Indian-Hating and Empire-Building |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=1997|ref=Drinnon |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Facing_West.html?id=wrexPiqKo58C}}
* {{cite book |last=Du Bois |first=William Edward Burghardt |authorlink=W. E. B. Du Bois |title=The suppression of the African slave-trade to the United States of America |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co.|page=335 |year=1904 |ref=Du Bois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04mJJlND1ccC}}
* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |authorlink=Joseph Ellis |isbn=978-0-679-44490-9 |title=American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1996 |ref=Ellis96}}
* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |authormask=2 |isbn=978-0-307-26369-8 |title=American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding of the Republic |publisher=Random House LLC |year=2008 |ref=Ellis2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpSqADt2XzwC}}
* {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |authorlink=John E. Ferling |isbn=978-0-19-513409-4 |title=Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |ref=Ferling2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lifQ0G0m9WwC}}
* {{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |authormask=2 |title=Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516771-9 |ref=Ferling04}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Finkelman |first1=Paul |authormask=2 |title=Evading the Ordinance: The Persistence of Bondage in Indiana and Illinois |journal=Journal of the Early Republic, vol.9, issue 1 |doi=10.2307/3123523 |year=1989 |ref=Finkelman1989}}
* {{cite book |first=Jay |last=Fliegelman |title=Declaring Independence |year=1993 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-2076-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1s2vFS7kz8C |ref=Fliegelman}}
* {{cite book |last=Fremont-Barnes |first=Gregory |title=The Wars of the Barbary Pirates: To the Shores of Tripoli – The Rise of the US Navy and Marines |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84603-030-7 |ref=Fremont-Barnes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQJI5cX-klYC}}
* {{cite book |first=Curtis Manning |last=Geer |first2=Guy Carleton |last2=Lee |first3=Francis Newton |last3=Thorpe |title=The Louisiana purchase and the westward movement |publisher=G. Barrie |ref=Thorpe}}
* {{cite book |last=Fritz |first=Harry W. |title=The Lewis and Clark Expedition |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-31661-6 |year=2004 |ref=Fritz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GFFHn18Z7ywC}}
* {{cite book |last=Gordon-Reed |first=Annette |isbn=978-0-8139-1698-9 |title=Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy |authorlink=Annette Gordon-Reed |publisher=University Press of Virginia |year=1997 |ref=Reed97|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hk86gGtn8sUC}}
* {{cite book |title=The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family |first=Annette |last=Gordon-Reed |year=2008 |authormask=2 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-06477-3 |ref=Gordon08 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rucDU2Xa6gC}}
* {{cite book |last=Guttridge |first=Leonard F |title=Our Country, Right Or Wrong: The Life of Stephen Decatur |page=304 |year=2005 |publisher=Tom Doherty Associates |isbn=978-0-7653-0702-6 |ref=Guttridge |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Our_Country_Right_Or_Wrong.html?id=nbtcWe9ELqYC}}
* {{cite book |last=Hale |first=Edward Everett |title=Illustrious Americans, Their Lives and Great Achievements |ref=Hale1896 |authorlink=Edward Everett Hale |publisher=International Publishing Company |year=1896 |isbn=978-1-162-22702-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSoEAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{cite book |first=John |last=Hanson |first2=Thomas |last2=McPherson |title=History of Liberia |publisher=Johnson Reprint Corporation, 63 pages |year=1891 |ref=Hanson}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=Nxo-AQAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s E'book]
* {{cite book |last=Halliday |first=E. M. |isbn=978-0-06-019793-3 |title=Understanding Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Harper Collins |year=2009 |ref=Halliday09 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jXuugYA2fmsC}}
* {{cite book |last=Hart |first=Charles Henry |ref=Hart |title=Browere's Life Masks of Great Americans |publisher=De Vinne Press for Doubleday and McClure Company |year=1899 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WE5IAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Hayes |first=Kevin J. |isbn=978-0-19-530758-0 |title=The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFSm22FPS-sC |ref=Hayes}}
