View source for Thomas Jefferson

{{Short description|Founding Father, U.S. president from 1801 to 1809}}
{{About|the third president of the United States}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Thomas Jefferson
| image               = Official Presidential portrait of Thomas Jefferson (by Rembrandt Peale, 1800).jpg
| caption             = Portrait, {{circa|1800}}
| alt                 = Painting of Jefferson in his late 50s with a full head of hair
| order               = 3rd
| office              = President of the United States
| vicepresident       = {{plainlist|
* [[Aaron Burr]] (1801–1805)
* [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] (1805–1809)
}}
| term_start          = March 4, 1801
| term_end            = March 4, 1809
| predecessor         = [[John Adams]]
| successor           = [[James Madison]]
| order1              = 2nd
| office1             = Vice President of the United States
| president1          = John Adams
| term_start1         = March 4, 1797
| term_end1           = March 4, 1801
| predecessor1        = John Adams
| successor1          = Aaron Burr
| order2              = 1st
| office2             = United States Secretary of State
| president2          = [[George Washington]]
| term_start2         = March 22, 1790
| term_end2           = December 31, 1793
| predecessor2        = [[John Jay]] (acting)
| successor2          = [[Edmund Randolph]]
| order3              = 2nd
| minister_from3      = United States
| country3            = France
| appointer3          = [[Congress of the Confederation]]
| term_start3         = May 17, 1785
| term_end3           = September 26, 1789
| predecessor3        = [[Benjamin Franklin]]
| successor3          = [[William Short (American ambassador)|William Short]]
| office4             = Minister Plenipotentiary for Negotiating Treaties of Amity and Commerce
| appointer4          = Congress of the Confederation
| term_start4         = May 7, 1784
| term_end4           = May 11, 1786
| predecessor4        = ''Office established''
| successor4          = ''Office abolished''
| office5             = Delegate from [[Virginia]] {{awrap|to the [[Congress of the Confederation]]}}
| term_start5         = June 6, 1782
| term_end5           = May 7, 1784
| predecessor5        = James Madison
| successor5          = [[Richard Henry Lee]]
| order6              = 2nd
| office6             = Governor of Virginia
| term_start6         = June 1, 1779
| term_end6           = June 3, 1781
| predecessor6        = [[Patrick Henry]]
| successor6          = [[William Fleming (governor)|William Fleming]]
| office7             = Member of the <br>[[Virginia House of Delegates]]<br>from [[Albemarle County, Virginia]]<ref name="VA House of Delegates">{{cite web |title=Burgesses and Delegates |url=https://history.house.virginia.gov/members?district=Albemarle&page=1&per_page=100 |website=Virginia House of Delegates |access-date=May 9, 2023}}</ref>
| term_start7         = October 7, 1776
| term_end7           = May 30, 1779
| predecessor7        = [[Charles Lilburn Lewis|Charles Lewis]]
| successor7          = George Gilmer, Jr.
| term8               = December 10–22, 1781
| predecessor8        = Isaac Davis
| successor8          = James Marks
| office9             = [[List of delegates to the Continental Congress|Delegate]] from Virginia {{awrap|to the [[Second Continental Congress]]}}
| term_start9         = June 20, 1775
| term_end9           = September 26, 1776
| predecessor9        = George Washington
| successor9          = [[John Harvie]]
| office10            = Member of the [[Virginia House of Burgesses]] from [[Albemarle County, Virginia]]
| term_start10        = May 11, 1769<ref name="Encyclopedia VA">{{cite web |last1=McDonnell |first1=Michael |title=Jefferson, Thomas as Governor of Virginia |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/jefferson-thomas-as-governor-of-virginia/ |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref>
| term_end10          = June 1, 1775<ref name="VA Mag">{{cite journal |last1=Virginia Historical Society |title=House of Burgesses, 1766 to 1775 |journal=Virginia Magazine of History and Biography |date=April 1897 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=380–86 |jstor=4241983 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4241983 |access-date=October 13, 2022}}</ref>
| predecessor10       = [[Edward Carter (of Blenheim)|Edward Carter]]<ref name="VA Mag" />
| successor10         = ''Office abolished''
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1743|4|13}}
| birth_place         = [[Shadwell, Virginia|Shadwell Plantation]], Virginia, British America
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1826|7|4|1743|4|13}}
| death_place         = [[Monticello]], Virginia, U.S.
| resting_place       = Monticello, Virginia, U.S.
| party               = [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Martha Jefferson|Martha Wayles]]|January 1, 1772|September 6, 1782|reason=died}}
| children            = {{plainlist|
* 6 with Martha Wayles, including: {{ublist|list_style=list-style: "{{*}}" inside;
| [[Martha Jefferson Randolph]]
| [[Mary Jefferson Eppes]]}}
* Up to 6 with [[Sally Hemings]],{{efn|A number of historians and geneticists argue that while DNA testing of Hemings' descendants reveals a genetic connection with a male ancestor in the Jefferson family, it does not conclusively prove that it was Jefferson himself who sired these children, see [[Jefferson-Hemings controversy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy Report of the Scholars Commission |date=2000–2001 |page=70 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56d77a9ad51cd4a272d514c0/t/63d84b8a2683c7769f1972a1/1675119505362/Scholars-Commission-Report-1.pdf |quote=The DNA tests could not discriminate among the more than two dozen adult male Jeffersons in Virginia at the time Eston Hemings was conceived, and there is reasonable evidence to suggest that at least seven of those men (including Thomas Jefferson) may well have been at Monticello when Sally became pregnant with Eston.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy {{!}} C-SPAN.org |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?301339-1/jefferson-hemings-controversy |website=c-span.org}}</ref>}} including: {{ublist|list_style=list-style: "{{*}}" inside;
| [[Madison Hemings]]
| [[Eston Hemings]]}}
}}
| occupation          = {{hlist|Politician|lawyer|revolutionary}}
| allegiance          = United States
| branch              = [[Virginia militia]]
| serviceyears        = 1775–1776
| unit                = [[Virginia in the American Revolution|Albemarle County Militia]]
| rank                = Colonel
| battles             = [[American Revolutionary War]]
| signature           = Thomas Jefferson Signature.svg
| signature_alt       = Thomas Jefferson signature
| module              = {{Infobox philosopher|embed=yes
| region           = {{plainlist|
* [[Western philosophy]]
* [[American philosophy]]
}}
| era              = [[Age of Enlightenment]]
| school_tradition = {{flatlist|
* [[Classical liberalism]]
* [[Deism]]
}}
| notable_works    = {{plainlist|
* [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] (1776)
* ''[[Notes on Virginia]]'' (1785)
* [[Jefferson's Manual]] (1801)
* ''[[Jefferson Bible]]'' (1820)
}}
| notable_ideas    = {{collapsible list|title={{nobold|''See list''}}|{{ubl|item_style={{longitem}}
| [[All men are created equal]]
| [[Empire of Liberty]]
| [[Entangling alliances]]
| [[Jeffersonian democracy]]
| [[Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness]]
| [[Natural aristocracy]]
| [[Separation of church and state in the United States|Separation of church and state]]
| [[Strict constructionism]]
| [[Ward republic]]
| [[Thomas Jefferson and education|Views on education]]
| [[Thomas Jefferson and Native Americans|Views on Native Americans]]
| [[Thomas Jefferson and slavery|Views on slavery]]
| [[Religious views of Thomas Jefferson|Views on religion]]
}}}}
| institutions     = [[American Philosophical Society]]
| main_interests   = {{flatlist|
* [[Political philosophy|Politics]]
* [[Moral philosophy|ethics]]
* [[Philosophy of religion|religion]]
* [[philology]]
}}
}}
| alma_mater          = [[College of William & Mary]]
| parents             = {{plainlist|
* [[Peter Jefferson]]
* [[Jane Randolph Jefferson|Jane Randolph]]
}}
}}

'''Thomas Jefferson''' ({{OldStyleDate|April 13||April 2}}, 1743{{spnd}}July 4, 1826) was an American [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]] and the third [[president of the United States]] from 1801 to 1809.<ref name="Morris19732">{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Richard B. |author-link=Richard B. Morris |url=https://archive.org/details/sevenwhoshapedou00morr/page/n15/mode/2up |title=Seven Who Shaped Our Destiny: The Founding Fathers as Revolutionaries |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1973 |isbn=978-0060904548 |page=1}}</ref> He was the primary author of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]. Jefferson was the nation's first [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. secretary of state]] under [[George Washington]] and then the nation's second [[vice president of the United States|vice president]] under [[John Adams]]. Jefferson was a leading proponent of democracy, [[Republicanism in the United States|republicanism]], and [[Natural law|natural rights]], and he produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels.

Jefferson was born into the [[Colony of Virginia]]'s [[planter class]], dependent on [[slavery in the colonial history of the United States|slave labor]]. During the [[American Revolution]], Jefferson represented Virginia in the [[Second Continental Congress]], which unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson's advocacy for [[Individual and group rights|individual rights]], including [[freedom of thought]], [[Freedom of speech|speech]], and [[Freedom of religion|religion]], helped shape the ideological foundations of the revolution. This inspired the [[Thirteen Colonies]] in their revolutionary fight for independence, which culminated in the establishment of the [[United States]] as a free and sovereign nation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bowers |first=Claude G. |date=January 1, 1953 |title=Jefferson and Civil Liberties |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1953/01/jefferson-and-civil-liberties/641107/ |access-date=February 4, 2025 |work=The Atlantic |language=en |issn=2151-9463}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neem |first=Johann N. |date=April 2, 2013 |title=Developing Freedom: Thomas Jefferson, the State, and Human Capability |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-american-political-development/article/abs/developing-freedom-thomas-jefferson-the-state-and-human-capability/DD0439C5E6CB7180F4A8C4A2B2CE001E |journal=Studies in American Political Development |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=36–50 |doi=10.1017/S0898588X13000023 |issn=0898-588X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Jefferson served as the second [[governor of Virginia|governor]] of [[Virginia in the American Revolution|revolutionary Virginia]] from 1779 to 1781. In 1785, [[Congress of the Confederation|Congress]] appointed Jefferson as [[List of ambassadors of the United States to France|U.S. Minister to France]], where he served from 1785 to 1789. President Washington then appointed Jefferson the nation's first secretary of state, where he served from 1790 to 1793. In 1792, Jefferson and political ally [[James Madison]] organized the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] to oppose the [[Federalist Party]] during the formation of the nation's [[First Party System]]. Jefferson and Federalist [[John Adams]] became both personal friends and political rivals. In the [[1796 United States presidential election|1796 U.S. presidential election]] between the two, Jefferson came in second, which made him Adams' vice president under the electoral laws of the time. Four years later, in the [[1800 United States presidential election|1800 presidential election]], Jefferson again challenged Adams and won the presidency. In [[1804 United States presidential election|1804]], Jefferson was reelected overwhelmingly to a second term, crushing his main opposition, the [[Federalist Party|Federalists]]' [[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]] of South Carolina.

[[Presidency of Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson's presidency]] assertively defended the nation's shipping and trade interests against [[Barbary corsairs|Barbary pirates]] and aggressive British trade policies, promoted a western expansionist policy with the [[Louisiana Purchase]], which doubled the nation's geographic size, and reduced military forces and expenditures following successful negotiations with [[Kingdom of France|France]]. In his second presidential term, Jefferson was beset by difficulties at home, including [[Burr conspiracy|the trial]] of his former vice president [[Aaron Burr]]. In 1807, Jefferson implemented the [[Embargo Act of 1807|Embargo Act]] to defend the nation's industries from British threats to U.S. shipping, limit foreign trade, and stimulate the birth of the [[Manufacturing in the United States|American manufacturing]].

Jefferson is [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States|ranked]] among the upper tier of U.S. presidents both by scholars and in public opinion. Presidential scholars and historians have praised Jefferson's advocacy of religious freedom and tolerance, his peaceful acquisition of the [[Louisiana Territory]] from France, and his leadership in supporting the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]]. They acknowledge his lifelong ownership of large numbers of slaves, but offer varying interpretations of his [[Thomas Jefferson and slavery|views on and relationship with slavery]].<ref name="Cogliano-2008">{{Cite book |last=Cogliano |first=Francis |title=Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy |publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0813927336 |pages=217–219 |chapter=Slavery}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
{{Main|Early life and career of Thomas Jefferson}}
[[File:ChristopherWrenBuilding.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Wren Building]] at the [[College of William & Mary]] in [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]], where Jefferson studied in 1761 and 1762]]
{{Thomas Jefferson series}}
Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743, [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]], [[Julian calendar]]), at the family's [[Shadwell, Virginia|Shadwell Plantation]] in the [[Colony of Virginia]], then one of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] of [[British America]]. He was the third of ten children.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 18.</ref> His father, [[Peter Jefferson]], was a planter and surveyor; his mother was [[Jane Randolph Jefferson|Jane Randolph]].{{efn|Jefferson personally showed little interest in his ancestry; on his father's side, he only knew of the existence of his grandfather.<ref name=Malone5>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 5–6.</ref><ref name=Brodie33>[[#Brodie|Brodie, 1974]], pp. 33–34.</ref> Malone writes that Jefferson vaguely knew that his grandfather "had a place on the Fluvanna River which he called [[Snowden Plantation|Snowden]] after a mountain in Wales near which the Jeffersons were supposed to have once lived".<ref name=Malone5/> See also [[Peter Jefferson#Ancestry]].}} Peter Jefferson moved his family to [[Tuckahoe (plantation)|Tuckahoe Plantation]] in 1745 following the death of [[William Randolph III (son of Thomas)|William Randolph III]], the plantation's owner and Jefferson's friend, who in his will had named Peter guardian of Randolph's children. The Jeffersons returned to Shadwell before October 1753.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kern|first=Susan A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Yl7PfOh6-0C&q=the+jefferson%27s+at+shawell|title=The Jefferson's at Shadwell|date=2010|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0195169119|oclc=51854624 }}{{page needed|date=December 2023}}</ref>

Jefferson began his education together with the [[Randolph family of Virginia|Randolph]] children at Tuckahoe under tutors.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 19.</ref> Thomas' father Peter, who was self-taught and regretted not having a formal education, entered Thomas into an English school at age five. In 1752, at age nine, he attended a local school run by a [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] minister and also began studying the natural world, which he grew to love. He studied [[Latin]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[French language|French]], and began learning to ride horses. Thomas read books from his father's modest library.<ref name=bowers12>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. 12–13.</ref> He was taught from 1758 to 1760 by the Reverend [[James Maury]] near [[Gordonsville, Virginia]], where he studied history, science, and the [[classics]] while boarding with Maury's family.<ref name=bowers12/><ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 7–9.</ref> Jefferson came to know various [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]], including [[Cherokee]] chief [[Ostenaco]], who often stopped at Shadwell to visit on their way to [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] to trade.<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], p. 13</ref><ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 36</ref> In Williamsburg, the young Jefferson met and came to admire [[Patrick Henry]].<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. 14–15</ref>

Thomas's father died in 1757, and his estate was divided between his sons, Thomas and [[Randolph Jefferson|Randolph]].<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 31–33.</ref> [[John Harvie Sr.]] became 14-year-old Thomas' guardian.<ref name="Woods">{{Cite book |last=Woods |first=Edgar |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x002672921&view=1up&seq=239&q1=Belmont |title=Albemarle County in Virginia |series=History of Albemarle County, Virginia |date=1901 |page=225|publisher=The Michie Company, printers}}</ref> Thomas inherited approximately {{cvt|5000|acre|sqmi km2|1|lk=off}}, which included the land on which he later built [[Monticello]] in 1772.<ref name=Malone437>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 437–440.</ref>

In 1761, at the age of eighteen, Jefferson entered the [[College of William & Mary]] in Williamsburg, where he studied mathematics and philosophy with [[William Small]]. Under Small's tutelage, Jefferson encountered the ideas of British [[Empiricism|empiricists]], including [[John Locke]], [[Francis Bacon]], and [[Isaac Newton]]. Small also introduced Jefferson to [[George Wythe]] and [[Francis Fauquier]]. Small, Wythe, and Fauquier recognized Jefferson as a man of exceptional ability and included him in their inner circle, where he became a regular member of their Friday dinner parties. Jefferson later wrote that, while there, he "heard more common good sense, more rational & philosophical conversations than in all the rest of my life".<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], p. 25; [[#boles|Boles, 2017]], p. 17</ref>

During his first year in college, Jefferson spent considerable time attending parties and dancing and was not very frugal with his expenditures; in his second year, regretting that he had squandered away time and money in his first year, he committed to studying fifteen hours a day.<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. 22–23; [[#boles|Boles, 2017]], p. 18</ref> While at William & Mary, Jefferson became a member of the [[Flat Hat Club]], the nation's oldest secret society, a small group whose members included St. George Tucker, Edmund Randolph, and James Innes.<ref>{{cite web|last=Millfeld |first=Becca |url=http://www.dogstreetjournal.com/story/2049 |title=Shhh! The Secret Side to the College's Lesser Known Societies |publisher=The DoG Street Journal |date=November 2, 2004 |access-date=November 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928112053/http://www.dogstreetjournal.com/story/2049 |archive-date=September 28, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=F. H. C Society (Flat Hat Club) | website=Special Collections Knowledgebase | date=1920-09-30 | url=https://scrc-kb.libraries.wm.edu/f-h-c-society-flat-hat-club | access-date=2025-11-05}}</ref>

Jefferson concluded his formal studies in April 1762.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Gaye |title=Jefferson's Formal Education |url=https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/jeffersons-formal-education/#fn-7 |website=Monticello |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=May 5, 2024}}</ref> He [[Reading law|read the law]] under Wythe's tutelage while working as a [[law clerk]] in his office.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 29, 39.</ref> Jefferson was well-read in a broad variety of subjects, including law, philosophy, history, natural law, natural religion, ethics,{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} and several areas of science, including astronomy<ref>{{Cite web |title=10 facts about Thomas Jefferson for his birthday {{!}} Constitution Center |url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/10-facts-about-thomas-jefferson-for-his-birthday |access-date=2025-09-25 |website=National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org |language=en}}</ref> and agriculture.

Jefferson kept two [[commonplace book]]s:  from about age 15 to 30, he compiled a book of sayings and quotations, published in the 20th century as ''Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Overview of Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691636078/jeffersons-literary-commonplace-book |website=Princeton University Press |date=April 19, 2016 |publisher=Princeton University |access-date=April 6, 2025}}</ref>  During his years of legal study under Wythe, Jefferson began recording his notes on law, history, and philosophy, and continued to do so until the end of his life; his ''Legal Commonplace Book'' was also published in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Overview of Jefferson's Legal Commonplace Book |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691187891/jeffersons-legal-commonplace-book |website=Princeton University Press |date=April 23, 2019 |publisher=Princeton University |access-date=April 6, 2025}}</ref>

On July 20, 1765, Jefferson's sister Martha married his close friend and college companion [[Dabney Carr (Virginia assemblyman)|Dabney Carr]], which greatly pleased Jefferson. In October of that year, however, Jefferson mourned his sister Jane's unexpected death at age 25.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 37</ref>

Jefferson treasured his books and amassed three sizable libraries in his lifetime. He began assembling his first library, which grew to 200 volumes, in his youth.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 42.</ref> Wythe was so impressed with Jefferson that he later bequeathed his entire library to him.<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. 32–34; [[#boles|Boles, 2017]], p. 19</ref> In 1770, however, Jefferson's first library was destroyed in a fire at his Shadwell home. His second library, which replenished the first, grew to nearly 6,500 volumes by 1814.<ref>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 43.</ref> Jefferson organized his books into three broad categories of the human mind: memory, reason, and imagination.<ref>Murray, S. (2009). ''The library: An illustrated history''. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 163.</ref> After [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] forces set the [[Library of Congress]] on fire in the [[Burning of Washington]] in 1814, Jefferson sold his second library to the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] for $23,950, hoping to help jumpstart the Library of Congress's rebuilding. Jefferson used a portion of the proceeds to pay off some of his large debt. Jefferson soon resumed collecting his third personal library. In a letter to [[John Adams]], Jefferson wrote, "I cannot live without books."<ref name=library>[[#Library|Library of Congress]]</ref><ref>[[#boles|Boles, 2017]], p. 458</ref> By the time of Jefferson's death a decade later, his third and final library had grown to nearly 2,000 volumes.<ref>{{cite news|last=Root|first=Daniel|title=I cannot live without books|publisher=UWIRE Text|date=October 12, 2015}}</ref>

==Career==
{{Main|Early life and career of Thomas Jefferson}}

===Lawyer and House of Burgesses===
{{Further|A Summary View of the Rights of British America}}
In 1767, Jefferson was granted admission to the Virginia bar, and lived with his mother at Shadwell.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 11, 49.</ref> Between 1769 and 1775, he represented [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle County]] in Virginia's [[House of Burgesses]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 40.</ref> While serving in the House of Burgesses, Jefferson pursued reforms to slavery, including writing and sponsoring legislation in 1769 to strip power from the royal governor and courts, instead providing masters of slaves with the discretion to emancipate them. Jefferson persuaded his cousin [[Richard Bland]] to spearhead the legislation's passage, but it faced strong opposition in a state whose economy was largely agrarian.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 47–49.</ref>

As a lawyer, Jefferson took on seven freedom-seeking enslaved people as clients<ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], p. 348.</ref> and waived his fee for one he claimed should be freed before the minimum statutory age for emancipation.<ref name=Gordon99>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], pp. 99–100.</ref> Jefferson invoked [[natural law]], arguing "everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will&nbsp;... This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance." The judge cut him off and ruled against his client. As a consolation, Jefferson gave his client some money, which was conceivably used to aid his escape shortly thereafter.<ref name=Gordon99/> Jefferson's underlying intellectual argument that all people were entitled by their creator to what he labeled a "natural right" to liberty is a theme that he later prominently incorporated into the Declaration of Independence.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 49.</ref> In 1767, Jefferson took on 68 cases for the General Court of Virginia and was counsel in three notable cases of that era, ''Howell v. Netherland'' (1770), ''Bolling v. Bolling'' (1771), and ''Blair v. Blair'' (1772).<ref name=Konig_Time_Line>[[#Konig1|Konig, David T., Encyclopedia Virginia]]</ref>

In 1774, Jefferson authored a resolution calling for a boycott of all British goods in protest of the [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament]]'s passing of the [[Intolerable Acts]]. Jefferson's resolution was later expanded into ''[[A Summary View of the Rights of British America]]'', published that year in which he argued that people have the right to [[Self-governing colony|govern themselves]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 71–73.</ref>

===Monticello, marriage, and family===
{{Further|Martha Jefferson|Monticello}}
[[File:Monticello 2010-10-29.jpg|thumb|alt=Monticello plantation house|[[Monticello]], Jefferson's home near [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]]]
In 1768, Jefferson began constructing his primary residence, [[Monticello]] near present-day [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]. Its [[Italian language|Italian]] name means "Little Mountain" in English. Monticello is located on a hilltop overlooking his {{convert|5000|acre|km2 mi2|adj=on}} plantation.{{efn|His other properties included [[Shadwell (Virginia)|Shadwell]], [[Tufton Farm|Tufton]], Lego, Pantops, and his retreat, [[Poplar Forest]]. He also owned the unimproved mountaintop Montalto, and the Natural Bridge.<ref>[[#Bear|Bear, 1967]], p. 51.</ref>}} He spent most of his adult life designing Monticello as an architect and was quoted as saying, "Architecture is my delight, and putting up, and pulling down, one of my favorite amusements."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/a-day-in-the-life-of-jefferson/a-delightful-recreation/building-monticello/|title=Building Monticello|access-date=April 21, 2020}}</ref> Construction was done mostly by local masons and carpenters, assisted by Jefferson's slaves.<ref>[[#TJFSlaveBuilders|TJF: Monticello (House) FAQ – "Who built the house?"]]</ref> He moved into the South Pavilion in 1770. Turning Monticello into a [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] masterpiece in the [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style became Jefferson's lifelong project.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], pp. 142–144.</ref>

On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married his third cousin,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vintag.es/2017/05/they-did-what-15-famous-people-who.html|title=They Did What? 15 Famous People Who Actually Married Their Cousins|access-date=August 24, 2019}}</ref> [[Martha Jefferson|Martha Wayles Skelton]], a 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton.<ref name="Tucker p.47">[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 47.</ref><ref>[[#Roberts93|Roberts, 1993]]</ref> She was a frequent hostess for Jefferson, and managed the large household. Historian [[Dumas Malone]] described the marriage as the happiest period of Jefferson's life.<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], p. 53.</ref> Martha was a skilled pianist; Jefferson often accompanied her on the violin or cello.<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 47, 158.</ref> During their ten-year marriage, Martha bore six children: [[Martha Jefferson Randolph|Martha]] "Patsy" (1772–1836); Jane Randolph (1774–1775); an unnamed son who lived for only a few weeks in 1777; [[Mary Jefferson Eppes|Mary]] "Polly" (1778–1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781); and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1784).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/lucy-jefferson-1782-1784|title=Lucy Jefferson (1782–1784)|website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello|access-date=February 17, 2020}}</ref>{{efn|While the news from Francis Eppes, with whom Lucy was staying, did not reach Jefferson until 1785, in an undated letter,<ref>{{cite web |title=To Thomas Jefferson from Francis Eppes [14 October 1784] |via=Founders Online, National Archives |access-date=September 29, 2019 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-07-02-0342 |work=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 7, March 2, 1784 – February 25, 1785 |editor-first=Julian P. |editor-last=Boyd |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1953 |pages=441–442}}</ref> it is clear that the year of her death was 1784 from another letter to Jefferson from  James Currie dated November 20, 1784.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Thomas Jefferson from James Currie, 20 November 1784 |via=Founders Online, National Archives |access-date=September 29, 2019 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-07-02-0388 |work=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 7, March 2, 1784 – February 25, 1785 |editor-first=Julian P. |editor-last=Boyd |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1953 |pages=538–539}}</ref>}} Only Martha and Mary survived to adulthood.<ref name="Martha">[[#Skelton|White House Archives]]</ref> Martha's father, John Wayles, died in 1773, and the couple inherited 135 enslaved people, {{cvt|11000|acre|km2 mi2|lk=off}}, and the estate's debts. The debts took Jefferson years to satisfy, contributing to his financial problems.<ref name="Tucker p.47"/>

Martha later suffered from ill health, including [[diabetes]], and frequent childbirth weakened her. A few months after the birth of her last child, she died on September 6, 1782, with Jefferson at her bedside. Shortly before her death, Martha made Jefferson promise never to marry again, telling him that she could not bear to have another mother raise her children.<ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], p. 145; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 53.</ref> Jefferson was grief-stricken by her death, relentlessly pacing back and forth for roughly three weeks, and finally emerging to take long rambling rides on secluded roads with his daughter, Martha, who said she was "a solitary witness to many a violent burst of grief".<ref name="Martha"/><ref name="Halliday48">[[#Halliday09|Halliday, 2009]], pp. 48–53.</ref>

==Revolutionary War==
===Declaration of Independence===
{{Main|United States Declaration of Independence}}
[[File:United States Declaration of Independence.jpg|thumb|The [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], which Jefferson largely wrote in isolation between June 11 and 28, 1776, from a floor he was renting in a home at 700 [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]] in [[Center City, Philadelphia|Center City Philadelphia]],<ref name="nps.gov">[https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/independence-dechousehistory.htm "The Declaration House Through Time"], National Park Service</ref> contain "the most potent and consequential words in American history," historian [[Joseph Ellis]] later wrote.]]

