Dennis Brindell Fradin - Who Was Thomas Jefferson?

Who Was Thomas Jefferson?

Who Was Thomas Jefferson?

By Dennis Brindell Fradin

Illustrated by John OBrien

Grosset & Dunlap New York

For TessJOB

Text copyright 2003 by Dennis Brindell Fradin. Illustrations copyright 2003 by John OBrien. Cover illustration 2003 by Nancy Harrison. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Published simultaneously in Canada. Printed in the U.S.A.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fradin, Dennis B.

Who was Thomas Jefferson? / by Dennis Brindell Fradin; illustrated by

John OBrien.

v. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

Contents: Who was Thomas Jefferson? Tall Tom Tall Tom in love We hold these truths to be self-evident Governor and minister to France Secretary of State and Vice President Our third President Last years at Monticello Thomas Jeffersons legacy Jeffersons sayings and expressions.

1. Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826Juvenile literature. 2.

PresidentsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. [1.

Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826. 2. Presidents.] I. OBrien, John, 1953

ill. II. Title.

E332.79.F73 2003

973.46092dc21

2003005232

ISBN: 978-1-101-63999-3 20 19 18

Thomas Jefferson is pictured on U.S. nickels. He is also portrayed on the giant Mount Rushmore sculpture in South Dakota. The Jefferson Memorial is a popular landmark in Washington, D.C. Jefferson City, Missouri, and Mount Jefferson in Oregon are among the many places named for him.

Why is Thomas Jefferson honored in all these ways?

He wrote the Declaration of Independence. This paper announced the birth of the United States in 1776. Its stirring words, such as all men are created equal, have inspired people for more than 225 years.

Jefferson was a giant in many fields. A great statesman, he was our third President. A gifted architect, he designed Virginias statehouse and the University of Virginia campus. People called him Mr. Mammoth because he collected prehistoric bones. His book collection became the core of the Library of Congress.

Despite his many public triumphs, Jeffersons private life was often sad. His wife, Martha, died at the age of only thirty-three. Only two of Thomas and Marthas six children lived to adulthood. Jefferson also felt guilty that he didnt live by his own words. The man who wrote, all men are created equal, owned hundreds of slaves. And toward the end of his life, the former President landed deeply in debt.

This is the true story of a man with many sides: Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson was born in 1743 on his familys plantation, Shadwell, in central Virginia. Virginia was one of thirteen colonies belonging to Great Britain. By the calendar used then, his birth date was April 2. By todays calendar his birth date was April 13.

Tom came third in a family of ten children. Two of the children didnt survive infancy. So Tom grew up with two older sisters, four younger sisters, and a younger brother. The babies of the family, Anna and Randolph, were twins.

Little is known about Toms mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson. Far more is known about his father. Peter Jefferson was a prosperous farmer who owned dozens of slaves. He was also a surveyor, a person who measures land boundaries. In addition, he served in Virginias legislature. Young Tom thought his father was the smartest and the strongest man on earth. It was said that Peter Jefferson once raised two barrels of tobacco that had been lying on their sides to an upright position. Each barrel was said to weigh nearly 1,000 pounds. He also loved books and read Shakespeare and other authors in his spare time.

Tom had cousins named Randolph, who lived in eastern Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Randolph died within a few years of each other. After that, Toms parents helped raise the three Randolph children. Toms first memory was of moving to his cousins home, about fifty miles away, when he was two. For much of his childhood, Tom went back and forth between the two places. Sometimes he was home at Shadwell. Other times he and his family were at Tuckahoe, the Randolph estate.

In a way, Tom had the best of two worlds. At Shadwell, which stood at the edge of the wilderness, his father taught him to ride, swim, fish, and hunt. In eastern Virginia, Tom went to dances and learned to dress and behave like an English gentleman. But he apparently didnt get along with his Randolph cousins. The boy cousin, also named Tom, was two years older and seems to have bullied him.

When Tom Jefferson was nine, someone else took charge of his cousins. Most of the Jefferson family returned to Shadwell. But to his disappointment, when his family went home in 1752, Tom was sent to study with Reverend William Douglas, near Tuckahoe.

Reverend Douglas taught Tom Latin, Greek, and French. Tom studied and lived with Reverend Douglas for five years. The only time he returned to Shadwell was for vacations. Although his schoolwork often bored him, Tom liked to read on his own. He became so wrapped up in books that he sometimes read for fifteen hours straight. Young Tom also loved music. He practiced his violin three hours a day.

By age thirteen, Tom was a tall, thin, redheaded boy with freckles. He was well on his way to his full height of six feet two inches. In an age when the average man stood five feet six inches tall, Tom was almost a giant. His nickname was Tall Tom.