* {{cite book |title=The Unfinished Revolution: Education and Politics in the Thought of Thomas Jefferson |last=Hellenbrand |first=Harold |publisher=Associated University Presse |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-87413-370-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a8rnKqvaiYMC&source=gbs_navlinks_s |ref=Hellenbrand}}
* {{cite book |last=Helo |first=Ray |title=Thomas Jefferson's Ethics and the Politics of Human Progress: The Morality of a Slaveholder |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year= 2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EM0AgAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s |ref=Helo}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hyland |first=William G |title=In Defense of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemings Sex Scandal |publisher=Carolina Academic Press|year=2009 |isbn=978-0-89089-085-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/In_Defense_of_Thomas_Jefferson.html?id=BjtCG8vVQEEC |ref=Hyland2009}}
* {{cite book |first=Lawrence S. |last=Kaplan | title=Jefferson and France: An Essay on Politics and Political Ideas |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1980 |ref=Kaplan80}}
* {{cite book |first=Lawrence S. |last=Kaplan |authormask=2 |year=1999 |title= Thomas Jefferson: Westward the Course of Empire |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn= 978-0-8420-2630-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYauSvP9j40C |ref=Kaplan99}}
* {{ cite book |first=Roger G. |last=Kennedy |title=Mr. Jefferson's Lost Cause: Land, Farmers, Slavery, and the Louisiana Purchase |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4POPypwImYC |ref=Kennedy}}
* {{cite book |last=Kierner |first=Cynthia A. |title=Martha Jefferson Randolph, Daughter of Monticello: Her Life and Times|publisher=Univ. of North Carolina Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8078-8250-4 |ref=Kierner12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlBgTcZTPRYC}}
* {{cite book|last=Maier |first=Pauline |authorlink=Pauline Maier |ref=Maier |isbn=978-0-679-45492-2 |title=American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence |publisher=Knopf|year=1997}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yvsCEY5oI8sC&source=gbs_navlinks_s Book]
* {{cite book |chapter=Jefferson, Thomas|title=Dictionary of American Biography |url=http://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofamer10ilamer#page/17/mode/1up |editor=[[Dumas Malone|Malone, Dumas]] |pages=17–35 |year=1933 |volume=10 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|ref=Malone1933}}
* Malone, Dumas. ''Jefferson'' (6 vol. 1948–1981)
** {{cite book |last=Malone |first=Dumas |authorlink=Dumas Malone |authormask=2 |oclc=1823927 |title=Jefferson, The Virginian |volume=1|series=Jefferson and His Time |publisher=Little Brown |year=1948 |ref=Malone48}}, [[:iarchive:jeffersonhistime01malo|E'book]]
**{{cite book|last=Malone|first=Dumas|authorlink=Dumas Malone|authormask=2|title=Jefferson and the Rights of Man|volume=2|publisher=Little Brown|year=1951|ref=Malone51|series=Jefferson and His Time}}
** {{cite book |last=Malone |first=Dumas |authormask=2 |title=Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty|volume=3|series=Jefferson and His Time|publisher=Little, Brown |year=1962 |isbn=978-0-316-54475-7 |ref=Malone62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzwR7AeEbMsC}}
**{{cite book|last=Malone|first=Dumas|authormask=2|authorlink=Dumas Malone|title=Jefferson the President: First Term, 1801–1805|volume=4|publisher=Little Brown|year=1970|series=Jefferson and His Time|ref=Malone70}}
** {{cite book |last=Malone |first=Dumas |authormask=2 |ref=Malone74 |oclc=1929523 |title=Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805–1809 |volume=5 |series=Jefferson and His Time |publisher=Little Brown |year=1974}}
** {{cite book |last=Malone| first=Dumas |authormask=2 |isbn=978-0-316-54478-8 |title=The Sage of Monticello |volume=6 |series=Jefferson and His Time |publisher=Little Brown |year=1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jY4GAQAAIAAJ |ref=Malone81}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mayer |first=David N.|title=The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson (Constitutionalism and Democracy) |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-8139-1485-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CQQAQAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s |ref=Mayer2}}
* {{cite book |last=McDonald |first=Robert M. S. |ref=McDonald |isbn=978-0-8139-2298-0 |title=Thomas Jefferson's Military Academy: Founding West Point |series=Jeffersonian America |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2004}}