Jefferson was the primary author of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], p. v</ref> At age 33, he was one of the youngest delegates to the [[Second Continental Congress]], which convened in the colonial capital of [[Philadelphia]] following the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]], which launched the [[American Revolutionary War]] in 1775. Delegates to the Congress overwhelmingly favored authoring, ratifying, and issuing a formal declaration of independence from Britain.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 77.</ref> Jefferson was inspired by the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] ideals of the sanctity of the individual, and the writings of [[John Locke|Locke]] and [[Montesquieu]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 103–104.</ref>

Jefferson sought out [[John Adams]], a Continental Congress delegate from [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] and an emerging leader in the Congress.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], p. 87.</ref> They became close friends, and Adams supported Jefferson's appointment to the [[Committee of Five]], which the Congress charged with authoring the Declaration: Adams, Jefferson, [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[Robert R. Livingston]], and [[Roger Sherman]]. The committee initially thought that Adams should write the document, but Adams persuaded the committee to choose Jefferson due to Jefferson being a Virginian, popular, and a good writer by Adams.{{efn|Adams recorded his exchange with Jefferson on the question. Jefferson asked, "Why will you not? You ought to do it." To which Adams responded, "I will not—reasons enough." Jefferson replied, "What can be your reasons?" and Adams responded, "Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can." "Well," said Jefferson, "if you are decided, I will do as well as I can." Adams concluded, "Very well. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting."<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 102.</ref>}}

Jefferson consulted with his fellow committee members, but mostly wrote the Declaration of Independence in isolation between June 11 and 28, 1776.<ref name="nps.gov"/> Jefferson drew considerably on his proposed draft of the [[Constitution of Virginia|Virginia Constitution]], [[George Mason]]'s draft of the [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]], and other sources.<ref>[[#Maier|Maier, 1997]], p. 104.</ref> Other committee members made some changes, and a final draft was presented to Congress on June 28, 1776.<ref name="Meacham, 2012, p. 105">[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 105.</ref> Congress began debate over its contents on Monday, July 1,<ref name="Meacham, 2012, p. 105"/> resulting in the removal of roughly a fourth of Jefferson's original draft.<ref>[[David K. Shipler|Shipler, David K.]], ''[https://shiplerreport.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-paragraph-missing-from-declaration.html The Paragraph Missing From The Declaration of Independence]'', The Shipler Report, July 4, 2020</ref><ref name="Ellis, 1996, p. 50">[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 50.</ref> Jefferson resented the changes, but he did not speak publicly about them.{{efn|Franklin, seated beside the author, observed him "writhing a little under the acrimonious criticisms on some of its parts".<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], p. 90.</ref>}} On July 4, 1776, the Congress voted unanimously to ratify the Declaration, and delegates signed it on August 2. Jefferson and the other delegates knew they were committing [[High treason in the United Kingdom|high treason]] against [[the Crown]], which was punishable by [[Hanged, drawn and quartered|torture and death]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 110.</ref>

Following its ratification, the Declaration was released publicly. Two days after its ratification, on July 6, ''[[The Pennsylvania Evening Post]]'', was the first newspaper to publish it. On July 8 at noon, it was read publicly and simultaneously for the first time at three designated locations: [[Trenton, New Jersey]]; [[Easton, Pennsylvania]]; and Philadelphia.<ref>[https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=86216 "The Declaration of Independence in Easton"], Historical Marker Datatbase</ref>

Contemporary historians generally view the Declaration of Independence as one of the most significant and influential written documents in world history, and Jefferson's preamble is regarded as an enduring statement on [[Individual and group rights|individual]] and [[human rights]]. Jefferson's phrase "[[all men are created equal]]" has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language". [[Harvard University]] history chairman [[David Armitage (historian)|David Armitage]] has written that, "No American document has had a greater global impact than the Declaration of Independence",<ref>[https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/declaration-independence-global-perspective "The Declaration of Independence in Global Perspective"], [[Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History]]</ref> and historian [[Joseph Ellis]] has written that the Declaration includes "the most potent and consequential words in American history".<ref name="Ellis, 1996, p. 50"/><ref>[[#Ellis2008|Ellis, 2008]], pp. 55–56.</ref>

===Virginia state legislator and governor===
[[File: The Governor's Palace -- Williamsburg (VA) September 2012.jpg|thumb|alt=Governor's Palace|[[Governor's Palace (Williamsburg, Virginia)|Governor's Palace]], Jefferson's residence in [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] during his term as Virginia's governor from 1779 to 1781]]
At the start of the American Revolution, [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] Jefferson was named commander of the [[Albemarle County, Virginia|Albemarle County]] Militia on September 26, 1775.<ref>[[#Brodie|Brodie, 1974]], p. 112.</ref> He was then elected to the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] for Albemarle County in September 1776, when finalizing the state constitution was a priority.<ref name="Peterson pp. 101">[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 101–102, 114, 140.</ref><ref name=Fer26>[[#Ferling04|Ferling, 2004]], p. 26.</ref> For nearly three years, Jefferson assisted with the constitution and was especially proud of his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, which prohibited state support of religious institutions or enforcement of religious doctrine.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 102; [[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 42.</ref> The bill failed to pass, as did his legislation to disestablish the [[Anglican Church]], but both were later revived by [[James Madison]].<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 134, 142; [[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 68–69.</ref>

In 1778, Jefferson was given the task of revising the state's laws. He drafted 126 bills in three years, including laws to streamline the judicial system. He proposed statutes that provided for general education, which he considered the basis of "republican government".<ref name="Peterson pp. 101"/> Jefferson also was concerned that Virginia's powerful landed gentry were becoming a hereditary aristocracy and took the lead in abolishing what he called "feudal and unnatural distinctions".<ref name = Brewer>{{cite journal | last1 = Brewer | first1 = Holly | year = 1997 | title = Entailing Aristocracy in Colonial Virginia: 'Ancient Feudal Restraints' and Revolutionary Reform | journal = William and Mary Quarterly | volume = 54 | issue = 2| pages = 307–346 | jstor=2953276 | doi=10.2307/2953276|issn=0043-5597 }}</ref> He targeted laws such as [[entail]] and [[primogeniture]] by which a deceased landowner's oldest son was vested with all land ownership and power.<ref name = Brewer/>{{efn|The [[Fee tail|entail]] laws made it perpetual: the one who inherited the land could not sell it, but had to bequeath it to his oldest son. As a result, increasingly large plantations, worked by white tenant farmers and by black slaves, gained in size, wealth, and political power in the eastern ("[[Tidewater (region)|Tidewater]]") tobacco areas.<ref name = Brewer/> During the Revolutionary era, all such laws were repealed by the states that had them.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 1113540|title = Primogeniture and Entailed Estates in America|journal = Columbia Law Review|volume = 27|issue = 1|pages = 24–51|last1 = Morris|first1 = Richard B.|year = 1927|doi = 10.2307/1113540}}</ref>}}

Jefferson was elected [[Governor of Virginia|governor]] for one-year terms in 1779 and 1780.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 134.</ref> He transferred the state capital from Williamsburg to [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], and introduced additional measures for public education, religious freedom, and inheritance.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 137.</ref>

During General [[Benedict Arnold]]'s 1781 [[Raid on Richmond|invasion of Virginia]], Jefferson escaped Richmond just ahead of the British forces, which razed the city.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 234–238.</ref><ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 66; [[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], pp. 136–137; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 133–135.</ref> He sent emergency dispatches to Colonel [[Sampson Mathews]] and other commanders in an attempt to repel Arnold's efforts.<ref>{{cite web |title=From Thomas Jefferson to Sampson Mathews, 12 January 1781 |via=Founders Online, National Archives |access-date=July 10, 2019|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-04-02-0417 |work=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 4, October 1, 1780 – February 24, 1781 |editor-first=Julian P. |editor-last=Boyd |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1951 |page=343}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Bryan|first= Charles|date= October 25, 2014|title= Richmond's Benedict Arnold |url= https://www.richmond.com/richmond-s-benedict-arnold/article_2b881762-185f-57c3-919c-548d7a8061e1.html |work= Richmond Times Dispatch |access-date= July 11, 2019 }}</ref> When the British occupied [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], Jefferson had caused patriots to burn and destroy it in 1776.<ref>{{cite news | last=Kranish | first=Michael | title=Thomas Jefferson said Norfolk must be destroyed — and records reveal the Patriots burned much of it themselves | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=2025-11-02 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/thomas-jefferson-battle-norfolk-burning/ | access-date=2025-11-05}}</ref> [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|General Charles Cornwallis]] that spring dispatched a cavalry force led by [[Banastre Tarleton]] to capture Jefferson and members of the Assembly at Monticello, but [[Jack Jouett]] of the [[Virginia militia]] thwarted the British plan.{{efn|Anthony M. Hance, writing in ''Tarleton's Fox Hunt'', quotes a letter from a Bradley S. Johnson that claims an unnamed girl did the ride. "When Tarleton got to 'Castle Hill,' about twenty miles from Charlottesville, its owner, Colonel Rives, ... detained him with a Virginia break¬ fast — ... while his daughter rode at speed to warn Jefferson and the other rebels."<ref>{{cite book |last=Hance |first=Anthony M. |date= 1910|title=Tarleton's Fox Hunt |url=https://archive.org/details/tarletonsfoxhunt00hanc/mode/1up |location= |publisher= <!-- not stated -->|access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref>  but at the time [[Castle Hill (Virginia)|Castle Hill]] was not owned by a Colonel Rives but was instead owned by its builder Thomas Walker, though the house did later pass on by inheritance into the Rives family.<ref>{{cite web |title=Castle Hill |url=https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/002-0012/ |publisher=[[Virginia Department of Historic Resources]] |access-date=July 10, 2025 |date=November 16, 1971 |quote=Here in 1781 Walker's wife delayed the British colonel Banastre Tarleton to give the patriot Jack Jouett time to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislators of Tarleton's plan to capture them. The stately brick portion, an example of Jeffersonian classicism by master builder John M. Perry, was erected in 1823-24 for William Cabell Rives, minister to France, U.S. senator, and Confederate congressman. Columned conservatories were added in 1844 by William B. Phillips. Rives's granddaughter Amelie, ...}}</ref>}} Jefferson escaped to [[Poplar Forest]], his plantation to the west.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 157.</ref> When the General Assembly reconvened in June 1781, it conducted an inquiry into Jefferson's actions which eventually concluded that Jefferson had acted with honor, but Jefferson was not reelected.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 140–142.</ref>

In April of the same year, his daughter Lucy died at age one. A second daughter of that name was born the following year, but she died at age two.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 263.</ref>

In 1782, Jefferson refused a partnership offer by North Carolina Governor [[Abner Nash]], in a profiteering scheme involving the sale of confiscated Loyalist lands.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Founders and the Pursuit of Land |url= https://lehrmaninstitute.org/history/founders-land.html|publisher=The Lehrman Institute|ref=The Founders and the Pursuit of Land |access-date=March 25, 2022}}</ref> Unlike some Founders, Jefferson was content with his Monticello estate and the land he owned in the vicinity of Virginia's [[Shenandoah Valley]]. Jefferson thought of Monticello as an intellectual gathering place for [[James Madison]], [[James Monroe]], and other friends.<ref>[[#The Founders and the Pursuit of Land|The Founders and the Pursuit of Land]]</ref>

===''Notes on the State of Virginia''===
{{Main|Notes on the State of Virginia}}

In 1780, Jefferson received a letter of inquiry from French diplomat [[François Barbé-Marbois]] into the geography, history, and government of Virginia, as part of a study of the United States. Jefferson organized his responses in a book, ''Notes on the State of Virginia'' (1785).<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, pp. 165–166.</ref> The book explores what constitutes a good society, using Virginia as an exemplar. Jefferson included extensive data about the state's natural resources and economy and wrote at length about slavery and [[miscegenation]]; he articulated his belief that blacks and whites could not live together as free people in one society because of justified resentments of the enslaved.<ref>[[#Jeff Notes|Notes on the State of Virginia]], p. 149; [[#Burstein2006|Burstein, 2006]], p. 146.</ref> He also wrote of his views on the American Indians, equating them to European settlers.<ref>[[#Jeff Notes|''Notes on the State of Virginia'', 1853, Query XI]]</ref><ref>[[#TJFEnlightenment|TJF: Thomas Jefferson's Enlightenment and American Indians]]</ref>

''Notes'' was first published in 1785 in [[French (language)|French]] and appeared in English in 1787.<ref>[[#Bernstein2004|Bernstein, 2004]], p. 78.</ref> Biographer [[George Tucker (author)|George Tucker]] considered the work "surprising in the extent of the information which a single individual had been thus far able to acquire, as to the physical features of the state";<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 166.</ref> [[University of Virginia]] historian [[Merrill D. Peterson]] described it as an accomplishment for which all Americans should be grateful.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], ch. 5.</ref>

==Member of Congress==
{{Further|Congress of the Confederation}}
[[File:Independence Hall Assembly Room.jpg|thumb|alt=Legislative chamber|The Assembly Room at [[Independence Hall]] in [[Philadelphia]], where Jefferson served as a delegate to the [[Second Continental Congress]] and where the Congress edited but unanimously ratified his draft of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776]]

Jefferson was appointed a Virginia delegate to the [[Congress of the Confederation]] organized following the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|peace treaty]] with Great Britain in 1783. He was a member of the committee setting foreign exchange rates and [[Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States|recommended]] an American currency based on the decimal system that was adopted.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, pp. 172–173.</ref> He advised the formation of the [[Committee of the States]] to fill the power vacuum when Congress was in recess.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], p. 275.</ref> The committee met when Congress adjourned, but disagreements rendered it dysfunctional.<ref>[[#Rayner34|Rayner, 1834]], p. 207.</ref>

Jefferson sent a letter (revealed in 2025) to Virginia Governor [[Benjamin Harrison V|Benjamin Harrison]], dated December 31, 1783, in which he relates the wave of enthusiasm of Europeans for taking up arms against their leaders. Jefferson was sharing the affirmation of his own promotion of the right to bear arms that brought about the American Revolution. The letter also conveys Jefferson's anxiety over the final ratification of the Treaty of Paris formally ending the revolutionary war. Signed initially by the parties in September, the still-outstanding consent of two colonies was required in London (then a two-month journey) by the following March. The deadline was ultimately but barely met, with the required signatures made in mid-January.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://apple.news/AQ2qQe9ahRsWw1iS9PtdROg|title=Lost Jefferson letter on arms and democracy resurfaces for Fourth of July sale|work=The Guardian|last=Luscombe|first=Richard|access-date=July 4, 2025}}</ref>

In the Congress's 1783–1784 session, Jefferson acted as chairman of committees to establish a viable system of government for the new Republic and to propose a policy for settlement of the western territories. He was the principal author of the [[Land Ordinance of 1784]], whereby Virginia ceded to the national government the vast area that it claimed northwest of the [[Ohio River]]. He insisted that this territory should not be used as colonial territory by any of the thirteen states, but that it should be divided into sections that could become states. He plotted borders for nine new states in their initial stages and wrote an ordinance banning slavery in all the nation's territories. Congress made extensive revisions and rejected the ban on slavery.<ref name=Peretson189>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]], pp. 189–190.</ref><ref>[[#Finkelman1989|Finkelman, 1989]], pp. 21–51.</ref> The provisions banning slavery, known as the "Jefferson Proviso", were modified and implemented three years later in the [[Northwest Ordinance]] of 1787 and became the law for the entire [[Northwest Territory]].<ref name=Peretson189/>

==Minister to France==
[[File:Grille De Chaillot.jpg|thumb|A 1779 engraving of [[Champs-Élysées]] seen through the Grille de Chaillot with Jefferson's residence in Paris on the left]]
On May 7, 1784, Jefferson was appointed by the [[Congress of the Confederation]]{{efn|the immediate successor to the [[Second Continental Congress]]}} to join [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[John Adams]] in Paris as Minister [[Plenipotentiary]] for Negotiating Treaties of Amity and Commerce with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and other countries.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 286.</ref>{{efn|These included [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Denmark–Norway|Denmark]], [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]], Hamburg, [[History of Spain (1700-1810)|Spain]], [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Sardinia]], [[Papal States|The Papal States]], [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany|Tuscany]], the [[Sublime Porte]], [[Morocco]], [[Algeria|Algiers]], [[Tunisia|Tunis]], and [[Kingdom of Tripoli|Tripoli]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Enclosure I: Commission for Negotiating Treaties of Amity and Commerce, 16 May 1784 |via=Founders Online, National Archives |access-date=June 13, 2018 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-07-02-0214 |work=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 7, March 2, 1784 – February 25, 1785 |editor-first=Julian P. |editor-last=Boyd |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1953 |pages=262–265}}</ref>}} With his young daughter Patsy and two servants, he departed in July 1784, arriving in Paris the next month.<ref name=Stewart39>[[#Stewart97|Stewart, 1997]], p. 39.</ref><ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 180.</ref> Jefferson had Patsy educated at [[Pentemont Abbey]]. Less than a year later, he was assigned the additional duty of succeeding Franklin as Minister to France. French foreign minister [[Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes|Count de Vergennes]] commented, "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear." Jefferson replied, "I succeed. No man can replace him."<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], p. 330.</ref> During his five years in Paris, Jefferson played a leading role in shaping [[Foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]].<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. vii–viii</ref>

In 1786, he met and fell in love with [[Maria Cosway]], a married 27-year-old Italian-English musician. She returned to Great Britain after six weeks, but she and Jefferson maintained a lifelong correspondence.<ref>[[#TJFMariaCosway|TJF: Maria Cosway (Engraving)]]</ref> During the summer of 1786, Jefferson arrived in London to meet with John Adams, who was then serving as the nation's first [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom|US Ambassador to Britain]]. Adams had official access to [[George III]] and arranged a meeting between Jefferson and the king. Jefferson later described the king's reception of the men as "ungracious". According to Adams's grandson, George III turned his back on both in a gesture of public insult. Jefferson returned to France in August.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Meeting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and George III|url=https://engagement.virginia.edu/learn/2019/07/11/the-meeting-of-thomas-jefferson-john-adams-and-george-iii|date=July 7, 2019|website=engagement.virginia.edu|access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Mather Brown - Thomas Jefferson - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|1786 portrait by [[Mather Brown]]]]
Jefferson sent for his youngest surviving child, nine-year-old Polly, in June 1787. She was accompanied by a young slave from Monticello, [[Sally Hemings]]. Jefferson had taken her older brother, [[James Hemings]], to Paris as part of his domestic staff and had him trained in French cuisine.<ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], pp. 156, 164–168.</ref> According to Sally's son, [[Madison Hemings]], 16-year-old Sally and Jefferson began a sexual relationship in Paris, where she became pregnant.<ref name="madisonstatement">{{cite web|title=Memoirs of Madison Hemings|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873march.html |work=Frontline|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service – WGBH Boston|access-date=November 29, 2011}}</ref> The son indicated Hemings agreed to return to the United States only after Jefferson promised to free her children when they came of age.<ref name="madisonstatement"/>

While in France, Jefferson became a regular companion of the [[Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]], a [[France in the American Revolutionary War|French hero of the American Revolution]], and Jefferson used his influence with Lafayette to procure trade agreements with France.<ref name=Bowers328>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], p. 328.</ref><ref name=Burstein120>[[#Burstein10|Burstein, 2010]], p. 120.</ref> As the [[French Revolution]] began, Jefferson agreed to allow his Paris residence at [[Hôtel de Langeac]] to be used for meetings by Lafayette and other revolutionary leaders. He was in Paris during the [[storming of the Bastille]] on July 14, 1789, and he consulted with Lafayette as Lafayette drafted the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 222–223.</ref> Jefferson often found his mail opened by postmasters, so he invented his own enciphering device, the "[[Jefferson disk|Wheel Cipher]]"; he wrote important communications in code for the rest of his career.<ref>[[#TJFCode|TJF: Coded Messages]]</ref>{{efn|An example can be seen at the [https://www.loc.gov/item/mjm012583/ Library of Congress website].}} Unable to attend the 1787 Constitution Convention, Jefferson supported the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] but desired the addition of the promised Bill of Rights.<ref>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson (2002), pp. 40–41]]</ref> Jefferson left Paris for America in September 1789.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], pp. 116–117.</ref> He remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution while opposing its more violent elements.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 110; [[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 179–181.</ref>

==Secretary of State==
{{See also|First Party System|Relationship of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson}}
[[File:T Jefferson by Charles Willson Peale 1791 2.jpg|thumb|alt=Thomas Jefferson|A 48-year-old Jefferson in 1791, in a portrait by [[Charles Willson Peale]]]]

Soon after returning from France, Jefferson accepted President Washington's invitation to serve as [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 334.</ref> Pressing issues at the time, the national debt and where the new national capital should be placed following its planned relocation from [[Philadelphia]] in 1800, placed him at odds with [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Alexander Hamilton]], who favored a capital close to major commercial centers in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]], while Washington, Jefferson, and other agrarians wanted it further south.<ref name="Cooke, 1970, pp. 523–45">[[#Cooke|Cooke, 1970]], pp. 523–545.</ref> After lengthy deadlock, the [[Compromise of 1790]] was struck, permanently locating the capital on the [[Potomac River]], and the federal government assumed the war debts of all original [[Thirteen Colonies|13 states]].<ref name="Cooke, 1970, pp. 523–45"/>

