Thomas Jefferson WebQuest

Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was most famous as the writer of the Declaration of Independence. He would hold several positions in government, including that as third president of the United States. Complete the following activity to learn more about Jefferson's life, ideas, and politics.

Directions: Open a word document. Copy and paste each question onto it and save to your student drive. Research the answers, and then type your responses.

1) What would you say about Jefferson’s personality based upon his daily schedule? http://www.monticello.org/jefferson/dayinlife/sunrise/home.html

2) In 1803, the United States purchased the vast Louisiana territory from Napoleon of France. Why was the Louisiana Purchase important to the United States? (had to do with size) http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/louisiana-purchase 3) Jefferson was eager to explore the new Louisiana territory. In 1803, he appointed Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific coast. Lewis chose William Clark to be his second in command. What were five things you learned about the Lewis and Clark expedition?

http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/ http://www.edgate.com/lewisandclark/ http://www.lewisclark.net/journals/index.html http://www.monticello.org/jefferson/lewisandclark/preparations.html

4) Bad feelings between the political parties increased over a fight for control of the federal courts. Before Jefferson took office, the Federalists had passed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which set up regional courts for the United States which needed lots of people to run them. In his last days as president, John Adams made hundreds of appointments to these positions, and the Federalist-controlled Congress quickly approved them. This left Jefferson with the prospect of having a lot of John Adams’ appointed judges. One judge was named William Marbury. Please copy the link below and place into another browser. Define “judicial review”. Read about the Supreme Court Case, Marbury v. Madison . and how it affected this case

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/marburydef.htm

5) Jefferson had many problems during his second term in office. Britain and France both threatened American shipping. American ships were being seized and Great Britain had decided to blockade Napoleon’s European ports. In response to these actions Jefferson convinced Congress to declare an embargo. Define embargo http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/embargo?s=t

6) Based on this political cartoon, how did American merchants feel about the embargo?

7) Monticello was Jefferson’s beloved home. Much of Monticello was designed by Jefferson. After looking at Jefferson’s house describe the style of architecture used, and identify three characteristics of that style. Take a tour of Jefferson’s home. What is one of your favorite rooms? What makes that room interesting to you? http://www.monticello.org/ http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/Jeffersn.html

8) Build your own version of Monticello at: http://classroom.monticello.org/teachers/activities/activity/127/Build-Your-Own-House/

screen shot your creation and save it

9) Jefferson was very interested in scientific discoveries and modern-day conveniences. At Monticello Jefferson spent much time tinkering. Several of his inventions are still at Monticello today. He also acquired other people’s inventions to make his life easier. After viewing some of the innovations at Monticello discuss how Jefferson exemplifies characteristics of a man who lived during the Age of Reason.

http://www.monticello.org/search/monticello_search/innovations

(10) Quotes: Thomas Jefferson - Look at three of Thomas Jefferson’s quotes and put them into your own words. What do these quotes tell us about the man?

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Thomas_Jefferson

Lesson Source:

Google Images: Retrieved February 12, 2015