Editing Thomas Jefferson (section)

==Early life and education==
{{Main|Early life and career of Thomas Jefferson}}
Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743, [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]], [[Julian calendar]]), at the family's [[Shadwell, Virginia|Shadwell Plantation]] in the [[Colony of Virginia]], then one of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] of [[British America]]. He was the third of ten children.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 18.</ref> His father, [[Peter Jefferson]], was a planter and surveyor; his mother was [[Jane Randolph Jefferson|Jane Randolph]].{{efn|Jefferson personally showed little interest in his ancestry; on his father's side, he only knew of the existence of his grandfather.<ref name=Malone5>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 5–6.</ref><ref name=Brodie33>[[#Brodie|Brodie, 1974]], pp. 33–34.</ref> Malone writes that Jefferson vaguely knew that his grandfather "had a place on the Fluvanna River which he called [[Snowden Plantation|Snowden]] after a mountain in Wales near which the Jeffersons were supposed to have once lived".<ref name=Malone5/> See also [[Peter Jefferson#Ancestry]].}} Peter Jefferson moved his family to [[Tuckahoe (plantation)|Tuckahoe Plantation]] in 1745 following the death of [[William Randolph III (son of Thomas)|William Randolph III]], the plantation's owner and Jefferson's friend, who in his will had named Peter guardian of Randolph's children. The Jeffersons returned to Shadwell before October 1753.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kern|first=Susan A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Yl7PfOh6-0C&q=the+jefferson%27s+at+shawell|title=The Jefferson's at Shadwell|date=2010|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0195169119|oclc=51854624 }}{{page needed|date=December 2023}}</ref>

Jefferson began his education together with the [[Randolph family of Virginia|Randolph]] children at Tuckahoe under tutors.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 19.</ref> Thomas' father Peter, who was self-taught and regretted not having a formal education, entered Thomas into an English school at age five. In 1752, at age nine, he attended a local school run by a [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] minister and also began studying the natural world, which he grew to love. He studied [[Latin]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[French language|French]], and began learning to ride horses. Thomas read books from his father's modest library.<ref name=bowers12>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. 12–13.</ref> He was taught from 1758 to 1760 by the Reverend [[James Maury]] near [[Gordonsville, Virginia]], where he studied history, science, and the [[classics]] while boarding with Maury's family.<ref name=bowers12/><ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 7–9.</ref> Jefferson came to know various [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]], including [[Cherokee]] chief [[Ostenaco]], who often stopped at Shadwell to visit on their way to [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] to trade.<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], p. 13</ref><ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 36</ref> In Williamsburg, the young Jefferson met and came to admire [[Patrick Henry]].<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. 14–15</ref>

Thomas's father died in 1757, and his estate was divided between his sons, Thomas and [[Randolph Jefferson|Randolph]].<ref>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 31–33.</ref> [[John Harvie Sr.]] became 14-year-old Thomas' guardian.<ref name="Woods">{{Cite book |last=Woods |first=Edgar |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x002672921&view=1up&seq=239&q1=Belmont |title=Albemarle County in Virginia |date=1901 |page=225|publisher=The Michie Company, printers}}</ref> Thomas inherited approximately {{cvt|5000|acre|sqmi km2|1|lk=off}}, which included the land on which he later built [[Monticello]] in 1772.<ref name=Malone437>[[#Malone48|Malone, 1948]], pp. 437–440.</ref>

[[File:ChristopherWrenBuilding.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Wren Building]] at the [[College of William & Mary]] in [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]], where Jefferson studied in 1761 and 1762]]
In 1761, at the age of eighteen, Jefferson entered the [[College of William & Mary]] in Williamsburg, where he studied mathematics and philosophy with [[William Small]]. Under Small's tutelage, Jefferson encountered the ideas of British [[Empiricism|empiricists]], including [[John Locke]], [[Francis Bacon]], and [[Isaac Newton]]. Small also introduced Jefferson to [[George Wythe]] and [[Francis Fauquier]]. Small, Wythe, and Fauquier recognized Jefferson as a man of exceptional ability and included him in their inner circle, where he became a regular member of their Friday dinner parties. Jefferson later wrote that, while there, he "heard more common good sense, more rational & philosophical conversations than in all the rest of my life".<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], p. 25; [[#boles|Boles, 2017]], p. 17</ref>