Jefferson opposed a national debt, preferring that each state retire its own, which contrasted with Hamilton's vision of the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] consolidating state debts<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, pp. 364–369.</ref> and establishing national credit and a national bank. Jefferson strenuously opposed both policies and attempted to undermine Hamilton's agenda, which nearly led Washington to dismiss him from the [[Cabinet of the United States|cabinet]]. He later left the cabinet voluntarily.<ref>[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 427.</ref>

Jefferson's goals were to decrease American dependence on British commerce and to expand commercial trade with France. He sought to weaken [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish colonialism]] of the [[Trans-Appalachia]] and British control in the North, believing this would aid in the pacification of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].<ref>[[#Petterson2002|Peterson (2002), pp.40–41]]</ref>

Along with political protegé [[James Madison]], then a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]], and author [[Philip Freneau]], Jefferson co-founded the ''[[National Gazette]]'' in Philadelphia in 1791, which sought to counter the policies of the [[Federalist Party]], which Hamilton was promoting through the ''[[Gazette of the United States]]'', an influential Federalist newspaper. The ''National Gazette'' criticized the policies promoted by Hamilton, often in anonymous essays signed by the pen name ''Brutus'' at Jefferson's urging and written by Madison.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 96.</ref> In Spring 1791, Jefferson was suffering from [[migraine]]s and tiring of the in-fighting with Hamilton, and he and Madison departed for a vacation in [[Vermont]].<ref name=Randall_1996_p1>[[#Randall 1996|Randall (1996)]], p. 1.</ref>

In May 1792, Jefferson's concern about emerging political rivalries in the young nation was escalating, and he wrote Washington, imploring him to run for reelection for a second term [[1792 United States presidential election|that year]] as a unifying influence.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 429.</ref> He urged the president to rally the citizenry to a party that would defend democracy against the corrupting influence of banks and financial-focused interests, which the Federalists were embracing and espousing. Historians recognize Jefferson's letter to Washington as one of the first delineations of [[Democratic-Republican Party]] principles.<ref>[[#Greider2010|Greider, 2010]], p. 246.</ref> Jefferson, Madison, and other Democratic-Republican organizers favored [[states' rights]] and local control and opposed the federal concentration of power. Hamilton, conversely, sought more power vested in the federal government.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 145–149.</ref>

Jefferson supported France against Britain when the two nations fought in 1793, though his arguments in Washington's Cabinet were undercut by French Revolutionary envoy [[Edmond-Charles Genêt]]'s open scorn for Washington.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 186–188.</ref> In discussions with British Minister [[George Hammond (diplomat)|George Hammond]], Jefferson tried in vain to persuade the British to vacate their posts in the Northwest and to compensate the U.S. for enslaved people freed by the British at the end of the Revolutionary War. Jefferson also sought to return to private life, and resigned from the cabinet in December 1793; he may also have wanted to bolster his political influence from outside the administration.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 523; [[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 119; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 283–284.</ref>

After the [[Presidency of George Washington|Washington administration]] negotiated the [[Jay Treaty]] with Britain in 1794, Jefferson saw a cause around which he could rally the Democratic-Republican Party. He organized national opposition to the treaty from Monticello.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 293–294.</ref> The treaty, designed by Hamilton, aimed to reduce tensions and increase trade. Jefferson warned that it would increase British influence and subvert republicanism, calling it "the boldest act [Hamilton and Jay] ever ventured on to undermine the government".<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], ch.8 [e-book].</ref> The Treaty passed, but it expired in 1805 during Jefferson's presidential administration, and then President Jefferson did not renew it. Jefferson continued his pro-France stance; during the violence of the [[Reign of Terror]], he declined to disavow the revolution. "To back away from France would be to undermine the cause of republicanism in America", he wrote.<ref>[[#Yarbrough2006|Yarbrough, 2006]], p. xx.</ref>

==Election of 1796 and vice presidency==
{{main|Vice presidency of Thomas Jefferson}}

{{further|1796 United States presidential election|Democratic-Republican Party}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1796.svg|thumb|alt=Electoral College map|The results of the [[1796 United States presidential election|1796 U.S. presidential election]] between Adams and Jefferson, won by Adams]]

In the [[1796 United States presidential election|presidential campaign of 1796]], Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Federalist [[John Adams]] 71–68. He did, however, receive the second-highest number of votes and, under the electoral laws at the time, was elected as vice president. As presiding officer of the [[United States Senate]], Jefferson assumed a more passive role than his predecessor, John Adams. He allowed the Senate to freely conduct debates and confined his participation to procedural issues, which he called an "honorable and easy" role.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 305.</ref> Jefferson previously studied parliamentary law and procedure for 40 years, making him qualified to serve as presiding officer. In 1800, he published his assembled notes on Senate procedure as ''[[Jefferson's Manual|A Manual of Parliamentary Practice]]''.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 117–118.</ref> He cast only three [[List of tie-breaking votes cast by the vice president of the United States|tie-breaking votes]] in the Senate.

In four confidential talks with French consul Joseph Létombe in the spring of 1797, Jefferson attacked Adams, predicting that his rival would only serve one term. He also encouraged France to invade England, and advised Létombe to stall any American envoys sent to Paris.<ref>[[#Elkins1994|Elkins, 1994]], p. 566.</ref> This toughened the tone that the French government adopted toward the [[Presidency of John Adams|Adams administration]]. After Adams's initial peace envoys were rebuffed, Jefferson and his supporters lobbied for the release of papers related to the incident, called the [[XYZ Affair]] after the letters used to disguise the identities of the French officials involved.<ref>[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 550.</ref> But the tactic backfired when it was revealed that French officials had demanded bribes, rallying public support against France. The U.S. began an undeclared naval war with France known as the [[Quasi-War]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 312.</ref>

During the Adams presidency, the Federalists rebuilt the military, levied new taxes, and enacted the [[Alien and Sedition Acts]]. Jefferson believed these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered them unconstitutional.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 54.</ref> To rally opposition, he and James Madison anonymously wrote the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]], asserting that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 269–271.</ref> The resolutions followed the "[[interposition]]" approach of Madison, that states may shield their citizens from federal laws that they deem unconstitutional. Jefferson advocated [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|nullification]], allowing states to entirely invalidate federal laws.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 318.</ref>{{efn|Jefferson's Kentucky draft said: "where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact, (casus non fœderis) to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits."<ref>[[#UCP|Thomas Jefferson, Resolutions Relative to the Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798]]</ref>}} He warned that, "unless arrested at the threshold", the Alien and Sedition Acts would "drive these states into revolution and blood".<ref>[[#Onuf2000|Onuf, 2000]], p. 73.</ref>

Biographer [[Ron Chernow]] contends that "the theoretical damage of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions was deep and lasting, and was a recipe for disunion", and contributed to the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]] and later events.<ref>[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 574.</ref> Washington was so appalled by the resolutions that he told [[Patrick Henry]] that, if "systematically and pertinaciously pursued", the resolutions would "dissolve the union or produce coercion".<ref name="Chernow587">[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 587.</ref> Jefferson had always admired Washington's leadership skills but felt that his Federalist party was leading the country in the wrong direction. He decided not to attend Washington's funeral in 1799 because of acute differences with him while serving as secretary of state.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 323.</ref>

===Election of 1800===
{{Main|1800 United States presidential election}}

[[File:ElectoralCollege1800.svg|thumb|alt=Electoral College map|The results of the [[1800 United States presidential election|1800 presidential election]] between [[John Adams|Adams]] and Jefferson, which Jefferson won, making him the nation's third [[President of the United States|president]]]]

Jefferson ran for president against [[John Adams]] again in [[1800 United States presidential election|1800]]. Adams' campaign was weakened by unpopular taxes and vicious Federalist infighting over his actions in the Quasi-War.<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], p. 556; [[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 126–128.</ref> Democratic-Republicans pointed to the Alien and Sedition Acts and accused the Federalists of being secret pro-Britain monarchists. Federalists, in turn, charged that Jefferson was a godless libertine beholden to the French.<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], pp. 543–544.</ref> [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] history professor [[Joyce Appleby]] described the 1800 presidential election as "one of the most acrimonious in the annals of American history".<ref>[[#Appleby|Appleby, 2003]], pp. 27–28.</ref>

The Democratic-Republicans ultimately won more electoral college votes, due in part to the electors that resulted from the addition of three-fifths of the South's slaves to the population calculation under the [[Three-Fifths Compromise]].<ref>[https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n10/eric-foner/the-corrupt-bargain The Corrupt Bargain], Eric Foner, The London Review of Books, Vol. 42 No. 10, May 21, 2020, accessed November 3, 2020</ref> Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate [[Aaron Burr]] unexpectedly received an equal total. Because of the tie, the election was decided by the Federalist-dominated [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 75; [[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 278.</ref>{{efn|This electoral process problem was addressed by the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] in 1804, which provided separate votes for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.<ref name=W284/>}} Hamilton lobbied Federalist representatives on Jefferson's behalf, believing him a lesser political evil than Burr. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson president and Burr vice president.<ref name=W284/>

The win led to Democratic-Republican celebrations throughout the country.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 340–341.</ref> Some of Jefferson's opponents argued that he owed his victory to the South's inflated number of electors.<ref>[[#Ferling04|Ferling, 2004]], p. 208.</ref> Others alleged that Jefferson secured [[James A. Bayard (elder)|James Asheton Bayard]]'s tie-breaking electoral vote by promising to retain various Federalist posts in the government.<ref name=W284>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 284–285.</ref> Jefferson disputed the allegation, and the historical record is inconclusive.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 337–338.</ref>

The transition proceeded smoothly, marking a watershed in American history. Historian [[Gordon S. Wood]] writes that, "it was one of the first popular elections in modern history that resulted in the [[peaceful transition of power|peaceful transfer of power]] from one 'party' to another."<ref name=W284/>

==Presidency (1801–1809)==
{{Main|Presidency of Thomas Jefferson}}

[[File:Reproduction-of-the-1805-Rembrandt-Peale-painting-of-Thomas-Jefferson-New-York-Historical-Society 1.jpg|thumb|''Thomas Jefferson'', an 1805 portrait by [[Rembrandt Peale]]]]
Jefferson was [[First inauguration of Thomas Jefferson|sworn in as president]] by [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[John Marshall]] at the new [[United States Capitol|Capitol]] in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 1801. His inauguration was not attended by outgoing President Adams. In contrast to his two predecessors, Jefferson exhibited a dislike of formal etiquette. Plainly dressed, he chose to walk alongside friends to the Capitol from his nearby boardinghouse instead of arriving by carriage.<ref>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson (2002), p. 39]]</ref> His inaugural address struck a note of reconciliation and commitment to democratic ideology, declaring, "We have been called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists."<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 348–350.</ref><ref name=Peterson41/> Ideologically, he stressed "equal and exact justice to all men", minority rights, and freedom of speech, religion, and press.<ref name=Peterson_2002_p40>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], p. 40.</ref> He said that a free and republican government was "the strongest government on earth".<ref name=Peterson_2002_p40/> He nominated moderate Republicans to his cabinet: James Madison as secretary of state, [[Henry Dearborn]] as secretary of war, [[Levi Lincoln Sr.|Levi Lincoln]] as attorney general, and [[Robert Smith (Cabinet member)|Robert Smith]] as secretary of the navy.<ref name=Peterson41/>

Widowed since 1782, Jefferson first relied on his two daughters to serve as his official hostesses.{{sfn|Hendricks|2015|pp=21–22}} In late May 1801, he asked [[Dolley Madison]], wife of his long-time friend James Madison, to be the permanent White House hostess. She was also in charge of the completion of the White House mansion. Dolley served as White House hostess for the rest of Jefferson's two terms and then for another eight years as First Lady while her husband was president.{{sfn|Hendricks|2015|pp=21–22}}

===Financial affairs===
[[File:Albert Gallatin (by Gilbert Stuart).jpg|thumb|[[Albert Gallatin]], Jefferson's [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury Secretary]], depicted in a portrait by [[Gilbert Stuart]]]]

Jefferson's first challenge as president was shrinking the $83&nbsp;million national debt.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 352</ref> He began dismantling Hamilton's Federalist fiscal system with help from the secretary of the treasury, Albert Gallatin.<ref name=Peterson41>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], p. 41.</ref> Gallatin devised a plan to eliminate the national debt in sixteen years by extensive annual appropriations and reduction in taxes.<ref name="Peterson pp. 43-44">[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], pp. 43–44.</ref> The administration eliminated the whiskey excise and other taxes after closing "unnecessary offices" and cutting "useless establishments and expenses".<ref name="Wood, 2010, p. 293">[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 293.</ref><ref>[[#Bailey2007|Bailey, 2007]], p. 216.</ref>

Jefferson believed that the [[First Bank of the United States]] represented a "most deadly hostility" to republican government.<ref name="Peterson pp. 43-44"/> He wanted to dismantle the bank before its charter expired in 1811, but was dissuaded by Gallatin.<ref>[[#Wills02|Wills, 2002]], pp. 50–51.</ref> Gallatin argued that the national bank was a useful financial institution and set out to expand its operations.<ref name="Peterson p. 44">[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], p. 44.</ref> Jefferson looked to other corners to address the growing national debt.<ref name="Peterson p. 44"/> He shrank the Navy, for example, deeming it unnecessary in peacetime, and incorporated a fleet of inexpensive gunboats intended only for local defense to avoid provocation against foreign powers.<ref name="Wood, 2010, p. 293"/> After two terms, he had lowered the national debt from $83&nbsp;million to $57&nbsp;million.<ref name=Meacham387>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 387.</ref>

===Domestic affairs===
Jefferson pardoned several of those imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 357.</ref> Congressional Republicans repealed the [[Midnight Judges Act|Judiciary Act of 1801]], which removed nearly all of Adams's "midnight judges". A subsequent appointment battle led to the Supreme Court's landmark decision in ''[[Marbury v. Madison]]'', asserting judicial review over executive branch actions.<ref name="Meacham, 2012, p. 413">[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 375.</ref> Jefferson appointed three [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court justices]]: [[William Johnson (judge)|William Johnson]] (1804), [[Henry Brockholst Livingston]] (1807), and [[Thomas Todd]] (1807).<ref>[[#Urofsky|Urofsky, 2006]], p. viii.</ref>

Jefferson strongly felt the need for a national military university, producing an officer engineering corps for a national defense based on the advancement of the sciences, rather than having to rely on foreign sources.<ref>[[#Scythes1|Scythes, 2014]], pp. 693–694.</ref> He signed the [[Military Peace Establishment Act]] on March 16, 1802, founding the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]]. The act documented a new set of laws and limits for the military. Jefferson was also hoping to bring reform to the Executive branch, replacing Federalists and active opponents throughout the officer corps to promote Republican values.<ref>[[#Scythes1|Scythes, 2014]], pp. 422–423.</ref>

Jefferson took great interest in the [[Library of Congress]], which had been established in 1800. He often recommended books to acquire. In 1802, Congress authorized Jefferson to name the first Librarian of Congress, and formed a committee to establish library regulations. Congress also granted both the president and vice president the right to use the library.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Library: An Illustrated History|last=Murray|first=Stuart|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-0838909911|page=[https://archive.org/details/libraryillustrat0000murr/page/156 156]|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryillustrat0000murr/page/156}}</ref>

===Foreign affairs (1801–1805)===

====First Barbary War====
{{Main|First Barbary War}}

[[File:1800 map Afrique by Arrowsmith BPL 15210 detail2.jpg|thumb|alt=Map. Barbary Coast of North Africa 1806|The [[Barbary Coast]] of [[North Africa]] in 1806, including (left to right): [[Morocco]], [[Gibraltar]], [[Tunis]], and [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]]]

American merchant ships had been protected from [[Barbary Coast]] pirates by the [[Royal Navy]] when the states were British colonies.<ref>[[#Fremont-Barnes|Fremont-Barnes, 2006]], p. 32.</ref> After independence, however, pirates often captured U.S. merchant ships, pillaged cargoes, and enslaved or held crew members for ransom. Jefferson had opposed paying tribute to the Barbary States since 1785. In 1801, he authorized a U.S. Navy fleet under Commodore [[Richard Dale]] to make a show of force in the Mediterranean, the first American naval squadron to cross the Atlantic.<ref name="Meacham pp. 364">[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 364–365.</ref> Following the fleet's first engagement, he successfully asked Congress for a declaration of war.<ref name="Meacham pp. 364"/> The "First Barbary War" was the first foreign war fought by the U.S.<ref>[[#CITEREFHerring2008|Herring, 2008]], p. 97.</ref>

[[Pasha]] of [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] [[Yusuf Karamanli]] captured the {{USS|Philadelphia|1799|6}}, so Jefferson authorized [[William Eaton (soldier)|William Eaton]], the U.S. Consul to [[Tunis]], to lead a force to restore the pasha's older brother to the throne.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 638.</ref> The American navy forced Tunis and Algiers into breaking their alliance with Tripoli. Jefferson ordered five separate naval bombardments of Tripoli, leading the pasha to sign a treaty that restored peace in the Mediterranean.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 146.</ref> This victory proved only temporary, but according to Wood, "many Americans celebrated it as a vindication of their policy of spreading free trade around the world and as a great victory for liberty over tyranny."<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 639.</ref>

====Louisiana Purchase====
{{Main|Louisiana Purchase}}

[[File:Louisiana Purchase.png|thumb|The 1803 [[Louisiana Purchase]], completed during [[Presidency of Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson's presidency]], added {{convert|827987|lk=in|mi2|abbr=off}}, which doubled the geographic size of the United States.]]

Spain [[Third Treaty of San Ildefonso|ceded ownership]] of the Louisiana territory in 1800 to France. Jefferson was concerned that [[Napoleon]]'s interests in the vast territory would threaten the security of the continent and [[Mississippi River]] shipping. He wrote that the cession "works most sorely on the U.S. It completely reverses all the political relations of the U.S."<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 383–384.</ref> In 1802, he instructed [[James Monroe]] and [[Robert R. Livingston (chancellor)|Robert R. Livingston]] to negotiate the purchase of [[New Orleans]] and adjacent coastal areas.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 368.</ref> In early 1803, Jefferson offered Napoleon nearly $10&nbsp;million for {{convert|40000|mi2|abbr=off}} of tropical territory.<ref name=Freehling2005>[[#Freehling05|Freehling, 2005]], p. 69.</ref>

Napoleon realized that French military control was impractical over such a vast remote territory, and he was in dire need of funds for his [[Napoleonic Wars|wars on the home front]]. In early April 1803, he unexpectedly made negotiators a counter-offer to sell {{convert|827987|mi2|abbr=off}} of French territory for $15&nbsp;million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=15000000|start_year=1803}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}), doubling the size of the United States.<ref name=Freehling2005/> U.S. negotiators accepted the offer and signed the treaty on April 30, 1803.<ref name="Meacham387"/> Word of the unexpected purchase did not reach Jefferson until July 3, 1803.<ref name="Meacham387"/> He unknowingly acquired the most fertile tract of land of its size on Earth, making the new country self-sufficient in food and other resources. The sale also significantly curtailed European presence in North America, removing obstacles to U.S. [[Territorial evolution of the United States|westward expansion]].<ref name=Ellis208>[[#Ellis2008|Ellis, 2008]], pp. 207–208.</ref>

Most thought that this was an exceptional opportunity, despite Republican reservations about the Constitutional authority of the federal government to acquire land.<ref name="The Rise of American Democracy">[[#Wilentz|Wilentz, 2005]], p. 108.</ref> Jefferson initially thought that a Constitutional [[History of the United States Constitution#Senate changes|amendment]] was necessary to purchase and govern the new territory; but he later changed his mind, fearing that this would give cause to oppose the purchase, and urged a speedy debate and ratification.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 389–390.</ref> On October 20, 1803, the Senate ratified the purchase treaty by a vote of 24–7.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, pp. 152–154.</ref> Jefferson personally was humble about acquiring the Louisiana Territory, but he resented complainers who called the vast domain a "howling wilderness".<ref>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson (2002), p. 47]]</ref>

After the purchase, Jefferson preserved the region's Spanish legal code and instituted a gradual approach to integrating settlers into American democracy. He believed that a period of the federal rule would be necessary while Louisianans adjusted to their new nation.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], p. 777; [[#Ellis2008|Ellis, 2008]], p. 230; [[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 372.</ref>{{efn|Louisiana nevertheless gained statehood nine years later in 1812.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 373.</ref>}} Historians have differed in their assessments regarding the constitutional implications of the sale,<ref>[[#Ellis2008|Ellis, 2008]], pp. 231–232.</ref> but they typically hail the Louisiana acquisition as a major accomplishment. [[Frederick Jackson Turner]] called the purchase the most formative event in American history.<ref name="Ellis208"/>

===Expeditions===
{{Main|Lewis and Clark Expedition|Dunbar and Hunter Expedition|Red River Expedition (1806)|Pike Expedition}}

[[File:Lewis and clark-expedition.jpg|thumb|alt=Corps of Discover on river boat October 1805|''Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia'', a 1905 portrait by [[Charles Marion Russell]] depicting [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis and Clark's expedition]] on the [[Columbia River]] during Jefferson's presidency]]

Jefferson anticipated further westward settlements due to the Louisiana Purchase and arranged for the exploration and mapping of the uncharted territory. He sought to establish a U.S. claim ahead of competing European interests and to find the rumored [[Northwest Passage]].<ref name="Ambrose76">[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]], pp. 76, 418.</ref> Jefferson and others were influenced by exploration accounts of [[Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz|Le Page du Pratz]] in Louisiana (1763) and [[James Cook]] in the Pacific (1784),<ref>[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]], p. 154.</ref> and they persuaded Congress in 1804 to fund an expedition to explore and [[:File:Lewis and Clark Expidition Map.jpg|map]] the newly acquired territory to the Pacific Ocean.<ref>[[#Rodriguez|Rodriguez, 2002]], pp. xxiv, 162, 185.</ref>

Jefferson appointed secretary [[Meriwether Lewis]] and acquaintance [[William Clark]] to lead the [[Corps of Discovery]] (1803–1806).<ref>[[#Rodriguez|Rodriguez, 2002]], pp. 112, 186.</ref> In the months leading up to the expedition, Jefferson tutored Lewis in the sciences of mapping, botany, natural history, mineralogy, and astronomy and navigation, giving him unlimited access to his library at Monticello, which included the largest collection of books in the world on the subject of the geography and natural history of the North American continent, along with an impressive collection of maps.<ref>[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]], pp. 54, 80.</ref> The expedition [[Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition|lasted from May 1804 to September 1806]] and obtained a wealth of scientific and geographic knowledge, including knowledge of many Indian tribes.<ref>[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]], pp. 154, 409, 512.</ref>

Jefferson organized three other western expeditions: the [[Dunbar and Hunter Expedition|William Dunbar and George Hunter Expedition]] on the [[Ouachita River]] (1804–1805), the [[Red River Expedition (1806)|Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis Expedition]] (1806) on the [[Red River of the South|Red River]], and the [[Pike Expedition|Zebulon Pike Expedition]] (1806–1807) into the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. All three produced valuable information about the American frontier.<ref>[[#Berry|Berry, 2006]], p. xi.</ref> This interest also motivated Jefferson to meet the Prussian explorer [[Alexander von Humboldt]] several times in June 1804, inquiring into Humboldt's knowledge of New Spain's natural resources, economic prospects, and demographic development.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Daum | first=Andreas W.|author-link=Andreas Daum | year=2024 | title=Alexander von Humboldt: A Concise Biography | location=Trans. Robert Savage. Princeton, N.J. | publisher=Princeton University Press |page=80 | isbn=978-0691247366 }}</ref>

===Native American affairs===
{{Main|Thomas Jefferson and Native Americans}}

[[File:Black Hoof.jpg|thumb|left|[[Black Hoof]], leader of the [[Shawnee]], accepted Jefferson's Indian assimilation policies.]]

