US Presidents · 19th century

Thomas Jefferson

1743–1826 · American

Democratic-Republican

In office: 1801–1809

Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president, was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the first Secretary of State. His presidency doubled the size of the country through the Louisiana Purchase and sent Lewis and Clark to the Pacific. A polymath, architect and slaveholder, he founded the University of Virginia.

How to spot them

▸Principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776)
▸Monticello, his self-designed house near Charlottesville, appears on the nickel; his portrait is on the two-dollar bill
▸Founder of the University of Virginia; wrote 'Notes on the State of Virginia'
▸His epitaph lists three achievements and omits the presidency

In office

The Louisiana Purchase (1803)

Bought about 828,000 square miles from Napoleon's France for $15 million

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806)

The Corps of Discovery explored the new western lands to the Pacific

The First Barbary War against Tripoli (1801–1805)

Naval campaign against the Barbary states' demands for tribute

The Embargo Act of 1807 (1807)

Banned American exports to all foreign nations; economically disastrous and repealed in 1809

The 'Revolution of 1800' (1800–1801)

Electoral tie with Aaron Burr resolved by the House; first transfer of power between parties

Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves (1807)

Banned the importation of enslaved people into the US from 1 January 1808

Key ideas

'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'
Wrote of a 'wall of separation between Church & State' (letter to the Danbury Baptists, 1802)
Favoured an agrarian republic, limited federal government and strict construction of the Constitution

Quick-fire facts

•Born at Shadwell, Virginia; died at Monticello on 4 July 1826, the same day as John Adams
•His epitaph names him author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia
•First president inaugurated in Washington, D.C. (1801)
•His first-term Vice President, Aaron Burr, killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804
•Sold his library to Congress in 1815 to rebuild the Library of Congress after the British burned the Capitol
•Compiled the so-called 'Jefferson Bible', cutting the Gospels down to Jesus's moral teachings without the miracles
•Most historians accept that he fathered children with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at Monticello
•Minister to France (1785–1789) and Vice President under John Adams
•Marbury v. Madison (1803), establishing judicial review, was decided during his presidency

Drill it — 9 cards

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Sources

Miller Center, University of Virginia — Thomas Jefferson
Jon Meacham — Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power