Thomas Jefferson’s Birthday in United States ― Date, History, and Details
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History of Thomas Jefferson’s Birthday in United States and How to Celebrate/ Observe It
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, in Albemarle County, Virginia. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen; his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, was a member of one of Virginia’s most distinguished families. Jefferson was educated at the local school run by the Rev. James Maury and then at the College of William and Mary. He studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy under the Scottish professor William Small, and he read law with George Wythe. In 1767, Jefferson was admitted to the Virginia bar.
In May 1769, Jefferson began his first term in the Virginia House of Burgesses. He soon became known as an eloquent spokesman for the rights of American colonists. In 1774, he wrote A Summary View of the Rights of British America, which asserted that the colonists were entitled to the same rights as the people of Britain.
Jefferson served in the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1776. He was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and he is considered the principal author of that document. In 1779, Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia. He served two terms, resigning in 1781 to return to private life.
In 1783, Jefferson published Notes on the State of Virginia, a wide-ranging work that discussed Virginia’s history, geography, climate, economy, and society. In 1785, he was appointed minister to France, and he served in that post until 1789.
In 1789, Jefferson was elected to the First Congress, and he served as secretary of state under President George Washington from 1790 to 1793. He disagreed with many of the policies of President John Adams, and he retired to Monticello in 1793.
In 1800, Jefferson was elected president, and he served two terms. He retired again in 1809, but he continued to speak out on public issues. He helped found the University of Virginia, and he served as its first rector. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.