* {{cite book |last=McEwan |first=Barbara |isbn=978-0-89950-633-3 |title=Thomas Jefferson, Farmer |publisher=McFarland |year=1991 |ref=McEwan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvR2AAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Meacham |first=Jon |title=Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power |publisher=Random House LLC |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-679-64536-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeFUTfvFquEC |ref=Meacham}}
* {{Cite book |last=Merwin |first=Henry Childs |title=Thomas Jefferson |ref=Merwin |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin |year=1901 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoZJAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=John Chester |title=The Federalist Era: 1789–1801 |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1963 |isbn=978-0-06-133027-8 |ref=Miller63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsZxAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=John Chester |isbn=0-452-00530-2 |title=The Wolf by the Ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=1994 |authormask=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8uPu4CwaicC |ref=Miller94}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Robert J. |ref=Miller08 |isbn=978-0-8032-1598-6|title=Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=2008}}
* {{cite book |last=Moore |first=MariJo |last2=Ronda |first2=James P. |chapter=Thomas Jefferson and the Changing West: From Conquest to Conservation |page=10 |title=Eating Fire, Tasting Blood: An Anthology of the American Indian Holocaust |publisher=Running Press |year=2006 |ref=Moore2006 |isbn=978-1-56025-838-4}}
* {{cite book |first=Daniel Don |last=Nanjira |title=African Foreign Policy and Diplomacy from Antiquity to the 21st Century |publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2010 |isbn=978-0-313-37983-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2foVQSzjVsEC}}
* {{cite book |last=Nash |first=Gary |last2=Hodges |first2=Graham Russell Gao |title=Friends of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, and Agrippa Hull |ref=Nash2012 |publisher=Basic Books |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-465-03148-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AawDoXfZeAC}}
* {{cite book |title=The Mind of Thomas Jefferson |first=Peter S. |last=Onuf |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8139-2611-7 |ref=Onuf12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VB4m0M6nn2sC}}
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Merrill D. |authorlink=Merrill D. Peterson |isbn=978-0-19-500054-2 |title=Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation; a Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1970 |ref=Peterson70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XcOXEb0O4-UC}}
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Merrill D. |title=The Jefferson Image in the American Mind |authormask=2 |year=1960 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=0-8139-1851-0 |ref=Peterson60|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QNrZoAgGAsC}}
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Merrill D. |title=The Portable Thomas Jefferson |authormask=2 |ref=Peterson77 |year=1977 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-1-101-12766-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hbAavG-aLEC}}
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Merrill D. |authorlink=Merrill D. Peterson |authormask=2 |chapter=Thomas Jefferson |editor-last=Graff |editor-first=Henry |title=The Presidents: A Reference History |edition=7th |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2002 |pages=39–56 |ref=Peterson2002}}
* {{cite book |last=Pierson |first=Rev. Hamilton W., D. D. |title=Jefferson at Monticello |publisher=Charles Scribner |year=1862 |ref=Pierson1862 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vlDAYrtw6y8C}}
* {{Cite book |last=Randall |first=Willard Sterne |title=Thomas Jefferson: A Life |ref=Randall |publisher=Harper Collins |year=1994 |isbn=0-06-097617-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VAnGbQZr42EC}}
* {{Cite book |title=Life of Thomas Jefferson |last=Rayner |first=B. L. |ref=Rayner34 |publisher=Lilly, Wait, Colman, & Holden |year=1834 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tws6AAAAcAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Priscilla H. |last2=Roberts|first2=Richard S. |ref=harv |isbn=978-0-934223-98-0 |title=Thomas Barclay (1728–1793): Consul in France, Diplomat in Barbary |publisher=Lehigh University Press |year=2008}}
* {{cite book |last=Rodriguez |first=Junius |title=The Louisiana Purchase: a historical and geographical encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2002 |isbn=978-1-57607-188-5 |ref=Rodriguez |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs7GAwwdzyQC}}
