Thomas Jefferson
INTRODUCTION
Thomas Jefferson was the main author of the Declaration of Independence. Although there were other delegates sent to work on the task, they all deferred to him because he was an excellent writer and he came from Virginia, one of the largest and most prestigious states. This immediately put him in the position of one of the founding fathers, if he had done nothing else. Jefferson wanted the document to be the basis of a society that was a shining example of true representation form of government and was egalitarian, which means a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs.
BODY
Thomas Jefferson was born on the Shadwell plantation in Virginia on April 13, 1743. His was a prominent family and considered one of the “elite” in the Virgina planter aristocracy. His parents were Jane Randolph Jefferson, and his father was Peter Jefferson, a farmer, surveyor and map maker. The couple had six children, including Thomas. As a child, he starting his education at a private school, studying traditional subjects and his outside pursuits included reading and playing the violin.
For higher education, Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary at the state capitol. It was the second oldest college in America at the time. He was a serious student and was lucky to acquaint himself with some older scholars who assisted him to get a well-rounded education. He then went into law as his chose profession.
One of his first forays into elected office was the Virginia House of Delegates, where he had tried to abolish unfair inheritance laws. He believed the change in these laws would help to more fairly distribute wealth. He also was adamant about severing the link between religion and the state, and was successful in getting a law passed to that effect in Virginia. Jefferson was a deist, which was popular at the time. Deists believe that there is a divine creator who then started off the world and the natural laws put in place, the world just goes on without any divine intervention. He did not believe religion and government should intertwine at all. Religion, Jefferson also thought, might get in the way of establishing the group of educated, moral elite that would be leading the country. This is not to say he was against religious freedom—he was not. He just did not want religion and government to mix.
Another vision Jefferson had for the country was that white males would receive a free public education at least to a certain level of literacy. Some of the more intelligent white males would be able to attend higher education. Those educated “elite” would then be qualified to run the country. Though he believed only educated and highly prepared white men would actually be involved in the upper level of government, he rigorously defended his belief in a wide distribution of property and freedom for all, even the slaves. His high class upbringing apparently helped to form his ideas that government was too complicated for anyone except the very few, but those few needed to be aware and responsible to each and every citizen.
Jefferson had a philosophy known as agrarianism, which later took his name and came to be known as Jeffersonian Democracy. To him, it was the ideal form of democracy. Part of this belief system stresses the natural rights of men. He believed that all men have certain natural born rights which could not be taken away by law. Upon writing the Declaration of Independence, he used language based on his own personal beliefs.
To him, this form of government was the “ideal.” During his education he had studied the eminent philosophers, and many of Jefferson’s ideas came from them—the natural rights of men, government’s role, and separation of church and state. As for himself, he believed in a weaker central government and power in the citizens, which would make it more democratic. Of course, at that time, it did not mean power with all people, only white men.
In his perfect world, Jeffersonian Democracy is the people being the government and the government is the people. Government is only established to protect everyone’s individual rights, not to dictate to the individual. The only power given to the government is from the people.
Jefferson was the first Secretary of State under George Washington, and also Vice-president in the administration of John Adams. Adams’ presidency was problematic in many ways. There were problems within political parties and splits between long time political associates. During the election of 1800 when Adams was running for re-election, his party, the Federalists, did not endorse him. Eventually Thomas Jefferson was elected as the third president of the United States. His election in 1800 was a landmark of world history, because it was a change of political parties leading a nation for the first time peacefully.
Jefferson’s first four year term was marked with success after success. He reduced the size of the military, lowered the national debt, and got rid of much of the already growing government bureaucracy. One of the most noteworthy accomplishments during his first term was the Louisiana Purchase. On behalf of the country in 1803 for the price of $15 million, he acquired an enormous parcel of land from the Mississippi River west to the Rocky Mountains. He was then credited with organizing an exploration expedition known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition to map and send reports about the new land acquired.
When Jefferson was re-elected, however his second term did not go as well. One of the biggest challenges he faced was the war between France and Great Britain. Although the United States was not directly involved, both European countries interfered with shipping commerce. As a retaliatory measure, Jefferson convinced Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807 which stopped all European trade. It was a disaster for American commerce, and eventually led to the War of 1812 with Great Britain.
Jefferson spent his years after leaving office organizing the University of Virginia, the first non-religious college in the country. He also kept busy corresponding with politicians, writing, and working on his farm, Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson was a hard worker and thought leaders should lead by example. He had his own plantation/farm called Monticello and took on many other jobs as well. He spent many years in France as the ambassador, and worked at many different government positions throughout his life. He was one of the first person’s to study what we now call archeology. He applied his personal discipline to the presidency when he was elected. One of his early acts as president was to cut the military budget and the country’s budget in general, as well as taxes. He wanted to lower or abolish the national debt. He also had a firm idea that the country needed to acquire more territory which he accomplished by authorizing the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
CONCLUSION
Thomas Jefferson’s deep devotion to the cause of human liberty is with us still today. He was not perfect and perhaps some of his ideas sound out of date, and not what we view as common in the government today, but he believed in the country and gave of himself to establish this nation. How fitting it was that he died on July 4, 1826 on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
Reference
Hardt, M. "Jefferson and Democracy," American Quarterly 59.1 (2007) 41-78
Wilentz, S. The Rise of American democracy (2006) p 138-39
Wright, B. "The Philosopher of Jeffersonian Democracy," American Political
Science Review Vol. 22, No. 4 (Nov., 1928), pp. 870-892