1743-1826

Read about Jefferson's writing of the Declaration of Independence, as well as his early life, his ideas for shaping a new government, and his two terms as president.

Thomas Jefferson loved to grow everything - from fruits and vegetables and trees to...even his brand-new nation! And he loved to bast that this new nation was big and beautiful and bountiful. As president, Jefferson doubled the size of the country in just one day. Back at home, he lovingly tended his gardens and fields and prepared America's soil for the future.

"When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, America faced a crisis. The new nation was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa's Barbary coast routinely captured American sailors and held them as slaves, demanding ransom and tribute payments far beyond what the new country could afford. ... President Jefferson decided to move beyond diplomacy. He sent the U.S. Navy's new warships and a detachment of Marines to blockade Tripoli, launching the Barbary Wars and beginning America's journey toward future superpower status .... Few today remember these men and other heroes who inspired the Marine Corps hymn: 'From the Halls of Montezumato the Shores of Tripoli, we fight our country's battles in the air, on land and sea'"--Amazon.com.

Provides a cultural and historical context for the development of the United States, including Thomas Jefferson's dream, the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, and more.

Explores Thomas Jefferson's reasons for promoting the Louisiana Purchase.

What if you were born into slavery in 1805? And what if the man who owned you...was also your father? And what if he were one of the most important men in America? And what if he wanted the fact that you were his son kept a secret? Such was the world of James Madison Hemings. This is his story.

Looks at the perceived character of the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, discussing his intellectual influences, his ambition that propelled him into public life, the contradictions surrounding him and more.