Thomas Jefferson

FAMOUS LAWYERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY

By Harry Munsinger

Thomas Jefferson, 1743–1826

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, near Charlottesville, Virginia. 1 His father was a successful planter and his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, a member of a prominent Virginia family. Jefferson received his early education from private tutors and a Presbyterian school, studying Latin, Greek, French, history, science, and the classics. His father died when Jefferson was fourteen, and he inherited approximately five thousand acres of Virginia land and around two hundred enslaved people. Jefferson enrolled in the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1760, at the age of sixteen and was a serious student. 2 He studied natural philosophy and writers such as John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Montesquieu. After graduating, Jefferson studied law with George Wythe, the most prominent attorney in Virginia, passed the Virginia bar exam, and began practicing in 1766. He represented plantation owners in cases involving land sales and disputes about enslaved people.

House of Burgesses and Continental Congress.

Jefferson was elected to the House of Burgesses, the legislature of colonial Virginia, in 1769. That same year, he began construction of Monticello, his hilltop mansion, on land inherited from his father, and he remodeled it throughout his life. In 1772, Jefferson met and married Martha Wales Skelton, an attractive young widow whose dowry doubled his land and the number of people he enslaved. 3 He was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress and arrived in Philadelphia on June 21, 1775, in a carriage pulled by four horses and attended by three enslaved people dressed in livery. He was the youngest member of the Virginia delegation to the Continental Congress and was relatively unknown at the time.

Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson showed himself to be an excellent writer in a pamphlet he published in 1775 entitled A Summary View of the Rights of British America. 4 In the pamphlet, Jefferson wrote that Parliament and King George had no authority to govern America, and the colonies should be free to control their own destiny. Jefferson supported independence and drafted a resolution outlining the reasons for separating from England, but when Congress made changes before adopting his resolution, Jefferson left in disgust and went back to Monticello to tend to his wife Martha, who was experiencing a difficult pregnancy. He returned to the convention on May 14, 1776, and was selected to draft the Declaration of Independence because he was the best writer at the convention. The committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson. They delegated the drafting to Adams and Jefferson, and Adams assigned the initial writing to Jefferson.

No one at the convention thought the Declaration of Independence would be an important document, so Adams did not feel he was giving up anything by assigning the work to Jefferson. Adams spent his time leading debates on the floor of Congress because he felt debating independence was the more important job. Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in just a few days, using materials he collected or had written earlier. He showed his draft to Adams and Franklin, who made a few minor changes and then submitted it to the Continental Congress for debate and passage. The Congress made several changes and deleted materials dealing with King George. Jefferson regarded any change to his document a debasement but had no authority to object. On July 4, 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence and had copies made, and the members of the Continental Congress signed it on August 2, 1776. They kept the Declaration of Independence secret because it was an act of treason against England, and they would be hanged if the Declaration were discovered. The most famous part of the Declaration of Independence states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. 5

This statement about equal rights for all men eventually triggered reforms in America, including without limitation the abolition of slavery and giving black people and women all rights of citizenship.

Governor of Virginia.

Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia in 1779 and dealt with economic and political problems caused by the Revolutionary War. Virginia suffered serious economic damage because an English blockade limited the export of tobacco and cotton. Jefferson sent Virginia’s best militia to Detroit just before Benedict Arnold led an English army through Virginia, attacking Charlottesville, and almost capturing Jefferson at Monticello. The legislature passed a resolution asking for an investigation into why Jefferson had allowed the English to invade Virginia, but the matter was dropped when emotions cooled. His actions as governor were later criticized during Jefferson’s two campaigns for President, although he won both elections. Jefferson’s wife Martha died on September 6, 1782. 6 He promised he would never remarry and stayed true to that promise.

Jefferson in Paris.

To recover from his grief, Jefferson went to France as a minister in the summer of 1784. 7 He had difficulty learning to speak French, although he read the language easily. He loved the food, culture, and architecture in Paris, and formed a close relationship with John Adams, although they would become bitter rivals for the presidency in later years. Jefferson assumed primary responsibility for American affairs in France after the Revolutionary War, 8 and he hoped France would continue to support an independent United States. The King of France closed French ports to American shipping, however, and imposed high tariffs on American tobacco and cotton to protect domestic producers and raise revenue. Jefferson gained diplomatic experience during his time in France, which helped him later as Secretary of State and President.

