Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13,1743. He was the third of ten children. He was born in Virginia to Peter and Jane Jefferson. When he was 9 he started to learn Latin, Greek, and French. As a child he rode horses and liked nature. He went to the College of William and Mary. That is where he first met his mentor, George Wythe. After college he became a lawyer. Then in 1769 he represented Alemare County in the Virginia House of Burgess. He married Martha Skelton on January 1st, 1772. Together they had 6 children, Martha, Jane, a boy, Mary, Lucy, and Elizabeth. Only 2 of them survived to adulthood. He also served on the Second Continental Congress in 1775. There it was decided that he would be the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed. Then later in 1776 he served in the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1779 he became the Governor of Virginia. Then in 1782 his wife, Martha, died. When she died John Adams said that Thomas Jefferson was very depressed and had thoughts about suicide. To get his mind off his wife's death Thomas' friends sent him away to be a minister to France. He brought slaves with him to France and it is said the he got one of them pregnant, but that is still questionable. In 1790 he became a Secretary of State, but he had conflicts with Alexander Hamilton and later resigned because of that. He ran for president in 1796, but lost to John Adams. He did get enough votes though to become Vice President, so in 1797 he became Vice President of the United States. Then again next term he ran for president, this time he won, making him the 3rd president of the United States. After he was president, in 1819 he founded the University of Virginia. Then on July 4th,1826 he died, at 12:50 p.m.