What Were Thomas Jefferson's Major Accomplishments

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most prominent figures in his time, for he helped build the United States government to what it is today. In 1782, six years after the Declaration of Independence which he co-wrote, Jefferson wrote Notes on the State of Virginia. In there he explains “some of the most important reasons why emancipation never received serious consideration in southern legislatures”. Although Jefferson was an advocate of “individual liberty, he was also a slaveowner”, but believes that slavery is not right. The first idea proposed is to “emancipate all slaves born after the passing act”. This means that all slaves that were born after the act will live with their parents until “the females should be eighteen, and the males

twenty-one”. Once they reach of age, they will begin to colonize other areas with resources and “declare them a free and independent people” along with an “alliance and protection”. Jefferson then goes on to write about the differences between black and white people. He starts of by stating the first obvious difference, color then “…figure, and hair, [and] other physical distinctions proving a difference of race”. Jefferson says they are hardworking, adventurous, eager for more love, and “seem to require less sleep”. He seems to think that black people are inferior to white people intellectually and appearance-wise. Jefferson then goes over the topic of how slavery has an influence among the people. In those times, slaves got abused and degraded. He didn’t want children to grow up in an environment where the “masters” abuse their slaves and grow up to do “what he sees others do”. He didn’t want the children to be “nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny”. Thomas Jefferson strongly believed slavery was wrong, he hoped for a “total emancipation” where the slave owners would consent to liberating the slaves, rather than taking them away and infuriating them to a point where they resort to “extirpation”.
Author: Thomas Jefferson, known for being one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, “was born on 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia”.

Throughout his life he made many accomplishments that helped build this country to what it is today. Some of his most notable accomplishment was writing the Declaration of Independence and being the third president of the United States. Before all of that, Jefferson got his start as a lawyer in Virginia. He graduated the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in 1762, and it wasn’t until 1767 where “he began working as a lawyer”. Almost a decade later, the American Revolution began, which was between the Americans and the British. This was a significant part of America’s history and also Jefferson’s. He was among the selected delegates in the Second Continental Congress, where they strategized ways to become independent from the British. Eventually they won the war and Jefferson began drafting the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams and others. Once it was complete, they signed and July fourth became the day where America was freed from British rule. In 1801 Jefferson was elected president on his second attempt for the office. After Jefferson’s presidency he continued to work. He “spent his post-presidential years at Monticello” and “helped found the University of Virginia”. At 83 years old Jefferson passed away on July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of

Independence.
Historical Context: After declaring Independence from British rule, the Founding Fathers were busy trying to build the new government. The articles played an important part in building the new government but it was “difficult to implement, mainly because the thirteen states disagreed over boundaries in the land to the west of the states”. In 1781, the search for legislatures, and government officials was “stretched out over six years”, so it was taking a while for the new government to fully establish itself. In 1782, Abagail Adams wrote to John Adams, her husband, about men having authority and women not having the right to vote. Although some “well-placed women” got the privilege to vote, it wasn’t enough for Abagail Adams . One important court case happened the year before Thomas Jefferson wrote Notes on the State of Virginia, a woman by the name of Elizabeth Freeman “was the first to win freedom in a Massachusetts court”. She presented the state constitution which said ‘“all men are born free and equal”’, and several court cases followed with them presenting the same reason and were set free. The Act that Thomas Jefferson writes about is similar to the one that was passed in Pennsylvania in 1780, which stated that “infant born to slave mother on or after… would be at the age of twenty-eight”. It wasn’t until 67 years later where “Pennsylvania fully abolished slavery”. After the “gradual emancipation” that Pennsylvania passed, other states soon followed, the second was in 1782 in Virginia where Thomas Jefferson write the Notes on the State of Virginia. A decade later, around “10,000 newly freed Virginia salves had formed local free black communities complete with schools and churches”. Before that, the government was facing some obstacles. One of them was the debt from the war, this was a problem since they couldn’t “enforce its tax requisitions”. The other was calling a truce with the Native Americans, but the government figured they could make money off the land but the Native Americans “had different ideas”.
Understanding of history: This Document contributes to our understanding of history by giving us insight of how Jefferson and others viewed slavery and race during those times. What we can learn today from these events that happened is that every person regardless of race or skin color has a right to freedom in this country and no human being is property for other people to own. Even today, African-Americans are still experiencing discrimination as they did in the 18th century. With the Black Lives Matter Movement, they are seeking “reparations for lasting harms caused to African-Americans of slavery”.