Thomas Jefferson Bio. Essay, Research Paper

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3d PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. As the author of the

Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he is

probably the most conspicuous champion of political and spiritual freedom in his

country’s history. He voiced the aspirations of the new nation in matchless phrase,

and one may doubt if any other American has been so often quoted. As a public

official–legislator, diplomat, and executive–he served the province and

commonwealth of Virginia and the young American republic almost 40 years.

While his services as a Revolutionary patriot have beenhonored by his countrymen

with only slight dissent, his later and more controversial political activities have been

variously interpreted. Believing that the government was not being conducted in the

spirit of 1776, he turned against the administration in WASHINGTON’s second term and

remained in opposition during the presidency of John ADAMS. Jefferson, who was

president from 1801 to 1809, was the acknowledged head of his political party, and his

election to the highest office has been interpreted as a vindication of the right of

political opposition. His ELECTION checked in the United States the tide of political

reaction that was sweeping the Western world, and it furthered the development of

political democracy. Throughout his life he sought to do that, though the term he

generally used was republicanism.

Opinions differ about his conduct of foreign affairs as president. He acquired the vast

province of Louisiana and maintained neutrality in a world of war, but his policies

failed to safeguard neutral rights at sea and imposed hardships at home. As a result,

his administration reached its nadir as it ended. Until his last year as president he

exercised leadership over his party that was to be matched by no other 19th century

president, and he enjoyed remarkable popularity. He was rightly hailed as the “Man of

the People,” because he sought to conduct the government in the popular interest,

rather than in the interest of any privileged group, and, insofar as possible, in

accordance with the people’s will.

He was a tall and vigorous man, not particularly impressive in person but amiable,

once his original stiffness wore off. He was habitually tactful and notably respectful of

the opinions and personalities of others, though he had slight tolerance of those he

believed unfaithful to republicanism. A devoted family man who set great store by

privacy, he built his house upon a mountain, but he did not look down on people. A

distinguished architect and naturalist in his own right, a remarkable linguist, a noted

bibliophile, and the father of the University of Virginia, he was the chief patron of

learning and the arts in his country in his day. And, with the possible exception of

Benjamin Franklin, he was the closest American approximation of the universal man.

Early Career

Jefferson was born at Shadwell, his father’s home in Albemarle county, Va., on April 13

(April 2, Old Style), 1743. His father, Peter Jefferson, a man of legendary strength, was a

successful planter and surveyor who gained minor title to fame as an explorer and

mapmaker. His prominence in his own locality is attested by the fact that he served as

a burgess and as county lieutenant. Peter’s son later held the same offices. Through

his mother, Jane Randolph, a member of one of the most famous Virginia families,

Thomas was related to many of the most prominent people in the province.

Besides being well born, Thomas Jefferson was well educated. In small private

schools, notably that of James Maury, he was thoroughly grounded in the classics. He

attended the College of William and Mary–completing the course in 1762–where Dr.

William Small taught him mathematics and introduced him to science. He associated

intimately with the liberal-minded Lt. Gov. Francis Fauquier, and read law (1762-1767)

with George Wythe, the greatest law teacher of his generation in Virginia.

Jefferson became unusually learned in the law. He was admittedto the bar in 1767 and

practiced until 1774, when the courts were closed by the American Revolution. He was

a successful lawyer, though his professional income was only a supplement. He had

inherited a considerable landed estate from his father, and doubled it by a happy

marriage on Jan. 1, 1772, to Martha Wayles Skelton. However, his father-in-law’s

estate imposed a burdensome debt on Jefferson. He began building Monticello before

his marriage, but his mansion was not completed in its present form until a

generation later.

Jefferson’s lifelong emphasis on local government grew directly from his own

experience. He served as magistrate and as county lieutenant of Albemarle county.

Elected to the House of Burgesses when he was 25, he served there from 1769 to 1774,

showing himself to be an effective committeeman and skillful draftsman, though not

an able speaker.

The Revolutionary Era

From the beginning of the struggle with the mother country, Jefferson stood with the

more advanced Patriots, grounding his position on a wide knowledge of English

history and political philosophy. His most notable early contribution to the cause of

the Patriots was his powerful pamphlet A Summary View of the Rights of British

America (1774), originally written for presentation to the Virginia convention of that

year. In this he emphasized natural rights, including that of emigration, and denied

parliamentary authority over the colonies, recognizing no tie with the mother country

except the king.

As a member of the Continental Congress (1775-1776), Jefferson was chosen in 1776 to

draft the Declaration of Independence. He summarized current revolutionary

philosophy in a brief paragraph that has been regarded ever since as a charter of

American and universal liberties. He presented to the world the case of the Patriots in

a series of burning charges against the king. In the light of modern scholarship some

of the charges require modification. But there is a timeless quality in the

philosophical section of the Declaration, which proclaims that all men are equal in

rights, regardless of birth, wealth, or status, and that government is the servant, not

the master, of human beings. The Declaration alone would entitle Jefferson to

enduring fame.

Desiring to be closer to his family and also hoping to translate his philosophy of

human rights into legal institutions in his own state, Jefferson left Congress in the

autumn of 1776 and served in the Virginia legislature until his election as governor in

1779. This was the most creative period of his revolutionary statesmanship. His earlier

proposals for broadening the electorate and making the system of representation

more equitable had failed, and the times permitted no action against slavery except

that of shutting off the foreign slave trade. But he succeeded in ridding the land

system of feudal vestiges, such as entail and primogeniture, and he was the moving

spirit in the disestablishment of the church. In 1779, with George Wythe and Edmund

Pendleton, he drew a highly significant report on the revising of the laws. His most

famous single bills are the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (adopted in 1786)

and the Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, which was never adopted as

he drew it. His fundamental purposes were to destroy artificial privilege of every sort,

to promote social mobility, and to make way for the natural aristocracy of talent and

virtue, which should provide leadership for a free society.

As governor from 1779 to 1781, Jefferson had little power, and he suffered inevitable

discredit when the British invaders overran Virginia. An inquiry into his conduct

during his last year in office was voted by the legislature after his retirement in June

1781. He was fully vindicated by the next legislature, but these charges were

afterward exaggerated by political enemies, and he was hounded by them to some

extent throughout his national career. The most important immediate effect of his

troubles was to create in his own mind a distaste for public life that persisted in acute

form until the death of his wife on Sept. 6, 1782, which reconciled him to a return to

office. He also acquired an aversion to controversy and censure from which he never

wholly recovered.

During this brief private interval (1781-1783) he began to compile his Notes on the

State of Virginia, which was first published when he was in France (1785). This work

was described at the time by competent authority as “a most excellent natural

history not merely of Virginia but of North America.” Undertaken in response to a

series of queries by the secretary of the French legation, it was ostensibly an account

of the resources, productions, government, and society of a single state. But it

spanned a continent and contained reflections on religion, slavery, and the Indians. It

afterward appeared in many editions and was the literary foundation of his deserved

reputation as a scientist.