During his first year in college, Jefferson spent considerable time attending parties and dancing and was not very frugal with his expenditures; in his second year, regretting that he had squandered away time and money in his first year, he committed to studying fifteen hours a day.<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. 22–23; [[#boles|Boles, 2017]], p. 18</ref> While at William & Mary, Jefferson became a member of the [[Flat Hat Club]], the nation's oldest secret society.<ref>{{cite web|last=Millfeld |first=Becca |url=http://www.dogstreetjournal.com/story/2049 |title=Shhh! The Secret Side to the College's Lesser Known Societies |publisher=The DoG Street Journal |date=November 2, 2004 |access-date=November 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928112053/http://www.dogstreetjournal.com/story/2049 |archive-date=September 28, 2011 }}</ref> 

Jefferson concluded his formal studies in April 1762.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Gaye |title=Jefferson's Formal Education |url=https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/jeffersons-formal-education/#fn-7 |website=Monticello |publisher=Thomas Jefferson Foundation |access-date=May 5, 2024}}</ref> He [[Reading law|read the law]] under Wythe's tutelage while working as a [[law clerk]] in his office.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 29, 39.</ref> Jefferson was well-read in a broad variety of subjects, including law, philosophy, history, natural law, natural religion, ethics, and several areas of science, including agriculture.

Jefferson kept two [[commonplace book]]s:  from about age 15 to 30, he compiled a book of sayings and quotations, published in the 20th century as ''Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Overview of Jefferson's Literary Commonplace Book |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691636078/jeffersons-literary-commonplace-book |website=Princeton University Press |date=April 19, 2016 |publisher=Princeton University |access-date=April 6, 2025}}</ref>  During his years of legal study under Wythe, Jefferson began recording his notes on law, history, and philosophy, and continued to do so until the end of his life; his ''Legal Commonplace Book'' was also published in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=Overview of Jefferson's Legal Commonplace Book |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691187891/jeffersons-legal-commonplace-book |website=Princeton University Press |date=April 23, 2019 |publisher=Princeton University |access-date=April 6, 2025}}</ref>

On July 20, 1765, Jefferson's sister Martha married his close friend and college companion [[Dabney Carr (Virginia assemblyman)|Dabney Carr]], which greatly pleased Jefferson. In October of that year, however, Jefferson mourned his sister Jane's unexpected death at age 25.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 37</ref>

Jefferson treasured his books and amassed three sizable libraries in his lifetime. He began assembling his first library, which grew to 200 volumes, in his youth.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 1, p. 42.</ref> Wythe was so impressed with Jefferson that he later bequeathed his entire library to him.<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. 32–34; [[#boles|Boles, 2017]], p. 19</ref> In 1770, however, Jefferson's first library was destroyed in a fire at his Shadwell home. His second library, which replenished the first, grew to nearly 6,500 volumes by 1814.<ref>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 43.</ref> Jefferson organized his books into three broad categories of the human mind: memory, reason, and imagination.<ref>Murray, S. (2009). ''The library: An illustrated history''. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 163.</ref> After [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] forces set the [[Library of Congress]] on fire in the [[Burning of Washington]] in 1814, Jefferson sold his second library to the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] for $23,950, hoping to help jumpstart the Library of Congress's rebuilding. Jefferson used a portion of the proceeds to pay off some of his large debt. Jefferson soon resumed collecting his third personal library. In a letter to [[John Adams]], Jefferson wrote, "I cannot live without books."<ref name=library>[[#Library|Library of Congress]]</ref><ref>[[#boles|Boles, 2017]], p. 458</ref> By the time of Jefferson's death a decade later, his third and final library had grown to nearly 2,000 volumes.<ref>{{cite news|last=Root|first=Daniel|title=I cannot live without books|publisher=UWIRE Text|date=October 12, 2015}}</ref>