Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia. He was a draftsman of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the nations first secretary of state (1789-94).He also served as the second vice president (1797-1801) and, as the third president (1801-09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase.
Thomas Jefferson was born into a wealthy family in Virginia as the third born of ten siblings. At the age of nine he began Latin and Greek at a private school, and he later was accepted into the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia's capital. After three years in the college he began to learn law and eventually he won admission to the Virginia Bar in 1767.
Thomas jefferson minimized the power of the national government, along with cutting the military by nearly half. Along with this he also repealed many Federalist laws such as the whiskey tax and the sedition act. Jefferson stopped payment to pirates and he stood his ground with the military. Above all he was responsible for the Louisinia Purchase, which doubled the U.S, making more farm land, therefore more settlers and citizens.