In the Continental Congress (1783-1784), Jefferson’s most notable services were

connected with the adoption of the decimal system of coinage, which later as

secretary of state he tried vainly to extend to weights and measures, and with the

Ordinance of 1784. Though not adopted, the latter foreshadowed many features of the

famous Ordinance of 1787, which established the Northwest Territory. Jefferson went

so far as to advocate the prohibition of slavery in all the territories.

Minister to France

Jefferson’s stay in France (1784-1789), where he was first a commissioner to

negotiate commercial treaties and then Benjamin Franklin’s successor as minister,

was in many ways the richest period of his life. He gained genuine commercial

concessions from the French, negotiated an important consular convention in 1788,

and served the interests of his own weak government with diligence and skill. He was

confirmed in his opinion that France was a natural friend of the United States, and

Britain at this stage a natural rival, and thus his foreign policy assumed the

orientation it was to maintain until the eve of the Louisiana Purchase. The publication

of his book on Virginia symbolized his unofficial service of information to the French.

His services to his own countrymen were exemplified by the books, the seeds and

plants, the statues and architectural models, and the scientific information that he

sent home. His stay in Europe contributed greatly to that universality of spirit and

diversity of achievement in which he was equaled by no other American statesman,

except possibly Franklin.

Toward the end of his mission he reported with scrupulous care the unfolding

revolution in France. His personal part in it was slight, and such advice as he gave was

moderate. Doubting the readiness of the people for self-government of the American

type, he now favored a limited monarchy for France, and he cautioned his liberal

friends not to risk the loss of their gains by going too fast. Though always aware of the

importance of French developments in the worldwide struggle for greater freedom

and happiness, he tended to stress this more after he returned home and perceived

the dangers of political reaction in his own country. Eventually he was repelled by the

excesses of the French Revolution, and he thoroughly disapproved of it when it passed

into an openly imperialistic phase under Napoleon. But insofar as it represented a

revolt against despotism, he continued to believe that its spirit could never die.

Because of his absence in Europe, Jefferson had no direct part in the framing or

ratification of the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, and at first the document

aroused his fears. His chief objections were that it did not expressly safeguard the

rights of individuals, and that the unlimited eligibility of the president for reelection

would make it possible for him to become a king. He became sufficiently satisfied

after he learned that a bill of rights would be provided and after he reflected that

there would be no danger of monarchy under George Washington.

Secretary of State

Although his fears of monarchical tendencies remained and colored his attitude in

later partisan struggles, it was as a friend of the new government that he accepted

Washington’s invitation to become secretary of state.

During Jefferson’s service in this post from 1790 to 1793, Alexander Hamilton,

secretary of the treasury, defeated the movement for commercial discrimination

against Britain, which Jefferson favored. Hamilton, also, connived with the British

minister George Hammond to nullify Jefferson’s efforts in 1792 to gain observance of

the terms of peace from the British, and especially to dislodge them from the

northwest posts. Jefferson’s policy was not pro-French, but it seemed anti-British.

Hamilton was distinctly pro-British, largely for financial reasons, and he became

more so when general war broke out in Europe and ideology was clearly involved. In

1793, Jefferson wanted the French Revolution to succeed against its external foes, but

he also recognized that the interests of his own country demanded a policy of

neutrality. Such a policy was adopted, to the dissatisfaction of many strong friends of

democracy in America, and was executed so fairly as to win the reluctant praise of

the British.

Jefferson was greatly embarrassed by the indiscretions of the fiery French minister,

Edmond Charles Genet, who arrived in Washington in the spring of 1793, but he

skillfully brought about Genet’s recall and avoided a breach with the revolutionary

government of his country.

Jefferson helped Hamilton gain congressional consent to the assumption of state

debts, for which the location of the federal capital on the Potomac was the political

return. His growing objections to the Hamiltonian financial system were partly owing

to his belief that the treasury was catering to commercial and financial groups, not

agricultural, but he also believed that Hamilton was building up his own political

power by creating ties of financial interest and was corrupting Congress. The issue

between the two secretaries was sharply joined by 1791, when the Bank of the United

States was established. They gave to the president their rival interpretations of the

Constitution in this connection. The victory at the time and in the long run was with

Hamilton’s doctrine of liberal construction, or interpretation, of the Constitution and

his assertion of broad national power. But Jefferson’s general distrust of power and

his reliance on basic law as a safeguard have enduring value.

By late 1792 or 1793 the opponents of Hamiltonianism constituted a fairly definite

national party, calling itself Republican. Jefferson’s recognized leadership of this

group can be more easily attributed to his official standing and his political

philosophy than to his partisan activities. In the summer and autumn of 1792, by

means of anonymous newspaper articles, Hamilton sought to drive Jefferson from the

government. The alleged justification was the campaign being waged against

Hamilton by the editor of the National Gazette, Philip Freneau. Jefferson had given

Freneau minor employment as a translator for the State Department, but he claimed

that he never brought influence to bear on him, and there is no evidence that he

himself wrote anything for the paper. But he had told Washington precisely what he

thought of his colleague’s policies, and had already said that he himself wanted to get

out of the government.

Early in 1793 the Virginians in CONGRESS vainly sought to drive Hamilton from office or

at least to rebuke him sharply for alleged financial mismanagement. Jefferson

undoubtedly sympathized with this attack and probably drafted the resolutions that

were introduced by Rep. William Branch Giles (Va.) and soundly defeated. A degree of

unity was forced on the president’s official family by the foreign crisis of 1793, which

also caused Jefferson to delay his retirement to the end of the year.

Vice President

During a respite of three years from public duties, he began to remodel his house at

Monticello and interested himself greatly in agriculture, claiming that he had wholly

lost the “little spice of ambition” he had once had. He was outraged by Washington’s

attack on the Democratic societies, which were identified with his party, and by what

he regarded as the surrender to the British in Jay’s Treaty, but at this stage he was

playing little part in politics. Nonetheless, he was supported by the Republicans for

president in 1796, and, running second to John Adams by three ELECTORAL VOTES, he

became VICE PRESIDENT. His Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1801) was a result of

his experience as the presiding officer over the Senate. His papers on the extinct

megalonyx and on the moldboard of a plow invented by him attested to his scientific

interests and attainments. These papers were presented to the American

Philosophical Society, of which he became president in 1797.

A private letter of his to his friend Philip Mazzei, published that year, severely

criticized Federalist leaders and was interpreted as an attack on Washington.

Jefferson’s partisan activities increased during his vice presidency. He deplored the

FEDERALIST exploitation of a dangerous quarrel with France, although Jefferson’s own

sympathy with France had declined.

