Secretary of State

Most people remember me as being the third President of the United States but I was also the first Secretary of State of the United States. I was the Secretary of State for Thomas Jefferson. I sereved this position from 1790-1793, I was 47-49. When I was in office there was this terrible man named Alexander Hamilton. One of the things we debated most about is the national debt from the war. He had this stupid idea to divide the debt equally for each state. I believed we should make each state pay for their own debt. This was just one of the many things we debated. In 1793 we sided with French in a battle against Britain. I helped convince everybody to side with the French. This helped lead to the war of 1812. This was one of the many things I did as the Secretary of State.
-Benjamin Padden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1796
http://religionanddemocracy.lib.virginia.edu/jefferson/biog/lj29.htm
http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/facts-on-thomas-jefferson.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson

The election of 1800 was very important because people realized that the Constitution didn’t distinguish electoral votes for president and vice president which caused some problems. Both John Adams and I decided to run for president again. Burr and I were running together again for Democratic Republican. Later on in the election instead of running together we became rivals. The election would be decided by the House of Representatives. Federalists did not want me to win so they supported Burr. After several days of voting I was declared winner and Burr became my Vice President. In the end the twelfth amendment was changed. I am happy to say that after two terms as President John Adams and I were able to become friends, we also died on the same day.
-Marifer

In the election of 1796 I tried running for president against John Adams. This election was very important and intense because the results were so close. I don’t think anyone could have predicted who would have won. John Adams was running for the presidency on the Federalist Party while I was running with Senator Aaron Burr on the Democratic Republican. Since this election was so close people were trying to make both sides look bad. For example the Federalists blamed us for violence in the French Revolution, while we accused Federalists of favoring monarchy. Even though John Adams won I am proud to say that I became Vice President, beating Thomas Pinckney by more electoral votes.
-Marifer

Even though I did a lot of things to help our country, I also made some mistakes. One thing that affected my reputation was the Embargo Act of 1807. I tried to pass a bill were people couldn’t trade between the United States and other nations. Also this bill prevented any ships from leaving American ports which didn’t give people that chance to explore other places. The reason I tried to pass this bill was because I did not want people getting involved in the Napoleonic Wars. This bill led to an economic depression, so it was repealed at the end of my 2nd term as a president.
-Marifer

As a President I accomplished a lot, most people would agree that I was a very good president. One of my greatest accomplishments was the Louisiana Purchase. In 1803 I bought 800,000 square miles of land from France. I believed that by purchasing all that land it would prevent our country and other countries from fighting and going to war. Even though I had to pay $15 million dollars and borrow some money from Great Britain it nearly doubled the size of the United States creating more diversity and opportunities.
-Marifer

Declaration of Independence

One of the most fascinating things Thomas Jefferson did in his lifetime was writing the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson had to write a rough draft and the final draft. After I finished I teased that nobody would catch me writing a paper again. When I finished the rough draft I thought it was pretty much done. Well I was way wrong. I had to end up making 86 corrections to it. Then I had the whole thing over to make it neater. Well I decided it was all worth the while because people say it’s one of my greatest accomplishments ever. I’m still very proud of it.
-Benjamin Padden

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffdec.html

Founder of University of Virginia

I am well known for being the founder and architect of one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation, the University of Virginia. I didn't really start to work on this project of mine until the later part of his life. Even though I had been thinking about it all through out my life. The year I really started to try to make my idea reality was in 1818, when the Virginia Legislature authorized a state university. I not only started and led the campaign for a state college but I also secured its location, designed its buildings, planned its curriculum, and became its first rector. One thing I really dreamt of was this big green area with buildings with classrooms inside of them surrounding the area. I also wanted buildings were people could live surrounding this area. I thought this make a better learning environment and for it to help kids with there studies. My dream soon became reality and is known today as a college campus.
-Benjamin Padden

http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/92uva/92uva.htm
http://www.monticello.org/jefferson/biography.html

Lewis and Clark

When I purchased the Louisiana Territory nobody knew what the US was buying. We had no clue what the land was like. We didn't know where the Native Americans where. I knew I needed to send people out on a journey westward to find out what this new place was like. There came another problem who to send and how to send them. We decided to send two explorers and a crew for them to set out westward to map the area and find new species. The two explorers were Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. I decided on these two for many reasons. The main reasons why I picked Meriwether Lewis was because he was a good leader in the US Military and because he had done a lot with new places when he was in the Military. I picked William Clark because he was also an experienced leader and because he was an extraordinaire at map making. They started their historic journey on May 14, 1804. It ended up successful and it turned out to be one of my best decisions I ever made.
-Benjamin Padden

http://www.monticello.org/jefferson/lewisandclark/

Introduction

Welcome, my name is Thomas Jefferson and I was born on April 13, 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia and I died on July 4, 1826 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Most people know me as the third President of the United States, but really I did much more. When I was 16 I went to the College of William and Mary, I studied Mathematics, Philosophy, and Metaphysics. I graduated with the highest honors. I also studied law with George Withe. I then became a major politician. I started out by becoming a Representative to House of Burgesses, then a Delegate to Continental Congress. I went through many other smaller politician jobs before getting my big break as the Governor of Virginia. I soon became the US Secretary of State, the the Vice President, and finally the third President of the United States of America. For people that don't know I was a Democratic Republican. One thing more important to me then my political career was my family. I was married to a gorgeous lady called Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. I had six children, Martha Jefferson Randolph, Jane Randolph, unnamed son, Mary Wayles, Lucy Elizabeth, Lucy Elizabeth.