Thomas Jefferson
(Born April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, Virginia; died July 4, 1826, Monticello)
Third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson -- author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia -- voiced the aspirations of a new America as no other individual of his era. As a public official, historian, philosopher, and plantation owner, he served his country for over five decades.
Here's a time line of Thomas Jefferson's public life:
- 1768 - Elected to House of Burgesses.
- 1774 - Wrote "A Summary View of the Rights of British America."
- 1775 - Elected to Continental Congress.
- 1776 - Drafted Declaration of Independence; Elected to Virginia House of Delegates; Appointed to revise Virginia laws.
- 1777 - Drafted Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, passed by General Assembly in 1786.
- 1778 - Drafted Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge.
- 1779 - Served as Governor of Virginia until 1981.
- 1783 - Elected delegate to Congress.
- 1784 - In France as Commissioner and Minister until 1989.
- 1787 - Published Notes on the State of Virginia.
- 1790 - Served as first United States Secretary of State until 1993.
- 1797 - Served as United States Vice President until 1801.
- 1797 - Served as president of the American Philosophical Society until 1815.
- 1801 - Served as United States President until 1809.
- 1803 - Louisiana Purchase concluded. Lewis and Clark expedition launched.
- 1806 - Lewis and Clark expedition concluded.
- 1809 - Retired from the presidency and public life.
- 1815 - Sold 6,700-volume library to Congress.
- 1817 - Cornerstone of Central College (later University of Virginia) laid.
- 1825 - University of Virginia opened.