Thomas Jefferson by Elijah

Thomas Jefferson Speech

By Elijah

 

Hi, I’m Thomas Jefferson. I’m here to tell you about my life. I was born on April 2, 1743 in Virginia. Not to brag, but without me, we would be the smallest country ever!

 

When I was little, I had six lousy-whoops!-I mean wonderful sisters and one wonderful brother. In 1767, I went to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. In 1769 I became a lawyer.

 

In 1772 on New Year’s Day, I married Martha Wayles Skelton. In September my daughter, Patsy, was born.

 

In 1773, Martha’s father died. He left us one-third of his estate. We inherited 11,000 acres of land and 135 slaves. I felt that England treated the colonies poorly. I, along with other Virginia leaders, came up with a plan. We wanted men from all of the colonies to meet at a Continental Congress. There we would decide what to do with the British. At 32, I was one of the youngest delegates to the Second Continental Congress. We delegates decided that the colonies should become independent of England.

 

Delegates to the Second Continental Congress met in the spring of 1776. They asked me and a few others to write a Declaration of Independence. You may know me for that (laughs). I spent 17 days writing and rewriting the formal Declaration of Independence. Others made suggestions, but the document was mostly my work. It says that all men are created equal. It says everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I finished writing the Declaration of Independence on June 28, 1776. The congress debated what it said while I sat silently. On July 4, the Declaration was adopted. The first shots in the Revolutionary War had been in fired in 1775. The fighting finally ended in 1781. The Americans won the war and their independence from England.

 

In 1779 I was elected governor of Virginia.  British soldiers landed and almost captured me. But I escaped. I retired as governor in 1781, the same year that the war ended.  I didn’t retire for long though, I was elected to Congress. The following year, I was sent to France by Congress. I needed to negotiate treaties with the French. When Benjamin Franklin resigned as ambassador to France, I replaced him.  While I was in Paris, I received a copy of the Constitution! I liked parts of it, but I worried that it did not have a bill of rights. I urged that amendments to protect individual rights be added, and they were!

I became the third president of the United States in 1801!!! First I served secretary for George Washington. I also served as vice president for John Adams, who was the country’s second president. As president, I was most remembered for buying the Louisiana Territory from France!!! The territory contained all of the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky mountains. This purchase of land that cost me $15 million doubled the size of the United States. I doubted that the constitution allowed the purchase of the new territory. But I and the Senate felt that the benefits to the country were important.  We were really willing to risk breaking the law. My secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and William Clark explored the new territory and beyond. They reached the Pacific Ocean in 1805.

I won re-election as president but I didn’t at all seek a third term. I retired from politics and returned to my beloved Monticello. I stayed busy. I read books and I wrote many letters. Through the years I had invented clever devices. I made a revolving music stand and a device to bring my clothes to me from my closet. I invented a device for writing to copies of a letter at the same time! I won a prize for a plow I invented!!!  I was lonely without Martha. She had died in 1782 after giving birth to our sixth child. My children were dead, too! Except for Patsy.

In 1826, on July 4^th, also the 50^th anniversary for the Declaration of independence, I became ill and I died.