Who was Thomas Jefferson anyway?

Anyone who has been through elementary school knows that Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States, author of the Declaration of Independence, and was instrumental in tripling the size of the United States by making the Louisiana Purchase from France. However, after visiting his home, Monticello, I discovered he was so much more!

He had a lifelong interest in gardening, botany, and agriculture. He was interested in growing flowering and fragrant plants, shrubs, and trees partially because of their beauty but partially because people did not bathe very often and the fragrance would mast any odor.

He was a avid lover of books and believed that an educated people were essential to the survival of democracy. Jefferson maintained a library of 6,700 books in his private library. During the War of 1812, the British burned the U.S. Capitol in Washington along with the congressional library. In Jefferson’s time, public servants were not paid for the office that they held. So in 1815, Jefferson greatly in debt sold his library to the nation, thereby, his books became the nucleus of the present Library of Congress. I wonder how accomplished current day politicians would be if they were not paid for the offices that they hold. Hmm.

I cannot live without books…Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams

Most of us look to retirement to relax or to travel. However Thomas Jefferson didn’t slow down in retirement. To ensure that citizens were educated, he founded the University of Virginia.

In the hall of the mansion, Jefferson had displayed Native American artifacts that were given as diplomatic gifts to Lewis and Clark on their expedition which he planned. These artifacts were important to Jefferson as he displayed them alongside his European art, maps of Virginia and known continents along with bones, fossils, and skins of extinct and living North American animals.

One of the notable traditions that exists long after Jefferson’s death is on the 4th of July a group of people become naturalized citizens right on the property in front of the mansion. Monticello has been carrying on this tradition for the last 68 years. A very exciting atmosphere for such an important event.

If you are ever in Charlottesville, Virginia, the tour of his mansion and property is well worth the visit. If you like this blog, please click the green heart at the bottom. Thanks!