Jefferson refuted the contemporary notion that Indians were inferior and maintained that they were equal in body and mind to people of European descent,<ref>[[#TJF:Indians|TJF: American Indians]]</ref> although he believed them to be inferior in terms of culture and technology.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/thomas-jeffersons-enlightenment-and-american-indians|title=Thomas Jefferson's Enlightenment and American Indians|publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation|access-date=July 10, 2024}}/</ref> As governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, Jefferson recommended moving the [[Cherokee]] and [[Shawnee]] tribes, who had allied with the British, to west of the Mississippi River. But when he took office as president, he quickly took measures to avert another major conflict, as American and Indian societies were in collision and the British were inciting Indian tribes from Canada.<ref name="Miller2008">[[#Miller08|Miller, 2008]], p. 90.</ref><ref name=Sheehan1974>[[#Sheehan74|Sheehan, 1974]], pp. 120–121.</ref> In Georgia, he stipulated that the state would release its legal claims for lands to its west in exchange for military support in expelling the Cherokee from Georgia. This facilitated his policy of western expansion, to "advance compactly as we multiply".<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], ch. 9.</ref>

In keeping with his [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thinking, President Jefferson adopted an assimilation policy toward American Indians known as his "civilization program" which included securing peaceful U.S.–Indian treaty alliances and encouraging agriculture. Jefferson advocated that Indian tribes should make federal purchases by credit holding their lands as collateral. Various tribes accepted Jefferson's policies, including the Shawnees led by [[Black Hoof]], the [[Muscogee]], and the Cherokee. However, some Shawnees, led by [[Tecumseh]], broke off from Black Hoof, and opposed Jefferson's assimilation policies.<ref>[[#TJFIndian Nations|TJF: President Jefferson and the Indian Nations]]</ref>

Historian Bernard Sheehan argues that Jefferson believed that assimilation was best for American Indians, and next-best was removal to the west; he felt that the worst outcome of the conflict would be their attacking the whites.<ref name=Sheehan1974/> Jefferson told [[United States Secretary of War|U.S. Secretary of War]] [[Henry Dearborn]], who then oversaw Indian affairs, "If we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe, we will never lay it down until that tribe is exterminated or driven beyond the Mississippi."<ref>[[#morals|The Life and Writings of Thomas Jefferson]], pp. 265–266.</ref> Miller agrees that Jefferson believed that Indians should assimilate to American customs and agriculture. Historians such as [[Peter S. Onuf]] and Merrill D. Peterson argue that Jefferson's actual Indian policies did little to promote assimilation and were a pretext to seize lands.<ref>[[#Miller08|Miller, 2008]], p. 94.</ref>

===Re-election in 1804 and second term===
{{further|1804 United States presidential election}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1804.svg|thumb|alt=Electoral College map|Results from the [[1804 United States presidential election|1804 U.S. presidential election]] in which Jefferson was reelected overwhelmingly to a second term as president]]

Jefferson was nominated for reelection by the Democratic-Republican Party, with [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] replacing Burr as his running mate.<ref name=Meacham405>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 405–406.</ref> The Federalist Party ran [[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]] of South Carolina, John Adams's vice presidential candidate in the 1800 election. The Jefferson-Clinton ticket won overwhelmingly in the electoral college vote, by 162 to 14, promoting their achievement of a strong economy, lower taxes, and the Louisiana Purchase.<ref name=Meacham405/>

In March 1806, a split developed in the Democratic-Republican Party, led by fellow Virginian and former Republican ally [[John Randolph of Roanoke|John Randolph]], who viciously accused President Jefferson on the floor of the House of moving too far in the Federalist direction, permanently setting Randolph apart [[Tertium quids|politically]] from Jefferson. Jefferson and Madison backed resolutions to limit or ban British imports in retaliation for British seizures of American shipping. Also, in 1808, Jefferson was the first president to propose a broad federal plan to build roads and canals across several states, asking for $20&nbsp;million, further alarming Randolph and believers of limited government.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 415–417.</ref>

Jefferson's popularity suffered further in his second term as a result of his response to wars in Europe. Relations with Britain deteriorated, due partly to the antipathy between Jefferson and British diplomat [[Anthony Merry]]. After [[Napoleon]]'s decisive victory at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] in 1805, Napoleon became more aggressive in his negotiations with Jefferson and the U.S. over trading rights, which the U.S. proved unsuccessful in countering. Jefferson then led the enactment of the [[Embargo Act of 1807]], directed at both France and Britain, which triggered economic chaos in the U.S. and was strongly criticized, leading Jefferson to abandon the policy a year later.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, pp. 291–294.</ref>

During the American Revolution, colonial states abolished the international slave trade, but [[South Carolina]] reopened it. In his annual message of December 1806, Jefferson denounced the international slave trade as "violations of human rights" and called on the new Congress to immediately criminalize it. The following year, in 1807, Congress passed the [[Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves]], which Jefferson signed.<ref>[[#Miller80|Miller, 1980]], pp. 145–146.</ref><ref name="Randal583">[[#Randall|Randall, 1994]], p. 583.</ref> The act established severe punishment against the international slave trade, although it did not address the issue domestically.<ref>[[#Kaplan|Kaplan, 1999]], p. 407.</ref>

In [[Haiti]], Jefferson's neutrality allowed arms to flow to the slave independence movement during the [[Haitian Revolution]], and Jefferson blocked attempts to assist Napoleon, who was defeated militarily in Haiti in 1803.<ref name=jstorhaiti>[[#JeffHaiti|Jefferson, Haiti ''The Journal of Southern History'' 61, no. 2 (May 1995)]], p. 221.</ref> But Jefferson's administration refused official recognition of Haiti during his second term, in deference to southern complaints about racial violence against slave holders. Recognition was not extended to Haiti until 1862.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 146–147.</ref>

===Controversies===

====Burr conspiracy and trial====
{{Further|Burr–Hamilton duel|Burr conspiracy}}
[[File:John Vanderlyn - Official Portrait of Vice President Aaron Burr.jpg|thumb|An 1802 portrait of [[Aaron Burr]] by [[John Vanderlyn]]]]
Following the 1801 electoral deadlock, Jefferson's relationship with his vice president, [[Aaron Burr]], rapidly eroded. Jefferson suspected Burr of seeking the presidency for himself, while Burr was angered by Jefferson's refusal to appoint some of his supporters to federal office. Burr was dropped from the Democratic-Republican ticket in 1804 in favor of charismatic [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]].

The same year, Burr was soundly defeated in his bid to be elected [[Governor of New York|New York governor]]. During the campaign, [[Alexander Hamilton]] made publicly callous remarks regarding Burr's moral character.<ref name=Chernow04_p714>[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 714.</ref> [[Burr–Hamilton duel|Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel]], held on July 11, 1804. In the duel, Burr mortally wounded Hamilton, who died the following day. Burr was subsequently indicted for Hamilton's murder, causing him to flee to [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], even though he remained president of the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] during Supreme Court Justice [[Samuel Chase]]'s [[Impeachment of Samuel Chase|impeachment trial]].<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 385–386.</ref> Both indictments quietly died and Burr was not prosecuted.{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=34}}

In August 1804, Burr contacted British Minister [[Anthony Merry]] offering to cede U.S. western territory in return for money and British ships.<ref name="The Burr Conspiracy 2000">[[#TBC 2000|The Burr Conspiracy (2000)]]</ref> After leaving office in April 1805, Burr traveled west and conspired with Louisiana Territory governor [[James Wilkinson]], beginning a large-scale recruitment for a military expedition.<ref name=Peterson_2002_p50>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], p. 50.</ref> Burr discussed seizing control of Mexico or Spanish Florida, or forming a secessionist state in New Orleans or the Western U.S.; historians remain unclear as to his true goal.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 385–386; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 420, 422.</ref>{{efn|Further complicating matters, Wilkinson was posthumously revealed to have been in the simultaneous pay of the British, French, and Spanish.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 161–162.</ref>}} In the fall of 1806, Burr launched a military flotilla carrying about 60 men down the [[Ohio River]]. Wilkinson renounced the plot and reported Burr's expedition to Jefferson, who ordered Burr's arrest.<ref name=Peterson_2002_p50/><ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 420.</ref>{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=37}} On February 13, 1807, Burr was captured in Louisiana and sent to Virginia to be tried for treason.<ref name="The Burr Conspiracy 2000"/>
Burr's 1807 conspiracy trial became a national issue.<ref>[[#Appleby|Appleby, 2003]], p. 100; [[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 162.</ref> Jefferson attempted to preemptively influence the verdict by telling Congress that Burr's guilt was "beyond question", but the case came before his longtime political foe, and distant cousin, [[John Marshall]], who dismissed the treason charge. Burr's legal team subpoenaed Jefferson, but Jefferson refused to testify, making the first argument for [[executive privilege]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Marshall, the Great Chief Justice |url=https://law.wm.edu/about/ourhistory/John%20Marshall,%20the%20Great%20Chief%20Justice.php |access-date=April 9, 2025 |website=William & Mary Law School |language=en}}</ref> Instead, Jefferson provided relevant legal documents.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 163–164; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 422–423.</ref> After a three-month trial, the jury found Burr not guilty, while Jefferson denounced his acquittal.{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=37}}<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 165.</ref>{{efn|Burr then left for Europe and eventually returned to practicing law.}}<ref>[[#Appleby|Appleby, 2003]], p. 101.</ref> Jefferson subsequently removed Wilkinson as territorial governor but retained him in the U.S. military. Historian James N. Banner criticized Jefferson for continuing to trust Wilkinson, a "faithless plotter".{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=37}}

====Wilkinson's misconduct====
Commanding General [[James Wilkinson]] was a holdover of the Washington and Adams administrations. In 1804, Wilkinson received 12,000 pesos from the Spanish for information on American boundary plans.{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=35}} Wilkinson also received advances on his salary and payments on claims submitted to Secretary of War [[Henry Dearborn]]. This damaging information apparently was unknown to Jefferson. In 1805, Jefferson trusted Wilkinson and appointed him Louisiana Territory governor, admiring Wilkinson's work ethic.

In January 1806, Jefferson received information from Kentucky U.S. Attorney Joseph Davies that Wilkinson was on the Spanish payroll. Jefferson took no action against Wilkinson, since there was not then significant evidence against him.{{sfn|Banner|1974|pp=35–36}} An investigation by the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] in December 1807 exonerated Wilkinson.{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=36}} In 1808, a military court looked into the allegations against Wilkinson but also found a lack of evidence. Jefferson retained Wilkinson in the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]].{{sfn|Banner|1974|pp=36–37}} Evidence found in Spanish archives in the 20th century proved Wilkinson was on the Spanish payroll.{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=35}}

===Foreign affairs (1805–1809)===

====Attempted annexation of Florida====
In the aftermath of the [[Louisiana Purchase]], Jefferson attempted to annex [[Spanish West Florida|West Florida]] from Spain. In his annual message to Congress, on December 3, 1805, Jefferson railed against Spain over Florida border depredations.{{sfn|Banner|1974|pp=37–38}}<ref name=Peterson2002p49>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], p. 49.</ref> A few days later Jefferson secretly requested a two-million-dollar expenditure to purchase Florida. Floor leader [[John Randolph of Roanoke|John Randolph]] opposed annexation, was upset over Jefferson's secrecy on the matter, and believed the money would end up going to Napoleon.<ref name=Peterson2002p49/>{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=38}} The Two Million Dollar bill passed only after Jefferson successfully maneuvered to replace Randolph with [[Barnabas Bidwell]] as floor leader.<ref name=Peterson2002p49/>{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=38}} This aroused suspicion of Jefferson and charges of undue executive influence over Congress. Jefferson signed the bill into law in February 1806. Six weeks later the law was made public. The two million dollars was to be given to France as payment, in turn, to put pressure on Spain to permit the annexation of Florida by the United States. France, however, refused the offer and Florida remained under Spanish control.{{sfn|Banner|1974|pp=38–39}}<ref name=Peterson2002p49/> The failed venture damaged Jefferson's reputation among his supporters.{{sfn|Banner|1974|p=39}}<ref name=Peterson2002p49/>

====''Chesapeake''–''Leopard'' affair====
{{Main|Chesapeake–Leopard affair}}

[[File:Leopardchesapeake.jpg|thumb|An illustration of [[HMS Leopard|HMS ''Leopard'']] (right) firing on the [[USS Chesapeake|USS ''Chesapeake'']] in June 1807]]

Starting in 1806, the Royal Navy began stopping American merchantmen to search for deserters from the British navy; approximately 6,000 sailors were impressed  into the Royal Navy this way, leading to deep anger and resentment among the U.S. public. In 1806, Jefferson issued a call for a boycott of British goods; on April 18, Congress passed the Non-Importation Acts, but they were never enforced. Later that year, Jefferson asked James Monroe and [[William Pinkney]] to negotiate an end to foreign interference with American merchant shipping, though relations with Britain showed no signs of improving. The [[Monroe–Pinkney Treaty]] was finalized but lacked any provisions regarding the issue of impressment, and Jefferson refused to submit it to the Senate for ratification.<ref name=Hayes505>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2008]], pp. 504–505.</ref>

The British warship {{HMS|Leopard|1790|6}} [[Chesapeake–Leopard affair|encountered]] the {{USS|Chesapeake|1799|6}} off the Virginia coast in June 1807; ''Leopard'' fired at ''Chesapeake'' after the latter refused to allow for a search for deserters before removing four deserters from the ship.<ref name=embargo>[[#TJFEmbargo|TJF: Embargo of 1807]]</ref> Jefferson issued a proclamation banning British warships from U.S. waters. He presumed unilateral authority to call on the states to prepare 100,000 militia and ordered the purchase of arms, ammunition, and supplies, writing, "The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation [than strict observance of written laws]". The {{USS|Revenge|1806|6}} was dispatched to demand an explanation from the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]], and Jefferson called for a special session of Congress in October to enact an embargo or alternatively to consider war.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 425–429.</ref>

====Embargo (1807–1809)====
{{further|Embargo Act of 1807}}
[[File:Ograbme.jpg|thumb|alt=A turtle biting a man carrying a barrel to a waiting ship|An 1807 political cartoon on the [[Embargo Act of 1807|Embargo Act]], depicting merchants dodging the "Ograbme", which is "Embargo" spelled backward]]

In December 1807, news arrived that Napoleon had extended the [[Berlin Decree]], globally banning British imports. The Royal Navy, meanwhile continued to impress sailors from American merchant ships. However, Congress had no appetite to prepare the U.S. for war; Jefferson asked for and received the Embargo Act, an alternative that allowed the U.S. more time to build up defensive works, militias, and naval forces. Meacham argued that the [[Embargo Act of 1807|Embargo Act]] was a projection of power that surpassed the Alien and Sedition Acts, and R. B. Bernstein said that Jefferson "was pursuing policies resembling those he had cited in 1776 as grounds for independence and revolution".<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 168; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 430.</ref>

In November 1807, Jefferson, for several days, met with his cabinet to discuss the deteriorating foreign situation.<ref>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson, 2002]], pp. 52–53</ref> Secretary of State James Madison supported the embargo,<ref>[[#Burstein10|Burstein, 2010]], pp. 497–498.</ref> while Treasury Secretary Gallatin opposed it, due to its indefinite time frame and the risk to the policy of American neutrality.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 430.</ref> The U.S. economy suffered, criticism grew, and opponents began evading the embargo. Instead of retreating, Jefferson sent federal agents to secretly track down smugglers and violators.<ref>[[#Tucker90|Tucker, 1990]], v. 1, pp. 204–209, 232.</ref> Three acts were passed in Congress during 1807 and 1808, called the ''Supplementary'', the ''Additional'', and the ''Enforcement'' acts.<ref name=embargo/> The government could not prevent American vessels from trading with the European belligerents once they had left American ports, although the embargo triggered a devastating decline in exports.<ref name=embargo/>

In December 1807, Jefferson announced his intention not to seek a third term. He turned his attention increasingly to Monticello during the last year of his presidency, giving Madison and Gallatin almost total control of affairs.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 238; [[#Appleby|Appleby, 2003]], pp. 128–129.</ref> Shortly before leaving office in March 1809, Jefferson signed the repeal of the Embargo. In its place, the [[Non-Intercourse Act (1809)|Non-Intercourse Act]] was passed, but it proved no more effective.<ref name=embargo/> The day before Madison was inaugurated as his successor, Jefferson said that he felt like "a prisoner, released from his chains".<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 238.</ref>

===Cabinet===
{{Infobox U.S. Cabinet
|align=left
|Name=Jefferson
|President=Thomas Jefferson
|President start=1801
|President end=1809
|Vice President=[[Aaron Burr]]
|Vice President start=1801
|Vice President end=1805
|Vice President 2=[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]
|Vice President start 2=1805
|Vice President end 2=1809
|State=[[James Madison]]
|State start=1801
|State end=1809
|Treasury=[[Samuel Dexter]]
|Treasury date=1801
|Treasury 2=[[Albert Gallatin]]
|Treasury start 2=1801
|Treasury end 2=1809
|War=[[Henry Dearborn]]
|War start=1801
|War end=1809
|Justice=[[Levi Lincoln Sr.]]
|Justice start=1801
|Justice end=1805
|Justice 2=[[John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General)|John Breckinridge]]
|Justice start 2=1805
|Justice end 2=1806
|Justice 3=[[Caesar Augustus Rodney]]
|Justice start 3=1807
|Justice end 3=1809
|Navy=[[Benjamin Stoddert]]
|Navy date=1801
|Navy 2=[[Robert Smith (Cabinet member)|Robert Smith]]
|Navy start 2=1801
|Navy end 2=1809
}}
{{clear}}

==Post-presidency (1809–1826)==
{{further|Thomas Jefferson and education}}

After his presidency, Jefferson remained influential and continued to correspond with many of the country's leaders (including his two protégées, Madison and Monroe, who succeeded him as president); the [[Monroe Doctrine]] strongly resembles solicited advice that Jefferson gave to Monroe in 1823.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 481–482.</ref><ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 232; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 463–465.</ref>

===University of Virginia===
{{Main|University of Virginia}}

[[File:Lawn UVa Rotunda Pavilions II and IV.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Virginia]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]], which Jefferson founded in January 1819]]

Jefferson envisioned a university free of church influences where students could specialize in new areas not offered at other colleges. He believed that education engendered a stable society, which should provide publicly funded schools accessible based solely on ability.<ref>[[#UVALibrary|U Va. Library]]</ref> He initially proposed his university in a letter to [[Joseph Priestley]] in 1800<ref>[[#Adams88|Adams, 1888]], p. 48.</ref> and, in 1819, founded the [[University of Virginia]]. He organized the state legislative campaign for its charter and, with the assistance of [[Edmund Bacon (1785–1866)|Edmund Bacon]], purchased the location. He was the principal designer of the buildings, planned the university's curriculum, and served as the first rector upon its opening in 1825.<ref name="Peterson 1970 ch11">[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], ch. 11 [e-book].</ref>

Jefferson was a strong disciple of Greek and Roman architectural styles, which he believed to be most representative of American democracy. Each academic unit, called a pavilion, was designed with a two-story temple front, while the library "Rotunda" was modeled on the [[Pantheon, Rome|Roman Pantheon]]. Jefferson referred to the university's grounds as the "[[The Lawn|Academical Village]]", and he reflected his educational ideas in its layout. The ten pavilions included classrooms and faculty residences; they formed a quadrangle and were connected by colonnades, behind which stood the student rooms. Gardens and vegetable plots were placed behind the pavilions and were surrounded by [[Crinkle crankle wall|serpentine walls]], affirming the importance of the agrarian lifestyle.<ref>[[#Hogan87|Hogan, 1987]], pp. 28–29.</ref> The university had a library rather than a church at its center, emphasizing its secular nature—controversial at the time.<ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], p. 649.</ref>

When Jefferson died in 1826, James Madison replaced him as rector.<ref>[[#TJFMadison|TJF: James Madison]]</ref> Jefferson bequeathed most of his reconstructed library of almost 2,000 volumes to the university.<ref>[[#Crawford2008|Crawford, 2008]], p. 235.</ref> Only one other ex-president has founded a university; [[Millard Fillmore]] founded the [[University at Buffalo]] in 1846.<ref>{{cite web |title=Millard Fillmore |url=https://www.buffalo.edu/news/key-issues/Millard-Fillmore.html |website=University Of Buffalo |access-date=November 24, 2022}}</ref>

===Reconciliation with Adams===
[[File:Gilbert Stuart, Abigail Smith Adams (Mrs. John Adams), 1800-1815, NGA 42934.jpg|thumb|In 1804, [[Abigail Adams]], wife and confidant of [[John Adams]], was one of several people who intervened in an attempt to reconcile differences between Jefferson and John Adams. Jefferson and Adams ultimately reconciled, established a lengthy correspondence and renewed friendship, which historian [[David McCullough]] has called "one of the most extraordinary correspondences in American history." On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson and Adams died within hours of each other, which then U.S. president [[John Quincy Adams]] called "visible and palpable remarks of Divine Favor."]]
Jefferson and [[John Adams]] became good friends in the first decades of their political careers, serving together in the Continental Congress in the 1770s and in Europe in the 1780s. The Federalist/Republican split of the 1790s divided them, however, and Adams felt betrayed by Jefferson's sponsorship of partisan attacks, such as those of James Callender. Jefferson was angered by Adams' appointment of "midnight judges".<ref name=Freeman2008>[[#Freeman1|Freeman, 2008]], p.  12.</ref> The two men did not communicate directly for more than a decade after Jefferson succeeded Adams as president.<ref>[[#Ellis03|Ellis, 2003]], pp. 207, 209.</ref> A brief correspondence took place between [[Abigail Adams]] and Jefferson after Jefferson's daughter Polly died in 1804, in an attempt at reconciliation unknown to Adams. However, an exchange of letters resumed open hostilities between Adams and Jefferson.<ref name=Freeman2008/>

As early as 1809, [[Benjamin Rush]] began to prod the two through correspondence to re-establish contact.<ref name=Freeman2008/> In 1812, Adams wrote a short New Year's greeting to Jefferson, prompted earlier by Rush, to which Jefferson warmly responded. This initial correspondence began what historian [[David McCullough]] calls "one of the most extraordinary correspondences in American history".<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], pp. 603–605.</ref> Over the next 14 years, Jefferson and Adams exchanged 158 letters discussing their political differences, justifying their respective roles in events, and debating the revolution's import to the world.<ref>[[#Ellis03|Ellis, 2003]], pp. 213, 230.</ref>

When Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, his last words were an acknowledgment of his longtime friend and rival. "Thomas Jefferson survives", Adams said, unaware that Jefferson had died a few hours earlier.<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], p. 646.</ref><ref>[[#Ellis03|Ellis, 2003]], p. 248.</ref><ref>[https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2022/07/deaths-of-john-adams-and-thomas-jefferson-on-july-4th/ "Deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on July 4th"], Library of Congress, July 6, 2022</ref>

===Autobiography===
In 1821, at the age of 77, Jefferson began writing his ''Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson: 1743–1790'', in which he said he sought to "state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself".<ref name=Jeffbio>[[#Bio|Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, 1743–1790]]</ref> He focused on the struggles and achievements he experienced until July 29, 1790, where the narrative stopped short.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Berstein, 2003]], p. 179.</ref> He excluded his youth, emphasizing the revolutionary era. He related that his ancestors came from Wales to America in the early 17th century and settled in the western frontier of the Virginia colony, which influenced his zeal for individual and state rights. Jefferson described his father as uneducated, but with a "strong mind and sound judgement". He also addressed his enrollment in the [[College of William & Mary]] and his election to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775.<ref name=Jeffbio/>

He expressed opposition to the idea of a privileged [[aristocracy]] made up of large landowning families partial to the King, and instead promoted "the aristocracy of virtue and talent, which nature has wisely provided for the direction of the interests of society, & scattered with equal hand through all its conditions, was deemed essential to a well-ordered republic".<ref name=Jeffbio/> The work is primarily concerned with the Declaration and reforming the government of Virginia. He used notes, letters, and documents to tell many of the stories. He suggested that this history was so rich that his personal affairs were better overlooked, but he incorporated a self-analysis using the Declaration and other patriotism.<ref>[[#self|Hamelman, 2002, Journal]]</ref>

===Greek War of Independence===
Thomas Jefferson was a [[Philhellenism|philhellene]], lover of Greek culture, who sympathized with the [[Greek War of Independence]].{{sfn|Kaufman|Macpherson|2005|p=427}}{{sfn|Jacavone|2017|p=17}} He has been described as the most influential of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers]] who supported the Greek cause,{{sfn|Jacavone|2017|p=17}}{{sfn|Earle|1927|p=49}} viewing it as similar to the [[American Revolution]].{{sfn|Jacavone|2017|p=29}} By 1823, Jefferson was exchanging ideas with Greek scholar [[Adamantios Korais]].{{sfn|Jacavone|2017|p=17}} Jefferson advised Korais on building the political system of [[Greece]] by using [[classical liberalism]] and examples from the American governmental system, ultimately prescribing a government akin to that of a U.S. state.{{sfn|Jacavone|2017|p=18}} He also suggested the application of a [[classical education movement|classical education system]] for the newly founded [[First Hellenic Republic]].{{sfn|Jacavone|2017|p=19}} Jefferson's philosophical instructions were welcomed by the [[Greek people]].{{sfn|Jacavone|2017|p=19}} Korais became one of the designers of the [[Greek constitution]] and urged his associates to study Jefferson's works and other literature from the American Revolution.{{sfn|Jacavone|2017|p=19}}