* {{cite book |last=Stewart |first=John J. |ref=Stewart97 |title=Thomas Jefferson: Forerunner to the Restoration |publisher=Cedar Fort |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-88290-605-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RPe-R0sKeKgC}}
* {{cite book |last=Stewart |first=David O. |title=American Emperor: Aaron Burr's challenge to Jefferson's America|publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4391-5718-3 |ref=Stewart12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJEcyIZBfeQC}}
* {{cite book |last=Storozynski |first=Alex |ref=Storozynski2009 |title=The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4299-6607-8 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=wVqnlTbsdXcC}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=George |authorlink=George Tucker (politician) |title=The Life of Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States; 2 vol. |publisher=Carey, Lea & Blanchard |year=1837|ref=Tucker37}}
* {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Robert W. |title=Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Cogliano Press |year=1990 |ref=Tucker90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0EFEU0BEe8C}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wead |first1=Doug |title=All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families |year=2004 |publisher=Simon and Schuster, 464 pages |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzPd0aVnOl0C&source=gbs_navlinks_s |ref=Wead}}
* {{cite book |title=The Rise of American Democracy |last=Wilentz |first=Sean |year=2005 |ref=Wilentz |pages=108–11 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=0-393-05820-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Wood |first=Gordon S |authorlink=Gordon S. Wood|isbn=978-1-59420-093-9 |title=Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2006 |ref=Wood2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uOovRxek5AIC}}
* {{cite book |last=Wood |first=Gordon S |authormask=2 |isbn=978-0-19-503914-6 |title=Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |ref=Wood2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AWI8fmyhN5IC}}
* {{cite book |last=U.S. Dept. of State |title=The Declaration of Independence |ref=US Dept. of State |authorlink=United States Department of State |publisher=U.S. Dept. of State, |year=1911 |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TNRCAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Wood |first=Gordon S. |authormask=2 |isbn=978-1-59420-290-2 |title=The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2011 |ref=Wood2011}}
* {{cite book |last1=Yarbrough |first1=Jean M.|last2=Jefferson |first2=Thomas |year=2006 |title=The Essential Jefferson |publisher=Hackett Publishing|isbn=978-1-60384-378-2 |ref=Yarbrough2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQGA8iIpZxQC}}
{{refend}}

===Historiography===
* Cogliano, Francis D. ed. ''A Companion to Thomas Jefferson'' (2012), 648 pp; 34 essays by scholars focusing on how historians have handled Jefferson. [https://www.questia.com/library/120083856/a-companion-to-thomas-jefferson online]

===Web site sources===
* {{cite web |url=http://jeffersondnastudy.com/background-dna-study/ |title=The Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study |first=Herbert |last=Barger |publisher=Jefferson DNA Study Group |accessdate=April 4, 2012 |ref=Barger}}
* {{cite web |url=http://courses.missouristate.edu/ftmiller/Documents/jeffindianpolicy.htm |title=President Thomas Jefferson to William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory, |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |year=1803 |publisher=Missouri State University | accessdate=March 12, 2009 |ref=Jeff'letter}}
* {{cite web |title=C-SPAN 2009 Historians Presidential Leadership Survey |url=http://legacy.c-span.org/PresidentialSurvey/Overall-Ranking.aspx |publisher=C-SPAN |accessdate=December 21, 2011 |year=2009 |ref=CSPAN}}
* {{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson: biography |publisher=FAMous People |accessdate=November 26, 2013 |url=http://www.fampeople.com/cat-thomas-jefferson_9 |ref=FAM}}
* {{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mtjtime1.html |title=The Thomas Jefferson Papers Timeline: 1743–1827 |accessdate=July 19, 2009 |ref=LOCpapers}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alien.html |title=Primary Documents in American History, Alien and Sedition Acts |publisher=Library of Congress |accessdate=May 10, 2011 |ref=acts}}
* {{cite web |title=The Barbary Wars, 1801–1805 |publisher=The Mariners' Museum, Virginia |accessdate=November 26, 2013 |url=http://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/usnavy/06/06a.htm |ref=Mariner}}