The notorious Alien and Sedition Acts were the principal cause of Jefferson’s

disapproval of the Adams administration. Jefferson’s grounds were both

philosophical and partisan. The historic Republican protest against laws that

attempted to suppress freedom of speech and destroy political opposition was made

in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions (1798). Jefferson wrote the former, as James

MADISON did the latter. Jefferson’s authorship was not known at the time. In the

Kentucky Resolutions he carried his states’-rights doctrines to their most extreme

point in his career. In invoking the authority of the states against laws that he

regarded as unconstitutional, his resolutions were in the tradition that finally led to

nullification and secession. But they were also in the best tradition of civil liberties

and human rights.

President: First Term

Jefferson’s victory over John Adams in the presidential election of 1800 can be

partially explained by the dissension among the Federalists, but the policies of the

government were unpopular, and as a party the Federalists were now much less

representative of the country than were the Republicans. Jefferson’s own title to the

presidency was not established for some weeks, because he was accidentally tied

with his running mate, Aaron BURR, under the workings of the original electoral

system. The election was thrown into the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, where the

Federalists voted for Burr through many indecisive ballots. Finally, enough of them

abstained to permit the obvious will of the majority to be carried out.

Jefferson later said that the ousting of the Federalists and the accession of his own

party constituted a “revolution,” but that statement was hyperbole. He was speaking

of the principles of the government rather than of its form, and his major concern was

to restore the spirit of 1776. He regarded himself as more loyal to the U. S. Constitution

than his loose-constructionist foes were, though in fact he was less a strict

constructionist in practice than in theory. Although he had objected to features of

Hamilton’s financial system, he had no intention of upsetting it now that it was firmly

established. Instead, the purpose he had in mind, and was to be highly successful in

carrying out, was to obviate some of the grave dangers he saw in the system by

reducing the national debt.

Jefferson’s accession to the presidency is notable in American history because it

marked the first transfer of national authority from one political group to another,

and it is especially significant that, despite Federalist obstructionism for a time, the

transition was effected by peaceful and strictly constitutional means. Jefferson

himself emphasized this in his conciliatory inaugural address. These events set a

precedent of acquiescence in the will of the majority. The new president described

this as a “sacred principle” that must prevail, but he added that, to be rightful, it must

be reasonable and that the rights of minorities must be protected. His accession

removed the threat of counterrevolution from his country. The government he

conducted, in its spirit of tolerance and humanity, was without parallel in his world.

His first term, most of it in a period of relative international calm, was distinctly

successful. He was the undisputed leader of a party that had acquired cohesion

during its years in opposition. In James Madison as secretary of state and Albert

Gallatin as secretary of the treasury, he had lieutenants of high competence whom he

treated as peers but whose loyalty to him bordered on reverence. By virtually ruling

himself out of the party, Vice President Aaron Burr relieved Jefferson of a potential

rival. Working through the Republican leaders in Congress, whom he treated with the

utmost respect, Jefferson exercised influence on that body that was unexampled in

previous presidential history and was to be rarely matched in later administrations.

Because of his own commitment, and that of most of his countrymen, to the doctrine

of division of powers between the executive and legislative branches, his leadership,

except in foreign affairs, was indirect and generally unadmitted. He also shared with

most of his fellows a rather negative concept of the functions of the federal

government in the domestic sphere. The policy of economy and tax reduction that the

favorable world situation permitted him to follow served to reduce rather than

increase the burdens of his countrymen, and it contributed no little to his popularity.

Dispute with the Judiciary

Jefferson restored the party balance in the civil service, but he was relatively

unsuccessful in his moves against the judiciary, which had been reinforced by fresh

Federalist appointees at the very end of the Adams administration. In the eyes of

Jefferson and the Republicans, the federal judiciary constituted a branch of the

opposing party and could be expected to obstruct the administration in every

possible way. He treated as null and void late appointments by Adams that seemed of

doubtful legality, and the Republicans repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801 with his full

approval. But he was rebuked by Chief Justice John Marshall in the famous case of

Marbury v. Madison (1803) for withholding the commission of a late-hour appointee

as justice of the peace. The effort to remove partisan judges by impeachment was a

virtual failure, and the Federalists remained entrenched in the judiciary, though they

became less actively partisan.

The Louisiana Purchase

These partial political failures were more than compensated by the purchase of

Louisiana in 1803, the most notable achievement of Jefferson’s presidency. His

concern for the free navigation of the Mississippi River had caused him, while

secretary of state, to assume a more belligerent tone toward Spain, which controlled

the mouth of the river, than toward any other nation. The retrocession of the province

of Louisiana from Spain to France, now powerful and aggressive under Napoleon,

aroused his fears and, for the first time in his career, caused his diplomatic friendship

to veer toward the British.

The acquisition of an imperial province, rather than the mouth of the river, was a

fortunate accident that added the West to the American Union. The treaty that Robert

R. Livingston and James MONROE sent home aroused constitutional scruples in

Jefferson’s mind, which he expressed privately. Because this vast acquisition of

territory would inevitably change the character of the Union, it seemed to him that it

should be authorized by a constitutional amendment. But the process of amendment

was painfully slow, and the treaty had to be ratified by a specified date. Napoleon,

who was thought by some to have already repented this transaction, could not have

been expected to tolerate any departure from its terms. Recognizing that this was no

time for constitutional purism, the president yielded to his friends, while strict

constructionist arguments were taken up ineffectually by the New England

Federalists. Nearly everybody else enthusiastically approved of the acquisition.

In May 1801 the Pasha of the piratical state of Tripoli, dissatisfied with his tribute,

declared war on the United States. Jefferson ordered a naval squadron to the

Mediterranean Sea to blockade Tripoli. The bizarre conflict that ensued served as a

training school for the American Navy, and the relatively favorable treaty of 1805

justified Jefferson’s resort to force.

Personal Attacks on Jefferson

During his first term Jefferson was subjected to attacks on his personal character

that have rarely, if ever, been matched in presidential history. In 1802 sensational

charges against him were publicized by James Thomson Callender, a dissolute and

unscrupulous journalist whom he had unwisely befriended and who had turned on

him when not given a lucrative federal appointment. These charges were gleefully

taken up by Jefferson’s political enemies, but he maintained his policy of making no

public reply to personal attacks. The abuse he suffered from newspapers weakened

his confidence in a free press. He believed that his triumphant reelection in 1804

justified his toleration of his critics and reflected approval of his public conduct.

But the Federalists in their desperation continued to publicize the stories Callender

had told, and in 1805 in a private letter Jefferson admitted that, while unmarried, he

had made improper advances to the wife of a friend. For this he had made honorable

amends, and he denied all the other charges. There appears to be no evidence that he

ever again referred to them, and he undoubtedly believed that the best answer to

them was the whole tenor of his life.