===Lafayette's visit===
{{Main|Visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States}}

[[File:Lafayette-scheffer.jpg|thumb|An 1824 portrait of the [[Marquis de Lafayette]] by [[Ary Scheffer]]]]

In the summer of 1824, the [[Marquis de Lafayette]] accepted an invitation from President [[James Monroe]] to visit the country. Jefferson and Lafayette had not seen each other since 1789. After visits to New York, [[New England]], and Washington, Lafayette arrived at [[Monticello]] on November 4.<ref name="Peterson 1970 ch11"/>

Jefferson's grandson [[Thomas Jefferson Randolph|Randolph]] was present and recorded the reunion: "As they approached each other, their uncertain gait quickened itself into a shuffling run, and exclaiming, 'Ah Jefferson!' 'Ah Lafayette!', they burst into tears as they fell into each other's arms." Jefferson and Lafayette then retired to the house to reminisce.<ref>[[#Mapp|Mapp, 1991]], p. 328.</ref> The next morning Jefferson, Lafayette, and James Madison attended a tour and banquet at the University of Virginia. Jefferson had someone else read a speech he had prepared for Lafayette, as his voice was weak and could not carry. This was his last public presentation. After an 11-day visit, Lafayette bid Jefferson goodbye and departed Monticello.<ref>[[#Malone81|Malone, 1981]], pp. 403–404; [[#Brodie|Brodie, 1998]], p. 460; [[#Crawford2008|Crawford, 2008]], pp. 202–203.</ref>

===Final days, death, and burial===
{{See also|Death of John Adams}}
[[File:Thomas Jefferson's Grave Site.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Obelisk at Thomas Jefferson's gravesite|Jefferson's gravesite at [[Monticello]]]]

Jefferson's approximately $100,000 of debt weighed heavily on his mind in his final months, as it became increasingly clear that he would have little to leave to his heirs.<ref>{{cite web |title=From Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, 8 February 1826|via=Founders Online, National Archives |access-date=February 19, 2025|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-5893}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=The Personal Finances of Presidents, Part 1: Thomas Jefferson |last1=Grinder|first1=Brian|last2=Cooper|first2=Dan|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/2507249852f51075c95cca5f79b09fd6/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1946335|date=October 1, 2022|access-date=February 19, 2025|via=Financial History}}</ref> In February 1826, he successfully applied to the General Assembly to hold a public lottery as a fundraiser.<ref name=Ellis288>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], pp. 287–288.</ref> His health began to deteriorate in July 1825, due to a combination of [[rheumatism]] from arm and wrist injuries, and [[Gastrointestinal tract|intestinal]] and [[urology|urinary]] disorders.<ref name="Peterson 1970 ch11"/> By June 1826, he was confined to bed.<ref name=Ellis288/> On July 3, overcome by fever, Jefferson declined an invitation to attend an anniversary celebration of the Declaration in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 551.</ref>

{{anchor|Death}}
During his last hours, he was accompanied by family members and friends. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, at 12:50&nbsp;p.m. at age 83, on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. In the moments prior to his death, Jefferson instructed his treating physician, "No, doctor, nothing more", refusing [[laudanum]]. But his final significant words were, "Is it the Fourth?" or "This is the Fourth".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-last-words|title=Jefferson's Last Words|last=Martin|first=Russell L.|date=June 7, 1988|website=Monticello|access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref> When [[John Adams]] died later that same day, his last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives", though Adams was unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before.<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], p. 646</ref><ref>[[#Ellis03|Ellis, 2003]], p. 248</ref><ref name="rayner428–29">[[#Rayner34|Rayner, 1834]], pp. 428–429.</ref><ref name=Berstein189>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 189.</ref> The sitting president was Adams's son, [[John Quincy Adams]], and he called the coincidence of their deaths on the nation's anniversary "visible and palpable remarks of Divine Favor".<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 496.</ref>

Shortly after Jefferson died, attendants found a gold locket on a chain around his neck, containing a small faded blue ribbon around a lock of his wife [[Martha Jefferson|Martha]]'s hair.<ref>[[#Donaldson|Donaldson, 1898]], p. 49.</ref>

Jefferson was interred at [[Monticello]], under an [[epitaph]] that he wrote:

<blockquote>HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.<ref>[[#TJFBio|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: "Thomas Jefferson, A Brief Biography"]]</ref></blockquote>

In his advanced years, Jefferson became increasingly concerned that people would understand the principles in the Declaration of Independence, and the people responsible for writing it, and he continually defended himself as its author. He considered the document one of his greatest life achievements, in addition to authoring the [[Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom]] and founding the [[University of Virginia]]. Absent from his epitaph were his political roles, including his presidency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffleg.html|title=Legacy: Thomas Jefferson|website=Library of Congress.gov|access-date=June 15, 2019|date=April 24, 2000}}</ref>

Jefferson died deeply in debt, and was unable to pass on his estate freely to his heirs.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. xii.</ref> He gave instructions in his will for disposal of his assets,<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 556.</ref> including the freeing of Sally Hemings's children;<ref name="Meacham, 2012, p. 495">[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 495.</ref> but his estate, possessions, and slaves were sold at public auctions starting in 1827.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 289.</ref> In 1831, Monticello was sold by [[Martha Jefferson Randolph]] and the other heirs.<ref>[[#TJFSale|Thomas Jefferson Foundation: "Sale of Monticello"]]</ref>

==Political, social, and religious views==
{{republicanism sidebar}}
Jefferson subscribed to the political ideals expounded by [[John Locke]], [[Francis Bacon]], and [[Isaac Newton]], whom he considered the three greatest men who ever lived.<ref name="Hayes, 2008, p. 10">[[#Kayes|Hayes, 2008]], p. 10.</ref><ref name="Cogliano p. 14">[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2008]], p. 14.</ref> He was also influenced by the writings of [[Edward Gibbon|Gibbon]], [[David Hume|Hume]], [[William Robertson (historian)|Robertson]], [[Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke|Bolingbroke]], [[Montesquieu]], and [[Voltaire]].<ref name="Cogliano p. 26">[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2008]], p. 26.</ref> Jefferson thought that the independent [[Yeoman#United States|yeoman]] and agrarian life were ideals of [[Republicanism in the United States|republican virtues]]. He distrusted cities and financiers, favored decentralized government power, and believed that the tyranny that had plagued the common man in Europe was due to corrupt political establishments and monarchies. He supported efforts to disestablish the [[Church of England]],<ref>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 158.</ref> wrote the [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]], and he pressed for a [[Separation of church and state in the United States|wall of separation]] between church and state.<ref>[[#Mayer2|Mayer, 1994]], p. 76.</ref> The Republicans under Jefferson were strongly influenced by the 18th-century British [[Whig (British political party)|Whig Party]], which believed in [[limited government]].<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 287.</ref> His [[Democratic-Republican Party]] became dominant in [[First Party System|early American politics]], and his views became known as [[Jeffersonian democracy]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, pp. 559–567.</ref><ref name=Smith2003_p_314>[[#Smith2003|Smith, 2003]], p. 314.</ref>

===Philosophy, society, and government===
Jefferson wrote letters and speeches prolifically; these show him to be well-read in the philosophical literature of his day and of antiquity. Nevertheless, some scholars do not take Jefferson seriously as a philosopher mainly because he did not produce a formal work on philosophy. However, he has been described as one of the most outstanding philosophical figures of his time because his work provided the theoretical background to, and the substance of, the social and political events of the revolutionary years and the development of the [[American Constitution]] in the 1770s and 1780s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Marsoobian |first1=Armen T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBUnSuDT9ccC&pg=PA4 |title=The Blackwell Guide to American Philosophy |last2=Ryder |first2=John |date=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1405142960 |page=4 |language=en}}</ref> Jefferson continued to attend to more theoretical questions of [[natural philosophy]] and subsequently left behind a rich philosophical legacy in the form of presidential messages, letters, and public papers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Jefferson|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/jefferson/ |publisher=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|date=December 16, 2019|access-date=June 17, 2022}}</ref>

Jefferson described himself as an [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]] and agreed with [[Epictetus]]' works.<ref>Letter: Thomas Jefferson to William Short, Monticello, October 31, 1819</ref><ref name="Richard">{{Cite book |last=Richard |first=Carl J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VV_caPJhT6AC&pg=PA94 |title=The Battle for the American Mind: A Brief History of a Nation's Thought |date=2006 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0742534360 |page=94 |language=en}}</ref> Jefferson knew Epicurean philosophy from original sources, but also mentioned [[Pierre Gassendi]]'s ''[[Pierre Gassendi#Syntagma philosophicum|Syntagma philosophicum]]'' as influencing his ideas on Epicureanism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanford |first=Charles B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BMzIavSRNdEC&pg=PA39 |title=The Religious Life of Thomas Jefferson |date=1984 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0813911311 |page=39 |language=en}}</ref>

According to Jefferson's philosophy, citizens have "certain inalienable rights" and "rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others".<ref>[[#Bassani|Bassani, 2010]], p. 113.</ref><ref name="De Witte">[[#De Witte (2020)|De Witte, 2020]]</ref>  A staunch advocate of the jury system, he proclaimed in 1801, "I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."<ref>[[#Wilson2012|Wilson, 2012]], p. 584.</ref> Jeffersonian government not only prohibited individuals in society from infringing on the liberty of others, but also restrained itself from diminishing [[individual liberty]] as a protection against [[tyranny of the majority]].<ref>[[#Mayer2|Mayer, 1994]], p. 328.</ref> Initially, Jefferson favored restricted voting to those who could actually have the free exercise of their reason by escaping any corrupting dependence on others. He advocated enfranchising a majority of Virginians, seeking to expand suffrage to include "yeoman farmers" who owned their own land while excluding tenant farmers, city day laborers, vagrants, most American Indians, and women.<ref name=Wood220/>

He was convinced that individual liberties were the fruit of political equality, which was threatened by the arbitrary government.<ref>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]], p. 340.</ref> Excesses of democracy in his view were caused by institutional corruption rather than human nature. He was less suspicious of a working democracy than many contemporaries.<ref name=Wood220>[[#Wood2011|Wood, 2011]], pp. 220–227.</ref> As president, Jefferson feared that the [[Federalism in the United States|federal system]] enacted by Washington and Adams had encouraged corrupting patronage and dependence. He tried to restore a balance between the state and federal governments more nearly reflecting the [[Articles of Confederation]], seeking to reinforce state prerogatives where his party was in the majority.<ref name=Wood220/>

According to Stanford Scholar [[Jack N. Rakove|Jack Rakove]], "[w]hen Jefferson wrote 'all men are created equal' in the preamble to the Declaration, he was not talking about individual equality. What he really meant was that the American colonists, as a people, had the same rights of self-government as other peoples, and hence could declare independence, create new governments and assume their 'separate and equal station' among other nations."<ref name="De Witte"/> Jefferson's famous mantra later became a statement "of individual equality that everyone and every member of a deprived group could claim for himself or herself".<ref name="De Witte"/> Historian [[Henry Wiencek]] has noted Jefferson included slaves when he penned "''all men are created equal''" in the Declaration. As early as 1774, Jefferson had supported ending domestic slavery, and making slaves citizens.<ref>[[#Wiencek12|Wiencek, 2012]], pp. 25–27</ref> Later, writing in ''Notes'' (1781), Jefferson supported gradual emancipation of slaves, to be sent away from the U.S. to an unspecified place. The former slaves would be replaced by white immigrant workers.<ref>[[#Wiencek12|Wiencek, 2012]], pp. 53–54</ref> In 1792, Jefferson calculated that he was making a 4 percent profit every year on the birth of black children. After this he wrote that slavery presented an investment strategy for the future. Historian Brion Davis writes that Jefferson's emancipation efforts virtually ceased.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-dark-side-of-thomas-jefferson-35976004/|last=Wiencek|first=Henry|title=The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson|website=Smithsonian Magazine|date=October 2012}}</ref>

Jefferson was steeped in the [[Whiggism|Whig tradition]] of the oppressed majority set against a repeatedly unresponsive court party in the Parliament. He justified small outbreaks of rebellion as necessary to get monarchial regimes to amend oppressive measures compromising popular liberties. In a republican regime ruled by the majority, he acknowledged "it will often be exercised when wrong".<ref>[[#Golden|Golden & Golden, 2002]], p. 60.</ref> But "the remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them".<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 213. The full letter to [[William Stephens Smith|William S. Smith]] can be seen [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html at the Library of Congress]</ref> As Jefferson saw his party triumph in two terms of his presidency and launch into a third term under James Madison, his view of the U.S. as a continental republic and an "empire of liberty" grew more upbeat. On departing the presidency, he described America as "trusted with the destines of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, and the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom and self-government".<ref>[[#Bober|Bober, 2008]], p. 264.</ref>

Jefferson was a supporter of [[American expansionism]], writing in 1801 that "it is impossible not to look forward to distant times when our rapid multiplication will expand itself beyond those limits, and cover the whole northern, if not the southern continent".<ref>{{cite book |title=Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History A Reinterpretation |date=1995 |publisher = Harvard University Press |page=9}}</ref>

===Democracy===
[[File:Jefferson Portrait West Point by Thomas Sully.jpg|thumb|alt=Elder Jefferson|Jefferson, at age 78, depicted in an 1821 [[Thomas Sully]] portrait]]

Jefferson considered democracy to be the expression of society and promoted national self-determination, cultural uniformity, and education of all males of the commonwealth.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 277.</ref> He supported public education and a free press as essential components of a democratic nation.<ref>[[#Appleby|Appleby, 2003]], pp. 57–58, 84.</ref>

After resigning as [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of state]] in 1793, Jefferson focused on the electoral bases of the Republicans and Federalists. The "Republican" classification for which he advocated included "the entire body of landholders" everywhere and "the body of laborers" without land.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 298.</ref> Republicans united behind Jefferson as vice president, with the election of 1796 expanding democracy nationwide at grassroots levels.<ref>[[#Wilentz|Wilentz, 2005]], p. 85.</ref> Jefferson promoted Republican candidates for local offices.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 308.</ref>

Beginning with Jefferson's electioneering for the "revolution of 1800", his political efforts were based on egalitarian appeals.<ref>[[#Wilentz|Wilentz, 2005]], pp. 97–98.</ref> In his later years, he referred to the 1800 election "as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of '76 was in its form", one "not effected indeed by the sword&nbsp;... but by the&nbsp;... suffrage of the people".<ref>[[#Wilentz|Wilentz, 2005]], p. 97.</ref> Voter participation grew during Jefferson's presidency, increasing to "unimaginable levels" compared to the Federalist Era, with turnout of about 67,000 in [[1800 United States presidential election|1800]] rising to about 143,000 in [[1804 United States presidential election|1804]].<ref>[[#Wilentz|Wilentz, 2005]], p. 138.</ref>

At the onset of the [[American Revolution]], Jefferson accepted [[William Blackstone]]'s argument that property ownership would sufficiently empower voters' independent judgement, but he sought to further expand suffrage by land distribution to the poor.<ref>[[#Keyssar|Keyssar, 2009]], p. 10.</ref> In the heat of the Revolutionary Era and afterward, several states expanded voter eligibility from landed gentry to all propertied male, tax-paying citizens with Jefferson's support.<ref>[[#Ferling04|Ferling, 2004]], p. 286.</ref> In retirement, he gradually became critical of his home state for violating "the principle of equal political rights"—the social right of universal male suffrage.<ref>[[#Keyssar|Keyssar, 2009]], p. 37.</ref> He sought a "general suffrage" of all taxpayers and militia-men, and equal representation by population in the General Assembly to correct preferential treatment of the slave-holding regions.<ref>[[#Wilentz|Wilentz, 2005]], p. 200.</ref>

===Religion===
{{Main|Religious views of Thomas Jefferson}}

[[File:Thomas Jefferson Bible Lined Cover.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A leather-bound Bible|The ''[[Jefferson Bible]]'', which features only the words of [[Jesus]] from his disciples, written in parallel [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Latin]], [[French language|French]], and English]]

==== Christianity ====
Baptized in his youth, Jefferson became a governing member of his local [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]], which he later attended with his daughters.<ref>[[#Randall|Randall, 1994]], p. 203.</ref> Jefferson, however, spurned Biblical views of Christianity.<ref name="Cunningham 2020">[[#Cunningham (December 28, 2020)|Cunningham (December 28, 2020)]]</ref> Influenced by [[Deism|Deist]] authors during his college years, Jefferson abandoned orthodox Christianity after his review of [[New Testament]] teachings.<ref>[[#TJFReligion|TJF: "Jefferson's Religious Beliefs"]]</ref><ref>[[#Onuf07|Onuf, 2007]], pp. 139–168.</ref> Jefferson has sometimes been portrayed as a follower of the liberal religious strand of Deism that values reason over revelation.<ref name=":1a">{{Cite web |title=People and Ideas: Early America's Formation |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/godinamerica-early-america-formation/ |access-date=April 30, 2022 |website=[[Public Broadcasting Service]] |language=en |quote=Like other Founding Fathers, Jefferson was considered a Deist, subscribing to the liberal religious strand of Deism that values reason over revelation and rejects traditional Christian doctrines, including the Virgin Birth, original sin and the resurrection of Jesus. While he rejected orthodoxy, Jefferson was nevertheless a religious man. [...] Influenced by the British Unitarian Joseph Priestley, Jefferson set his prodigious intellect and energy on the historical figure at the center of the Christian faith: Jesus of Nazareth. Jefferson became convinced that Jesus' message had been obscured and corrupted by the apostle Paul, the Gospel writers and Protestant reformers.}}</ref> Nonetheless, in 1803, Jefferson asserted, "I am Christian, in the only sense in which [Jesus] wished any one to be".<ref name="Randal583"/>

Jefferson later defined being a Christian as one who followed the simple teachings of Jesus. Influenced by [[Joseph Priestley]],<ref name=":1a" /> Jefferson selected New Testament passages of Jesus' teachings into a private work he called ''The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth'', known today as the ''[[Jefferson Bible]]'', which was never published during his lifetime.<ref name="Jefferson Bible, 1820">[[#Jesus|Jefferson Bible, 1820]]</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Religion|Thomas Jefferson's Religion]]</ref> Jefferson believed that Jesus' message had been obscured and corrupted by [[Paul the Apostle]], the [[Four Evangelists|Gospel writers]] and [[Protestant Reformers|Protestant reformers]].<ref name=":1a" /> Peterson states that Jefferson was a [[Theism|theist]] "whose God was the Creator of the universe&nbsp;... all the evidences of nature testified to His perfection; and man could rely on the harmony and beneficence of His work".<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], ch. 2 [e-book].</ref> In a letter to [[John Adams]], Jefferson wrote that what he believed was genuinely Christ's, found in the Gospels, was "as easily distinguishable as diamonds in a dunghill".<ref name="Cunningham 2020"/> By omitting miracles and the [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]], Jefferson made the figure of Jesus more compatible with a worldview based on reason.<ref name="Cunningham 2020"/>

Jefferson was firmly [[Anti-clericalism|anticlerical]], writing in "every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty&nbsp;... they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon."<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 577.</ref> The full letter to Horatio Spatford can be read at the National Archives.<ref>[[#archives|U.S. Gov: National Archives]]</ref> Jefferson once supported banning clergy from public office but later relented.<ref>[[#Finkelman2006|Finkelman, 2006]], p. 921.</ref> In 1777, he drafted the [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]]. Ratified in 1786, it made compelling attendance or contributions to any state-sanctioned religious establishment illegal and declared that men "shall be free to profess&nbsp;... their opinions in matters of religion".<ref>[[#Yarbrough2006|Yarbrough, 2006]], p. 28.</ref> The Statute is one of only three accomplishments he chose for his epitaph.<ref>[[#Peterson|Peterson, 2003]], p. 315.</ref><ref>W. W. Hening, ed., Statutes at Large of Virginia, vol. 12 (1823): 84–86.</ref> Early in 1802, Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Connecticut Baptist Association that "religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God". He interpreted the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] as having built "a wall of [[Separation of church and state|separation between Church and State]]".<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 369–370.</ref> The phrase 'Separation of Church and State' has been cited several times by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in its interpretation of the [[Establishment Clause]].<ref>Neem, Johann N. "Beyond the Wall: Reinterpreting Jefferson's Danbury Address." Journal of the Early Republic, vol. 27, no. 1, 2007, pp. 139–54. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/30043478 JSTOR website] Retrieved January 5, 2025.</ref>

Jefferson donated to the [[American Bible Society]], saying the [[Four Evangelists]] delivered a "pure and sublime system of morality" to humanity. He thought Americans would rationally create "[[Beekeeping|Apiarian]]" religion, extracting the best traditions of every denomination.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 472–473.</ref> He contributed generously to several local denominations near Monticello.<ref>[[#Randall|Randall, 1994]], p. 555.</ref> Acknowledging [[organized religion]] would always be factored into political life, he encouraged reason over supernatural revelation to make inquiries into religion. He believed in a [[Creator deity|creator god]], an [[afterlife]], and the sum of religion as loving God and neighbors. But he also controversially rejected fundamental Christian beliefs, denying the conventional Christian [[Trinity]], Jesus's divinity as the [[Son of God]] and miracles, the Resurrection of Christ, atonement from sin, and [[original sin]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 471–473.</ref><ref>[[#CITEREFSanford1984|Sanford, 1984]], pp. 85–86.</ref> Jefferson believed that original sin was a gross injustice.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Jefferson's unorthodox religious beliefs became an important issue in the [[1800 United States presidential election|1800 presidential election]].<ref name=Wood586>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 586.</ref> Federalists attacked him as an [[atheist]]. As president, Jefferson countered the accusations by praising religion in his inaugural address and attending services at the Capitol.<ref name=Wood586/>

==== Islam ====
{{see also|Quran oath controversy of the 110th United States Congress#Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an}}
In October 1765, while Jefferson was still a law student he bought a copy of the [[Quran]] from the year 1734.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Manseau |first1=Peter |title=Why Thomas Jefferson Owned a Qur'an |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/why-thomas-jefferson-owned-qur-1-180967997/ |access-date=December 21, 2024 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> He had the Quran shipped from England to Williamsburg, Virginia.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Surprising Story Of 'Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an' |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/10/12/230503444/the-surprising-story-of-thomas-jeffersons-quran}}</ref>

===Banks===
[[File:Alexander Hamilton portrait by John Trumbull 1806.jpg|thumb|Jefferson opposed Treasury Secretary [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s proposal to establish a government bank, and the two emerged as political rivals during [[Presidency of George Washington|George Washington's presidency]].]]

Jefferson distrusted government banks and opposed public borrowing, which he thought created long-term debt, bred monopolies, and invited dangerous speculation as opposed to productive labor.<ref>[[#Malone81|Malone, 1981]], pp. 140–143.</ref> In one letter to Madison, he argued each generation should curtail all debt within 19 years, and not impose a long-term debt on subsequent generations.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 224–225.</ref>

In 1791, President Washington asked Jefferson, then secretary of state, and Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, if the Congress had the authority to create a [[First Bank of the United States|national bank]]. While Hamilton believed so, Jefferson and Madison thought a national bank would ignore the needs of individuals and farmers, and would violate the [[Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Tenth Amendment]] by assuming powers not granted to the federal government by the states.<ref>[[#Bailey2007|Bailey, 2007]], p. 82; [[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 144; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 249.</ref> Hamilton successfully argued that the [[implied powers]] given to the federal government in the Constitution supported the creation of a national bank, among other federal actions.