Jefferson witnessed the French Revolution firsthand but failed to see how serious the situation was. He was optimistic that the King, nobles, and people of France would reach a compromise and maintain the monarchy, so he was surprised when Paris erupted in riots and was appalled by the violence of the mobs as they stormed government buildings. Jefferson continued to believe a peaceful compromise would occur and was shocked by the French Reign of Terror. He eventually realized it was dangerous to stay in Paris and returned to America because he was interested in a cabinet appointment and wanted his daughters educated in the United States. George Washington offered Jefferson the post of Secretary of State in 1789, and he accepted.

Secretary of State.

Jefferson’s service as Secretary of State coincided with turbulent times in American foreign policy, and every decision Jefferson made set a precedent because he was the first man to hold the post. 9 During the early decades of the new government, Jefferson and James Madison cooperated in establishing the Democratic Republican Party to oppose the Federalist policies of Alexander Hamilton and Washington. Jefferson and Hamilton emerged as the dominant personalities in Washington’s cabinet, with Hamilton favoring a strong central government with international ties, while Jefferson wanted a weak central government, strong states’ rights, and no foreign alliances.

With the support of Jefferson, Madison led the fight against Hamilton’s push for a national bank. Jefferson believed there are three major types of governments— the European model based on a powerful monarch; the English model which looks to the people and Parliament for guidance; and the Native American model based on common values, small communities, and a local leader. Jefferson preferred the Native American model because he felt American society was homogeneous and the people shared common values. Jefferson believed Shay’s Rebellion, which had prompted other Founding Fathers to declare the need for a strong central government, was a sign of American political strength, and issued his famous statement: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” 10

His feelings toward Hamilton were personal and political. Personally, Jefferson was jealous of Hamilton because he was a military hero, and Jefferson had not served in the Revolutionary War. Politically, Hamilton and others attacked Jefferson for his Francophile leanings, while Madison and James Monroe defended Jefferson and attacked Hamilton and Adams as monarchists who wanted to reinstate an English King in America.

Jefferson also opposed making the federal government supreme and believed Hamilton’s scheme to establish a national debt was really a secret plan to make the central government more powerful. Jefferson wanted to eliminate public debt, stop issuing federal bonds, and close the National Bank. Adams and Jefferson were the leading candidates to replace Washington when he retired. After a bitter political campaign, Adams won New England, Jefferson carried the South, and the Middle Atlantic states split. When the votes were counted, Adams collected more votes so he became President, and Jefferson Vice President, creating an uneasy truce between Federalist Adams and Democratic Republican Jefferson that would fracture in 1800, when they both ran for President again.

Jefferson on Slavery.

Jefferson claimed he was a spokesman for the common man, as opposed to Federalist elites such as Adams and Hamilton. That was ironic because Jefferson lived as an aristocrat in his mansion at Monticello, tended by hundreds of enslaved people. Jefferson owned nearly eleven thousand acres of land in Albemarle and Bedford counties, but he had to sell land to pay off part of his debts. Jefferson was frequently in debt and short on cash despite owning thousands of acres of land and hundreds of enslaved people.

Although enslaved people did all the work on his plantation, Jefferson was conflicted about the institution of slavery. He opposed slavery because it was incompatible with his republican values of equality, but at the same time, he relied on an enslaved workforce to work his plantation. Moreover, Jefferson never actively supported abolition of slavery in America. He was guilty of wishful thinking when he argued that slavery would naturally disappear in time.

From the Revolution until after the end of the Civil War, Americans debated contentiously about how to emancipate enslaved people and how to contend with a free black population. Jefferson believed white and black Americans could not live together in harmony because the history of slavery would forever separate the races. America is still dealing with the ramifications of race-based slavery.

President Jefferson. Jefferson and Aaron Burr both ran for President in 1800 against Adams. Hamilton wrote a scathing attack against Adams that damaged Adams’ chance for a second term. Jefferson and Burr tied for electoral college votes at seventy-three each.

The Constitution requires that, in case of a tie, the House of Representatives chooses electors from each state who select a President. After thirty-six ballots, Jefferson won over Burr. His election as President produced a less powerful federal government, compared with the Washington and Adams administrations, because Jefferson believed in a central government that allowed states more power to run their own affairs.

