Thomas Jefferson is known as one of our nation’s first and
most influential leaders. Most know of his numerous contributions to our
country, however, rarely do we think of the life experiences that potentially
influenced his life as well as his career. Thomas Jefferson was a man that
ruled our country, but also a man who lost many of those close to him. When
considering this, it’s hard not to look at his many accomplishments and not be
even more impressed when realizing that his personal life was falling a part
around him, while he still carried on.
Jefferson’s father passed when Jefferson was still young. Obviously this would
put any young boy into distress, however, if it weren’t for his father’s death,
Jefferson would not have inherited Monticello at the young age of 21. It is
well known that Monticello was important to Jefferson, especially when thinking
about his want for an agrarian society in his later, more influential years.
Still after the tragedy of his father’s death, Jefferson was still able to
graduate from William and Mary and was later elected to the House of Burgesses
in 1768 (“Timeline of Jefferson’s Life”).
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| Portraits of Thomas and Martha Jefferson Image by Proposal Magazine |
In
1772, Martha Wayles Skelton married Thomas Jefferson and soon after they had a
daughter, whom they named Martha. Soon after, Martha Jefferson’s brother passed
and Mr. Jefferson established a graveyard at Monticello for his friend and
brother-in-law. After this unfortunate event, Jefferson inherited more land
from his father-in-law, and he and Martha had another child, Jane Randolph.
Jane Randolph Jefferson passed away one year after birth. As these inopportune
events were taking place, Thomas Jefferson was elected to Continental Congress,
and was helping to draft the Declaration of Independence. This string of
unfortunate personal events continued with the birth and death of two more children,
and in 1782, his own wife (“Timeline of Jefferson's Life", Hay).
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| The Declaration of Independence Image by archives.gov |
We
discover in Wulf’s “Founding Gardeners” that after the death of his wife,
Jefferson’s close friend encouraged him to go to France to act as Commissioner
and Minister. Jefferson was obviously depressed at the time, and it was thought
that this trip would help him (Wulf). Paris was much different for Jefferson, both
politically and socially (Kocol, 15). The president left France only to find his daughter, Lucy
Elizabeth, had passed away. This death and many others still did not show in
Jefferson’s political work. After Lucy’s death Jefferson went on to publish
“Notes on the State of Virginia” and serve as the first United States Secretary
of State.
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| Jefferson during his presidency Image by biography.com |
Everyone
knows that Jefferson continued on to become one our nation’s first presidents,
and perfect his picturesque estate of Monticello. With these victories still
came tragedy, including deaths of other close family members and children. It
would be hard to tell based on average history retellings of his contributions
to our country, but Thomas Jefferson overcame much more than the trials of
starting a new nation, he had to overcome the misery that took place in his own
life (“Timeline of Jefferson”).
Works Cited
"Timeline of Jefferson's Life." Thomas Jeffersons Monticello Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/timeline-jeffersons-life>.
Hay, Robert P. "THE DAY Thomas Jefferson's World FELL APART." USA Today Magazine 118.2534 (1989): 90-92. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Nov. 2013
Kocol, Cleo F. "Jefferson's Women." Humanist72.2 (2012): 12-18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2013
Wulf, Andrea. Founding gardeners: the revolutionary generation, nature, and the shaping of the American nation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.
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