From an early stage in his public career, Jefferson had been subjected to attacks on

religious grounds. While he kept his opinions regarding religion very much to himself,

believing that they were a private concern, his insistence on the complete separation

of church and state was well known. This gained him the support of “dissenting”

groups, notably the Baptists, but it aroused bitter opposition among

Congregationalists in those parts of New England where the clergy and magistrates

still constituted a virtual establishment. From the presidential campaign of 1796 at

least, New England clergymen denounced him from their pulpits as an atheist and as

anti-Christ.

Unlike Thomas Paine, who attacked all sects, Jefferson attacked none, and he

contributed to many churches, but he was distinctly anticlerical and was as opposed

to absolutism in priests and presbyters as in kings. In a private letter to Dr. Benjamin

Rush in 1800, he said: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against

every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” That assertion is properly recognized as

one of his most characteristic.

In another strictly private communication to Dr. Rush, made in his first term as

president, Jefferson revealed his own religious opinions. He believed in God and

immortality and was a Unitarian in theology, though he rarely used the term.

Comparing the ethical teachings of Jesus with those of the ancient philosophers and

the Jews, he expressed the highest appreciation of the former. He began at this time,

and finished in old age, a compilation of extracts from the Gospels in English, Greek,

Latin, and French. He carefully excluded miracles from the compilation. Entitled The

Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, it remained unpublished until the 20th century.

While opposed to what he regarded as the corruptions of Christianity, he described

himself as a Christian, and he undoubtedly sought to follow the ethical precepts of

Jesus.

President: Second Term

On both the domestic and foreign fronts Jefferson encountered greater difficulties in

his second term than in his first. But he was relatively successful at home during most

of it. Factionalism increased among Republicans. But the revolt of John Randolph, an

uncompromising strict constructionist and formerly the Republican leader in the

House of Representatives, was contained. Until the last session of Congress in his

presidency, Jefferson maintained his influence over that body and his undisputed

leadership of his party.

The Burr Conspiracy

Meanwhile, the conspiracy of former Vice President Aaron Burr was foiled. It is still

uncertain whether that adventurer proposed to separate the western states from the

Union or to invade Mexico, but his expedition down the Mississippi River was

unquestionably a threat to national unity and domestic security. Heeding the warning

of Gen. James Wilkinson, the governor of the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson took steps

in the fall of 1806 that led to the seizure of most of Burr’s boats on the Ohio River and

his later apprehension on the Mississippi. Burr’s trial for treason and afterward for a

misdemeanor, in the federal circuit court presided over by John Marshall, became a

fiasco when Marshall’s rulings made conviction impossible.

Jefferson erred gravely in saying in advance that Burr’s guilt was beyond dispute, but

his conduct in connection with the trial did not support the charge of persecution

made by Burr’s lawyers and the Federalists. Jefferson was more justly criticized for

his support of Wilkinson, to whom he was grateful for the exposure of the conspiracy,

but whose actions against alleged supporters of Burr in New Orleans was

high-handed.

Jefferson’s persistent efforts to acquire West Florida, which he continued to claim as

part of the Louisiana Purchase, may be regarded as an exercise in futility. But he was

properly concerned to round out the territory of the United States, and he contributed

significantly to its exploration. In his first term he projected the expedition to the

Pacific that was concluded by Lewis and Clark during his second term. Other

expeditions that he sent out failed or had slight geographical and scientific

significance, but his title as the chief presidential patron of exploration remains

unchallenged.

The Embargo

The situation of the United States as a neutral nation became increasingly hazardous

as the conflict between Britain and France, which embraced the whole Western world,

increased in ruthlessness and desperation. Both powers trampled on neutral rights,

but Britain, because it commanded the sea, was the greater offender. Despite

reiterated protests by the U.S. government, the British policy of impressing American

seamen was pursued with increased vigor. The attack of the British man-of-war

Leopard on the American frigate Chesapeake in 1807 could have been regarded as

an act of war. It was the subject of negotiations, but proper atonement for it was not

made in Jefferson’s administration.

American commerce was caught in the crossfire between British Orders in Council

and Napoleonic decrees. Recognizing the impossibility of coping with both blockades,

but undisposed to take sides in this conflict and convinced that peace was in the best

interest of his young country, Jefferson and his government sought to safeguard

American life and shipping and to bring pressure on the rival powers by suspending

commerce. The embargo, adopted in December 1807 and strengthened by later

legislation, was regarded by Jefferson as the only alternative to war and submission.

The act barred all exports to Britain and France. But it had less effect abroad than had

been expected and caused economic difficulty at home. This was especially true in

New England, heavily reliant on commerce, where it was strongly opposed from the

outset by pro-British Federalists and was resisted more extensively and more

successfully than elsewhere.

In the effort to enforce the embargo, the government was drawn step by step into

infringements on the liberties of individuals that were inconsistent with Jefferson’s

most cherished principles. He exercised no authority that was not vested in him by

law, and, distrustful of power as he was, he did not seize it for its own sake. He

believed that individuals should accept financial sacrifice on patriotic grounds. Many

did so, but there was little glamor in this commercial warfare and the negative

heroism it required. Toward the end of his administration, he assented to the

embargo’s repeal, to save the Union, he said. A more moderate measure was adopted,

but it did not avert war with Britain in 1812.

Retirement

Jefferson, meanwhile, was succeeded as president in 1809 by his loyal lieutenant,

James Madison. During the last 17 years of his life, Jefferson remained in Virginia. His

failures tended to be forgotten, and as the “Sage of Monticello” he engaged in a vast

and rich correspondence with John Adams and others. He abandoned newspapers for

Tacitus and Thucydides, he said, and until his dying day he feasted on classical

writings. He read them in the original, as he did authors in French, Spanish, and

Italian. Toward the end of the War of 1812, he sold his magnificent collection of books

to the government for the Library of Congress, of which he has been regarded ever

since as the virtual founder.

Jefferson resigned the presidency of the American Philosophical Society, which he

had held for many years, but maintained his interest in all branches of human

learning. He kept charts of the temperature. He personally directed the operations of

his mills and farms into his 70s. He never ceased his efforts to advance agriculture.

Jefferson’s last great public service was the founding of the University of Virginia,

which was chartered in 1819. He inspired the legislative campaign for a university, got

it located in his own county, planned the buildings, and served as the first rector.

He gave much attention to the education of his grandchildren, chiefly the offspring of

his daughter Martha and Thomas Mann Randolph. His daughter Maria, who married

John W. Eppes, died during his first term as president. For her son Francis, he built a

gem of a house at Poplar Forest in Bedford county. This served him as a retreat from

the host of visitors at Monticello.

