Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born April 13, 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence also he was the third President of the United States. Jefferson was the nation's greatest champion of representative democracy and the rights of man. Jefferson was adressed on June 11, 1776, to head a committee of five in preparing the Declaration of Independence. In June 1779, Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia. In all honesty his different ways of doing things his political enemies had critisized him as there war govenor. He got charged with failure, although he had some insite on the the Bristish invasion . In 1781 he had completely retired from the governorship. Thomas Jefferson wished to be remembered for three achievements in his public life. He had served as governor of Virginia, as U.S. minister to France, as secretary of state under George Washington, as vice-president in the administration of John Adams, and as president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was its primary author, although his initial draft was amended after consultation with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams and altered both stylistically and substantively by Congress.

As Jefferson returned to Virginia, it was about late 1776, he had served until 1779 in the House of Delegates, one of the two houses of the General Assembly of Virginia--it was established in 1776 by the state's new constitution. Jefferson was also instrumental in devising a major revision of the criminal code, although it was not enacted until 1796. The death of his wife, on Sept. 6, 1782, added to Jefferson's troubles, alot of things changed, and became very complicated. But by the following year he was again seated in Congress. There he made two contributions of enduring importance to the nation. Jefferson immediately expressed his alarm at the regal forms and ceremonies that marked the executive office, but his fears were tempered somewhat by his confidence in the character of Washington. Jefferson, however, distrusted both the proposals and the motives of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. He thought Hamilton's financial programs both unwise and unconstitutional, flowing "from principles adverse to liberty." He had attempted, and he had failed, To persuade Washington to veto the bill incorporating a Bank of the United States--had been recommended by Hamilton.