* {{cite web |last=Mayer |first=David N. |title=The Thomas Jefferson – Sally Hemings Myth and the Politicization of American History |year=2001 |url=http://www.ashbrook.org/articles/mayer-hemings.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725015820/http://www.ashbrook.org/articles/mayer-hemings.html  |archivedate=July 25, 2011 |publisher=Ashland University, Ashbrook Center |accessdate=April 6, 2012 |ref=Mayer}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1678026 |title=Thomas Jefferson, the 'Negro President' |first=Garry |last=Wills |publisher=NPR, ''[[The Tavis Smiley Show]]''|date=February 16, 2004 |accessdate=April 2, 2014 |ref=NPR-Travis}}
* {{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson Foundation: |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |accessdate=February 25, 2014 |url=http://www.monticello.org/site/about/thomas-jefferson-foundation |ref=TJF}}
* {{cite web |title=Jefferson's Cause of Death |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-cause-death |accessdate=August 27, 2014 |ref=TJFcod}}
* {{cite web | title=Thomas Jefferson: Biography |url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historyculture/thomas-jefferson-biography.htm | publisher=National Park Service |accessdate=August 1, 2007 |ref=NPS}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/moru/historyculture/carving-history.htm |title=Carving History |work=Mount Rushmore National Memorial |author=National Park Service |accessdate=April 1, 2012 |ref=Rushmore}}
* {{cite web |url=http://millercenter.org/president/keyevents/jefferson |title=Key Events in the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=University of Virginia |accessdate=May 6, 2011 |ref=millercenter}}
* {{cite web |title=Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies/marthajefferson |publisher=The White House |accessdate=October 3, 2011 |ref=Skelton}}
* {{cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |title=A Founding Father's Books Turn Up |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/books/23jefferson.html |date=February 21, 2011 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/63LlCrjVt |archivedate=November 21, 2011 |deadurl=no |work=The New York Times |ref=books}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-c-davis/an-american-history-lesso_b_239108.html |title=An American History Lesson For Pat Buchanan |first=Kenneth C. |last=Davis |publisher=Huffington Post |accessdate=July 18, 2009 |ref=Huffington}}
* {{cite web |last=Wiencek |first=Henry |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Little-Known-Dark-Side-of-Thomas-Jefferson-169780996.html |title=The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine online |accessdate=January 6, 2014 |ref=Wiencek2012}}
* {{cite web |title=American President: A Reference Resource |publisher=University of Virginia: Miller Center |accessdate=August 26, 2014 |url=http://millercenter.org/president/jefferson/essays/biography/print |ref=Miller}}

===Primary sources===
* {{cite book |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |title=The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being His Autobiography&nbsp;..., Volume 1 |publisher=Taylor & Maury |year=1853 |ref=Jefferson53 |url=https://archive.org/details/writingsthomasj00editgoog}}
* {{cite book |title=Thomas Jefferson, Political Writings |year=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-64051-2 |first=Thomas |last=Jefferson |editor1-first=Joyce |editor1-last=Appleby |editor2-first=Terence |editor2-last=Ball |url=http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=107255488 |ref=Jeff_PW}}
* {{cite book |title=Notes on the State of Virginia |year=1853 |publisher=J.W. Randolph |first=Thomas |last=Jefferson |authormask=2 |ref=Jeff_Notes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTWttRSMtbYC}} (Note: This was Jefferson's only book; numerous editions)
* {{Cite book |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |ref=Jeff'bio |title=Thomas Jefferson: Writings: Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters |editor=Peterson, Merrill Daniel |authormask=2 |publisher=The Library of America |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-940450-16-5 |url=http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=67&section=notes}}{{efn|There are numerous one-volume collections; this is perhaps among the best available.}}
* {{cite book |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |title=Memoirs, Correspondence and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Late President of the United States, Vol 4 |ref=Jefferson1829 |authormask=2 |publisher=Colburn and Bentley |year=1829 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfk5AAAAcAAJ}}
* {{cite book |title=The Jeffersonian cyclopedia |first=Thomas |last=Jefferson |year=1900 |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls company, 1900 |authormask=2 |ref=Jeff_Cyclo |editor1-first=John P. |editor1-last=Foley |url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/foley/}}
* [[Saul K. Padover|Padover, Saul K.]] ed., (1967). ''The Writings of Thomas Jefferson'' (selected writings), The Easton Press.
