THOMAS

JEFFERSON
By: Mason Weyland
Brief History

■ Jefferson was born April 13, 1743 in

Shadwell, Virginia.
■ Died on July 4, 1826.
■ He attended the College of William and Mary
■ Practiced Law
Before Presidency

■ Wrote the Declaration of Independence

■ At the age of 33 he was one of the youngest
delegates to the Second Continental Congress
■ Formal declaration of independence from Britain
was overwhelmingly favored in 1775
Before
Presidency
■ Governor of Virginia for two
one year terms, 1779 and
1780
■ Minister to France 1784 to
1789
■ The first Secretary of State
Under George Washington
1789 to 1794
■ Vice President to John
Adams
Election of 1800

■ Jefferson vs. Adams

■ Jefferson won the
presidential election with 73 votes to
Adams's 65
■ Vice Presidential candidate Aaron Burr
also received 73 votes, making the vote
for the presidency a tie
■ Historian Joyce Appleby said the election
was "one of the most acrimonious in the
annals of American history".
Presidency

■ Jefferson was the Third President of the United

States of America
■ Jefferson was one of the founders of the
Democratic-Republican Party
■ The election was a tie between Jefferson and Burr,
House of representatives chose Jefferson
Presidency

■ Party in power in Congress

was the Federalist party
■ Louisiana purchase from
Napoleon for $15 million,
827,987 square miles
■ Doubled the size of the
country
■ Lewis and Clark expedition
(1804-1806)
Presidency

■ First Barbary War 1801 to 1805

■ Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis and Sultanate of Morocco
■ First foreign war fought by the US
■ First Naval force to cross Atlantic
Presidency

■ Embargo Act 1807

■ Jefferson’s nonviolent resistance to British and French molestation of US merchant
ships
■ Closed all ports to foreign imports and American exports
■ The enforcement of the Embargo Act required the exercise of precisely those
coercive powers by the federal government that Jefferson had previously opposed