Jefferson had long been troubled by debt, and the failure of a friend whose note he

had endorsed brought him to virtual bankruptcy. But he was rich in honor, friendship,

and domestic happiness when he died at Monticello on July 4, 1826 just hours before

John Adams, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), 3d PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. As the author of the

Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he is

probably the most conspicuous champion of political and spiritual freedom in his

country’s history. He voiced the aspirations of the new nation in matchless phrase,

and one may doubt if any other American has been so often quoted. As a public

official–legislator, diplomat, and executive–he served the province and

commonwealth of Virginia and the young American republic almost 40 years.

While his services as a Revolutionary patriot have beenhonored by his countrymen

with only slight dissent, his later and more controversial political activities have been

variously interpreted. Believing that the government was not being conducted in the

spirit of 1776, he turned against the administration in WASHINGTON’s second term and

remained in opposition during the presidency of John ADAMS. Jefferson, who was

president from 1801 to 1809, was the acknowledged head of his political party, and his

election to the highest office has been interpreted as a vindication of the right of

political opposition. His ELECTION checked in the United States the tide of political

reaction that was sweeping the Western world, and it furthered the development of

political democracy. Throughout his life he sought to do that, though the term he

generally used was republicanism.

Opinions differ about his conduct of foreign affairs as president. He acquired the vast

province of Louisiana and maintained neutrality in a world of war, but his policies

failed to safeguard neutral rights at sea and imposed hardships at home. As a result,

his administration reached its nadir as it ended. Until his last year as president he

exercised leadership over his party that was to be matched by no other 19th century

president, and he enjoyed remarkable popularity. He was rightly hailed as the “Man of

the People,” because he sought to conduct the government in the popular interest,

rather than in the interest of any privileged group, and, insofar as possible, in

accordance with the people’s will.

He was a tall and vigorous man, not particularly impressive in person but amiable,

once his original stiffness wore off. He was habitually tactful and notably respectful of

the opinions and personalities of others, though he had slight tolerance of those he

believed unfaithful to republicanism. A devoted family man who set great store by

privacy, he built his house upon a mountain, but he did not look down on people. A

distinguished architect and naturalist in his own right, a remarkable linguist, a noted

bibliophile, and the father of the University of Virginia, he was the chief patron of

learning and the arts in his country in his day. And, with the possible exception of

Benjamin Franklin, he was the closest American approximation of the universal man.

Early Career

Jefferson was born at Shadwell, his father’s home in Albemarle county, Va., on April 13

(April 2, Old Style), 1743. His father, Peter Jefferson, a man of legendary strength, was a

successful planter and surveyor who gained minor title to fame as an explorer and

mapmaker. His prominence in his own locality is attested by the fact that he served as

a burgess and as county lieutenant. Peter’s son later held the same offices. Through

his mother, Jane Randolph, a member of one of the most famous Virginia families,

Thomas was related to many of the most prominent people in the province.

Besides being well born, Thomas Jefferson was well educated. In small private

schools, notably that of James Maury, he was thoroughly grounded in the classics. He

attended the College of William and Mary–completing the course in 1762–where Dr.

William Small taught him mathematics and introduced him to science. He associated

intimately with the liberal-minded Lt. Gov. Francis Fauquier, and read law (1762-1767)

with George Wythe, the greatest law teacher of his generation in Virginia.

Jefferson became unusually learned in the law. He was admittedto the bar in 1767 and

practiced until 1774, when the courts were closed by the American Revolution. He was

a successful lawyer, though his professional income was only a supplement. He had

inherited a considerable landed estate from his father, and doubled it by a happy

marriage on Jan. 1, 1772, to Martha Wayles Skelton. However, his father-in-law’s

estate imposed a burdensome debt on Jefferson. He began building Monticello before

his marriage, but his mansion was not completed in its present form until a

generation later.

Jefferson’s lifelong emphasis on local government grew directly from his own

experience. He served as magistrate and as county lieutenant of Albemarle county.

Elected to the House of Burgesses when he was 25, he served there from 1769 to 1774,

showing himself to be an effective committeeman and skillful draftsman, though not

an able speaker.

The Revolutionary Era

From the beginning of the struggle with the mother country, Jefferson stood with the

more advanced Patriots, grounding his position on a wide knowledge of English

history and political philosophy. His most notable early contribution to the cause of

the Patriots was his powerful pamphlet A Summary View of the Rights of British

America (1774), originally written for presentation to the Virginia convention of that

year. In this he emphasized natural rights, including that of emigration, and denied

parliamentary authority over the colonies, recognizing no tie with the mother country

except the king.

As a member of the Continental Congress (1775-1776), Jefferson was chosen in 1776 to

draft the Declaration of Independence. He summarized current revolutionary

philosophy in a brief paragraph that has been regarded ever since as a charter of

American and universal liberties. He presented to the world the case of the Patriots in

a series of burning charges against the king. In the light of modern scholarship some

of the charges require modification. But there is a timeless quality in the

philosophical section of the Declaration, which proclaims that all men are equal in

rights, regardless of birth, wealth, or status, and that government is the servant, not

the master, of human beings. The Declaration alone would entitle Jefferson to

enduring fame.

Desiring to be closer to his family and also hoping to translate his philosophy of

human rights into legal institutions in his own state, Jefferson left Congress in the

autumn of 1776 and served in the Virginia legislature until his election as governor in

1779. This was the most creative period of his revolutionary statesmanship. His earlier

proposals for broadening the electorate and making the system of representation

more equitable had failed, and the times permitted no action against slavery except

that of shutting off the foreign slave trade. But he succeeded in ridding the land

system of feudal vestiges, such as entail and primogeniture, and he was the moving

spirit in the disestablishment of the church. In 1779, with George Wythe and Edmund

Pendleton, he drew a highly significant report on the revising of the laws. His most

famous single bills are the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (adopted in 1786)

and the Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, which was never adopted as

he drew it. His fundamental purposes were to destroy artificial privilege of every sort,

to promote social mobility, and to make way for the natural aristocracy of talent and

virtue, which should provide leadership for a free society.

As governor from 1779 to 1781, Jefferson had little power, and he suffered inevitable

discredit when the British invaders overran Virginia. An inquiry into his conduct

during his last year in office was voted by the legislature after his retirement in June

1781. He was fully vindicated by the next legislature, but these charges were

afterward exaggerated by political enemies, and he was hounded by them to some

extent throughout his national career. The most important immediate effect of his

troubles was to create in his own mind a distaste for public life that persisted in acute

form until the death of his wife on Sept. 6, 1782, which reconciled him to a return to

office. He also acquired an aversion to controversy and censure from which he never

wholly recovered.

During this brief private interval (1781-1783) he began to compile his Notes on the

State of Virginia, which was first published when he was in France (1785). This work

was described at the time by competent authority as “a most excellent natural

history not merely of Virginia but of North America.” Undertaken in response to a

series of queries by the secretary of the French legation, it was ostensibly an account

of the resources, productions, government, and society of a single state. But it

spanned a continent and contained reflections on religion, slavery, and the Indians. It

afterward appeared in many editions and was the literary foundation of his deserved

reputation as a scientist.