Jefferson used agrarian resistance to banks and speculators as the first defining principle of an opposition party, recruiting candidates for Congress on the issue as early as 1792.<ref>[[#Ferling13|Ferling, 2013]], pp. 221–222.</ref> As president, Jefferson was persuaded by Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin to leave the bank intact but sought to restrain its influence.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 293–295.</ref>{{efn|The First Bank of the U.S. was eventually abolished in 1811 by a heavily Republican Congress.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 295–296.</ref>}}

===Slavery===
{{Main|Thomas Jefferson and slavery}}

[[File:Jefferson slaves.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Farm Book page|Page 30 of Jefferson's 1795 Farm Book, which lists 163 slaves at Monticello]]

Scholars give radically differing interpretations on [[Thomas Jefferson and slavery|Jefferson's views and relationship with slavery]].<ref name="Cogliano-2008" /> Opinions range from "emancipationists" who view him as an early [[Abolitionism|proto-abolitionist]], who subsequently made pragmatic compromises with the [[Slave Power|slave power]] to [[Secession in the United States|preserve the union]]; to "[[Historical revisionism|revisionists]]", who argue that he in fact entrenched the institution in American society; with people also having more nuanced opinions, who either argue that Jefferson held inconsistent views on the institution throughout his lifetime or that both interpretations are too overly simplistic.<ref name="Cogliano-2008" />

Jefferson lived in a planter economy largely dependent upon slavery, and as a wealthy landholder, used slave labor for his household, plantation, and workshops. He first recorded his slaveholding in 1774, when he counted 41 enslaved people.<ref>[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2006]], p. 219; [[#Onuf07|Onuf, 2007]], p. 258.</ref> Over his lifetime he enslaved about 600 people; he inherited about 175 people while most of the remainder were people born on his plantations.<ref name="TJFSlaveryFAQ">[[#TJFSlaveryFAQ|TJF: Slavery at Monticello – Property]]</ref> Jefferson purchased some slaves in order to reunite their families. He sold approximately 110 people for economic reasons, primarily slaves from his outlying farms.<ref name="TJFSlaveryFAQ" /><ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], p. 292.</ref> In 1784, when the number of people he enslaved likely was approximately 200, he began to divest himself of many slaves, and by 1794 he had divested himself of 161 individuals.<ref name="PBS Stanton">{{Cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/slaves/stanton.html |title=The Slaves' Story – Jefferson's "family" – Jefferson's Blood – Frontline |last=Stanton |first=Lucia Cinder |website=PBS |access-date=December 30, 2019}}</ref>{{efn|The 135 slaves, which included Betty Hemings and her ten children, that Jefferson acquired from Wayles's estate made him the second-largest slave owner in Albemarle County with a total of 187 slaves. The number fluctuated from around 200 slaves until 1784 when he began to give away or sell slaves. By 1794 he had gotten rid of 161 individuals.<ref name="PBS Stanton" />}}

Approximately 100 slaves lived at Monticello at any given time. In 1817, the plantation recorded its largest slave population of 140 individuals.<ref>[[#Wiencek12|Wiencek, 2012]], p. 13</ref>

Jefferson once said, "My first wish is that the labourers may be well treated".<ref name=TJFSlaveryFAQ/> Jefferson did not work his slaves on Sundays and Christmas and he allowed them more personal time during the winter months.<ref>[[#TJFSlaveryWork|TJF: Slavery at Monticello – Work]]</ref> Some scholars doubt Jefferson's benevolence,<ref>[[#Wiencek12|Wiencek, 2012]], pp. 114, 122.</ref> noting cases of excessive slave whippings in his absence. His nail factory was staffed only by enslaved children. Many of the enslaved boys became tradesmen. Burwell Colbert, who started his working life as a child in Monticello's Nailery, was later promoted to the supervisory position of butler.<ref>[[#TJFNailery|TJF: Thomas Jefferson's Monticello – Nailery]],<br />[[#Wiencek12|Wiencek, 2012]], p. 93.</ref>

Jefferson felt slavery was harmful to both slave and master but had reservations about releasing slaves from captivity, and advocated for gradual emancipation.<ref name=TJFslavery>[[#TJFslavery|TJF: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery]]</ref><ref>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 161.</ref><ref>[[#Howe09|Howe, 2009]], p. 74.</ref> In 1779, he proposed gradual voluntary training and resettlement to the Virginia legislature, and three years later drafted legislation allowing slaveholders to free their own slaves.<ref name="Meacham, 2012, p. 105"/> In his draft of the Declaration of Independence, he included a section, stricken by other Southern delegates, criticizing King George III for supposedly forcing slavery onto the colonies.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 475.</ref> In 1784, Jefferson proposed the abolition of slavery in all western U.S. territories, limiting slave importation to 15 years.<ref name=Ferling_2000_p287>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling 2000]], p. 287.</ref> Congress, however, failed to pass his proposal by one vote.<ref name=Ferling_2000_p287/> In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, a partial victory for Jefferson that terminated slavery in the Northwest Territory. Jefferson freed his slave Robert Hemings in 1794 and he freed his cook slave James Hemings in 1796.<ref>[[#Finkelman1994|Finkelman, 1994]], p. 215.</ref> Jefferson freed his runaway slave [[Harriet Hemings]] in 1822. Upon his death in 1826, Jefferson freed five male Hemings slaves in his will.<ref>[[#Finkelman1994|Finkelman, 1994]], pp. 220–221.</ref>

During his presidency, Jefferson allowed the diffusion of slavery into the [[Louisiana Territory]] hoping to prevent slave uprisings in Virginia and to prevent [[South Carolina]] secession.<ref>[[#Freehling05|Freehling, 2005]], p. 70.</ref> In 1804, in a compromise, Jefferson and Congress banned domestic slave trafficking for one year into the Louisiana Territory.<ref>[[#Wiencek12|Wiencek, 2012]], pp. 257–258.</ref> In 1806 he officially called for anti-slavery legislation terminating the import or export of slaves. Congress passed the law in 1807.<ref name=TJFslavery/><ref>[[#Du Bois|Du Bois, 1904]], pp. 95–96.</ref><ref name=Ferling_2000_p288>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 288.</ref>

In 1819, Jefferson strongly opposed a Missouri statehood application amendment, which banned domestic slave importation and freed slaves at the age of 25 on grounds that it would destroy the union.<ref name=Ferling_2000_pp286_294>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], pp. 286, 294.</ref> In ''Notes on the State of Virginia'', he created controversy by calling slavery a moral evil for which the nation would ultimately have to account to God.<ref>[[#Ellis97|Ellis, 1997]], p. 87.</ref> Jefferson wrote of his "suspicion" that Black people were mentally and physically inferior to Whites, but argued that they nonetheless had innate human rights.<ref name="TJFslavery" /><ref>[[#Appleby|Appleby, 2003]], pp. 139–140.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Walker|first=Clarence E.|title=We Can't Go Home Again: An Argument About Afrocentrism|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=0195357302|page=38|author-link=Clarence E. Walker}}</ref> He therefore supported colonization plans that would transport freed slaves to another country, such as [[Liberia]] or [[Sierra Leone]], though he recognized the impracticability of such proposals.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 998–999; [[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 478; [[#Helo|Helo, 2013]], p. 105.</ref> According to [[Eric Foner]], "In 1824 Jefferson proposed that the federal government purchase and deport 'the increase of each year' (that is, children), so that the slave population would age and eventually disappear."<ref>Foner, Eric, "Lincoln and Colonization", in Foner, Eric, ed., ''Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World'', New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2008, p. 139.</ref>

During his presidency, Jefferson was for the most part publicly silent on the issue of slavery and emancipation,<ref name=TJFAntiSlaveryActions>[[#TJFAntiSlaveryActions|TJF:Jefferson's Antislavery Actions]]</ref> as the Congressional debate over slavery and its extension caused a dangerous north–south rift among the states, with talk of a northern confederacy in New England.<ref>[[#DiLo|DiLorenzo, 1998, Yankee Confederates]]</ref>{{efn|[[Aaron Burr]] was offered help in obtaining the governorship of New York by [[Timothy Pickering]] if he could persuade New York to go along, but the secession effort failed when Burr lost the election.}} The violent attacks on white slave owners during the [[Haitian Revolution]] due to injustices under slavery supported Jefferson's fears of a race war, increasing his reservations about promoting emancipation.<ref name=TJFslavery/><ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 255, 275–278.</ref> After numerous attempts and failures to bring about emancipation,<ref>[[#Ferling|Ferling, 2000]], p. 287.</ref> Jefferson wrote privately in an 1805 letter to [[William A. Burwell]], "I have long since given up the expectation of any early provision for the extinguishment of slavery among us." That same year he also related this idea to [[George Logan (Pennsylvania politician)|George Logan]], writing, "I have most carefully avoided every public act or manifestation on that subject."<ref>[[#TJFSlaveryQuotes|TJF: Quotations on slavery (May 11, 1805)]]</ref>

====Jefferson–Hemings controversy====
{{Main|Jefferson–Hemings controversy}}

{{See also|Sally Hemings}}
[[File:Cock ca1804 attrib to JamesAkin AmericanAntiquarianSociety.png|thumb|An 1804 cartoon depicting Jefferson as a rooster and [[Sally Hemings]] as a hen]]

Claims that Jefferson fathered children with his slave Sally Hemings after his wife's death have been debated since 1802. In that year [[James T. Callender]], after being denied a position as [[postmaster]], alleged Jefferson had taken Hemings as a concubine and fathered several children with her.<ref>In 1853, [[William Wells Brown]] published a novel called ''[[Clotel; or, The President's Daughter]]'' alluding to Jefferson. This is the first novel in America published by anyone of African descent.[[#Hyland2009|Hyland, 2009]], pp. ix, 2–3.</ref> In 1998, a panel of researchers conducted a [[Y-DNA]] study of living descendants of Jefferson's uncle, Field, and of a descendant of Hemings's son, [[Eston Hemings]]. The results showed a match with the male Jefferson line.<ref>[[#Foster|Foster et al., 1998]]</ref>{{sfn|Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings A Brief Account}} Subsequently, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (TJF) formed a nine-member research team of historians to assess the matter.{{sfn|Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings A Brief Account}} The TJF report concluded that "the DNA study&nbsp;... indicates a high probability that Thomas Jefferson fathered Eston Hemings".{{sfn|Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings A Brief Account}}<ref>[[#TJFConclusions|TJF: Report of the Research Committee on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings – Conclusions]]</ref>{{efn|The minority report authored by White Wallenborn concluded "the historical evidence is not substantial enough to confirm nor for that matter to refute his paternity of any of the children of Sally Hemings. The DNA studies certainly enhance the possibility but&nbsp;... do not prove Thomas Jefferson's paternity".<ref>[[#TJFMinority|TJF: Minority Report of the Monticello Research Committee on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings]]</ref>}} The TJF also concluded that Jefferson likely fathered all of Hemings's children listed at Monticello.{{sfn|Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings A Brief Account}}{{efn|Sally Heming's children recorded at Monticello included: "Harriet (born 1795; died in infancy); [[William Beverly Hemings|Beverly]] (born 1798); an unnamed daughter (born 1799; died in infancy); Harriet (born 1801); Madison (born 1805); and Eston (born 1808)".{{sfn|Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings A Brief Account}}}}

In July 2017, the TJF announced that archeological excavations at Monticello had revealed what they believe to have been Sally Hemings's quarters, adjacent to Jefferson's bedroom.<ref name="nbc">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/thomas-jefferson-sally-hemings-living-quarters-found-n771261 |first=Michael |last=Cottman |title=Historians Uncover Slave Quarters of Sally Hemings at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello |work=NBC News |date=July 3, 2017 |access-date=February 4, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="wapost">{{cite news |first=Krissah |last=Thompson |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/for-decades-they-hid-jeffersons-mistress-now-monticello-is-making-room-for-sally-hemings/2017/02/18/d410d660-f222-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html |url-access=subscription |title=For decades they hid Jefferson's relationship with her. Now Monticello is making room for Sally Hemings |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 18, 2017 |access-date=February 4, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227035553/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/for-decades-they-hid-jeffersons-mistress-now-monticello-is-making-room-for-sally-hemings/2017/02/18/d410d660-f222-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html |archive-date= February 27, 2018 }}</ref> Since the results of the DNA tests were made public, the consensus among most historians has been that Jefferson had a sexual relationship with Sally Hemings and that he was the father of her son Eston Hemings.<ref>
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1353/aq.2019.0017 |quote=The general consensus among historians now agrees with Madison Hemings's version of the relationship between his mother and father ... |title=Slave Life at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello |journal=American Quarterly |volume=71 |pages=247–264 |year=2019 |last1=Wilkinson |first1=A. B. |s2cid=150519408 }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Lepore |first=Jill |date=September 22, 2008 |title=President Tom's Cabin: Jefferson, Hemings, and a Disclaimed Lineage. |magazine=The New Yorker |quote=[T]oday most historians agree with the conclusion of a research committee convened by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, at Monticello: Jefferson "most likely was the father of all six of Sally Hemings's children." |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/09/22/president-toms-cabin |url-access=limited |access-date=November 21, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180620124734/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/09/22/president-toms-cabin |archive-date= June 20, 2018 }}
* {{cite journal |quote=[T]he new scholarly consensus is that Jefferson and Hemings were sexual partners ... Whether Jefferson fathered all of Hemings's children is still unclear. |jstor = 2674361|title = Jefferson: Post-DNA|journal = The William and Mary Quarterly|volume = 57|issue = 1|pages = 125–138|last1 = Ellis|first1 = Joseph J.|year = 2000|doi = 10.2307/2674361|pmid = 18271151}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/819-updating-a-life-the-case-of-thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings |title=Updating a Life: The Case of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings |date=December 9, 2011 |work=[[Library of America]] |quote=Most historians now agree that a preponderance of evidence—genetic, circumstantial, and oral historical—suggests that Jefferson was the father of all of Sally Hemings's children.}}
</ref>

A minority of scholars maintain the evidence is insufficient to prove Jefferson's paternity conclusively. Based on DNA and other evidence, they note the possibility that additional Jefferson males, including his brother Randolph Jefferson and any one of Randolph's four sons, or his cousin, could have fathered Sally Hemings's children.<ref>[[#Hyland2009|Hyland, 2009]], pp. 30–31, 79; [[#TJHS|Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society]]</ref> In 2002, historian [[Merrill Peterson]] said: "in the absence of direct documentary evidence either proving or refuting the allegation, nothing conclusive can be said about Jefferson's relations with Sally Hemings."<ref name="Peterson 2002 p. 43">[[#Peterson2002|Peterson (2002), p. 43]]</ref> Concerning the 1998 DNA study, Peterson said that "the results of the DNA testing of Jefferson and Hemings descendants provided support for the idea that Jefferson was the father of at least one of Sally Hemings's children".<ref name="Peterson 2002 p. 43"/>

After Jefferson's death in 1826, although not formally [[manumission#United States|manumitted]], Sally Hemings was allowed by Jefferson's daughter Martha to live in [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]] as a [[free negro|free woman]] with her two sons until her death in 1835.<ref>[[#Reed97|Gordon-Reed, 1997]], pp. 657–660.</ref>{{efn|[[Annette Gordon-Reed]] notes that it would have been legally challenging to free Sally Hemings, due to Virginia laws mandating the support of older slaves and requiring special permission for freed slaves to remain within the state.<ref>[[#Reed97|Gordon-Reed, 1997]], pp. 658–659.</ref>}} The [[Monticello Association]] refused to allow Sally Hemings' descendants the right of burial at Monticello.{{sfn|CBSNews2019}}

==Interests and activities==
[[File:MJK50147 Virginia State Capitol.jpg|thumb|left|[[Virginia State Capitol]] in [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], which Jefferson designed]]

Jefferson was a farmer, obsessed with new crops, soil conditions, garden designs, and scientific agricultural techniques. His main cash crop was tobacco, but its price was usually low and it was rarely profitable. He tried to achieve self-sufficiency with wheat, vegetables, flax, corn, hogs, sheep, poultry, and cattle to supply his family, slaves, and employees, but he lived perpetually beyond his means<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/debt |title=Debt |work=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=October 9, 2018 }}</ref> and was always in debt.<ref>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2008]], p. 100; [[#McEwan|McEwan, 1991]], pp. 20–39.</ref> Jefferson also planted two vineyards at Monticello and hoped to grow ''Vitis vinifera,'' the European wine grape species, to make wine, but the crop failed. His efforts were nonetheless an important contribution to the development of American viticulture.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Vineyards at Monticello |url=https://www.monticello.org/house-gardens/farms-gardens/fruit-gardens/the-vineyards/ |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Monticello |language=en}}</ref>

Jefferson mastered architecture through [[Autodidacticism|self-study]]. His primary authority was [[Andrea Palladio]]'s 1570 ''[[The Four Books of Architecture]]'', which outlines the principles of classical design.<ref>[[#Brodie|Brodie, 1974]], pp. 87–88; [[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], p. 9.</ref> Jefferson helped popularize the Neo-[[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style in the United States, utilizing designs for the [[Virginia State Capitol]], the [[University of Virginia]], [[Monticello]], and others.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 202; [[#Bernstein03|Berstein, 2003]], p. 193.</ref> It has been speculated that he was inspired by the [[Château de Rastignac]] in southwest France. Jefferson viewed the plans during his service as ambassador to France, and may have convinced the architect of the [[White House]] to modify the [[Truman Balcony|South Portico]] to resemble the château.<ref name=":1b">{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Michael|title=A chateau fit for a president|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/opinion/15iht-edjohnson.html|access-date=July 28, 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 15, 2006}}</ref>

In [[archaeology]] in 1784, Jefferson, using the [[Trench|trench method]], started excavating several Native American burial mounds in [[Virginia]]. His excavations were prompted by the [[Mound Builders|"Moundbuilders" question]] and his careful methods allowed him to witness the [[Stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] layout, the various human remains and other artifacts inside the mound. The evidence present at the site granted him enough insight to admit that he saw no reason why the ancestors of the present-day Native Americans could not have raised those mounds.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Renfrew |first1=Colin |title=Archaeology essentials: theories, methods, practice |last2=Bahn |first2=Paul G. |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2015 |isbn=978-0500291597 |edition=3º |pages=17–18}}</ref>

He was interested in birds and wine, and was a noted [[gourmet]].<ref name=Hayes135>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2008]], pp. 135–136.</ref> As a naturalist, he was fascinated by the [[Natural Bridge (Virginia)|Natural Bridge]] geological formation, and in 1774 successfully acquired the Bridge by a grant from George III.<ref>[[#Kastning|Kastning, 2014]], p. 8.</ref>

As an advocate of Enlightenment ideals, Jefferson studied many aspects of the natural sciences and frequently corresponded, and even hosted on multiple occasions, with [[Prussia]]<nowiki/>n explorer, [[Alexander von Humboldt]]. These two figures regularly shared ideas and knowledge with one another with letters spanning multiple years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Founders Online: Thomas Jefferson to Alexander von Humboldt, 6 December 1813 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-07-02-0011 |access-date=February 26, 2025 |website=founders.archives.gov |language=en}}</ref>

===American Philosophical Society===
Jefferson was a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] for 35 years, beginning in 1780. Through the society he advanced the [[Science in the Age of Enlightenment|sciences and Enlightenment ideals]], emphasizing that knowledge of science reinforced and extended freedom.<ref name=Hayes432>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2008]], p. 432.</ref> His ''Notes on the State of Virginia'' was written in part as a contribution to the society.<ref name=TJFAPS>[[#TJFAPS|TJF: "American Philosophical Society"]]</ref> He became the society's third president on March 3, 1797, a few months after he was elected Vice President of the United States.<ref name=TJFAPS/><ref name=Berstein118>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 118–119.</ref> In accepting, Jefferson stated: "I feel no qualification for this distinguished post but a sincere zeal for all the objects of our institution and an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated through the mass of mankind that it may at length reach even the extremes of society, beggars and kings."<ref name=Hayes432/>

On March 10, 1797, Jefferson gave a lecture, later published as a paper in 1799, which reported on the skeletal remains of an extinct large sloth, which he named ''[[Megalonyx]]'', unearthed by saltpeter workers from a cave in what is now Monroe County, West Virginia.<ref name="Babcock-2024">{{Cite journal |last=Babcock |first=Loren E. |date=March 18, 2024 |title=Nomenclatural history of Megalonyx Jefferson, 1799 (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Pilosa, Megalonychidae) |url=https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/117999/ |journal=ZooKeys |language=en |issue=1195 |pages=297–308 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.1195.117999 |doi-access=free |pmid=38532771 |issn=1313-2970|pmc=10964019 |bibcode=2024ZooK.1195..297B }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |date=1799 |title=A Memoir on the Discovery of Certain Bones of a Quadruped of the Clawed Kind in the Western Parts of Virginia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1005103 |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=4 |pages=246–260 |doi=10.2307/1005103 |issn=0065-9746 |jstor=1005103|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Jefferson is considered to be a pioneer of scientific paleontology research in North America.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Simpson |first=George Gaylord |date=1942 |title=The Beginnings of Vertebrate Paleontology in North America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/985085 |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=130–188 |jstor=985085 |issn=0003-049X}}</ref>

Jefferson served as APS president for the next eighteen years, including through both terms of his presidency.<ref name=TJFAPS/> He introduced [[Meriwether Lewis]] to the society, where various scientists tutored him in preparation for the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]].<ref name=TJFAPS/><ref name="Ambrose, 1996, p. 126">[[#Ambrose|Ambrose, 1996]], p. 126.</ref> He resigned on January 20, 1815, but remained active through correspondence.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 399.</ref>

===Linguistics===
Jefferson had a lifelong interest in [[linguistics]], and could speak, read, and write in a number of languages, including French, Greek, Italian, and German. In his early years, he excelled in classical languages.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Miller|Univ. Virginia archives: Miller Center]]</ref><ref>[[#Andresen|Andresen, 2006]], Chap. 1.</ref> Jefferson later came to regard Greek as the "perfect language" as expressed in its laws and philosophy.<ref name=Boberchap1>[[#Bober|Bober, 2008]], p. 16.</ref> While attending the College of William & Mary, he taught himself Italian.<ref name=Italy>[[#TJFItaly|TJF: Italy – Language]]</ref> Here Jefferson first became familiar with the [[Anglo-Saxon]] language, studying it in a linguistic and philosophical capacity. He owned 17 volumes of Anglo-Saxon texts and grammar and later wrote an essay on the Anglo-Saxon language.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Jefferson claimed to have taught himself Spanish during his nineteen-day journey to France, using only a grammar guide and a copy of ''[[Don Quixote]]''.<ref>[[#TJFSpanish|TJF: Spanish Language]]</ref>

Linguistics played a significant role in how Jefferson modeled and expressed political and philosophical ideas. He believed that the study of ancient languages was essential in understanding the roots of modern language.<ref name=Hellen155>[[#Hellenbrand|Hellenbrand, 1990]], pp. 155–156.</ref> Jefferson criticized [[Linguistic purism in English|language purists]] and supported the introduction of neologisms to English, foreseeing the emergence of [[American English|"an American dialect"]]. He described the [[Académie Française]], a body designated to regulate the French language, as an "[[Linguistic prescription#Criticisms|endeavor to arrest the progress of their language]]".<ref name=neology>{{cite web | url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0333 | title=Founders Online: Thomas Jefferson to John Waldo, 16 August 1813}}</ref>

He collected and understood a number of [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|American Indian vocabularies]] and instructed Lewis and Clark to record and collect various Indian languages during their Expedition.<ref>[[#Frawley|Frawley, 2003]], p. 96.</ref> When Jefferson moved from Washington after his presidency, he took 50 Native American vocabulary lists back to Monticello along with the rest of his possessions. Somewhere along the journey, a thief stole the heavy chest, thinking it was full of valuables, but its contents were dumped into the James River when the thief discovered it was only filled with papers. Thirty years of collecting were lost, with only a few fragments rescued from the muddy banks of the river.<ref>[[#apsmuseum|American Philosophical Society, 2016: Gathering voices]]</ref>

Jefferson was not an outstanding orator and preferred to communicate through writing or remain silent if possible. Instead of delivering his [[State of the Union]] addresses himself, Jefferson wrote the annual messages and sent a representative to read them aloud in Congress, which started a tradition that continued until 1913, when President [[Woodrow Wilson]] chose to deliver his State of the Union address to Congress verbally and in person.<ref>[[#TJFSpeaking|TJF: "Public speaking"]]</ref>

===Inventions===
Jefferson invented many small practical devices and improved contemporary inventions, including a revolving book-stand and a "Great Clock" powered by the gravitational pull on cannonballs. He improved the [[pedometer]], the [[polygraph (duplicating device)|polygraph]] (a device for duplicating writing),<ref>[[#cipher|Univ. Virginia archives]]</ref> and the [[moldboard plow]], an idea he never patented and gave to posterity.<ref>[[#Malone62|Malone, 1962]], pp. 213–215.</ref> Jefferson can also be credited as the creator of the [[swivel chair#Origin|swivel chair]], the first of which he created and used to write much of the Declaration of Independence.<ref>[[#Kaplan|Kaplan, 1993]], p. 315.</ref> He first opposed patents but later supported them. From 1790 to 1793, as Secretary of State, he was the ''ex officio'' head of the three-person patent review board. He drafted reforms of US patent law which led to him being relieved of this duty in 1793, and also drastically changed the patent system.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Martin |first1=Russell L. |title=Patents |url=https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/patents/ |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=September 20, 2022 |date=April 1989|encyclopedia=Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia}}; source also links to two related 21st-century sources</ref>

