The brilliant and scholarly Thomas Jefferson made numerous contributions to his country in its formative years. But he is perhaps best known as the 33-year-old author of the Declaration of Independence. In this document, Jefferson eloquently and succinctly asserts the principles that inspire the United States of America to this day.

Jefferson was born in 1743 to a wealthy Virginia planting family. He attended boarding school from age nine to 16, where he excelled in classical languages, and graduated from the College of William and Mary. He was then privately tutored in law and admitted to the Virginia bar.

As a young lawyer, Jefferson was outspoken against British rule. The Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia in 1776, selected him to draft the colonies’ Declaration of Independence from Britain . This extraordinary document expresses the ideas that “all men are created equal,” and that a legitimate government derives its power from the “consent of the governed.”

Jefferson served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1776 to 1779, where he championed the doctrine of religious freedom. He was also an advocate of free public education, then considered a radical idea. He later became the state’s governor.

In 1785, Jefferson succeeded Benjamin Franklin as American minister to France . He corresponded from abroad with those writing the U.S. Constitution, insisting on amendments concerning freedom of religion, speech and assembly, among others. The amendments proposed by Jefferson were incorporated into the Bill of Rights.

Jefferson was the nation’s first Secretary of State under President George Washington, but he eventually resigned due to differences with Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. France and Britain were at war at the time, and Jefferson was pro-French. Hamilton , however, favored the pro-British policy of neutrality that George Washington adopted. Hamilton also advocated a strong federal government, while Jefferson was more concerned with states’ rights. This difference eventually caused the evolution of two distinct political parties: the Federalists, led by Hamilton and John Adams, and the Democratic-Republicans led Jefferson .

Nominated for President by his party after Washington retired, Jefferson came in second to Adams , becoming Vice President under the rules of the time. He defeated Adams in the next presidential election and served two terms in office.

As President, Jefferson sought to put his ideals into practice, particularly the belief that the people needed a “wise and frugal government”. He cut the number of government employees and reduced the national debt. He also won repeals of unpopular laws such as the Alien and Sedition Acts. And he sent U.S. warships to fight the Barbary Pirates who were harassing American merchant vessels.

Ironically, what was perhaps his greatest achievement as President was at odds with his goals of frugality and limited government: a $15 million purchase of land from the French. The Louisiana Purchase , however, turned out to be a bargain that doubled the size of the country.

After his presidency, Jefferson retired to his Virginia plantation, Monticello . There he undertook his last public-service endeavor at the age of 76: founding the University of Virginia . He died on July 4, 1826, the 50^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.