{"id":17769,"date":"2024-06-17T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T16:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=17769"},"modified":"2024-09-03T18:02:19","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T22:02:19","slug":"3-jefferson-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=17769","title":{"rendered":"#3. Jefferson, Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas <\/em>\u2013Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 \u2013 July 4, 1826) was, to put it plainly, a Wonder Man. So far I\u2019ve only found one thing he didn\u2019t do, and that was \u201csit still.\u201d He was a statesman, diplomat, and lawyer. He was an architect, farmer, and inventor. He collected books by the thousands and spoke as many languages as he had reason to learn. He was the second vice president of the United States, and the third president. He was governor of Virginia and founder of the University of Virginia. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, he sent the Barbary Pirates skedaddling, and, oh yes, don\u2019t forget \u2013 he doubled the size of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. What can explain it? I think Thomas ate his Wheaties! Would Thomas come to your party? You betcha, and he would probably bring his violin along to entertain everyone. He and Patrick Henry used to hang together In Williamsburg doing just that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Thomas entered the College of William & Mary at age 16; he studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy under professor William Small, who held Friday \u201cdinner parties\u201d where politics and philosophy were discussed. Although Thomas frittered away his first year dancing and squandering his money, he vowed in his second year to study \u201cfifteen hours a day\u201d and graduated in two years. He obtained a law license while working as a clerk under the tutelage of George Wythe, a noted law professor; and he read \u2013 he studied not only law and philosophy, he studied history, religion, ethics, science, and agriculture. Wythe was so impressed with Thomas he later bequeathed him his entire library.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The adage \u201cto make good old people you have to start them young\u201d must have been in Peter Jefferson\u2019s head when his son Thomas came into the world. Thomas was third of ten children, and the first son. Peter Jefferson had no formal education, but studied and improved himself; he inherited land, and managed plantations \u2013 his own in Eastern Virginia and that of the Shadwell family in the Piedmont (where Thomas was born). Peter and wife Jane offered a privileged life for their family; they frequently entertained, enjoyed classic books and music, and attended dances. They also hosted Native Americans who traveled through on official business in Williamsburg. Peter entered Thomas into an English school at age five; at age nine Thomas was sent to a school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister, and began the study of Latin, Greek, and French. He also began studying the natural world, and riding horses. When Peter died in 1757, his estate was divided between his two sons Thomas and Randolph; Thomas inherited 5,000 acres of land \u2013 including Monticello \u2013 at the age of 14, and assumed full authority over his property at age 21.<\/p>\n

When you think about \u201cexpectations and reality\u201d in the year 2020 \u2013 imagine heading off to college at 16, a wealthy landowner; imagine laughing it up and partying and spending all your money for a year; imagine wising up and buckling down and going on to become a Wonder Man. What would YOU do? There is a key statement Thomas made that I believe is an important factor for success. Five words, on record, that Thomas wrote to John Adams:<\/p>\n

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(Cell phone scrollers, note that!) Thomas amassed three different libraries in his lifetime. Those books left to him by George Wythe and the ones he inherited from his father were destroyed in a fire in 1770. Believe it or not, he had replenished his collection with 1,250 titles by 1773! By 1814, he owned 6,500 volumnes. After the British burned the White House, which contained the Library of Congress, on August 24, 1814, Thomas sold his books to the US Government to help jumpstart their collection and started his third personal library; when he died in 1826 it had grown to almost 2,000 volumes.<\/p>\n

His Government Positions<\/strong><\/p>\n