Essay, Research Paper: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson is remembered in history not only for being president, but also for his belief in the natural rights of man and his faith in the people's ability to govern themselves. He left an impact that few others in American history have. Born on April 13, 1743, Jefferson was the third child in the family and grew up with six sisters and one brother. Thomas Jefferson is remembered in history not only for being president, but also for his belief in the natural rights of man as and his faith in the people's ability to govern themselves. He left an impact that few others in American history have. From his father and his environment he developed an interest in botany, geology, cartography, and North American exploration; and from his childhood teacher developed a love for Greek and Latin. In 1760, at the age of 16, Jefferson entered the College of William and Mary, where he got his first views of the expansion of science and of the system of things in which we are placed. Jefferson was admitted to the bar in 1767. He successfully practiced law until public service occupied most of his time. At his home in Shadwell, he designed and supervised the building of his home, Monticello, on a nearby hill. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1769. Jefferson met Martha Wayles Skelton, a wealthy widow of 23, in 1770 and married her in 1772. They settled in Monticello and had one son and five daughters. Only two of his children, Martha and Mary, survived until maturity. Martha Jefferson died in 1782, leaving Thomas to take care of his two remaining children.
Thomas Jefferson had many ideas about Virginia and the United States, but I think the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and A Summary View of the Rights of British America best summarized his overall feelings on the United States and Virginia.
Until the beginning of the Revolutionary War, nine of the thirteen colonies still officially supported one particular religion, called an established church. But the practice had been weakened by the "Great Awakening," and by 1787 only Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut maintained established religions. In the other states, the support of religious institutions depended on the voluntary contributions of their members. Thomas Jefferson led the fight for religious freedom and separation of church and state in his native Virginia. This brought him into conflict with the Anglican Church, the established church in Virginia. After a long and bitter debate, Jefferson's statute for religious freedom passed the state legislature. In Jefferson's words, there was now "freedom for the Jew and the
Gentile, the Christian and the Mohammedan, the Hindu and infidel of every denomination." The bill guaranteed, in Jefferson's own words, "that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever." It guaranteed, too, that no one should suffer in any way for his "religious opinions or belief." Introduced in 1779, the bill did not become law until 1786, when, through the leadership of Legislator James Madison, it was enacted by the General Assembly. When the First Amendment to the Constitution went into effect in 1791, Jefferson's principle of separation of church and state became part of the supreme law of the land.
Early in 1774 the colonies were angered by the passage of the Intolerable Acts which spurred the Boston Tea Party. Jefferson was elected by Virginians as a delegate to consider the grievances of the colonies. Jefferson wrote a series of resolutions later titled A Summary View of the Rights of British America. In defining the grievances with Great Britain, Jefferson denied that Parliament had any authority over the colonies, and he attacked the restrictive acts passed by Parliament as a deliberate plan to destroy colonial freedom. Jefferson also accused the king of rejecting the best laws passed by colonial legislatures, of preventing the outlawing of slavery in the colonies, of permitting his governors to dissolve colonial assemblies, and of sending in armed forces without having the right to do so. Jefferson said the colonists were "a free people claiming their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their Chief Magistrate." A "tamer" resolution was presented to Parliament but A Summary View of the Rights of British America was published in England and Philadelphia which led to his popularity as a writer and political thinker.
Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 after returning to Monticello in 1809. I think that he is one of Americas greatest heros for his work in separating church and state, and his various theories about liberty that I totally agree with. I think Thomas Jefferson is a big part of the United States success as a nation into the twenty-first century.