| 1743 |
Born April 13 in Virginia at Shadwell, near Charlottesville, the son of Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph. |
| 1757 |
Father dies. |
| 1758 |
Attends Reverend Maury’s school |
| 1760 |
Enters the College of William and Mary. |
| 1762 |
Graduates from college and begins law studies under George Wythe at William and Mary. |
| 1767 |
Commences seven-year legal practice. |
| 1769 |
Elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, serving until 1775. |
| 1769 |
Begins building Monticello from his own architectural design. |
| 1772 |
Marries Martha Wayles Skelton. |
| 1773 |
Key organizer of Committees of Correspondence with other colonies. |
| 1774 |
Writes “A Summary View of the Rights of British America.” |
| 1775 |
Elected Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. |
| 1776 |
Writes the Declaration of Independence. |
| 1776 |
Elected Albermarle County representative in the Virginia House of Delegates. |
| 1776 |
Drafts a proposed constitution for Virginia. |
| 1779 |
Completes proposed revision of a substantial portion of Virginia’s statutes. |
| 1779 |
Elected wartime governor of Virginia and after reelection serves two years. |
| 1782 |
Wife, Martha, dies having borne six children, two of whom survive infancy. |
| 1782 |
Writes substantial portions of his only book, Notes on the State of Virginia. |
| 1783 |
Serves as a Virginia delegate in Congress. |
| 1784 |
Drafts “Report on Government for Western Territory.” |
| 1784 |
Sent by Congress to Paris to negotiate commercial treaties. |
| 1785 |
Appointed Minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin. |
| 1786 |
Virginia enacts Jefferson’s “Statute for Religious Freedom.” |
| 1786 |
Tours England. |
| 1787 |
Tours southern France and northern Italy. |
| 1788 |
Tours Netherlands and the Rhineland. |
| 1789 |
Witnesses the opening events of the French Revolution. |
| 1790 |
Appointed Secretary of State by George Washington. |
| 1794 |
Returns to farming and rebuilds Monticello. |
| 1796 |
Elected Vice President of the United States under John Adams. |
| 1797 |
Elected President of the American Philosophical Society, serving until 1819. |
| 1798 |
Drafts Kentucky resolutions declaring unconstitutional the federalist’s Alien and Sedition acts. |
| 1801 |
Elected third President of the United States. |
| 1803 |
Concludes Louisiana Purchase and mounts the “voyage of discovery” of the new land under Merriwether Lewis. |
| 1805 |
Reelected President. |
| 1806 |
Begins construction of second home at Poplar Forest, Bedford County, Virginia. |
| 1807 |
Implements Embargo Act, seeking to use economic coercion to avoid war with Great Britain. |
| 1808 |
Declines a third term as President. |
| 1809 |
Retires to Monticello. |
| 1815 |
Sells his library to the United States forming the foundation of the Library of Congress. |
| 1819 |
Founds the University of Virginia. |
| 1819 |
Completes “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” for personal use. |
| 1820 |
Protests the Missouri Compromise. |
| 1821 |
Writes “Autobiography” for his family. |
| 1823 |
Advocates the policy underlying the Monroe Doctrine. |
| 1825 |
University of Virginia admits first students. |
| 1826 |
Dies on July 4 at Monticello. |