As Minister to France, Jefferson was impressed by the military standardization program known as the ''[[Gribeauval system|Système Gribeauval]]'', and initiated a program as president to develop [[interchangeable parts]] for firearms. For his inventiveness and ingenuity, Jefferson was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree from [[Harvard University]] in 1787.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 335–336.</ref>

==Legacy==

===Historical reputation===
{{main|Historical reputation of Thomas Jefferson}}

Jefferson is seen as an icon of individual liberty, democracy, and [[republicanism]], hailed as the author of the Declaration of Independence, an architect of the American Revolution, and a [[Polymath#Renaissance man|renaissance man]] who promoted science and scholarship.<ref>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]], pp. 5, 67–69, 189–208, 340.</ref> The participatory democracy and expanded suffrage he championed defined his era and became a standard for later generations.<ref>[[#Appleby|Appleby, 2003]], p. 149.</ref> [[Jon Meacham]] opined that Jefferson was the most influential figure of the democratic republic in its first half-century, succeeded by presidential adherents [[James Madison]], [[James Monroe]], [[Andrew Jackson]], and [[Martin Van Buren]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. xix.</ref> A [[Siena Research Institute]] poll of presidential scholars, which began in 1982, has consistently ranked Jefferson as one of the five best U.S. presidents,<ref>[[#Siena|SRI, 2010]].</ref> and a 2015 [[Brookings Institution]] poll of [[American Political Science Association]] members ranked him as the fifth-greatest president.<ref>[[#Brookings|Brookings, 2015]]</ref>

===Memorials and honors===
{{Further|List of places named for Thomas Jefferson}}

Jefferson has been memorialized with buildings, sculptures, [[U.S. presidents on U.S. postage stamps|postage]], and [[United States dollar|currency]]. In the 1920s, Jefferson, together with [[George Washington]], [[Theodore Roosevelt]], and [[Abraham Lincoln]], was chosen by sculptor [[Gutzon Borglum]] and approved by President [[Calvin Coolidge]] to be depicted in a stone national memorial at [[Mount Rushmore]] in the [[Black Hills]] in [[South Dakota]].<ref name="rushmore">[[#Rushmore|NPS: Mt. Rushmore]]</ref>

The [[Jefferson Memorial]] was dedicated in Washington, D.C., in 1943, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. The interior of the memorial includes a {{convert|19|ft|0|adj=on}} statue of Jefferson by [[Rudulph Evans]] and engravings of passages from Jefferson's writings. Most prominent among these passages are the words inscribed around the Jefferson Memorial: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man", a quote from Jefferson's September 23, 1800, letter to [[Benjamin Rush]].<ref>[[#Peterson60|Peterson, 1960]], p. 378.</ref>

Several species have been named after Jefferson, both during and after his life. Most notable is from a fossil taxon of ground sloths, †''[[Megalonyx]]''. Jefferson himself had defined the genus in 1799 without naming a species.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.2307/1005103 |doi-access=free |last1=Jefferson |first1=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Jefferson |year=1799 |title=A Memoir on the Discovery of Certain Bones of a Quadruped of the Clawed Kind in the Western Parts of Virginia |journal=[[Transactions of the American Philosophical Society]] |volume=4 |pages=246–260 |jstor=1005103 }}</ref> The species of the [[type fossil]] would be classified †''M. jeffersonii'' (Jefferson's ground sloth) in honor of Jefferson by [[Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest]] in 1822.<ref name="curious">{{cite web |url=http://www.curioustaxonomy.net/etym/people.html |title=Etymology: Named after People |work=Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature |author=Mark Isaak |access-date=9 November 2025 |date=24 December 2010 |archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054117/http://www.curioustaxonomy.net/etym/people.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Babcock |first=Loren E. |date=2024-03-18 |title=Nomenclatural history of ''Megalonyx'' Jefferson, 1799 (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Pilosa, Megalonychidae) |url=https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/117999/ |journal=ZooKeys |language=en |issue=1195 |pages=297–308 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.1195.117999 |doi-access=free |pmid=38532771 |issn=1313-2970|pmc=10964019 |bibcode=2024ZooK.1195..297B }}</ref> The flower genus ''[[Jeffersonia]]'' ([[Benjamin Smith Barton|Barton]], 1793) and Virginia's [[state fossil]] †''[[Chesapecten jeffersonius]]'' ([[Thomas Say|Say]], 1824) were also named after Jefferson during his lifetime.<ref name="curious"/><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.vmnh.net/documents/InsideVMNH07.pdf|title=Virginia's Coastal Plain: Where the New World Originated|access-date=March 31, 2012|author=Ward, Lauck|journal=Inside Virginia Museum of Natural History Research|year=2007|issue=2|page=7|archive-date=October 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028175237/http://www.vmnh.net/documents/InsideVMNH07.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> After his death, †''[[Carabus jeffersoni]]'' (Scudder, 1900);<ref>{{cite journal |first=S. H. |last=Scudder |date=1900 |title=Adephagous and clavicorn Coleoptera from the Tertiary deposits at Florissant, Colorado with descriptions of a few other forms and a systematic list of the non-rhynchophorus Tertiary Coleoptera of North America |journal=Monographs of the United States Geological Survey |volume=40 |page=2 |doi=10.3133/m40 |bibcode=1900usgs.rept....2S |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30160148 |via=BHL |access-date=2022-06-22 |archive-date=2022-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622123259/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30160148 |url-status=live }}</ref> †''[[Mammuthus jeffersonii]]'' (Osborn, 1922);<ref name="curious"/> ''[[Brachypanorpa jeffersoni]]'' (Byers, 1976);<ref>{{cite journal|title=A New Appalachian ''Brachypanorpa'' (Mecoptera: Panorpodidae) |first=G. W. |last=Byers |journal=Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society |volume=49 |issue=3 |date=1976 |pages=433–440 |jstor=25082844}}</ref> †''[[Boreogomphodon jeffersoni]]'' (Sues & Olsen, 1990);<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sues |first1=H.-D. |last2=Olsen |first2=P. E. |date=1990 |journal=Science |volume=249 |pages=1020–1023 |doi=10.1126/science.249.4972.1020 |title=Triassic Vertebrates of Gondwanan Aspect from the Richmond Basin of Virginia |issue=4972 |pmid=17789610 |bibcode=1990Sci...249.1020S |s2cid=36310187 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6050148 |via=ResearchGate |access-date=2022-06-22 |archive-date=2024-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524083029/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6050148_Triassic_Vertebrates_of_Gondwanan_Aspect_from_the_Richmond_Basin_of_Virginia |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''[[Coiba jeffersoni]]'' (Kula, 2009)<ref>{{cite journal |first=R. R. |last=Kula |title=Review of the New World Species of ''Coiba'' Marsh (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae), Including Descriptions of Two New Species, New Distribution Records, and A Key to Species |journal=Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=183–198 |date=1 January 2009 |doi=10.4289/0013-8797-111.1.183 |s2cid=85410959 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232669017 |via=ResearchGate |access-date=22 June 2022 |archive-date=24 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524083036/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232669017_Review_of_the_New_World_Species_of_Coiba_Marsh_Hymenoptera_Braconidae_Doryctinae_Including_Descriptions_of_Two_New_Species_New_Distribution_Records_and_A_Key_to_Species |url-status=live }}</ref> would be named in his honor.

In October 2021, in response to lobbying, the New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously to remove the plaster model of [[Statue of Thomas Jefferson (David d'Angers)|the statue of Jefferson]] that currently stands in the [[United States Capitol rotunda]] from the chamber of the [[New York City Council]], where it had been for more than a century, due to him fathering children with people he enslaved.<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Brien |first=Brendan |date=October 19, 2021 |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/thomas-jefferson-statue-be-removed-new-york-city-council-chamber-2021-10-19/ |title=Thomas Jefferson Statue to be Removed from New York City Council Chamber |work=[[Reuters]] |access-date=November 9, 2021}}</ref> The statue was taken down the next month.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/23/thomas-jefferson-statuue-new-york-city-hall |title=New York city hall removes Thomas Jefferson statue |work=The Guardian |first=Richard |last=Luscombe |date=November 23, 2021 |access-date=January 7, 2022 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="240" heights="200">
File:Jefferson Memorial At Dusk 1.jpg|[[Jefferson Memorial]] in Washington, D.C.
File:12072012 Jefferson Memorial 04.jpg|Jefferson Memorial statue by [[Rudulph Evans]], 1947
File:Dean Franklin - 06.04.03 Mount Rushmore Monument (by-sa)-3 new.jpg|[[Mount Rushmore]] (''Shrine of Democracy'') by [[Gutzon Borglum]]. From left to right: [[George Washington|Washington]], Jefferson, [[Theodore Roosevelt|Roosevelt]], and [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]].
File:US $2 bill obverse series 2003 A.jpg|Jefferson has been featured on the [[U.S. two-dollar bill]] from 1928 to 1966 and since 1976.
File:Jefferson-Nickel-Unc-Obv.jpg|Jefferson has been depicted on [[Jefferson nickel|the U.S. nickel]] since 1938.
File:1994 Thomas Jefferson 250th Anniversary Silver Dollar Obverse.jpg|The 1994 [[Thomas Jefferson 250th Anniversary silver dollar]].
File:Megalonyx jeffersonii - Natural History Museum of Utah - DSC07263.JPG|''[[Megalonyx jeffersonii]]'' fossil on display at the [[Natural History Museum of Utah]].
|
</gallery>

==Writings==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooks=yes|viaf=41866059}}
* ''[[A Summary View of the Rights of British America]]'' (1774)
* ''[[Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms]]'' (1775)
*  [https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html Declaration of Independence (1776)]
* ''[[Memorandums taken on a journey from Paris into the southern parts of France and Northern Italy, in the year 1787]]''
* ''[[Notes on the State of Virginia]]'' (1781)
* ''[[Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States]]'' A report submitted to Congress (1790)
* "[https://archive.org/stream/anessaytowardsf00jeffgoog#page/n6/mode/2up An Essay Towards Facilitating Instruction in the Anglo-Saxon and Modern Dialects of the English Language]" (1796)
* ''[[Jefferson's Manual|Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States]]'' (1801)
* {{anchor|Autobiography_of_Thomas_Jefferson}}''[[:s:Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson|Autobiography]]'' (1821)<ref name="google/books=5lG7ISgjvr0C">{{cite book |last1=Jefferson |first1=Thomas |title=Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, 1743–1790: Together with a Summary of the Chief Events in Jefferson's Life |date=1914 |publisher=[[G.P. Putnam's Sons]] |isbn=978-1409784760 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lG7ISgjvr0C |access-date=January 9, 2023 |language=en}}<!--
https://archive.org/details/autobiography00jeffrich
https://archive.org/details/autobiographyoft00jeff
  --></ref>
* ''[[Jefferson Bible]], or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth''

==See also==
{{column list|
* [[Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson]]
* [[Founders Online]]
* [[List of presidents of the United States]]
* [[List of presidents of the United States who owned slaves]]
* [[Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence]]
* [[Influence of the American Revolution on the French Revolution]]

}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Works cited==
{{Main|Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson}}

===Scholarly studies===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Adams |first=Herbert Baxter |author-link=Herbert Baxter Adams |year=1888 |title=Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |ref=Adams88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qkTPAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Alexander |first=Leslie|title=Encyclopedia of African American History (American Ethnic Experience) |publisher=ABC-CLIO |ref=Alexander10 |isbn=978-1851097692 |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vn0OAQAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Ambrose |first=Stephen E. |title=Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West |ref=Ambrose |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1996 |isbn=978-0684811079 |url=https://archive.org/details/undauntedcourag000ambr }}
* {{cite book |title=Linguistics in America 1769–1924: A Critical History |year=2006 |last=Andresen |first=Julie |publisher=[[Routledge]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K67T2V0KdgQC |ref=Andresen|isbn=978-1134976119}}
* Andrews, Stuart. "Thomas Jefferson and the French Revolution" ''History Today'' (May 1968), Vol. 18 Issue 5, pp.&nbsp;299–306.
* {{cite book |last1=Appleby|first1=Joyce Oldham|title=Thomas Jefferson: The American Presidents Series: The 3rd President, 1801–1809|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hWOpH0d3E8C|year=2003|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|isbn=978-0805069242|ref=Appleby}}
<!-- B -->
* {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Jeremy D. |title=Thomas Jefferson and Executive Power |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1139466295 |ref=Bailey2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mWu7GGgkDJUC}}
* {{cite book |last=Banner |first=James M. Jr. |title=Responses of the Presidents to Charges of Misconduct |publisher=Delacorte Press Dell Publishing Co., Inc. |editor=C. Vann Woodward |year=1974 |isbn=978-0440059233|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ecKHAAAAMAAJ}}
* Banning, Lance. ''The Jeffersonian persuasion: evolution of a party ideology'' (1978) [https://archive.org/details/jeffersonianpers00lanc online]
* {{cite book |last=Bassani|first=Luigi Marco|title=Liberty, State & Union: The Political Theory of Thomas Jefferson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBTccKPAIiAC|year=2010|publisher=Mercer University Press|isbn=978-0881461862|ref=Bassani}}
* {{Cite book|last=Bear |first=James Adam |title=Jefferson at Monticello |ref=Bear |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=1967 |isbn=978-0813900223 |url=https://archive.org/details/jeffersonatmonti00jame }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Bear |first=James A. |title=The Last Few Days in the Life of Thomas Jefferson |journal=Magazine of Albemarle County History |volume=32 |ref=Bear74 |page=77|year=1974 |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Richard B. |author-link=Richard B. Bernstein |ref=Bernstein03 |isbn=978-0195181302 |title=Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4vrD1WKLicwC}}
* {{cite book |last=Bernstein |first=Richard B.|title=The Revolution of Ideas |author-mask=2 |ref=Bernstein2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0195143683 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uh4RcHoZP0cC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=Trey |last2=Beasley|first2=Pam |last3=Clements|first3=Jeanne|title=The Forgotten Expedition, 1804–1805: The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QMi2lbTqKA8C|year=2006 |publisher=LSU Press |isbn=978-0807131657 |ref=Berry}}
* {{cite book |last=Bober |first=Natalie |title=Thomas Jefferson: Draftsman of a Nation |publisher=University of Virginia Press|isbn=978-0813927329 |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J7TePIQzpSIC |ref=Bober}}
* {{cite book |last=Boles |first=John B. |title=Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty |publisher=Basic Books| pages=626 |year=2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYbUDAAAQBAJ |ref=boles|isbn=978-0465094691 }}
* {{cite book |last=Brodie |first=Fawn |title=Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1974 |ref=Brodie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4VT7_0NbxUC|isbn=978-0393317527}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowers |first=Claude |year=1945 |title=The Young Jefferson 1743–1789 |publisher= Houghton Mifflin Company |url=https://archive.org/details/youngjefferson17001142mbp |ref=Bowers45}}
* {{cite book |last=Burstein |first=Andrew |isbn=978-0465008131 |title=Jefferson's Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello |publisher=Basic Books|year=2006 |ref=Burstein2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nih3AAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last1=Burstein|first1=Andrew|last2=Isenberg|first2=Nancy|title=Madison and Jefferson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U1mDdccrSFsC|year=2010|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1400067282|ref=Burstein10|author-mask=2}}
<!-- C -->
* {{cite book|last=Chernow |first=Ron |author-link=Ron Chernow |isbn=978-1594200090 |title=Alexander Hamilton |publisher=Penguin Press |ref=Chernow04 |year=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher }}
* {{cite book |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |editor-first=Gilbert |editor-last=Chinard |title=The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson: A Repertory of His Ideas on Government, with an Introduction and Notes by Gilbert Chinard, Volume 2 |year=1926 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn= 978-1400860098|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2wwABAAAQBAJ|ref=chinard}}
* {{cite book |last=Cogliano |first=Francis D |isbn=978-0748624997 |title=Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy |publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2008 |ref=Cogliano |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1f-wAfE0mpsC}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Cooke|ref=Cooke |first1=Jacob E. |year=1970 |title=The Compromise of 1790 |journal=William and Mary Quarterly |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=523–545 |jstor=1919703 |doi=10.2307/1919703}}
* {{cite web |last=Cunningham |first=Vinson |title=What Thomas Jefferson Could Never Understand About Jesus |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/04/what-thomas-jefferson-could-never-understand-about-jesus |website=newyorker.com|ref=Cunningham (December 28, 2020)|date=December 28, 2020 |access-date=April 28, 2022}}
* {{cite book|last=Crawford |first=Alan Pell |title=Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Random House Digital |year=2008 |ref=Crawford2008 |url=https://archive.org/details/twilightatmontic00craw |isbn=978-1400060795 }}
* {{cite book|last=Davis|first=David Brion|ref=Davis99|title=The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770–1823|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xkAm6BKNU9MC|year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199880836}}
* {{cite book |last=Du Bois |first=William Edward Burghardt |author-link=W. E. B. Du Bois |title=The suppression of the African slave-trade to the United States of America |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co. |year=1904 |isbn=978-0722272848 |ref=Du Bois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=04mJJlND1ccC}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Earle |first=Edward Mead |date=1927 |title=American Interest in the Greek Cause, 1821–1827 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1838110 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=44–63 |doi=10.2307/1838110 |jstor=1838110 |issn=0002-8762|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book|last1=Elkins |first1=Stanley M. |last2=McKitrick |first2=Eric L. |isbn=978-0195068900 |title=The Age of Federalism |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1993 |ref=Elkins93 |url=https://archive.org/details/ageoffederalism00elki }}
* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |author-link=Joseph Ellis |isbn=978-0679444909 |title=American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=1996 |ref=Ellis96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VHV_ozRD6ycC}} [https://archive.org/details/americansphinx00jose online free]
* {{cite book|last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |title=Thomas Jefferson: Genius of Liberty |author-mask=2 |year=2000 |publisher=Viking Studio |isbn=978-0670889334 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670889334 |ref=Ellis00 }}
* {{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Joseph J.|title=Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lsPztgGkYYgC|year=2003|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-1400077687|author-mask=2|ref=Ellis03}}
* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Joseph J. |author-mask=2 |isbn=978-0307263698 |title=American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding of the Republic |publisher=Random House LLC |year=2008 |ref=Ellis2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpSqADt2XzwC}}
* {{cite book|last=Ferling |first=John |author-link=John E. Ferling |isbn=978-0195134094 |title=Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |ref=Ferling2000 |url=https://archive.org/details/settingworldabla00john }}
* {{cite book|last=Ferling |first=John |author-mask=2 |title=Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195167719 |ref=Ferling04 |url=https://archive.org/details/adamsvsjefferson00ferl }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Finkelman |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Finkelman|title=Evading the Ordinance: The Persistence of Bondage in Indiana and Illinois |journal=Journal of the Early Republic |doi=10.2307/3123523 |year=1989 |ref=Finkelman1989 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=21–51 |jstor=3123523 |ssrn=1432011 }}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Finkelman |editor-first=Paul |ref=Finkelman2006 |title=The Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties A-F Index|publisher=Taylor & Francis Group|volume=1|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVgKAgAAQBAJ|isbn=978-1135947040}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Finkelman|first=Paul|title=Thomas Jefferson and Antislavery: The Myth Goes On|url=http://www.studythepast.com/4333_spring12/materials/thomas%20jefferson%20and%20antislavery%20_%20the%20myth%20goes%20on%20_%20paul%20finkelman.pdf|magazine=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|publisher= Virginia Historical Society|volume=102|number=2|pages=193–228|date=April 1994|ref=Finkelman1994}}
* {{cite journal|ref=Foster |last1=Foster |first1=Eugene A.|date=November 5, 1998 |title=Jefferson fathered slave's last child |journal=Nature |volume= 396|issue=6706 |pages=27–28 |doi=10.1038/23835 |display-authors=etal |pmid=9817200|bibcode=1998Natur.396...27F |s2cid=4424562 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=2003 |encyclopedia=International Encyclopedia of Linguistics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl_dDVctycgC |editor-first=William J. |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195139778 |editor-last=Frawley |ref=Frawley|title=International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: 4-Volume Set }}
* {{cite book |last=Freehling |first=William W.|title=The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion, 1803–1898 The Louisiana Purchase and the Coming of the Civil War|pages=69–82|editor-first1=Sanford|editor-last1=Levinson|editor-first2=Bartholomew H.|editor-last2=Sparrow|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.|ref=Freehling05 |date=2005|isbn=978-0742549838 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayINMX_RtkEC}}
* {{cite book |last=Freeman|first=Joanne B.|author-link=Joanne B. Freeman|ref=Freeman1|title=The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Jefferson|editor-first=Frank|editor-last=Shuffelton| publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0521867313}}
* Gish, Dustin, and Daniel Klinghard. ''Thomas Jefferson and the Science of Republican Government: A Political Biography of Notes on the State of Virginia'' (Cambridge University Press, 2017) [https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Science-Republican-Government/dp/1107157366/ excerpt].
* {{cite book |last=Fremont-Barnes |first=Gregory |title=The Wars of the Barbary Pirates: To the Shores of Tripoli – The Rise of the US Navy and Marines |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-1846030307 |ref=Fremont-Barnes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQJI5cX-klYC}}
* {{cite book|last1=Golden|first1=James L.|last2=Golden|first2=Alan L.|title=Thomas Jefferson and the Rhetoric of Virtue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_P7VTCiGv4C&pg=PA60|year=2002|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |ref=Golden|isbn=978-0742520806}}
* {{cite book |last=Gordon-Reed |first=Annette |isbn=978-0813916989 |title=Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy |author-link=Annette Gordon-Reed |publisher=University Press of Virginia |year=1997 |ref=Reed97|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hk86gGtn8sUC}}
* {{cite book |title=The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family |first=Annette |last=Gordon-Reed |year=2008 |author-mask=2 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393064773 |ref=Gordon08 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rucDU2Xa6gC}}
* {{cite web |last=Gordon-Reed |first=Annette |title=Thomas Jefferson's Vision of Equality Was Not All-Inclusive. But It Was Transformative |url=https://time.com/5783989/thomas-jefferson-all-men-created-equal/ |ref=Gordon-Reed (February 20, 2020) |date=February 20, 2020 |access-date=March 11, 2022}}
* {{cite book |last=Greider |first=William |title=Who Will Tell the People |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1439128749 |year=2010 |ref=Greider2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7JU3Xk3NTgC}}
* {{cite book|last=Halliday |first=E. M. |isbn=978-0060197933 |title=Understanding Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Harper Collins |year=2009 |ref=Halliday09 |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingtho00hall }}
* {{Cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296815536 |title=Autobiography and Archive: Franklin, Jefferson, and the Revised Self |last=Hamelman |first=Steven |date=January 1, 2002 |journal=Midwest Quarterly |ref=self}}
* {{cite book|last=Harrison|first=John Houston|title=Settlers by the Long Grey Trail: Some Pioneers to Old Augusta County, Virginia, and Their Descendants of the Family of Harrison and Allied Lines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v6S01V7Ho08C|year=1935|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|isbn=978-0806306643|ref=Harrison}}
* {{cite book |last=Hart |first=Charles Henry |ref=Hart |title=Browere's Life Masks of Great Americans |publisher=De Vinne Press for Doubleday and McClure Company |year=1899 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WE5IAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Hayes |first=Kevin J. |isbn=978-0195307580 |title=The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFSm22FPS-sC |ref=Hayes}}
* {{cite book |title=The Unfinished Revolution: Education and Politics in the Thought of Thomas Jefferson |last=Hellenbrand |first=Harold |publisher=Associated University Presse |year=1990 |isbn=978-0874133707 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a8rnKqvaiYMC |ref=Hellenbrand}}
* {{cite book |last=Helo |first=Ari |title=Thomas Jefferson's Ethics and the Politics of Human Progress: The Morality of a Slaveholder |publisher=Cambridge University Press|year= 2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EM0AgAAQBAJ |ref=Helo|isbn=978-1107435551}}
* {{cite book |last=Hendricks |first=Nancy |title=America's First Ladies |publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC |date=2015 |isbn=978-1610698832 }}
* {{cite book |title=From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776 |last=Herring |first=George C. |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199743773 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fODT-qOVoiIC}}
* {{cite book|last=Hogan|first=Pendleton|title=The Lawn: A Guide to Jefferson's University|url=https://archive.org/details/lawnguidetojeffe00hoga|year=1987|publisher=University Press of Virginia|isbn=978-0813911090|ref=Hogan87}}
* {{cite book|last=Howe|first=Daniel Walker|title=Making the American Self: Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4cEPMc7OkcC|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199740796|ref=Howe09}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hyland |first=William G |title=In Defense of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemings Sex Scandal |publisher=Carolina Academic Press|year=2009 |isbn=978-0890890851 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjtCG8vVQEEC |ref=Hyland2009}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Jacavone |first=Jared |date=2017 |title=The Paid Vote: America's Neutrality During the Greek War for Independence |url=https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/1011 |type=MA thesis |publisher=University of Rhode Island |doi=10.23860/thesis-jacavone-jared-2017|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book |first=Lawrence S. |last=Kaplan |year=1999 |title= Thomas Jefferson: Westward the Course of Empire |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0842026307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYauSvP9j40C |ref=Kaplan}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Kaufman |first1=Will |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbBbn3x7PZsC |title=Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History |last2=Macpherson |first2=Heidi Slettedahl |date=2005 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1851094318 |language=en}}
* {{cite book|last=Keyssar|first=Alexander|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UijIgQP0xF8C|title=The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States|publisher=Basic Books|year=2009|isbn=978-0465010141|ref=Keyssar}}
* {{cite book|last=Maier |first=Pauline |author-link=Pauline Maier |ref=Maier |isbn=978-0679454922 |title=American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence |publisher=Knopf |url=https://archive.org/details/americanscriptur00maie |year=1997 }}
* {{cite book |chapter=Jefferson, Thomas|title=Dictionary of American Biography |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofamer10ilamer#page/17/mode/1up |editor=Malone, Dumas|editor-link=Dumas Malone |pages=17–35 |year=1933 |volume=10 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|ref=Malone1933}}
* [[Dumas Malone|Malone, Dumas]]. ''Jefferson'' (6 vol. 1948–1981)
** {{cite book |last=Malone |first=Dumas |author-mask=2 |oclc=1823927 |title=Jefferson, The Virginian |volume=1|series=[[Jefferson and His Time]] |publisher=Little Brown |year=1948 |ref=Malone48}}, [[:iarchive:jeffersonhistime01malo|Ebook]]
** {{cite book|last=Malone|first=Dumas|author-link=Dumas Malone|author-mask=2|title=Jefferson and the Rights of Man|volume=2|publisher=Little Brown|year=1951|ref=Malone51|series=[[Jefferson and His Time]]}}
** {{cite book |last=Malone |first=Dumas |author-mask=2 |title=Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty|volume=3|series=[[Jefferson and His Time]]|publisher=Little, Brown |year=1962 |isbn=978-0316544757 |ref=Malone62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzwR7AeEbMsC}}
** {{cite book|last=Malone|first=Dumas|author-mask=2|title=Jefferson the President: First Term, 1801–1805|volume=4|publisher=Little Brown|year=1970|series=[[Jefferson and His Time]]|ref=Malone70}}
** {{cite book |last=Malone |first=Dumas |author-mask=2 |ref=Malone74 |oclc=1929523 |title=Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805–1809 |volume=5 |series=[[Jefferson and His Time]] |publisher=Little Brown |year=1974}}
** {{cite book|last=Malone |first=Dumas |author-mask=2 |isbn=978-0316544788 |title=The Sage of Monticello |volume=6 |series=[[Jefferson and His Time]] |publisher=Little Brown |year=1981 |url=https://archive.org/details/sageofmonticello00malo |ref=Malone81 }}
* {{cite book|last=Mapp|first=Alf J.|title=Jefferson: Passionate Pilgrim|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COoWAQAACAAJ|isbn=978-0517098882|ref=Mapp}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mayer |first=David N.|title=The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson (Constitutionalism and Democracy) |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0813914855 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CQQAQAAMAAJ |ref=Mayer2}}
* {{cite book |last=McCullough |first=David |ref=McCullough |isbn=978-1471104527 |title=John Adams| publisher=Simon & Schuster|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s-sTrTHz8oMC |year=2001}}
* {{cite book |last=McDonald |first=Robert M. S. |ref=McDonald |isbn=978-0813922980 |title=Thomas Jefferson's Military Academy: Founding West Point |series=Jeffersonian America |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ry8MfiPuM8C}}
* {{cite book |last=McEwan |first=Barbara |isbn=978-0899506333 |title=Thomas Jefferson, Farmer |publisher=McFarland |year=1991 |ref=McEwan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvR2AAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Meacham |first=Jon|author-link=Jon Meacham |title=Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power |publisher=Random House LLC |year=2012 |isbn=978-0679645368 |url=https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersona0000meac/mode/2up |ref=Meacham}}
* {{cite book |last=Meacham |first=Jon |title=Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power |publisher=Random House Trade Paperbacks |date=2013 |isbn=978-0812979480 |format=Paperback|author-mask=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QBwDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=John Chester |isbn=978-0452005303 |title=The Wolf by the Ears: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8uPu4CwaicC |ref=Miller80}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Robert J. |isbn=978-0803215986|title=Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ccnP7tWU7hwC |ref=Miller08}}
* Mott, Frank Luther. (1943) ''Jefferson and the press'' (LSU Press) [https://archive.org/details/jeffersonpress0000mott/page/n2/mode/thumb online]
* {{cite book|last=Onuf|first=Peters S.|title=Jefferson's Empire: The Language of American Nationhood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyj04Yksc1kC&pg=PA73|year=2000|publisher=U of Virginia Press|ref=Onuf2000|isbn=978-0813922041}}
* {{cite book |title=The Mind of Thomas Jefferson |first=Peter S. |last=Onuf |publisher=University of Virginia Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0813926117 |ref=Onuf07 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VB4m0M6nn2sC|author-mask=2}}
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Merrill D. |title=The Jefferson Image in the American Mind |year=1960 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0813918518 |ref=Peterson60|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QNrZoAgGAsC}}
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Merrill D. |author-link=Merrill D. Peterson |isbn=978-0195000542|author-mask=2 |title=Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation; a Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1970 |ref=Peterson70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XcOXEb0O4-UC}}
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Merrill D. |author-mask=2 |chapter=Thomas Jefferson |editor-last=Graff |editor-first=Henry |title=The Presidents: A Reference History |edition=7th |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2002 |pages=39–56 |ref=Peterson2002}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=1997 |title =Northwest Ordinance (1787) |encyclopedia=The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery |publisher=ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATq5_6h2AT0C&pg=PA474 |last=Phillips |first=Julieanne |editor-first=Junius |editor-last=Rodriguez|editor-link=Junius Rodriguez |pages=473–474 |ref=Phillips|isbn =978-0874368857 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Randall |first=Willard Sterne |title=Thomas Jefferson: A Life |ref=Randall |publisher=Harper Collins |year=1994 |isbn=978-0060976170 |url=https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersonl00rand }}, popular history; weak after 1790.
* {{Cite magazine |last=Randall |first=Willard Sterne |title=Thomas Jefferson Takes A Vacation |url=https://www.americanheritage.com/thomas-jefferson-takes-vacation |magazine=American Heritage |volume=47 |issue=4 |date= 1996 |ref=Randall 1996}}
* {{cite book |last=Rodriguez |first=Junius |title=The Louisiana Purchase: a historical and geographical encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2002|isbn=978-1576071885 |ref=Rodriguez |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs7GAwwdzyQC}}
* {{cite book |last=Stewart |first=John J.|year=1997 |title=Thomas Jefferson: Forerunner to the Restoration |publisher=Cedar Fort|isbn=978-0882906058 |url=https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersonf0000stew/page/39/mode/1up |ref=Stewart97}}
* {{cite book |last=Sheehan|first=Bernard|title=Seeds of Extinction: Jeffersonian Philanthropy and the American Indian |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=1974 |isbn=978-0393007169 |ref=Sheehan74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0zKAg9_ZOs0C}}
* {{cite book |last=Scythes |first=James |title=The Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Early American Republic, 1783–1812 A Political, Social, and Military History |editor-first=Spencer C. |editor-last=Tucker |publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2014|isbn=978-1598841565|ref=Scythes1}}
* {{cite book|last=Shuffelton|first=Frank|ref=Shuffelton|chapter=Introduction|editor=Jefferson, Thomas.|title=Notes on the State of Virginia|publisher=Penguin|year=1974|isbn=978-0140436679|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9aHawVmF_lgC|url=https://archive.org/details/notesonstateofv000jeff}}
* {{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of African American Politics |first=Robert C. |last=Smith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kb0sFxQ6yHoC |publisher=Infobase Publishing| pages =433|year=2003 |ref=Smith2003|isbn=978-1438130194 }}
* {{cite book |title=Black Reason, White Feeling. The Jeffersonian Enlightenment in the African American Tradition |first=Hannah |last= Spahn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LBr_EAAAQBAJ|publisher=University of Virginia Press| pages =328|year=2024|ref=Spahn |isbn=978-0813951201 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Tucker |first=George |author-link=George Tucker (American politician) |title=The Life of Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States; 2 vol. |publisher=Carey, Lea & Blanchard |year=1837|ref=Tucker37}}
* {{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Robert W. |author-mask=2 |title=Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson |publisher=Cogliano Press |year=1990 |ref=Tucker90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0EFEU0BEe8C|isbn=978-0198022763}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Urofsky |editor-first=Melvin I.|title=Biographical Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court: The Lives and Legal Philosophies of the Justices |publisher=CQ Press |year=2006 |ref=Urofsky |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4V12AwAAQBAJ|isbn=978-1452267289}}
* {{cite book |title=Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and his slaves |last=Wiencek |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Wiencek |year=2012 |publisher=Macmillan |ref=Wiencek12}}
* {{cite book |title=The Rise of American Democracy |last=Wilentz |first=Sean|author-link=Sean Wilentz |year=2005 |ref=Wilentz |pages=108–111 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0393058208}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Steven Harmon |title=The U.S. Justice System: Law and constitution in early America |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Snia9Kt7rokC |ref=Wilson2012|isbn=978-1598843040 }}
* {{cite book|last=Wood |first=Gordon S |author-link=Gordon S. Wood |isbn=978-1594200939 |title=Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2006 |ref=Wood2006 |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionarycha00gord }}
* {{cite book|last=Wood |first=Gordon S |author-mask=2 |isbn=978-0195039146 |title=Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |ref=Wood2010 |url=https://archive.org/details/empireoflibertyh00wood }}
* {{cite book|last=Wood |first=Gordon S. |author-mask=2 |isbn=978-1594202902 |title=The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2011 |url=https://archive.org/details/ideaofamericaref00wood_0 |ref=Wood2011 }}
{{Refend}}

