Jeffersonian Era

8 Pages 2032 Words

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third president of the United States, and author of the Declaration of Independence. He was one of the most brilliant individuals in history. His interests were boundless, and his accomplishments were great and varied. He was a philosopher, educator, naturalist, politician, scientists, architect, and inventor, pioneer in scientific farming, musician, and writer(Cunningham 57). He was also the foremost spokesman for democracy of his day.
As president, Jefferson strengthened the powers of the executive branch of government. He was the first president to lead a political party, and through it he exercised control over the Congress of the United States of the United States (Cunningham 102). He had great faith in popular rule, and it is this optimism that is the essence of what came to be called Jeffersonian Democracy.

Early Life
“Thomas Jefferson’s father, Peter Jefferson, was a prosperous Virginia planter. His mother Jane Randolph Jefferson was a member of the old and distinguished Randolph family of Virginia. In 1743 the Jefferson’s moved to western Goochland County, where Peter Jefferson had acquired 162 hectares (400 acres) of undeveloped land. He named his estate Shadwell. At first the family lived in a single log cabin” (Chinard 254).
Thomas Jefferson was born in this cabin in 1743 (earthlink.net). A year after his birth, Albemarle County was formed from the western portion of Goochland County. Peter Jefferson soon became a leader in the new county. He was a justice of the peace, a magistrate, and commander of the county militia. Although young Jefferson was accepted into the Virginia aristocracy through hi mother’s family, it was his father, a self-made man, whom he especially admired.
“In 1745, a man by the name of William Randolph, a cousin of Mrs. Jefferson and a close friend of the family, died. His will requested that Peter Jefferson move to his estate, manage the hous...