Who Was Thomas Jefferson?, by Dennis Brindell Fradin - Biography

As a teacher of third grade, the Standards of Learning dictate that I teach my students about various famous Americans, Thomas Jefferson being one of these. Until I began teaching about him, I must admit that I really didn’t know much at all about him, other than the fact that he was the third president of the United States and that he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Other than that, I was lost. Still, being a person who finds history fascinating, my husband, mother, and I planned a trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania about a year ago and immersed ourselves in United States history. I must say, that if surrounding yourself with United States history is your idea of a great time (like me), then go to Philly!

Who Was Thomas Jefferson? (TJ is what my third graders affectionately call him) is a chapter book biography. It begins with Jefferson’s entrance into the world and doesn’t end until his exit from the world. Throughout the book the reader learns about his character and the events that weaved themselves through his life and through history. In my opinion, he was a remarkable man. He was an avid reader who could sit and read for fifteen hours straight, without stopping to eat. Now, that is a reader! He was exceptionally self-motivated and determined to accomplish things in his life that he felt were good and honest things. He was shy and did not like to talk out in public, because he was said to not be a very good speaker, but he could write. Surprising me was the fact that he didn’t even really want to write the Declaration of Independence. Sure, he believed in freedom from what he considered the tyranny of England, he just thought that John Adams would be better for the job of writing such a paper. Yet, with a little flattery, Jefferson wrote the most important document in American history.

I have always been interested in his affairs with Sally Hemings, a slave that he owned, but had several children with. I never understood how someone can have a “love” relationship with a person and father children with them, and still keep them on as slaves until the end of his life. Even when Sally had the possibility of gaining hers and her child’s freedom by staying in France and not returning to Virginia with Jefferson, she still returned with him and had more of his children, remaining his slave until the end of his life. It was ironic to discover, through the reading, that Sally was the half-sister of Jefferson’s late wife. Though she was never recognized as a half-sister, the two women shared the same father. She was a product of an owner having an affair with one of his slaves, just as she and Jefferson did.

I have put this book, as well as another book of this type about Benjamin Franklin, in my Buddy Reading center and my students are reading it. I feel that it is written in a very tasteful and student friendly way and can be used as a read aloud if wanted.