===Thomas Jefferson Foundation sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/american-philosophical-society |title=American Philosophical Society |access-date=July 25, 2016 |ref=TJFAPS}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/coded-messages |title=Coded Messages |access-date=July 22, 2016 |ref=TJFCode}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/embargo-1807 |title=Embargo of 1807 |access-date=July 22, 2016 |ref=TJFEmbargo}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/i-rise-sun |title=I Rise with the Sun |access-date=July 22, 2016 |ref=TJFRise}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/italy#Language |title=Italy – Language |access-date=July 25, 2016 |ref=TJFItaly}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/james-madison |title=James Madison |access-date=July 22, 2016 |ref=TJFMadison}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/slavery-at-monticello/liberty-slavery/jeffersons-antislavery-actions |title=Jefferson's Antislavery Actions |access-date=July 24, 2016 |ref=TJFAntiSlaveryActions}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs |title=Jefferson's Religious Beliefs |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=April 26, 2022 |ref=Jefferson's Religious Beliefs}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/maria-cosway-engraving |title=Maria Cosway (Engraving) |access-date=July 21, 2016 |ref=TJFMariaCosway}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/minority-report-monticello-research-committee-thomas-jefferson-and-sally |title=Minority Report of the Monticello Research Committee on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings |access-date=July 25, 2016 |ref=TJFMinority}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/monticello-house-faq#when |title=Monticello construction chronology |access-date=July 17, 2016 |ref=TJFHouseConstruction}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/monticello-house-faq#who |title=Monticello (House) FAQ – Who built the house? |access-date=July 17, 2016 |ref=TJFSlaveBuilders}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/nailery |title=Nailery |access-date=July 24, 2016 |ref=TJFNailery}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/president-jefferson-and-indian-nations |title=President Jefferson and the Indian Nations |access-date=July 22, 2016 |ref=TJFIndian Nations}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/public-speaking |title=Public Speaking |access-date=July 25, 2016 |ref=TJFSpeaking}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/quotations-slavery-and-emancipation-0 |title=Quotations on Slavery and Emancipation |access-date=July 24, 2016 |ref=TJFSlaveryQuotes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820182518/https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/quotations-slavery-and-emancipation-0 |archive-date=August 20, 2016 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/vi-conclusions |title=Report of the Research Committee on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings – Conclusions |access-date=July 25, 2016 |ref=TJFConclusions}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/sale-monticello |title=Sale of Monticello |access-date=July 16, 2016 |ref=TJFSale}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/slave-dwellings |title=Slave Dwellings |access-date=July 16, 2016 |ref=TJFSlaveDwellings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054218/https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/slave-dwellings |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/frequently-asked-questions-about-slavery-monticello |title=Slavery at Monticello FAQ – Property |access-date=July 24, 2016 |ref=TJFSlaveryFAQ}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/work |title=Slavery at Monticello FAQ – Work |access-date=July 24, 2016 |ref=TJFSlaveryWork}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/spanish-language |title=Spanish Language |access-date=July 25, 2016 |ref=TJFSpanish}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/thomas-jefferson-brief-biography |title=Thomas Jefferson: A Brief Biography |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=July 24, 2016 |ref=TJFBio}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings-brief-account |title=Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=July 25, 2016 |ref=TJFSally}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-slavery |title=Thomas Jefferson and Slavery |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=May 5, 2016 |ref=TJFslavery}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/thomas-jeffersons-enlightenment-and-american-indians |title=Thomas Jefferson's Enlightenment and American Indians |access-date=July 20, 2016 |ref=TJFEnlightenment}}
* {{cite web |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs |title=Thomas Jefferson's Religious Beliefs |access-date=July 24, 2016 |ref=TJFReligion}}
{{Refend}}

===Primary sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* [https://jeffersonpapers.princeton.edu/ ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, '' – the Princeton University Press edition of the correspondence and papers; vol 1 appeared in 1950; vol 41 (covering part of 1803) appeared in 2014.]
** [https://founders.archives.gov/about "Founders Online," searchable edition]
* {{cite web |url=http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch8s41.html |ref=UCP |title=Thomas Jefferson, Resolutions Relative to the Alien and Sedition Acts |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |date=November 10, 1798 |work=The Founder's Constitution |publisher=University of Chicago Press |access-date=November 2, 2015}}
* {{cite book |first=Jefferson |last=Thomas |title=Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson 1743–1790 |url=https://archive.org/stream/autobiographyoft00jeff#page/n5/mode/2up |ref=#Bio |date=1914 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons}}
* {{cite web |url=https://guides.lib.virginia.edu/TJ |title=Thomas Jefferson |publisher=University of Virginia Library |access-date=September 2, 2009 |ref=UVALibrary}}
* {{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Jefferson |title=The Life and Writings of Thomas Jefferson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=niMWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA265 |year=1900 |pages=265–266 |ref=morals}}
* {{cite book |title=Notes on the State of Virginia |year=1853 |publisher=J.W. Randolph |first=Thomas |last=Jefferson |author-mask=2 |ref=Jeff_Notes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTWttRSMtbYC}} (Note: This was Jefferson's only book; numerous editions)
* {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=Merrill D. |title=The Portable Thomas Jefferson |author-mask=2 |ref=Peterson77 |year=1977 |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-1101127667 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hbAavG-aLEC}}
* {{cite book |last1=Yarbrough |first1=Jean M. |last2=Jefferson |first2=Thomas |year=2006 |title=The Essential Jefferson |publisher=Hackett Publishing |isbn=978-1603843782 |ref=Yarbrough2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQGA8iIpZxQC}}
{{Refend}}

===Web site sources===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite web |title=Gathering Voices: Thomas Jefferson and Native America |publisher=American Philosophical Society |access-date=August 11, 2016 |url=http://apsmuseum.org/jefferson-and-native-america/ |ref=apsmuseum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813155430/http://www.apsmuseum.org/jefferson-and-native-america/ |archive-date=August 13, 2016 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 17 March 1814 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-07-02-0167 |publisher=U.S. Government: National Archives |ref=archives |access-date=March 25, 2019}}
* {{cite web |title=American President: A Reference Resource |publisher=University of Virginia: Miller Center |access-date=August 26, 2014 |url=http://millercenter.org/president/jefferson/essays/biography/print |ref=Miller |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120146/http://millercenter.org/president/jefferson/essays/biography/print |archive-date=August 26, 2014}}
* {{cite web |url=https://jeffersondnastudy.com/background-dna-study/ |title=The Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study |first=Herbert |last=Barger |publisher=Jefferson DNA Study Group |access-date=April 4, 2012 |ref=Barger |date=October 15, 2008}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/moru/learn/historyculture/carving-history.htm |title=Carving History |work=Mount Rushmore National Memorial |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=April 1, 2012 |ref=Rushmore}}
* {{cite web |last=De Witte |first=Melissa |title=When Thomas Jefferson penned 'all men are created equal,' he did not mean individual equality, says Stanford scholar |url=https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2020/07/meaning-declaration-independence-changed-time |publisher=StandfordReport |date=July 1, 2020 |ref=De Witte (2020) |access-date=October 4, 2024}}
* {{cite web |last=Finkelman |first=Paul |work=[[The New York Times]] |title=The Monster of Monticello |date=November 30, 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opinion/the-real-thomas-jefferson.html |ref=Finkelman2012 |access-date=May 5, 2016}}
* {{cite web |title=5-cent Jefferson |date=May 16, 2006 |last=Haimann |first=Alexander T. |publisher=Arago, Smithsonian Institution |access-date=November 6, 2015 |url=https://arago.si.edu/category_2027783.html |ref=Arago}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html |title=Jefferson's library |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=October 25, 2015 |ref=Library |date=April 24, 2000}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs?action=circnickel |title=Jefferson Nickel |ref=Nickel |publisher=U.S. Mint |access-date=November 6, 2015}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.virginia.edu/academicalvillage/vision.html |title=Jefferson's Vision of the Academical Village |publisher=University of Virginia |date=October 14, 2010 |access-date=November 5, 2015 |ref=UVa2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225033224/http://www.virginia.edu/academicalvillage/vision.html |archive-date=December 25, 2015}}
* {{cite web |title=Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/about/first-ladies/marthajefferson |access-date=October 3, 2011 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |ref=Skelton}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.americanancestors.org/StaticContent/articles?searchby=author&subquery=Gary%20Boyd%20Roberts&id=1090 |title=The Royal Descents of Jane Pierce, Alice and Edith Roosevelt, Helen Taft, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Barbara Bush |last=Roberts |first=Gary Boyd |date=April–May 1993 |website=American Ancestors |publisher=New England Historic Genealogical Society |access-date=October 29, 2015 |ref=Roberts93}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov/posts/2015/02/13-obama-measuring-presidential-greatness-vaughn-rottinghaus |title=Measuring Obama against the great presidents |last1=Rottinghaus |first1=Brandon |last2=Vaughn |first2=Justin S. |date=February 13, 2015 |publisher=Brookings Institution |access-date=October 30, 2015 |ref=Brookings}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.tjheritage.org/newscomfiles/front_matter_and_report.pdf |title=The Jefferson Hemings Controversy – Report of The Scholars Commission: Summary |pages=8–9, 11, 15–17 |orig-date=2001 |date=2011 |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society |access-date=July 26, 2016 |ref=TJHS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918172601/http://www.tjheritage.org/newscomfiles/front_matter_and_report.pdf |archive-date=September 18, 2016}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.siena.edu/pages/179.asp?item=2566 |title=Siena Poll: American Presidents |date=July 6, 2010 |publisher=Siena Research Institute |ref=Siena |access-date=October 30, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706090046/http://www.siena.edu/pages/179.asp?item=2566 |archive-date=July 6, 2010}}
* {{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson: Biography |url=https://www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/historyculture/thomas-jefferson.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=August 1, 2007 |ref=NPS}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/thomas-jefferson-papers/articles-and-essays/the-thomas-jefferson-papers-timeline-1743-to-1827/ |title=The Thomas Jefferson Papers Timeline: 1743–1827 |website=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=May 11, 2025 |ref=LOCpapers}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/?action=jefferson |title=Thomas Jefferson Presidential $1 Coin |ref=TJCoin |publisher=U.S. Mint |access-date=November 6, 2015 |archive-date=August 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811040903/http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/?action=jefferson |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.moneyfactory.gov/uscurrency/2note.html |ref=2note |title=U.S. Currency: $2 Note |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing |access-date=November 6, 2015}}
* {{cite web |title=The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth |url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/JefJesu.html |year=1820 |access-date=August 12, 2010 |ref=Jesus}}
* {{Cite web |title=Bookquick/"The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, 1743–1790" {{!}} Penn Current |url=http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/node/2526 |access-date=December 12, 2015 |ref=Bio |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208071801/http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/node/2526 |archive-date=December 8, 2015}}
* {{cite web |title=Jefferson Thomas and the Practice of_Law, Three cases |last=Konig |first=David T. |url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Jefferson_Thomas_and_the_Practice_of_Law#its4%20Jefferson%20Thomas%20Jefferson%20and%20the%20Practice%20of%20Law%20Three%20Cases |access-date=January 28, 2016 |ref=Konig1}}
* {{cite web |title=The Burr Conspiracy |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/duel-burr-conspiracy/ |publisher=PBS American Experience |date=2000 |ref=TBC 2000 |access-date=May 23, 2016}}
* {{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson and the Issue of Character |year=1992 |last=Wilson |first=Douglas L. |website=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=May 22, 2016 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96oct/obrien/charactr.htm |ref=Wilson16}}
* {{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson's descendants unite over a troubled past |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thomas-jefferson-sally-hemings-descendants-unite-over-a-troubled-past/ |work=CBS News |date=February 14, 2019 |access-date=September 24, 2020 |ref={{sfnRef|CBSNews2019}}}}
* {{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings A Brief Account |url=https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/jefferson-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings-a-brief-account/ |access-date=October 4, 2020 |website=monticello.org |ref={{sfnRef|Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings A Brief Account}}}}
* {{cite web |last=Peter |first=Carlson |title=The Bible According to Thomas Jefferson |url=https://www.historynet.com/bible-according-thomas-jefferson/ |website=historynet.com |date=September 27, 2017 |access-date=May 14, 2022 |ref=Carlson (September 27, 2017)}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
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{{Spoken Wikipedia|en-Thomas Jefferson-article.ogg|date=March 2, 2019}}
* [https://millercenter.org/president/jefferson Scholarly coverage of Jefferson at Miller Center, U of Virginia]
* {{CongBio|J000069}}
* [http://www.masshist.org/thomasjeffersonpapers/ Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive] at the [[Massachusetts Historical Society]]
* [http://guides.lib.virginia.edu/content.php?pid=77323&sid=572858 Thomas Jefferson collection] at the [[University of Virginia Library]]
* [https://founders.archives.gov/content/volumes#Jefferson The Papers of Thomas Jefferson], subset of [https://founders.archives.gov/ Founders Online] from the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]]
* {{cite book |last=Jefferson |first=Thomas |url=https://www.wdl.org/en/item/117/ |title=Summary View of the Rights of British America |year=1774 |publisher=Printed by Clementina Rind |via=[[World Digital Library]] }}
* ''[[The Thomas Jefferson Hour]]'', a radio show about all things Thomas Jefferson [https://jeffersonhour.com/ ''The Thomas Jefferson Hour'']
* {{cite web |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/jeffpap.asp |title=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson |work=[[Avalon Project]] }}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=1638}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Thomas Jefferson}}
* {{Librivox author |id=347}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.shapell.org/collection/us-presidents/jefferson-thomas/ |title=Collection of Thomas Jefferson Manuscripts and Letters }}
* {{cite web |url=http://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/44 |title=Thomas Jefferson's Family: A Genealogical Chart | work=Jefferson Quotes & Family Letters}}

{{Thomas Jefferson}}
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