BOOKMARK THIS WEBSITE

Recommend to a Friend

  INTRO-HOME PAGE
  How to Use This Site

  ARTICLES-REVIEWS
  Family Articles
  Homeschool Articles
  Devotional Articles
  Books, Movies, TV
  Curriculum, Software
  & Product Reviews
  Not Just For Kids:
  Mini Unit Studies

  HOMESCHOOL INFO
  Books & Resources
  Articles & Reviews
  Lists & Outlines
  Freebies & Printables
  Money-Saving Tips
  Homeschool News
  Quotes/Poems/Humor
  Famous People
  Homeschool Patriots
  Homeschooling in AZ
  Unschooling

  GRADE LEVELS
  Preschool
  Kindergarten
  First Grade
  Second Grade
  Third Grade
  Fourth Grade
  Fifth Grade
  Sixth Grade
  Seventh Grade
  Eighth Grade
  High School
  College

  LINK LIBRARY
  Reference
  Arizona
  Art & Music
  Language Arts
  Literature
  Social Studies
  History:
  World History
  American History
  Government
  Geography
  Mathematics
  Science:
  General Science
  Earth Science
  Life Science
  Astronomy & Space
  Foreign Languages
  Health & P.E.
  Other Subjects

  MORE LINKS
  Blogs
  Education & Learning
  Computers & Software
  Online Courses
  Freebies
  Kids Links
  Teen Links
  Home & Family
  Patriotic Links
  Christian Sites
  Ministries & Charities

  LEARNING FOR LIFE
  Excerpts
  Author Bio
  Endorsements
  Press
  Order Form

  PRODUCT CATALOG
  Citizens Rule Book
  Learning for Life
  God Created You
  Captain Dad
  Abraham Lincoln:
  The Boy, The Man
  The Nativity Story
  Ebooks & Downloads
  Toys/Games/Hobbies

  ABOUT US
  Family Mission
  Homeschool Mission
  Statement of Faith
  Children & The Internet
  Contact/Comment
  Copyright/Permissions
  Review Guidelines
  Favored Merchants
  Sponsors/Advertisers
  Awards & Praises
  Web Rings
  Acknowledgments

K I D S
P A G E

Made with Notepad

Do not steal content from this page. Plagiarism detected by Copyscape.



"By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge
the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." ~Proverbs 24:3-4

Subscribe to my Knowledge House Newsletter and get a famous homeschool biography once per month - plus a set of FREE e-books! Click here for more details or to sign up.

Thomas Jefferson: “Father of Democracy”

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was born on a Virginia estate. Thomas and his three sisters were taught by the family tutor in a little schoolhouse in the side yard. His father showed him how to ride a horse, shoot a gun, and paddle a canoe. Starting at age nine, Thomas received lessons in Latin, Greek, and French at the home of a minister. When Thomas was fourteen, his father died suddenly and Thomas became the man of the family. Thomas’s father left him a bookcase with 40 books. Thomas loved to read; he especially liked the histories of England and a book about the sun, moon, and stars. Sometimes he would sit and read for fifteen hours straight!

At age seventeen, Jefferson attended William and Mary College. Thomas was a brilliant student and was curious about everything. After two years at college, he decided to study law in Williamsburg. When Virginia was still a British colony, a law was passed that forbade people to attend any church except the Church of England. Jefferson proposed that “all men should be free to have their own religious opinions and that people should not be molested, restrained, or…otherwise made to suffer on account of their beliefs.”

Jefferson was a member of the Virginia legislature and became a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1775. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, which the Continental Congress adopted. Jefferson also served his country as minister to France, secretary of state, and Vice President before becoming the third President of the United States in 1801.

Soon afterward, the United States made an agreement with France to buy the vast region between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. This was called the “Louisiana Purchase” and it doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Jefferson believed that virtue and talent – not money, title, or birth – was what gave a man true worth. Jefferson had a wide variety of interests and talents. He was a violinist, writer, lawyer, architect and inventor. He designed Monticello – “little mountain” – a beautiful stately home in a classical style, along with many of the objects and gadgets in it. On the grounds around Monticello, he enjoyed horseback riding and experimented with new ways of farming.

A noted scholar, Jefferson had so many books in his personal collection that when the British burned the Library of Congress in 1814, he was able to give the library 6,000 of his volumes and still have 4,000 left! Jefferson was also fascinated with science and had his own museum. Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and designed the original buildings.

Jefferson had owned slaves all his life but came to believe that slavery was wrong. He tried to keep slavery out of the new lands that were added to the United States. A few days before he died, he wrote “All eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man.” He left instructions that his slaves were to be freed after his death. He chose for his tomb the epitaph: "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and father of the university of Virginia."

REFERENCES

Arrow Book of Presidents, by Sturges F. Cary.
Our Country’s Presidents, by Ann Bausum.
Our Country’s Presidents, by Frank Freidel.
Thomas Jefferson: A Picture Book Biography, by James Cross Giblin.
Who Was Thomas Jefferson? by Dennis Brindell Fradin.

Click here to see the complete list of famous homeschoolers and read more biographies.

HOME | ARTICLES & REVIEWS | NOT JUST FOR KIDS | HOMESCHOOL INFO | GRADE LEVELS
ARIZONA | LEARNING FOR LIFE | PRODUCT CATALOG | LINK LIBRARY | ABOUT US | CONTACT

These pages are a continuous work in progress.
Copyright © 2000- by Teri Ann Berg Olsen
All rights reserved.

Google
WWW Search This Site

www.ArizonaEdventures.com

Visit my other website - www.ArizonaEdventures.com - click here to explore Arizona!

Sign up for my newsletter
and get a FREE GIFT!
Click here for details.

Homeschool Top Sites

Homeschool Gold

Homeschool Top 500
Look for us in the Top 50 -
Thanks for your votes!

Homeschool Directory

Help Support this Site

Please visit our fine sponsors
and purchase items via our
affiliate links. Thank you!

Christianbook.com

LearningThings.com

Learning for Life Book

Citizens Rule Book

ATTENTION:
Advertisers, Publishers,
Site Owners,
and Home Businesses!
Place Your
Ad Here

LK
Want to see
YOUR ad here?

Click for details




Google ad content
may not necessarily
represent the views
or endorsement of
Knowledge House.