Thomas Jefferson

(noun)

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743 O.S.) – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801–1809).

Related Terms

Examples of Thomas Jefferson in the following topics:

  • The Declaration of Independence

    • Each state in the congress had drafted some form of a declaration of independence, but ultimately, Thomas Jefferson was asked to write a final one which would represent all the American colonies.
    • Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which congress would edit to produce the final version.
    • Explain the major themes and ideas espoused by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence

  • Religious Freedom

    • Freedom of religion is also closely associated with the separation of church and state, a concept advocated by Thomas Jefferson.
    • Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and 3rd President of the United States
    • Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, who advocated for separation of church and states.

  • The Establishment Clause: Separation of Church and State

    • Thomas Jefferson wrote that the First Amendment erected a "wall of separation between church and state", likely borrowing the language from Roger Williams, founder of the Colony of Rhode Island .
    • Thomas Jefferson's phrase "the wall of separation," is often quoted in debates on the Establishment Clause and the separation of church and state.

  • Judicial Activism and Restraint

    • The phrase is generally traced back to a comment by Thomas Jefferson, referring to the despotic behavior of Federalist federal judges, in particular, John Marshall.

  • The Framers of the Constitution

    • Morris identified seven figures as the main Founding Fathers: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.
    • Thomas Jefferson was abroad, serving as the minister to France.

  • Political Parties from 1800–1824

    • Anti-Federalist debates, it featured two national parties competing for control of the presidency, Congress, and the states: the Federalist Party, created largely by Alexander Hamilton, and the rival Democratic-Republican Party formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
    • In an analysis of the contemporary party system, Jefferson wrote on Feb. 12, 1798: "Two political Sects have arisen within the US, the one believing that the executive is the branch of our government which the most needs support; the other, that like the analogous branch in the English Government, it is already too strong for the republican parts of the Constitution; and therefore in equivocal cases they incline to the legislative powers: the former of these are called federalists, sometimes aristocrats or monocrats, and sometimes tories, after the corresponding sect in the English Government of exactly the same definition: the latter are stiled republicans, whigs, jacobins, anarchists, disorganizers, etc. these terms are in familiar use with most persons. "
    • Jefferson was especially fearful that British aristocratic influences would undermine Republicanism.

  • Bureaucratic Reform

    • In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson, alarmed that Federalists dominated the civil service and the army, identified the party affiliation of office holders, and systematically appointed Republicans.

  • The Second Continental Congress

    • Within two weeks, Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses; he was replaced in the Virginia delegation by Thomas Jefferson , who arrived several weeks later.

  • The First Political Parties: Federalists and Anti-Federalists

    • Congress approved Hamilton's programs, which would later be labeled Federalist, over the opposition of the old Anti-Federalists element, which increasingly coalesced under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
    • Republicans, or the Democratic-Republican Party, was founded in 1792 by Jefferson and James Madison.
    • It would be Jefferson and the Republican Party that would replace the Federalist Party domination of politics following the election of 1800.

  • The Shifting Boundary between Federal and State Authority

    • Conservative historians Thomas E.
    • Gutzman argues that the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798 by Jefferson and Madison were not only responses to immediate threats but were legitimate responses based on the long-standing principles of states' rights and strict adherence to the Constitution.