Editing Thomas Jefferson (section)

==Minister to France==
[[File:Grille De Chaillot.jpg|thumb|A 1779 engraving of [[Champs-Élysées]] seen through the Grille de Chaillot with Jefferson's residence in Paris on the left]]
On May 7, 1784, Jefferson was appointed by the [[Congress of the Confederation]], the legislative body that succeeded the [[Second Continental Congress]],{{efn|the immediate successor to the [[Second Continental Congress]]}} to join [[Benjamin Franklin]] and [[John Adams]] in Paris as Minister [[Plenipotentiary]] for Negotiating Treaties of Amity and Commerce with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and other countries.<ref>[[#Peterson70|Peterson, 1970]], pp. 286.</ref>{{efn|These included [[Russian Empire|Russia]], [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Denmark–Norway|Denmark]], [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxony]], Hamburg, [[History of Spain (1700-1810)|Spain]], [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Sardinia]], [[Papal States|The Papal States]], [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany|Tuscany]], the [[Sublime Porte]], [[Morocco]], [[Algeria|Algiers]], [[Tunisia|Tunis]], and [[Kingdom of Tripoli|Tripoli]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Enclosure I: Commission for Negotiating Treaties of Amity and Commerce, 16 May 1784 |via=Founders Online, National Archives |access-date=June 13, 2018 |url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-07-02-0214 |work=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 7, March 2, 1784 – February 25, 1785 |editor-first=Julian P. |editor-last=Boyd |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1953 |pages=262–265}}</ref>}} With his young daughter Patsy and two servants, he departed in July 1784, arriving in Paris the next month.<ref name=Stewart39>[[#Stewart97|Stewart, 1997]], p. 39.</ref><ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 180.</ref> Jefferson had Patsy educated at [[Pentemont Abbey]]. Less than a year later, he was assigned the additional duty of succeeding Franklin as Minister to France. French foreign minister [[Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes|Count de Vergennes]] commented, "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear." Jefferson replied, "I succeed. No man can replace him."<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], p. 330.</ref> During his five years in Paris, Jefferson played a leading role in shaping [[Foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]].<ref>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], pp. vii–viii</ref>

In 1786, he met and fell in love with [[Maria Cosway]], a married 27-year-old Italian-English musician. She returned to Great Britain after six weeks, but she and Jefferson maintained a lifelong correspondence.<ref>[[#TJFMariaCosway|TJF: Maria Cosway (Engraving)]]</ref>

During the summer of 1786, Jefferson arrived in London to meet with John Adams, who was then serving as the nation's first [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom|US Ambassador to Britain]]. Adams had official access to [[George III]] and arranged a meeting between Jefferson and the king. Jefferson later described the king's reception of the men as "ungracious." According to Adams's grandson, George III turned his back on both in a gesture of public insult. Jefferson returned to France in August.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Meeting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and George III|url=https://engagement.virginia.edu/learn/2019/07/11/the-meeting-of-thomas-jefferson-john-adams-and-george-iii|date=July 7, 2019|website=engagement.virginia.edu|access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref>

Jefferson sent for his youngest surviving child, nine-year-old Polly, in June 1787. She was accompanied by a young slave from Monticello, [[Sally Hemings]]. Jefferson had taken her older brother, [[James Hemings]], to Paris as part of his domestic staff and had him trained in French cuisine.<ref>[[#Gordon08|Gordon-Reed, 2008]], pp. 156, 164–168.</ref> According to Sally's son, [[Madison Hemings]], 16-year-old Sally and Jefferson began a sexual relationship in Paris, where she became pregnant.<ref name="madisonstatement">{{cite web|title=Memoirs of Madison Hemings|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/cron/1873march.html |work=Frontline|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service – WGBH Boston|access-date=November 29, 2011}}</ref> The son indicated Hemings agreed to return to the United States only after Jefferson promised to free her children when they came of age.<ref name="madisonstatement"/>

While in France, Jefferson became a regular companion of the [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]], a [[France in the American Revolutionary War|French hero of the American Revolution]], and Jefferson used his influence with Lafayette to procure trade agreements with France.<ref name=Bowers328>[[#Bowers45|Bowers, 1945]], p. 328.</ref><ref name=Burstein120>[[#Burstein10|Burstein, 2010]], p. 120.</ref> As the [[French Revolution]] began, Jefferson agreed to allow his Paris residence at [[Hôtel de Langeac]] to be used for meetings by Lafayette and other [[The Republicans (France)|republicans]]. He was in Paris during the [[storming of the Bastille]] on July 14, 1789, and he consulted with Lafayette as Lafayette drafted the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 222–223.</ref> Jefferson often found his mail opened by postmasters, so he invented his own enciphering device, the "[[Jefferson disk|Wheel Cipher]]"; he wrote important communications in code for the rest of his career.<ref>[[#TJFCode|TJF: Coded Messages]]</ref>{{efn|An example can be seen at the [https://www.loc.gov/item/mjm012583/ Library of Congress website].}} Unable to attend the 1787 Constitution Convention, Jefferson supported the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]] but desired the addition of the promised Bill of Rights.<ref>[[#Peterson2002|Peterson (2002), pp. 40–41]]</ref> Jefferson left Paris for America in September 1789.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], pp. 116–117.</ref> He remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution while opposing its more violent elements.<ref>[[#Ellis96|Ellis, 1996]], p. 110; [[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 179–181.</ref>