Thomas Jefferson: 5 Things You Should Know

Question: In 1776, a 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Why was the young Virginian picked for the job?

Answer: Jefferson’s 1774 pamphlet on colonial rights made him known as a powerful writer, and John Adams urged that he draft the Declaration. His words “all men are created equal” became one of the most influential ideas in American history.

Question: Jefferson called slavery a moral evil and even drafted laws to limit it. Why did he still enslave over 600 people in his life?

Answer: Jefferson freed only a handful of the people he enslaved, including several of Sally Hemings’s children, whom historians widely agree he fathered. The gap between his ideals and his actions is one of the most debated contradictions of the founding era.

Question: As Washington’s Secretary of State, Jefferson clashed often with Alexander Hamilton. What lasting change did their feud create?

Answer: Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans favored farmers, states’ rights, and a limited federal government, while Hamilton’s Federalists backed a strong central government, banks, and trade. Their rivalry set the pattern for America’s two-party system.

Question: Jefferson doubted the Constitution allowed the U.S. to buy land. So why did he still buy Louisiana from France in 1803?

Answer: The Louisiana Purchase added about 828,000 square miles and secured control of the Mississippi River and New Orleans. Jefferson then sent Lewis and Clark to explore the new territory, opening the way for westward expansion.

Question: Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, just hours apart. Why did Americans see the timing as remarkable?

Answer: Once bitter political rivals, Jefferson and Adams rebuilt their friendship through years of letters. Jefferson’s tombstone lists the Declaration, Virginia’s statute for religious freedom, and the University of Virginia as his proudest achievements, and it doesn’t mention his presidency.