In his inaugural address, Jefferson suggested that the bitter party squabbles of earlier administrations should stop. He wanted to make the federal government small and simple rather than powerful and complicated. Jefferson inherited a nation at peace with England and France, few national debts, a powerful United States Navy of fifty ships, and a flourishing economy. Jefferson selected James Madison as Secretary of State and Albert Gallatin as Secretary of the Treasury. Madison saw eye to eye with Jefferson on foreign policy, and Gallatin was a match for Hamilton on fiscal issues.

Jefferson continued Washington’s staff model for the federal government, where analyses of issues went through the cabinet head before presentation to the President for a decision. Jefferson only convened his cabinet when there was a crisis; otherwise, he worked individually with each cabinet member, making decisions once the issues were analyzed and options were developed. Most business in Jefferson’s administration was done in writing rather than through face-to-face discussions. Jefferson tried to stay in the background and not exercise power openly. He felt Congress should be the leading branch of government as opposed to the President or the Judiciary.

His attitude toward Native Americans was paradoxical, like his attitude about slavery. Jefferson celebrated the cultures and government of Native American tribes and championed the idea that all men are equal, while relocating Native American tribes to reservations far away from their original hunting grounds and continuing to enslave people all his life.

Two months after Jefferson assumed the Presidency of the United States, Tripoli declared war on American shipping. In the 1780s, Secretary of State John Jay had instructed Adams and Jefferson to resolve a conflict in the Mediterranean by meeting with an envoy from the Sultan of Tripoli. The envoy told them that if America wanted to avoid war, it must pay thirty thousand pounds to his country and three thousand pounds to him as a bribe. 11 Jefferson and Adams both felt that was too expensive, but the envoy said it was his lowest offer and they would have to negotiate treaties with other Barbary States for comparable sums or face continued attacks. Jefferson recommended that America wage naval war rather than pay tribute, but Adams argued that since America had no navy, it would be cheaper to pay rather than build ships and fight a war.

Jefferson had always disliked paying tribute to the Barbary Pirates, and now that he was President and had a powerful navy at his disposal, he went to war with the pirates. He dispatched a fleet of heavy frigates and several hundred United States Marines to the Mediterranean to fight the Barbary Pirates, and they stopped bothering American shipping. 12

The Louisiana Purchase.

Because Napoleon was fighting most of Europe, he needed money and decided to sell French possessions on the North American continent to America. When Spain sold its rights to the Mississippi River, New Orleans, and the Louisiana territory to Napoleon, Jefferson immediately contacted France and began negotiating to buy the entire package. He was so upset about French control of the Louisiana territory that he considered signing an alliance with England and declaring war on France

to remove it from the continental United States if France would not sell the Louisiana Territory to America. Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris to negotiate the purchase of the Louisiana Territory and authorized him to pay up to $10 million for the land. Jefferson even considered occupying New Orleans with the American army to convince France to sell. None of that was necessary, though, because Napoleon needed money. 13 He agreed to sell the Louisiana Territory for $15 million. Jefferson immediately commissioned Meriwether Lewis to organize an expedition to explore and map the new territory.

Jefferson and Marshall.

Throughout his Presidency, Jefferson quarreled with Chief Justice John Marshall. Jefferson opposed Marshall’s doctrine of judicial review of Congressional statutes and the Supreme Court’s right to interpret the United States Constitution. He thought Marshall had overstepped his judicial authority and said so at every opportunity. However, as Madison pointed out, Marshall had convinced his colleagues on the Supreme Court of the doctrine of judicial review of Congressional statutes and the right of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution, so there was nothing Jefferson could do about it. Madison advised Jefferson to move on, but to no avail.

Scandal and Disappointment.

Newspaper editors considered the private life of any important political figure fair game, including President Jefferson. The editor of the Federalist Port Folio was the first to raise the sensational charge that Jefferson was having sexual relations with Sally Hemings, a woman he enslaved. The allegations were a reporter’s dream because they could not be disproved, were sensational, and sold newspapers. Modern DNA evidence has confirmed that Sally Hemings bore six children, all fathered by Jefferson. At the time, the accusations were plausible because many enslavers forced enslaved women into sexual conduct. Thus, the Federalists were able to level the scandalous accusations to damage Jefferson’s character.

