Thomas Jefferson | Early Life & Education

Jefferson recorded that his first memory was him riding horseback with a slave at the age of three. This memory came from when the Jeffersons moved out of Shadwell plantation to Tuckahoe plantation just outside of Richmond. It was here that Jefferson would discover his love for books, from then on he said that he never sat in idleness. His family would live at Tuckahoe for seven years before returning to Shadwell in 1752. Thomas's father, Peter Jefferson, died five years after their return to Shadwell. In 1757 and at age of 14, Thomas Jefferson was unceremoniously thrust into the role of the head of the household. Jefferson describes this later in life in a letter to his grandson, "At 14 years of age the whole care and direction of myself was thrown on myself entirely, without a relative or a friend to advise or guide me."

Two years later, at 16 Jefferson left Shadwell and moved to Williamsburg to attend the College of William and Mary.

Thomas Jefferson's Experiences as a Young Person

There are not many known details of Jefferson's experiences as a child, Jefferson himself barely mentions it in his autobiography. What is known is the education he received from various teachers and tutors. At the time, only the wealthy could afford to educate their children, and so Jefferson was quite fortunate in that regard. It was the education that his father very determinately provided him with that shaped who Jefferson became as a man. Without it, he likely never would have gone on to become a founding father and president of the United States.

Jefferson took full advantage of the privileges afforded to him as a member of the wealthy class. Even as a young child, he relentlessly pursued his education. Jefferson grew up during the Age of Enlightenment, a period in the 18th century that saw a revolution in philosophy, education, and science. The Enlightenment grew out of Neoclassicism, the revival of classical art, music, literature, and philosophy. The ideals that grew out of this time were liberty, freedom, and progress influenced by prolific writers such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Rationalism, the philosophical concept that one's actions should be based on reason and deduction over religious superstitions, also spread during this era. Academics as a whole became less tied to the church.

Jefferson's education wouldn't focus on Enlightenment philosophy until he attended the College of William and Mary.

Thomas Jefferson's Education Before College

This is how Jefferson described his father in his autobiography, "My father's education had been quite neglected; but being of a strong mind, sound judgment and eager after information, he read much and improved himself..."

Peter Jefferson would not allow his son's education to go neglected as his had. He began Thomas' education at the age of five, sending him to the best school in the neighborhood. At age nine his father procured him a tutor by the name of William Douglas, a Scotch reverend who was to teach him Latin. Though by Jefferson's own words, Douglas was a mediocre Latinist. He had this to say about his tutor in his autobiography, "My teacher Mr. Douglas a clergyman from Scotland was but a superficial Latinist, less instructed in Greek, but with the rudiments of these languages he taught me French."

When Peter Jefferson died in 1757, Thomas was sent to learn under a new tutor, by the name of James Maury. Though Jefferson only mentions Maury in passing in his autobiography, describing him as a "correct classical scholar," James Maury was a prominent educator in Virginia at the time who had his own school.

Where Did Thomas Jefferson Go to College?

Thomas Jefferson went to the College of William and Mary at the age of 16 in March 1760. Founded in 1693 in Williamsburg, Virginia, William and Mary is one the oldest universities in the United States, second only to Harvard. Williamsburg, at the time, served as the capital of the Colony of Virginia. It was one of the most important cities in the colonies and was the political-cultural epicenter of Virginia.

During his time at William and Mary, Thomas Jefferson stayed in the Sir Christopher Wren Building, which still stands on the campus today making it one of the oldest buildings in America that is still in use. At university, he fell under the tutelage of two professors who would help shape Jefferson into the man who would go on to become one of the most important figures in American history. Dr. William Small, a professor of mathematics and philosophy, was the first of those two mentors. Thomas Jefferson, in his autobiography, had this to say of the man:

"It was my great good fortune, and what probably fixed the destinies of my life that Dr. Wm. Small of Scotland was then professor of Mathematics, a man profound in most of the useful branches of science, with a happy talent of communication, correct and gentlemanly manners, & an enlarged & liberal mind. He, most happily for me, became soon attached to me & made me his daily companion when not engaged in the school; and from his conversation, I got my first views of the expansion of science & of the system of things in which we are placed. Fortunately, the Philosophical chair became vacant soon after my arrival at college, and he was appointed to fill it per interim: and he was the first who ever gave in that college regular lectures in Ethics, Rhetoric & Belles lettres."

Dr. William Small

Dr. Small introduced Jefferson to Enlightenment thinking, a philosophy that would spur Jefferson towards the fight for American liberty. Before Small's return to Europe, he introduced Jefferson to Dr. George Wythe. Under Wythe, Jefferson would study law and eventually become a lawyer. Wythe himself would eventually become a signer of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.

Dr. George Wyth

The significance of Jefferson's youth lies in the education his father so diligently insisted he receive. This education would shape Jefferson into the Enlightenment thinker who would help shape America. The most significant of educators were Dr. Small and Dr. Wythe, their tutelage in Enlightenment philosophy and law equipped Jefferson with the necessary knowledge to write the Declaration of Independence and later help shape the laws of the nation. Among all Enlightenment writers, it was surely John Locke who most inspired Jefferson. Thomas even adapted one of his most famous quotes for the Declaration of Independence, changing "that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions" to "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell plantation. Because Jefferson grew up in a wealthy family, his father was able to afford him a great education. As a child, he loved the outdoors as much as he did reading. From the age of five, he began his education. By nine he was learning under Scottish Minister William Douglas, and when his father died in 1757 his education passed to Anglican minister James Maury who taught him French and Latin. Jefferson went to the College of William and Mary, where he studied under Dr. William Small and Dr. George Wythe. Dr. Small instructed Jefferson in Enlightenment philosophy, which would motivate Jefferson in his pursuit for American liberty. Dr. Wythe taught him law, and would eventually sign Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. The significance of Jefferson's childhood was in the quality of education he received. Without this education, he would have never become one of the most influential figures in American history.