Thomas Jefferson was the author of The Declaration of Independence, and according to Bellis, Jefferson was also a jurist, a diplomat, a writer, an inventor, a philosopher, an architect, a gardener, a negotiator of Louisiana Purchase, but he only requested three of his many accomplishments to be noted on his tomb. (2005). Thomas Jefferson was a very smart politician and he knew what to say to whom in order to enhance their support. This essay will be an analytical paper discussing Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence.
It will also clarify the basic ideas contained in The Declaration of Independence; the influence of the Declaration upon American War of Independence, and the reasons the Declaration was considered a “Fundamental document. ” (According to my High School teacher). Biography: Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 at Shadwell, Virginia. His mother was Jane Randolph Jefferson; his father was a landowner name Peter Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson attended College (1760-62) of William and Mary.
In 1769 he began six years of service as a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses. In 1770 he begun building Monticello on the land he inherited from his father. It took years to build it, but according to an Internet article BriefJefferson, when he married Martha Wayles Skelton on January 1, 1772 part of the Monticello mansion was ready to be lived in. Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson produced six children, but only two survived to adulthood and four were deceased during their childhood.
BriefJefferson, 2005). In 1776 he was chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence, “which has been regarded ever since as a charter of American and universal liberties” (BriefJefferson, 2005). The same year he also left Congress, he returned to Virginia and served in the legislature, and was elected governor from 1779-81. In 1874, in France he entered public service again, “first as trade commissioner an then as Benjamin Franklin’s successor as minister” (BriefJefferson, 2005).
According to BriefBiography article, in 1790 Jefferson accepted the post of secretary of state under his friend George Washington. In 1794, he defeated Adams for president of the United States, and the first notable achievements of his term as president were the purchased of Louisiana Purchased Territory in 1803 and of course his support of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In his second term, he had a difficult times dealing with both the domestic and foreign fronts; there were conflicts between Britain and France, and his effort did not stop the war with Britain in 1812.
His fried James Madison succeeded Jefferson as president in 1809, and during the last seventeen years of his life, he stayed at his mansion, Monticello. Just hours before his close friend Adam was to signing the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. As he also wished that his tombstone reflects the things that he had given the people, not the people that had given to him.
