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Shadwell, VA
Birth place of Thomas Jefferson. -
Period: to
Thomas Jefferson Timespan
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Death of Jefferson's Father
Peter Jefferson dies, leaving his fourteen-year-old son Thomas his slaves and lands. Thomas becomes head of the Jefferson household, but is able to continue his studies thanks to the guardianship of his family's friends. -
Marriage to Martha Wayles Skelton
Jefferson marries Martha Wayles Skelton, the recently widowed daughter of the wealthy planter John Wayles Sketlon. Martha is 5 years Jefferson's junior, very cultured, and quite pretty. -
First Daughter Born
The first child of Thomas Jefferson and Martha Skelton, a daughter named Martha Jefferson, is born at Monticello. She will go by Patsy until she reaches adulthood. -
Declaration of Independence
Following substantial edits, Jefferson's Declaration of Independence is approved by Congress. It is immediately published and circulated throughout the colonies and in Europe. -
Birth and Death of Third Child
The third child of Thomas Jefferson and Martha Skelton Jefferson, a son, is born. He will die unnamed just three weeks later. -
Birth of Mary (Polly) Jefferson
The fourth child of Thomas Jefferson and Martha Skelton Jefferson, a daughter named Mary Jefferson, is born. She will be known as Polly until she reaches maturity. -
Governor of Virginia
Jefferson is elected the second governor of Virginia, the previous governor, Patrick Henry, having already served three one-year terms. -
Resignation from Governorship
Jefferson finishes his second term as governor and immediately steps down, leaving Virginia without an executive until his successor is elected eight days later. -
Death of Martha Jefferson
Weeks after giving birth to her sixth and last child, Martha Skelton dies. Before dying, she makes Jefferson promise never to remarry. Her death leaves Jefferson shattered, wandering around Monticello babbling incoherently with his eldest daughter. -
Confederation Congress
Jefferson heads to the Confederation Congress as a Virginia representative. In 1784, he drafts a report that will serve as the basis for the influential Northwest Ordinances which will frame how the United States is to settle the West. -
Jefferson in Europe
Jefferson travels to Europe with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin in order to negotiate commercial treaties with European nations and service the United States' wartime debt. Jefferson brings his twelve-year-old daughter Patsy with him. -
Minister Plenipotentiary
Benjamin Franklin retires, leaving Jefferson as America's minister plenipotentiary in France. -
Wipeout
Jefferson breaks his wrist while trying to vault a fence to impress the young, married Maria Cosway, with whom he is infatuated. Their relationship will only end after Jefferson sends her a long "Dialogue Between My Heart and My Head" explaining why they cannot be together. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention starts to meet in Philadelphia, under the watchful eye of George Washington. Jefferson remains away in France. James Madison, Jefferson's best friend, is the Convention's star, and keeps Jefferson as informed about the details as he can, given the long distances his letters must travel and the Convention's self-imposed secrecy. -
Return to America
After Patsy threatens to convert to Catholicism and become a nun, Jefferson returns to the United States to put his daughters into a more wholesome environment. He fully expects to return to France. However, when Jefferson arrives in Norfolk, Virginia he finds a letter from President Washington congratulating him on his appointment as secretary of state. -
Secretary of State
Jefferson moves to New York, the nation's temporary capital, to take up his job as the United States' first secretary of state. -
Divisions between Federalists and Republicans
France begins mass conscription as the European wars escalate in scale. Back in the United States, France's decision fans the flames of the fight between the Federalists and the Republicans, to new heights, as Hamilton, a Federalist, supports Britain, while Jefferson, the leader of the Republicans, supports France. Increasingly frustrated with Hamilton and the divided cabinet, Thomas Jefferson pressures President Washington to let him resign. -
Resignation and Return to Monticello
Jefferson resigns as secretary of state and goes home to Monticello to tend to his fields. Unbeknownst to him, Madison begins to plan Jefferson's presidential campaign for 1796. -
Jefferson Inaugural
Jefferson is sworn in as the third president of the United States in the new capital city of Washington, D.C., becoming the first president to take office there. Historians believe that his inaugural address is the first speech he has ever delivered in public. -
Death of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson dies in his bed in Monticello, on the same day as John Adams, fifty years to the day after the publication of the Declaration of Independence. On his deathbed, John Adams famously declares, "Thomas Jefferson survives." Adams is, alas, wrong: Jefferson passes away five hours or so before Adams, at roughly 12:50 in the afternoon.