Thomas Jefferson

            
            
            
            
            
             Jefferson was born at Shadwell in what is now Albemarle County, Va. Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary and then studied law with George Wythe. In 1769 he began six years of service as a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses. The following year he began building Monticello on land inherited from his father. The mansion, which he designed in every detail, took years to complete, but part of it was ready for occupancy when he married Martha Wayles Skelton on Jan. 1, 1772. They had six children, only two however lived to be adults. .
             Jefferson was appointed on June 11, 1776, to head a committee of five in preparing the Declaration of Independence. He was its primary author, although his initial draft was changed after talking with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams and altered by Congress. The Declaration of Independence made Jefferson famous across the nation. Years later that fame stirred up jealousy from John Adams, who complained that the declaration's ideas were "hackneyed" or worn out. Jefferson agreed and said he wrote of the declaration, .
             "Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an .
             Dudash 2.
             expression of the American mind."(.).
             Returning to Virginia late in 1776, Jefferson served until 1779 in the House of Delegates. While the American Revolution continued, Jefferson wanted to change Virginia's laws. Joined by his old law teacher, George Wythe, and James Madison and George Mason, Jefferson introduced a number of bills that were denied by the people representing the conservative class. His proposal to abolish primogeniture became a law in 1785.
             In June 1779 the introduction of Jefferson's bill on religious liberty touched on a subject that caused controversy in Virginia for 8 years. At this time no other state or nation had religious freedom.