Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) is well-known as the third president of the United States, and is often considered one of--if not the--greatest.

    But he was much more than that. He was a "polymath."

    He was a visionary who not only acquired the so-called "Louisiana Purchase" (which doubled the size of the United States), but saw to it that it was explored, hoping to make scientific discoveries. He even thought Lewis and Clark might find a woolly mammoth surviving on the Great Plains! Although no such living creature was found, the "Corps of Discovery" did discover 300 new species of plants and animals, almost 50 tribes of Indians, and the magnificent Rocky Mountains. Jefferson later sent three more expeditions into the West.

    As an architect, he designed his own home, named Monticello, as well as the original buildings of the University of Virginia, which he founded. He spoke and read Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and Spanish, and had some ability in a few other languages. After the Library of Congress was mostly burned in 1814, Jefferson's personal library (6,487 books) was purchased as a replacement. And he was once president of the American Philosophical Society.

    But aside from his presidency, it is perhaps as a writer that he is best known today. He penned the original draft of the "Declaration of Independence," which in its final form says, "[A]ll men are created equal... " (Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and others all had a hand in the final version.)

    Although he wrote eloquently of equality, Jefferson was a slave-owner, and emancipated only a handful of the over 600 humans he owned throughout his life. He is widely believed to have fathered several children by one of his female slaves, Sally Hemmings, who was only freed after he died.

    He was an intelligent, complex man. Even his death was noteworthy. He passed the same day as his colleague John Adams, on July 4th, 1826--50 years to the day after the "Declaration" was adopted.

    Vocabulary: Which word above means:

    1. journeys made for special reasons, such as exploration

    2. set free, released from slavery

    3. remarkable, very interesting

    4. a person who looks to the future, imagining a better world

    5. (of speaking) powerfully, beautifully

    6. the national library of the United States

    7. the founding document of the United States

    8. a large, extinct, hairy animal related to the elephant

    ANSWERS: 1. expeditions 2. emancipated 3. noteworthy 4. visionary 5. eloquently 6. Library of Congress 7. Declaration of Independence 8. woolly mammoth