In the Continental Congress (1783-1784), Jefferson’s most notable services were

connected with the adoption of the decimal system of coinage, which later as

secretary of state he tried vainly to extend to weights and measures, and with the

Ordinance of 1784. Though not adopted, the latter foreshadowed many features of the

famous Ordinance of 1787, which established the Northwest Territory. Jefferson went

so far as to advocate the prohibition of slavery in all the territories.

Minister to France

Jefferson’s stay in France (1784-1789), where he was first a commissioner to

negotiate commercial treaties and then Benjamin Franklin’s successor as minister,

was in many ways the richest period of his life. He gained genuine commercial

concessions from the French, negotiated an important consular convention in 1788,

and served the interests of his own weak government with diligence and skill. He was

confirmed in his opinion that France was a natural friend of the United States, and

Britain at this stage a natural rival, and thus his foreign policy assumed the

orientation it was to maintain until the eve of the Louisiana Purchase. The publication

of his book on Virginia symbolized his unofficial service of information to the French.

His services to his own countrymen were exemplified by the books, the seeds and

plants, the statues and architectural models, and the scientific information that he

sent home. His stay in Europe contributed greatly to that universality of spirit and

diversity of achievement in which he was equaled by no other American statesman,

except possibly Franklin.

Toward the end of his mission he reported with scrupulous care the unfolding

revolution in France. His personal part in it was slight, and such advice as he gave was

moderate. Doubting the readiness of the people for self-government of the American

type, he now favored a limited monarchy for France, and he cautioned his liberal

friends not to risk the loss of their gains by going too fast. Though always aware of the

importance of French developments in the worldwide struggle for greater freedom

and happiness, he tended to stress this more after he returned home and perceived

the dangers of political reaction in his own country. Eventually he was repelled by the

excesses of the French Revolution, and he thoroughly disapproved of it when it passed

into an openly imperialistic phase under Napoleon. But insofar as it represented a

revolt against despotism, he continued to believe that its spirit could never die.

Because of his absence in Europe, Jefferson had no direct part in the framing or

ratification of the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, and at first the document

aroused his fears. His chief objections were that it did not expressly safeguard the

rights of individuals, and that the unlimited eligibility of the president for reelection

would make it possible for him to become a king. He became sufficiently satisfied

after he learned that a bill of rights would be provided and after he reflected that

there would be no danger of monarchy under George Washington.

Secretary of State

Although his fears of monarchical tendencies remained and colored his attitude in

later partisan struggles, it was as a friend of the new government that he accepted

Washington’s invitation to become secretary of state.

During Jefferson’s service in this post from 1790 to 1793, Alexander Hamilton,

secretary of the treasury, defeated the movement for commercial discrimination

against Britain, which Jefferson favored. Hamilton, also, connived with the British

minister George Hammond to nullify Jefferson’s efforts in 1792 to gain observance of

the terms of peace from the British, and especially to dislodge them from the

northwest posts. Jefferson’s policy was not pro-French, but it seemed anti-British.

Hamilton was distinctly pro-British, largely for financial reasons, and he became

more so when general war broke out in Europe and ideology was clearly involved. In

1793, Jefferson wanted the French Revolution to succeed against its external foes, but

he also recognized that the interests of his own country demanded a policy of

neutrality. Such a policy was adopted, to the dissatisfaction of many strong friends of

democracy in America, and was executed so fairly as to win the reluctant praise of

the British.

Jefferson was greatly embarrassed by the indiscretions of the fiery French minister,

Edmond Charles Genet, who arrived in Washington in the spring of 1793, but he

skillfully brought about Genet’s recall and avoided a breach with the revolutionary

government of his country.

Jefferson helped Hamilton gain congressional consent to the assumption of state

debts, for which the location of the federal capital on the Potomac was the political

return. His growing objections to the Hamiltonian financial system were partly owing

to his belief that the treasury was catering to commercial and financial groups, not

agricultural, but he also believed that Hamilton was building up his own political

power by creating ties of financial interest and was corrupting Congress. The issue

between the two secretaries was sharply joined by 1791, when the Bank of the United

States was established. They gave to the president their rival interpretations of the

Constitution in this connection. The victory at the time and in the long run was with

Hamilton’s doctrine of liberal construction, or interpretation, of the Constitution and

his assertion of broad national power. But Jefferson’s general distrust of power and

his reliance on basic law as a safeguard have enduring value.

By late 1792 or 1793 the opponents of Hamiltonianism constituted a fairly definite

national party, calling itself Republican. Jefferson’s recognized leadership of this

group can be more easily attributed to his official standing and his political

philosophy than to his partisan activities. In the summer and autumn of 1792, by

means of anonymous newspaper articles, Hamilton sought to drive Jefferson from the

government. The alleged justification was the campaign being waged against

Hamilton by the editor of the National Gazette, Philip Freneau. Jefferson had given

Freneau minor employment as a translator for the State Department, but he claimed

that he never brought influence to bear on him, and there is no evidence that he

himself wrote anything for the paper. But he had told Washington precisely what he

thought of his colleague’s policies, and had already said that he himself wanted to get

out of the government.

Early in 1793 the Virginians in CONGRESS vainly sought to drive Hamilton from office or

at least to rebuke him sharply for alleged financial mismanagement. Jefferson

undoubtedly sympathized with this attack and probably drafted the resolutions that

were introduced by Rep. William Branch Giles (Va.) and soundly defeated. A degree of

unity was forced on the president’s official family by the foreign crisis of 1793, which

also caused Jefferson to delay his retirement to the end of the year.

Vice President

During a respite of three years from public duties, he began to remodel his house at

Monticello and interested himself greatly in agriculture, claiming that he had wholly

lost the “little spice of ambition” he had once had. He was outraged by Washington’s

attack on the Democratic societies, which were identified with his party, and by what

he regarded as the surrender to the British in Jay’s Treaty, but at this stage he was

playing little part in politics. Nonetheless, he was supported by the Republicans for

president in 1796, and, running second to John Adams by three ELECTORAL VOTES, he

became VICE PRESIDENT. His Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1801) was a result of

his experience as the presiding officer over the Senate. His papers on the extinct

megalonyx and on the moldboard of a plow invented by him attested to his scientific

interests and attainments. These papers were presented to the American

Philosophical Society, of which he became president in 1797.

A private letter of his to his friend Philip Mazzei, published that year, severely

criticized Federalist leaders and was interpreted as an attack on Washington.

Jefferson’s partisan activities increased during his vice presidency. He deplored the

FEDERALIST exploitation of a dangerous quarrel with France, although Jefferson’s own

sympathy with France had declined.

