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Family
His father Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen; his mother was Jane Randolph. -
Born
In April -
Lawyer and House of Burgesses
Jefferson was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767 and then lived with his mother at Shadwell.[13] In addition to practicing law, Jefferson represented Albemarle County as a delegate in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 until 1775.[14] He pursued reforms to slavery. -
Personal Relationship
On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married his third cousin Martha Wayles Skelton, the 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton, and she moved into the South Pavilion. -
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Declaration of Independence
Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. At age 33, he was one of the youngest delegates to the Second Continental Congress beginning in 1775 at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, where a formal declaration of independence from Britain was overwhelmingly favored. -
Legislstor and Governor
At the start of the Revolution, Jefferson was a Colonel and was named commander of the Albemarle County Militia on September 26, 1775. -
Education
He graduated from the College of William & Mary and briefly practiced law, at times defending slaves seeking their freedom. -
The Declaration of Independence
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), approved the Declaration of Independence, severing the colonies' ties to the British Crown. -
American Revolution
During the American Revolution, he represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration, drafted the law for religious freedom as a Virginia legislator, and he served as a wartime governor (1779–1781). -
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Book
His only full-length book is Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), considered the most important American book published before 1800. -
Secretary of State
He became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nation's first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. -
Relected
As a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. He was reelected in 1804. -
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Death
On July 3, Jefferson was overcome by fever and declined an invitation to Washington to attend an anniversary celebration of the Declaration. During the last hours of his life, he was accompanied by family members and friends. On July 4 at 12:50 p.m., Jefferson died at age 83 on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and just a few hours before the death of John Adams.
