Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States. He was born in 1743 in Virginia and died on July 4, 1826. He was the third of ten children and grew up on his father’s 5,000-acre plantation. He studied law at college. Jefferson is frequently listed as one of the USA’s greatest Presidents. He was also one of its most powerful advocates of personal freedom and envisioned a great “Empire of Liberty”.

 

Jefferson became a lawyer in 1767 and had a great love of books. He was a very eloquent correspondent using the written word, but was no public speaker. At the age of 33, Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. In the following years, he labored to make its words a reality in Virginia. Most notably, he wrote a bill establishing religious freedom, which became law in 1786.

 

Jefferson succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister to France in 1785. His sympathy for the French Revolution led him into conflict with the party of the Federalists. He gradually assumed leadership of the Republicans and became Vice President in 1796. In 1801, he became America’s third President and served from 1801 to 1809. He advocated tax cuts and presided over the abolition of the slave trade in 1807.

 

While in Office, Jefferson purchased the vast Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 and authorized expeditions to explore the new west. He also established the University of Virginia and the US Military Academy at West Point. He is remembered by the Jefferson Memorial in Washington and as one of the four sculpted presidents on the Mount Rushmore Memorial. He also appears on US postage stamps.