Thomas Jefferson…
like no other… then or now!
At 5, he began studying under his cousin’s tutor.
At 9, he studied Latin, Greek and French.
At 14, he studied classical literature and additional languages.
At 16, he entered the College of William and Mary.
At 19, he studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
At 23, he started his own law practice.
At 25, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
At 31, he wrote the widely circulated
"Summary View of the Rights of British America”
and retired from his law practice.
At 32, he was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
At 33, he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
At 33, he took three years to revise Virginia’s legal code
and wrote a Public Education bill
and a statute for Religious Freedom.
At 36, he was elected the second Governor of Virginia
succeeding Patrick Henry.
At 40, he served in Congress for two years.
At 41, he was the American minister to France
and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations
along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.
At 46, he served as the first Secretary of State
under George Washington.
At 53, he served as Vice President
and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.
At 55, he drafted the Kentucky Resolutions
and became the active head of Republican Party.
At 57, he was elected the third President of the United States.
At 60, he obtained the Louisiana Purchase
doubling the nation’s size.
At 61, he was elected to a second term as President.
At 65, he retired to Monticello.
At 80, he helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
At 81, he almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia
and served as its first President.
At 83, he died on the 50th anniversary
of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.
About 135 years after his death,
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House
for a group of the brightest minds in the nation
at that time.
He made this statement:
"This is perhaps the assembly
of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House
with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe,
we shall become as corrupt as Europe” …
Thomas Jefferson
“The democracy will cease to exist
when you take away from those who are willing to work
and give to those who would not”...
Thomas Jefferson
“It is incumbent on every generation
to pay its own debts as it goes.
A principle which if acted on
would save one-half the wars of the world”...
Thomas Jefferson
“I predict future happiness for Americans
if they can prevent the government
from wasting the labors of the people
under the pretense of taking care of them”...
Thomas Jefferson
“My reading of history convinces me
that most bad government results from too much government”…
Thomas Jefferson
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms”...
Thomas Jefferson
“The strongest reason for the people to retain
the right to keep and bear arms is,
as a last resort,
to protect themselves against tyranny in government”...
Thomas Jefferson
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time
with the blood of patriots and tyrants”...
Thomas Jefferson
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes
the propagation of ideas
which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical”…
Thomas Jefferson
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous
to our liberties than standing armies.
If the American people ever allow private banks
to control the issue of their currency,
first by inflation, then by deflation,
the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks
will deprive the people of all property -
until their children wake-up homeless
on the continent their fathers conquered”…
Thomas Jefferson - 1802
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