Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826)

Thomas Jefferson, the child of Jane Randolph and Peter Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743. He was not only a political philospher, but a distinguished lawyer, polymath, an inventor, an architect who planned the construction of Monticello, a neoclassical mansion. As a writer his work Summary View of the Rights of the British America British focuses on his reaction against the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. He greatly condemned the British rule in the colonies and asserted the colonists right to govern themselves. In June 1775, with the outbreak of the American War of Independence, Jefferson served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and was appointed to a five-man committee to prepare the Declaration of Rights. Being a writer, he drafted the declaration and presented itto Congress. On July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was finally approved. Besides this, he was a governor of Virginia from 1779 - 1781, he brought about many reforms in education and founded the University of Virginia. On June 6, 1783, he was appointed to the Congress of Confederation by the Virginia state legislature and there he brought about financial reforms namely the decimal system for the American currency. He also served as a minister in France and supported the cause of France against Britain. He had also served as a Secretary of State under George Washington where he and Hamilton wrangled over the national fiscal policy related to the funding of nation debts caused by war. Jefferson served the term as president from 1801-1809 during which he repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801, pardoned people under the alien and Sedition Acts passed during the term of John Adams, increased the size of the United States by purchasing Louisiana from France and won the First Barbary War (1801-1802).However, his Embargo Act curbed his reputation and was repealed during his second term in office.