* {{cite book |last=Waddell |first=Joseph Addison |title=Annals of Augusta County, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 |publisher=C. Russell Caldwell |page=278 |ref=Waddell |year=1902|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZbEC1kEdpcC}}
* {{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Jefferson |first2=Henry Augustine (Ed.)|last2=Washington |title=The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Miscellaneous; 4. Parliamentary manual; 5, |authormask=2 |publisher=H. W. Derby |year=1907 |ref=H.A.Washington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QkLsa7eMnoC}}
* {{cite book|last=Adams |first=Henry |title=The Writings of Albert Gallatin |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Lippincott |year=1879 |ref=Adams79}}

; Notes
{{notelist}}

==External links==
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{{Sister project links |wikt=Jeffersonian |b=US History/Jeffersonian Democracy |s=Author:Thomas Jefferson |v=The US Presidents/Thomas Jefferson}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia-3 |2008-09-02 |Jefferson 1.ogg |Jefferson 2.ogg |Jefferson 3.ogg}}
* {{CongBio|J000069}}
* {{Dmoz|Society/History/By_Region/North_America/United_States/Presidents/Jefferson%2C_Thomas/}}
* [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/presidents/jefferson/ Thomas Jefferson: A Resource Guide] at the [[Library of Congress]]
* [http://www.masshist.org/thomasjeffersonpapers/ Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive] at the [[Massachusetts Historical Society]]
* [http://guides.lib.virginia.edu/content.php?pid=77323&sid=572858 Thomas Jefferson collection] at the [[University of Virginia Library]]
* [http://founders.archives.gov/about/Jefferson The Papers of Thomas Jefferson], subset of [http://founders.archives.gov/ Founders Online] from the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]]
* Jefferson, Thomas, ''[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/117/#regions=north-america&page=2A Summary View of the Rights of British America]'' (1774), online through [[World Digital Library]]
* [http://www.monticello.org/ Monticello], home of Thomas Jefferson
* [http://www.poplarforest.org/ Poplar Forest], Jefferson's second home in Virginia
* [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/jeffpap.asp The Papers of Thomas Jefferson] at the [[Avalon Project]]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=Jefferson,+Thomas+(1743–1826) | name=Thomas Jefferson}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Thomas Jefferson}}
* {{Librivox author |id=347}}

{{Thomas Jefferson}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Offices and distinctions
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{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Patrick Henry]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of Virginia]]|years=1779–1781}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Fleming (governor)|William Fleming]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Jay]]<br />{{small|Acting}}}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Secretary of State]]|years=1790–1793}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Edmund Randolph]]}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[John Adams]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Vice President of the United States]]|years=1797–1801}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[President of the United States]]|years=1801–1809}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James Madison]]}}
{{s-dip}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Benjamin Franklin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Ambassador to France|United States Minister to France]]|years=1785–1789}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Short (American ambassador)|William Short]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-new|party}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] presidential nominee|years=[[United States presidential election, 1796|1796]]¹, [[United States presidential election, 1800|1800]], [[United States presidential election, 1804|1804]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James Madison]]}}
{{s-ref|Prior to the passage of the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]] in 1804, each Presidential elector would cast two ballots; the highest vote-getter would become President and the runner-up would become Vice President. Thus, in 1796, the Democratic-Republican Party fielded Jefferson as a Presidential candidate, but he came in second and therefore became Vice President.}}
}}