The notorious Alien and Sedition Acts were the principal cause of Jefferson’s

disapproval of the Adams administration. Jefferson’s grounds were both

philosophical and partisan. The historic Republican protest against laws that

attempted to suppress freedom of speech and destroy political opposition was made

in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions (1798). Jefferson wrote the former, as James

MADISON did the latter. Jefferson’s authorship was not known at the time. In the

Kentucky Resolutions he carried his states’-rights doctrines to their most extreme

point in his career. In invoking the authority of the states against laws that he

regarded as unconstitutional, his resolutions were in the tradition that finally led to

nullification and secession. But they were also in the best tradition of civil liberties

and human rights.

President: First Term

Jefferson’s victory over John Adams in the presidential election of 1800 can be

partially explained by the dissension among the Federalists, but the policies of the

government were unpopular, and as a party the Federalists were now much less

representative of the country than were the Republicans. Jefferson’s own title to the

presidency was not established for some weeks, because he was accidentally tied

with his running mate, Aaron BURR, under the workings of the original electoral

system. The election was thrown into the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, where the

Federalists voted for Burr through many indecisive ballots. Finally, enough of them

abstained to permit the obvious will of the majority to be carried out.

Jefferson later said that the ousting of the Federalists and the accession of his own

party constituted a “revolution,” but that statement was hyperbole. He was speaking

of the principles of the government rather than of its form, and his major concern was

to restore the spirit of 1776. He regarded himself as more loyal to the U. S. Constitution

than his loose-constructionist foes were, though in fact he was less a strict

constructionist in practice than in theory. Although he had objected to features of

Hamilton’s financial system, he had no intention of upsetting it now that it was firmly

established. Instead, the purpose he had in mind, and was to be highly successful in

carrying out, was to obviate some of the grave dangers he saw in the system by

reducing the national debt.

Jefferson’s accession to the presidency is notable in American history because it

marked the first transfer of national authority from one political group to another,

and it is especially significant that, despite Federalist obstructionism for a time, the

transition was effected by peaceful and strictly constitutional means. Jefferson

himself emphasized this in his conciliatory inaugural address. These events set a

precedent of acquiescence in the will of the majority. The new president described

this as a “sacred principle” that must prevail, but he added that, to be rightful, it must

be reasonable and that the rights of minorities must be protected. His accession

removed the threat of counterrevolution from his country. The government he

conducted, in its spirit of tolerance and humanity, was without parallel in his world.

His first term, most of it in a period of relative international calm, was distinctly

successful. He was the undisputed leader of a party that had acquired cohesion

during its years in opposition. In James Madison as secretary of state and Albert

Gallatin as secretary of the treasury, he had lieutenants of high competence whom he

treated as peers but whose loyalty to him bordered on reverence. By virtually ruling

himself out of the party, Vice President Aaron Burr relieved Jefferson of a potential

rival. Working through the Republican leaders in Congress, whom he treated with the

utmost respect, Jefferson exercised influence on that body that was unexampled in

previous presidential history and was to be rarely matched in later administrations.

Because of his own commitment, and that of most of his countrymen, to the doctrine

of division of powers between the executive and legislative branches, his leadership,

except in foreign affairs, was indirect and generally unadmitted. He also shared with

most of his fellows a rather negative concept of the functions of the federal

government in the domestic sphere. The policy of economy and tax reduction that the

favorable world situation permitted him to follow served to reduce rather than

increase the burdens of his countrymen, and it contributed no little to his popularity.

Dispute with the Judiciary

Jefferson restored the party balance in the civil service, but he was relatively

unsuccessful in his moves against the judiciary, which had been reinforced by fresh

Federalist appointees at the very end of the Adams administration. In the eyes of

Jefferson and the Republicans, the federal judiciary constituted a branch of the

opposing party and could be expected to obstruct the administration in every

possible way. He treated as null and void late appointments by Adams that seemed of

doubtful legality, and the Republicans repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801 with his full

approval. But he was rebuked by Chief Justice John Marshall in the famous case of

Marbury v. Madison (1803) for withholding the commission of a late-hour appointee

as justice of the peace. The effort to remove partisan judges by impeachment was a

virtual failure, and the Federalists remained entrenched in the judiciary, though they

became less actively partisan.

The Louisiana Purchase

These partial political failures were more than compensated by the purchase of

Louisiana in 1803, the most notable achievement of Jefferson’s presidency. His

concern for the free navigation of the Mississippi River had caused him, while

secretary of state, to assume a more belligerent tone toward Spain, which controlled

the mouth of the river, than toward any other nation. The retrocession of the province

of Louisiana from Spain to France, now powerful and aggressive under Napoleon,

aroused his fears and, for the first time in his career, caused his diplomatic friendship

to veer toward the British.

The acquisition of an imperial province, rather than the mouth of the river, was a

fortunate accident that added the West to the American Union. The treaty that Robert

R. Livingston and James MONROE sent home aroused constitutional scruples in

Jefferson’s mind, which he expressed privately. Because this vast acquisition of

territory would inevitably change the character of the Union, it seemed to him that it

should be authorized by a constitutional amendment. But the process of amendment

was painfully slow, and the treaty had to be ratified by a specified date. Napoleon,

who was thought by some to have already repented this transaction, could not have

been expected to tolerate any departure from its terms. Recognizing that this was no

time for constitutional purism, the president yielded to his friends, while strict

constructionist arguments were taken up ineffectually by the New England

Federalists. Nearly everybody else enthusiastically approved of the acquisition.

In May 1801 the Pasha of the piratical state of Tripoli, dissatisfied with his tribute,

declared war on the United States. Jefferson ordered a naval squadron to the

Mediterranean Sea to blockade Tripoli. The bizarre conflict that ensued served as a

training school for the American Navy, and the relatively favorable treaty of 1805

justified Jefferson’s resort to force.

Personal Attacks on Jefferson

During his first term Jefferson was subjected to attacks on his personal character

that have rarely, if ever, been matched in presidential history. In 1802 sensational

charges against him were publicized by James Thomson Callender, a dissolute and

unscrupulous journalist whom he had unwisely befriended and who had turned on

him when not given a lucrative federal appointment. These charges were gleefully

taken up by Jefferson’s political enemies, but he maintained his policy of making no

public reply to personal attacks. The abuse he suffered from newspapers weakened

his confidence in a free press. He believed that his triumphant reelection in 1804

justified his toleration of his critics and reflected approval of his public conduct.

But the Federalists in their desperation continued to publicize the stories Callender

had told, and in 1805 in a private letter Jefferson admitted that, while unmarried, he

had made improper advances to the wife of a friend. For this he had made honorable

amends, and he denied all the other charges. There appears to be no evidence that he

ever again referred to them, and he undoubtedly believed that the best answer to

them was the whole tenor of his life.

