Thomas Jefferson: Biography, Creativity, Career, Personal Life

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Thomas Jefferson: Biography, Creativity, Career, Personal Life
Thomas Jefferson: Biography, Creativity, Career, Personal Life

Video: Thomas Jefferson: Biography, Creativity, Career, Personal Life

Video: Thomas Jefferson: Biography, Creativity, Career, Personal Life
Video: The duality of Thomas Jefferson 2024, March
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He saw the future of his Fatherland in an alliance with Russia. His country had to abandon the ideas of wars of conquest and not indulge the racists. One of the first presidents of the United States was such a romantic.

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson (1786). Artist Mather Brown
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson (1786). Artist Mather Brown

He is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. This man made a contribution to the creation of a new state and demanded the humanization of legislation. Knowing his biography, one can understand that he was sincere in his decisions.

Childhood

Our hero's father, Peter Jefferson, was a wealthy planter in Virginia. He was an enlightened person, guided in the management of the economy by advanced technologies. His wife Jane was related to the chairman of the Continental Congress. In April 1743, a third child appeared in the family, who was given the name Thomas.

When the boy was still very young, his parents inherited the Taccajo estate and moved there. In 1752, Thomas was sent to study at a local school. The elder Jefferson passed away 5 years later. He left his 8 children with untold riches, which made it possible to give each of them a good education and not worry about their future. While his mother was mastering the role of mistress, Tom was handed over to foster care at the priest's house, James Morey. The boy was fond of reading classical literature and played the violin well. In 1760 he entered college. There he managed to enter a secret society and became addicted to wine in the best sense of the word - he began to collect it.

Manor Monticello
Manor Monticello

Youth

After completing the main course, a talented student underwent an internship with experts in law. In 1767 he graduated as a lawyer and began a career in the field of jurisprudence. After 2 years, Thomas Jefferson was elected to the Virginia House of Representatives. Here he showed himself as a rebel. The young parliamentarian called a number of laws regarding the colonies barbaric, said that the British Parliament can command at home, and in America, local residents themselves must decide the issues of improving the country.

Relatives did not allow a man with wealth and Jefferson's status to be single for a long time. In 1772 he became the husband of the widow of Martha Veils Skelton. The couple so zealously portrayed a happy marriage that they gave birth to 6 children, but they never experienced anything but friendly feelings for each other. The heart of the head of the family belonged to the mulatto slave Sally Hemings, who also gave him descendants.

Thomas Jefferson with his wife Martha
Thomas Jefferson with his wife Martha

Separatist and Freethinker

Jefferson's work on the country's political system seemed too radical to his colleagues. They were appreciated by the people, having re-elected the politician to Congress in 1775 after the outbreak of the War of Independence. The following year, our hero, as a lover of fine literature, was assigned to write the Declaration of Independence of the United States, which he successfully did. The only clause that was removed from it before the adoption concerned the abolition of slavery.

Presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence of the United States (1817). Artist John Trumbull
Presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence of the United States (1817). Artist John Trumbull

Unable to implement his plans at the state level, Jefferson began to reform the legislation in his home state. In 1779 he was elected governor. The politician expanded the rights and freedoms of fellow citizens and gave several battles to the British, visited them in captivity and successfully fled to his own.

Diplomat

In 1785, the daredevil was sent to France to represent the States there. Louis XVI supported the United States to weaken England. Our hero went abroad with his mistress. In Paris, Thomas met Maria Cosway. He invited Sally, who had arrived with him, to stay in Europe on the rights of a free person and persuaded his new passion to go overseas with him. The women decided in their own way: Maria refused to leave her homeland, and the mulatto preferred love to freedom. The diplomat did not wait for the revolution - his presence was demanded in his homeland.

Self-portrait (1787). Artist Maria Cosway
Self-portrait (1787). Artist Maria Cosway

In America, Jefferson had to put off the problems of his personal life for a while. George Washington appointed him to the post of Secretary of State. He soon fell out with Alexander Hamilton. The reason was that the patriot of Virginia was too zealous to defend the financial interests of his native state. As a result, the Democratic Republican Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson.

The president

Thomas Jefferson succeeded in taking the presidency in 1800. He reduced the size of the army, arguing that the States would not attack anyone, and that the militia was capable of defending the Fatherland, the slave trade was significantly limited, and taxes on farmers were reduced. The head of state took care of the comfort of his residence - our hero was fond of architecture. In his spare time, the president was engaged in literary creation, editing the New Testament.

Portrait of Jefferson (1800). Artist Rembrandt Peel
Portrait of Jefferson (1800). Artist Rembrandt Peel

Events in France interested Jefferson, he approved the overthrow of the monarchy, and later the accession to the throne of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1803, a Corsican proposed a land purchase deal to the US Ambassador. Paris offered to buy out its colony to Louisiana. Jefferson gave the go-ahead, and his colleagues were not happy, because the new ownership was no less than the buying country. Around the same time, the president began a correspondence with the Russian emperor. Soon, Alexander I and Thomas Jefferson became friends.

last years of life

Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC
Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC

In 1809, the term of office expired. Thomas Jefferson has retired from politics. He went to his estate Monticello. His wife died in 1782 and he swore to her not to marry again. The famous politician replenished his home library, which contained more than 6 thousand books, and designed furniture. In correspondence with like-minded people, he expressed the opinion that the United States sees the future in an alliance with Russia. He died in 1826.

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