JEFFERSON, THOMAS ( 1743- 1S2(1) . Author of the Declaration of independence. and third President of the United States. born in Albemarle County. Va.. April 2. O. S. (April 13, N. S.). 1743. Ilis father was Peter .lefferson. a man of some prominence in his community; his mother was Jane 'Randolph. a sister of William Ran dolph, of Tuekahoe. Thomas was educated first in a common school, ill the ordinary studies for a boy of seven, and when nine years old the Rev, \It% Douglas gale him instruction in French and in the classical languages. lie prepared for col lege under the tuition of the Rev..Mr..Manry. and at the age of seventeen became a student in Wil liam and Mary's College. Jefferson did well in the classics, ill French, Italian, and Spanish, and acquired an equipment in mathematics and science such as was rarely had save by spe cial students. On leaving college lie turned his attention to law, and studied for about live years under George Wythe, the head of his profession in Virginia. in 1767, at the age of twenty-four, lie Was aillnlited 1,0 the ha r, In 1769 Jefferson took his seat in the House of Burgesses, elected on the arrival of the new Governor, Lord llotetou•t. A set of too inde pendent resolutions brought about the dissolution of the assembly; but before returning home the Burgesses met at the ltaleigh Tavern and adopted ntm-importation agreement, of which Jefferson was one of the signers. The question of eman cipating slaves was then being, agitated in Eng land. but little had been heard on the subject iu the Colonies. Jefferson proposed an act which would give masters the right to free their slaves whenever they thought proper; but the bill failed to pass, and the principle was not established until seventeen years later.
Ilk term over, lie resumed law practice. re moved to an linfinkiled house LI1110115 as 'Alontieello'), and on New Year's Day, 1772. married Martha Skelton. daughter of John Wayless and widow of Bathurst Skelton.
In March, 1773. when the I louse of Burgesses came together again, Jefferson, 'Henry, and others of advanced opinions undertook to form a committee of correspondence for the spread of political intelligence in the Colonies. This scheme had !warmly been adopted and the committee selected when the Governor dissolved the House. In the spring of 1774. however, all of the old members reappeared in their seats, and while this session was in progress news eame of the Boston Port Bill. Jefferson, with some of the other leaders, succeeded in having a resolution passed to observe a day of prayer and fasting, and again the Governor resorted to dissolution. The Burgesses in a secret meeting requested the Of COrreSpOndenee to consult with the other Colonies as to the expediency of a general congress, and then resolved in favor of a !fleeting of representatives from the counties of Virginia, to be held at Williamsburg on August 1st. Jef
ferson was chosen a representative. but was pre vented by illness from attending. lie forwarded, however, to Peyton Randolph. the president of the convention, a draft which he hoped to see adopted as instrnetions to the delegates to he selected for the Colonial Congress. When pre sented, copies of this doemnent Were ordered to be printed. and this first of Jefferson's political writings appeared in pamphlet form as :I Rum /mo• iew of the ROHR of Bri t sh A in Hen . This was sent to England, whore, after receiving some interpolations from the pen of Edmund Burke, it published and widely eirculated a eircurrestallte svlovh Jefferson regarded as the reason for including his name With others in a bill to punish sedition. In the session of the con vention held in the spring of 1775, -Jefferson was on the Committee to see to the defence of Virginia, and in the expectation that Peyton Randolph might be called home he was elected to the Con tinental Congress. This vacancy did occur soon; but before he left for Philadelphia he drew up for the Burgesses en answer to the 'conciliatory propositions' which the English Government had made to the Colonies. This reply, the earliest made by any of the Colonies, was anxionsly ex pected in Congress, and when it was brought by the author it was vigorously indorsed. Jefferson was no debater, for, besides having a bad voice, he hated contest; but his courtesy, his intellectual keenness, his wide political knowledge, and his power of expression gained him hearty-respect. and he soon became the recognized document writer to the assembly. The answer of Congress to Lord North's 'conciliatory proposition' was in trusted to Jefferson. who based his paper on the reply he had previously written for Virginia. in the winter of 1775-76 it became so plain that there was no possibility of a reconciliation that Virginia iu the following spring instructed her delegates to urge on the final breach. On June 7th Richard Henry Lee presented resolutions to this effect, and before the month was out Jef ferson, who was placed first on the drafting committee, presented his report. On July 2d Lee's resolution was passed, and on the same day Jefferson's draft was taken up. The author took no part in the warm discussion over the document, for which, with the exception of a few verbal changes by Franklin and Adams, he was solely responsible. Late in the day of July 4th the Declaration was adopted.