From an early stage in his public career, Jefferson had been subjected to attacks on

religious grounds. While he kept his opinions regarding religion very much to himself,

believing that they were a private concern, his insistence on the complete separation

of church and state was well known. This gained him the support of “dissenting”

groups, notably the Baptists, but it aroused bitter opposition among

Congregationalists in those parts of New England where the clergy and magistrates

still constituted a virtual establishment. From the presidential campaign of 1796 at

least, New England clergymen denounced him from their pulpits as an atheist and as

anti-Christ.

Unlike Thomas Paine, who attacked all sects, Jefferson attacked none, and he

contributed to many churches, but he was distinctly anticlerical and was as opposed

to absolutism in priests and presbyters as in kings. In a private letter to Dr. Benjamin

Rush in 1800, he said: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against

every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” That assertion is properly recognized as

one of his most characteristic.

In another strictly private communication to Dr. Rush, made in his first term as

president, Jefferson revealed his own religious opinions. He believed in God and

immortality and was a Unitarian in theology, though he rarely used the term.

Comparing the ethical teachings of Jesus with those of the ancient philosophers and

the Jews, he expressed the highest appreciation of the former. He began at this time,

and finished in old age, a compilation of extracts from the Gospels in English, Greek,

Latin, and French. He carefully excluded miracles from the compilation. Entitled The

Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, it remained unpublished until the 20th century.

While opposed to what he regarded as the corruptions of Christianity, he described

himself as a Christian, and he undoubtedly sought to follow the ethical precepts of

Jesus.

President: Second Term

On both the domestic and foreign fronts Jefferson encountered greater difficulties in

his second term than in his first. But he was relatively successful at home during most

of it. Factionalism increased among Republicans. But the revolt of John Randolph, an

uncompromising strict constructionist and formerly the Republican leader in the

House of Representatives, was contained. Until the last session of Congress in his

presidency, Jefferson maintained his influence over that body and his undisputed

leadership of his party.

The Burr Conspiracy

Meanwhile, the conspiracy of former Vice President Aaron Burr was foiled. It is still

uncertain whether that adventurer proposed to separate the western states from the

Union or to invade Mexico, but his expedition down the Mississippi River was

unquestionably a threat to national unity and domestic security. Heeding the warning

of Gen. James Wilkinson, the governor of the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson took steps

in the fall of 1806 that led to the seizure of most of Burr’s boats on the Ohio River and

his later apprehension on the Mississippi. Burr’s trial for treason and afterward for a

misdemeanor, in the federal circuit court presided over by John Marshall, became a

fiasco when Marshall’s rulings made conviction impossible.

Jefferson erred gravely in saying in advance that Burr’s guilt was beyond dispute, but

his conduct in connection with the trial did not support the charge of persecution

made by Burr’s lawyers and the Federalists. Jefferson was more justly criticized for

his support of Wilkinson, to whom he was grateful for the exposure of the conspiracy,

but whose actions against alleged supporters of Burr in New Orleans was

high-handed.

Jefferson’s persistent efforts to acquire West Florida, which he continued to claim as

part of the Louisiana Purchase, may be regarded as an exercise in futility. But he was

properly concerned to round out the territory of the United States, and he contributed

significantly to its exploration. In his first term he projected the expedition to the

Pacific that was concluded by Lewis and Clark during his second term. Other

expeditions that he sent out failed or had slight geographical and scientific

significance, but his title as the chief presidential patron of exploration remains

unchallenged.

The Embargo

The situation of the United States as a neutral nation became increasingly hazardous

as the conflict between Britain and France, which embraced the whole Western world,

increased in ruthlessness and desperation. Both powers trampled on neutral rights,

but Britain, because it commanded the sea, was the greater offender. Despite

reiterated protests by the U.S. government, the British policy of impressing American

seamen was pursued with increased vigor. The attack of the British man-of-war

Leopard on the American frigate Chesapeake in 1807 could have been regarded as

an act of war. It was the subject of negotiations, but proper atonement for it was not

made in Jefferson’s administration.

American commerce was caught in the crossfire between British Orders in Council

and Napoleonic decrees. Recognizing the impossibility of coping with both blockades,

but undisposed to take sides in this conflict and convinced that peace was in the best

interest of his young country, Jefferson and his government sought to safeguard

American life and shipping and to bring pressure on the rival powers by suspending

commerce. The embargo, adopted in December 1807 and strengthened by later

legislation, was regarded by Jefferson as the only alternative to war and submission.

The act barred all exports to Britain and France. But it had less effect abroad than had

been expected and caused economic difficulty at home. This was especially true in

New England, heavily reliant on commerce, where it was strongly opposed from the

outset by pro-British Federalists and was resisted more extensively and more

successfully than elsewhere.

In the effort to enforce the embargo, the government was drawn step by step into

infringements on the liberties of individuals that were inconsistent with Jefferson’s

most cherished principles. He exercised no authority that was not vested in him by

law, and, distrustful of power as he was, he did not seize it for its own sake. He

believed that individuals should accept financial sacrifice on patriotic grounds. Many

did so, but there was little glamor in this commercial warfare and the negative

heroism it required. Toward the end of his administration, he assented to the

embargo’s repeal, to save the Union, he said. A more moderate measure was adopted,

but it did not avert war with Britain in 1812.

Retirement

Jefferson, meanwhile, was succeeded as president in 1809 by his loyal lieutenant,

James Madison. During the last 17 years of his life, Jefferson remained in Virginia. His

failures tended to be forgotten, and as the “Sage of Monticello” he engaged in a vast

and rich correspondence with John Adams and others. He abandoned newspapers for

Tacitus and Thucydides, he said, and until his dying day he feasted on classical

writings. He read them in the original, as he did authors in French, Spanish, and

Italian. Toward the end of the War of 1812, he sold his magnificent collection of books

to the government for the Library of Congress, of which he has been regarded ever

since as the virtual founder.

Jefferson resigned the presidency of the American Philosophical Society, which he

had held for many years, but maintained his interest in all branches of human

learning. He kept charts of the temperature. He personally directed the operations of

his mills and farms into his 70s. He never ceased his efforts to advance agriculture.

Jefferson’s last great public service was the founding of the University of Virginia,

which was chartered in 1819. He inspired the legislative campaign for a university, got

it located in his own county, planned the buildings, and served as the first rector.

He gave much attention to the education of his grandchildren, chiefly the offspring of

his daughter Martha and Thomas Mann Randolph. His daughter Maria, who married

John W. Eppes, died during his first term as president. For her son Francis, he built a

gem of a house at Poplar Forest in Bedford county. This served him as a retreat from

the host of visitors at Monticello.

Jefferson had long been troubled by debt, and the failure of a friend whose note he

had endorsed brought him to virtual bankruptcy. But he was rich in honor, friendship,

and domestic happiness when he died at Monticello on July 4, 1826 just hours before

John Adams, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.