Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Located in Washington DC, the Jefferson Memorial was erected in honor of one of the founding fathers of our country. Like many of the other monuments to the great leaders of our nation’s past, the Jefferson Memorial was built using classical Greek inspired architecture. Within the memorial stands a 19 foot tall bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson, beside it excerpts from the Declaration of Independence. The Jefferson Memorial is often not given the same stature in the minds of tourists as other monuments in Washington DC. This likely has a great deal to do with the fact that the Jefferson Monument is not located on the National Mall. It is also possible that many people do not hold Thomas Jefferson in the same regard as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. While Washington and Lincoln made clear contributions to our great country, the contributions of Thomas Jefferson we feel are at least equally important.

As the third President of the United States, and the primary author the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson is a man who was very important in the history of our country and it is fitting then that the Jefferson Memorial was erected in his memory and honor. Thomas Jefferson was a great man whose contributions toward the liberation of the American Colonies deserves recognition and respect. He was a highly educated man, a natural leader, and the principal author of the document that declared that our nation was free and independent. He spent his life in servitude to the United States helping to create it, and through his continued actions he also helped it to grow and prosper. Thomas Jefferson is most famous for being the principle author The Declaration of Independence. In a time when the American Colonies were still ruled by England, Jefferson had the courage to spearhead the movement toward independence. After the end of the war he worked as a diplomat in France, which undoubtedly helped him to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. Of course shortly after he went on to become the third President of the United States.

On the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday a monument was dedicated in his honor in our nation’s capitol. People who have the good fortune to be able to visit the monument should take a moment to think about all that Thomas Jefferson accomplished on behalf of his country. With the many freedoms and liberties we now enjoy it’s far too easy to forget that things were not always this way. There was a time when America was not independent, when the colonies of our fledgling nation were subject to the will of a foreign power. That time came to an end when Thomas Jefferson helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. The lifestyle that we enjoy today is a result of those who came before us. It is the result of men who took great risks, and made many sacrifices. In the history of our great nation few men have had as profound of an effect as Thomas Jefferson.

Construction on the Thomas Jefferson Memorial began in 1938, it was dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt on April 13th, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. The grand architecture was designed by John Russell Pope. To honor Jefferson Pope chose to design a building that looks as if it belongs in ancient Greece. The stunning architecture and classical design pay proper tribute to one of the founding fathers of our nation. Now a well known fixture in Washington DC, the Jefferson Memorial actually came very close to having never being built. At the site where the memorial now stands there were several other proposed monuments, among them a memorial to Theodore Roosevelt. It was finally the influence of Franklin Roosevelt that persuaded the Commission of Fine Arts to have a memorial built in honor of Thomas Jefferson.

Anyone in the Washington DC area should visit the memorial of a man who dared to lead the fight for independence of our great country. Without the hand of Thomas Jefferson to guide the fight toward independence, it’s entirely possible that the United States would not have been formed.

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