On April 13, 1743, in the rolling green hills of Shadwell, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was born into a wealthy farming family. As a boy he was tall, red-haired, and curious about almost everything. He learned Latin and Greek by age nine, played the violin for hours, and devoured books on science, architecture, and gardening. By 16 he was off to the College of William and Mary, where he sometimes studied 15 hours a day.
Jefferson grew up to become one of the most influential - and complicated - figures in American history. At just 33 years old, he wrote most of the Declaration of Independence, including the famous line that 'all men are created equal.' He served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809 and pulled off the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the country for about 3 cents an acre. He also founded the University of Virginia and designed its buildings himself.
But Jefferson's story has a hard truth: he enslaved more than 600 people during his lifetime, even as he wrote about freedom. Historians now study both sides of his legacy. His Monticello home in Virginia, a brick-and-white-column mansion he designed and tinkered with for 40 years, still stands as a museum. Jefferson reminds us that history is full of people who did great things and harmful things at the same time - and that the truth is worth knowing fully.
