The contribution of Thomas Jefferson to the political, economic and social development of the United States

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most powerful personages that America had until 1826. He was the founding father of the nation and the author of the Declaration of the Independence. He was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, a plantation on a large tract of land near present-day Charlottesville, Virginia. Also, he had an excellent in education and after years in boarding school, where he excelled in classical languages- and then he enrolled in William and Mary College in his home state of Virginia, taking classes in science, mathematics, rhetoric, philosophy, and literature (Onuf Page 1). In the other hand, Jefferson inherited slaves from both his father and father-in-law. In a typical year, he owned about 200, almost half of them under the age of sixteen. About eighty of these lived at Monticello and the others lived on adjacent Albemarle County plantations. However, Jefferson freed two slaves in his lifetime and five in his will and chose not to pursue two others who ran away. With his preparation and excellent education, Thomas Jefferson made a long lasting historical contribution in the political, economic and social development of the United States.

For Thomas Jefferson, politics were ubiquitous (Meacham Page 27). Before becoming the third President of the nation, he serves as a delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he drafted legislation that abolished primogeniture, the law that made eldest son the sole inheritor of his father’s prosperity. Also, he served two years as governor of Virginia, during which time he barely escaped capture by British forces by fleeing from Monticello-his home. And then, he was later charged with being a coward for not confronting the enemy (Onuf Page 4). Later on, in 1800 Jefferson and Aaron Burr each received 73 electoral votes. The election was finally decided in February 1801 when the House of Representatives, on the thirty-sixth ballot chose Jefferson by a vote of 10 to 4. This flag commemorates Jefferson’s victory in the Election (American Stories Page 195).

As his first term of president, Thomas Jefferson was as concerned for efficiency in the offices of government as the Federalists had been and considerably more than many member of his own party (Malone Page 10), and he was carefully selected the members of his cabinet. His main goal to achieve during the first term of presidency was the he slashed Army and Navy expenditures, cutting the budget, eliminated the tax on whiskey so unpopular in the West, and yet reduced the national debt by a third (Hug and Sidey Paragraph 6). And in order to help pay the debit, Jefferson cut the national budget, closed several American diplomatic missions in Europe and reduced the size of Army by 50 percent (American Stories Page 201). In the other hand, Jefferson helped to break the traditional link between religion and government by authoring the famous Virginia

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