Jefferson enjoyed many successes during his first term as President, but his second four years were a disaster due to the war between France and England. Jefferson closed American ports to English and French shipping during the war, which caused a major recession in America and made him unpopular. In addition, Jefferson had to deal with a conspiracy by Aaron Burr, his former Vice President, to establish an independent nation in the American Southwest. Jefferson was so eager to find Burr guilty that he violated the man’s constitutional rights. Chief Justice John Marshall saved Jefferson from himself by finding Burr not guilty of treason against the United States in a trial before the Supreme Court. Burr’s reputation was already ruined by his shooting of Alexander Hamilton in a duel, and Marshall believed there was no need to punish him further.

After Jefferson’s second term, he returned to Monticello to retire and manage his plantation. He rode his favorite horse every day inspecting his lands, entertained guests, and continued his correspondence with notable Americans, including John Adams, with whom he reconciled after they both retired. Their mutual friend Benjamin Rush engineered the reconciliation in January 1812.

Jefferson’s Last Years.

As he aged, Jefferson’s health declined, and he feared senility and a loss of independence. Jefferson worked hard later in life to clarify his attitude toward slavery and consolidate his place in history. He claimed to be morally opposed to slavery based on the principles of equality for all men. Jefferson also wrote in his autobiography that he opposed slavery and that all black people should be free. Contrary to these grand words, however, Jefferson’s behavior showed an ambivalence toward slavery. Despite pressure from his Northern friends to support the abolition of slavery, Jefferson refused to support freeing enslaved people until the end of his life. Upon his death, he freed only a few enslaved people, most of whom were related to Sally Hemings.

When the issue of slavery in the new state of Missouri came before Congress, Jefferson avoided the issue by saying there was no plan for compensating enslavers and no clear idea of what to do with all those freed people afterward. The growing enslaved population in America made gradual emancipation unlikely and unworkable. Jefferson believed that allowing slavery to spread into the Western states would dilute Southern power and eventually result in the abolition of slavery in America, but many viewed this idea as wishful thinking. He was also distressed that Northerners had the high moral ground on slavery because he wanted that honor for himself. However, Jefferson was in a bind: he was a Southern enslaver who believed freeing enslaved people would not improve their situation, and at the same time, he believed all men were equal. He never found a satisfactory solution to this dilemma.

Jefferson faced serious financial difficulties in 1819 when the country went into recession, and he had to sell his magnificent library to Congress for $23,950 to pay some of his debts. During his last years, Jefferson designed and oversaw construction of the University of Virginia and felt it was one of his proudest achievements. In 1976, the American Institutes of Architecture recognized the University of Virginia as the “proudest achievement of American architecture in the past two hundred years.” Jefferson devoted his time and energy to designing and constructing the University the same way he devoted himself to rebuilding Monticello. He lobbied the Virginia legislature for money, oversaw the hiring of faculty and the building of a library, and designed both the campus and the curriculum. Essentially, he created a model university for America. In typical Jeffersonian fashion, he developed a plan that was far reaching, brilliant, and unworkable.

Jefferson died on July 4, 1826—fifty years after he signed the Declaration of Independence and on the same day that John Adams died. 14

Harry Munsinger has served on the San Antonio Bar Association’s publications committee for many years. During that time, he has been a frequent contributor to San Antonio Lawyer. Although Harry recently retired from law practice, he continues to be a frequent contributor to this magazine!

ENDNOTES

1. Thomas Jefferson, History.com Editors https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/thomas-jefferson.

2. Id.

3 Id.

4. Jefferson, T., A Summary View of the Rights of British America, Yale Law School. https:// avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/jeffsumm.asp.

5. Declaration of Independence: A Transcription. National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript.

6. First Lady Biography, Martha Jefferson, firstladies.org www.firstladies.org/biographies/ firsstladies.aspx?biography-3.

7. Jefferson in Paris, France Today Editors. https://www.francetoday.com/culture/jefferson_in_paris/.

8. Id.

9. Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, United States Department of State. https://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/former/40907.htm.

10. Thomas Jefferson to William Smith, Library of Congress Exhibits https://www.low.gov/ exhibits/jefferson/105.htm#.

11. Josh Clark, What Was America’s First Terrorist Threat? How Things Work/Culture/History/History vs. myth.

12. Josh Clark, What Was America’s First Terrorist Threat? How Things Work/Culture/History/History vs. myth.

13. Louisiana Purchase, History.com https:// www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/louisiana-purchase.

14. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died, July 4, 1826. This Day in History https://www. history.com/this-day-in-history/thomasjefferson-and-john-adams-die.