Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States.
He was the first President to be inaugurated in Washington DC, a
city that he helped plan. The foremost spokesperson for
Democracy of his time, he was the author of the Declaration of
Independence. Although he kept slaves, Jefferson is famed as a
champion of political and religious freedom. Jefferson loved
liberty in every form and he worked for freedom of speech,
press, religion, and civil liberties. Jefferson swore "eternal
hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind's of man."
"Jeffersonian Democracy" refers to the ideal that the majority
of people must govern themselves. He wanted to keep the
government simple and free of waste. Jefferson was born in
Virginia in 1743. His family was wealthy and gave him a
classical education. He graduated from William and Mary College.
He was a philosopher, educator, naturalist, politician,
scientist, architect, inventor, musician, farmer, and writer. He
had a wide variety of interests, and he accomp