‘Over two centuries later people are quoting what Thomas Jefferson wrote in that room.’ Thomas Jefferson I: A Revolutionary is Born, comment, History 2025
‘Jefferson owned close to 700 people in his lifetime.’ ibid.
Thomas Jefferson is born at Shadwell Plantation on April 13th 1743. ibid. narrator
‘There you get the seeds of the contradition with Jefferson.’ ibid. comment
‘Jefferson inherits his father’s estate at the age of 14.’ ibid.
‘The Enlightenment is his gospel.’ ibid.
‘The British Crown seems incredibly out of touch in the colonies.’ ibid.
‘But also he’s complicit. He’s a slave owner.’ ibid.
Tension between Britain and the colonies continues to escalate. ibid. narrator
Jefferson becomes a powerful colonial voice. ibid.
‘So the Sons of Liberty organised political opposition to these unpopular British taxes.’ Thomas Jefferson II: Independence, comment
In the 1760s and early 1770s Great Britain begins to levy heavy taxes on the colonies. ibid.
‘Jefferson lived the experience of being a colonist in British North America who resented an increasing imperial authority. He had engaged with the great ideas of natural rights and liberty. And when these intersected, he was in exactly the right place at the right time.’ ibid. comment
Lexington: ‘Early in the morning of April 19th 19775 shots were fired between the British and the settlers.’ ibid.
Thomas Paine 1775/76: Common Sense. ibid.
On June 11th 1776 Jefferson begins writing what will become known as the Declaration of Independence. ibid.
‘The sentiment at the time was a very profound and intense mixture of exultation and fear.’ Thomas Jefferson III: Jefferson at War, comment
Between 1777 and 1778 Jefferson and Madison draft over a hundred bills, that go on to shape Virginian and then national laws. ibid.
By the Fall of 1781 the tides of war begin to turn in favour of the Americans. ibid.
‘He did not believe that blacks and whites could live together in harmony.’ ibid. comment
‘The reality of the duality of his legacy.’ ibid.
At the age of 33 Martha Jefferson dies. ibid.
Despite the criticism he faced as governor, Jefferson remains in high standing among his friends and colleagues. Desperate to pull him out of his depression, they appeal to his affinity for European luxury and philosophy and arrange for him to be sent to France as a diplomat. ibid.
In September 1783 Benjamin Franklin, John Adams & John Jay signed the Treaty of Paris in the city for which it is named. The agreement effectively ends the Revolutionary War, and catapults the new United States of America on to the world stage. Thomas Jefferson IV: Jefferson in Paris
‘Paris is alive at this point with revolutionary fervour.’ ibid. comment
‘So Jefferson has to grapple with the rights they have in France.’ ibid.
In September 1789 Jefferson returns home to Virginia with his enslaved mistress Sally Hemings. ibid.
‘Sally negotiated with Jefferson an easier life for herself.’ ibid.
She would bear six more children. ibid.
Jefferson and Hamilton continue to clash. And in this divide, America’s two-party political system is born. ibid.
In the summer of 1793 Thomas Jefferson has taken on the role as America’s first secretary of state. Though appointed directly by George Washington, he finds himself constantly at odds with the President. Thomas Jefferson V: President Jefferson
‘It’s hard for to imagine just how acrimonious the 1790s were.’ ibid.
On February 17th 1801 Thomas Jefferson is announced as the third president of the United States. ibid.
The acquired land more than doubles the size of the country. ibid.
‘Jefferson has no interest in serving a third term.’ Thomas Jefferson VI: Jefferson’s Legacy, comment
‘He was tremendously affectionate towards his grandchildren.’ ibid.
Jefferson frees all of Sally’s children when they turned 21. ibid.
When Jefferson’s creditors come to collect, the coffers are empty. ibid.
The Panic of 1819 is America’s first financial setback. ibid.
In his final years Thomas Jefferson finds himself broke and alone. ibid.