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Benjamin Franklin: An Inquiring Mind
The 18th century, during which Martha Jefferson lived, was a time of great discoveries and inventions. One of the most “inventive” inventors was Benjamin Franklin, who was probably an acquaintance of Martha's, as well as a close colleague of Thomas Jefferson in framing the American Revolution, the Constitution, and then the early years of the United States.
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Learning a Trade in 28th Century Virginia
Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson was born in 1748 in Charles City County, Virginia, not far from Williamsburg. Although her father was an attorney and a landowner, she was part of the gentry class, and was raised—as were many girls of her social class—to have the skills needed by a “lady of quality.” Most children, however, were raised to follow a trade—to be able to make goods that were needed by members of the community on a daily basis. Thus, even young children were put to work alongside tradesmen and tradeswomen, who taught them the skills of the trade.
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Popular Songs: Then and Now
Popular music has always been a source of interest and fun, and the 18th century was no exception. Indeed, some of the songs from the 17th and 18th centuries are still sung today, sometimes by folk singers, but often by the population at large. Songs in this lesson would have been popular as Martha Wayles Jefferson was growing up, marrying, and having children, as well as during the Revolutionary War.
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Captain James Cook: Extraordinary Explorer
During Martha Jefferson's lifetime, a number of voyages of discovery were undertaken, including the three major voyages of Captain James Cook, a British explorer. These voyages took place from 1768 to 1779, twelve years during which Martha and Thomas Jefferson were raising a family in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson was serving in the Continental Congress, and the war of American independence was fought and won. Despite the momentous events at home, it is likely that both Abigail and John Adams followed the discoveries of Captain Cook, perhaps in the same way that we follow the discoveries of astronauts today.
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18th Century Games for Children
Colonial children didn’t have a great deal of time for games because there was always a lot of work to do and children were very much a part of the family economy. Even relatively well-off children like Martha Wayles (who grew up to marry Thomas Jefferson), had lessons to learn and many tasks to perform around the house. When Martha and her friends did have time to play, however, they played as hard as any children do, today. And they even played some of the same games!
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"We, the People. . .": Lafayette's Study of the American Constitution
In 1777, when Martha Jefferson was living at Monticello in Virginia, a 20-year-old French nobleman, the Marquis de Lafayette (whose real name was Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier), purchased a ship and sailed to America to offer his services to George Washington and the American struggle for independence. Lafayette was profoundly interested in the cause for liberty, and was involved in that same struggle in France. He was especially interested in how the Americans would lay the political and legal foundation for independence.
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What Day Is It, Really? The Julian and Gregorian Calendars
On Wednesday, September 2, 1752, Martha Wayles (and all British and colonial subjects) went to sleep as usual, and woke up 12 days later, on Thursday, September 14, 1752. She was probably not surprised, because the British Calendar Act of 1751 had decreed this change the year before, and the citizens were prepared. But one cannot help but think they must have thought it odd!
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"We Hold These Truths...": Writing the Declaration of Independence
Certainly one of the most important events in the life of Martha Jefferson and all other colonists was the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which officially separated the Colonies from Great Britain. Although several members of the Continental Congress were on the committee to write the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson actually did the initial writing. There is a popular story that says that during the time the Declaration was being written, Jefferson was so lonely for his wife that John Adams sent for her to come to Philadelphia from Virginia to keep him company!
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Home Schooling in the Colonies
Like most children of her class in the 18th century colonial south, Martha Wayles (Jefferson) didn’t go to school, but was, rather, “home schooled” by governesses, tutors, and members of the family. Furthermore, she was raised with only the knowledge and skills that were thought necessary for her future as the wife of a plantation owner—household management, entertaining, music, needlework, and some accounting skills.
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Up, Up, and Away! Hot Air Balloons
Human fascination with being air-borne can be documented back to the ancient Greeks. But it was the year of Martha Jefferson's death that technology was developed to allow the creation and flight of the first hot air balloon. The Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Etienne, were the 18th century equivalent of Charles Lindbergh. This exciting activity developed within the span of Martha Jefferson's life, and it's popularity has extended into the 21st century!
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The Founding of the Virginia Colony
Martha Jefferson was born, grew up, and lived most of her life in the colony (and then the state) of Virginia. It was the home of a number of founding fathers and mothers, some of them rebels like Patrick Henry and some of them slave owners, like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. For a time, early in colonial history, nearly all the eastern shoreline of what became the United States was Virginia. For all these reasons, it is a good idea to look at its founding and its growth.
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"I Don't Feel Well!" Epidemics in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Good health could never be taken for granted during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, especially when it came to young children. Parents often expected to lose at least one or more of their children before the age of 5, due mostly to contageous disease, which often occurred as epidemics. Martha and Thomas Jefferson lost four of their six children in a ten-year span, at least one of them from whooping cough.
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Jefferson's Legacy: A National Library
An important effort undertaken by the founding generation of Americans was the development of major cultural institutions; one of these was (and is) the Library of Congress, which was established by Congress in 1800 as a reference library for Congress only. The first appropriations for the purchase of books were approved by President John Adams, and the first law defining the role and functions of the new Library were approved by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802, who also gave nearly his entire personal library to the Library of Congress after it was burned by the British in 1814.
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Adventures of Lewis and Clark
In 1803, while Thomas Jefferson was President, the Lewis and Clark expedition set off to explore the Louisiana Territory that Jefferson had recently purchased from France, particularly the Pacific northwest. All of Washington society was intrigued by this expedition, and Jefferson waited anxiously for news about this vast land that he had added to the United States.
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Is Baseball Really Cricket?
Many sports and games are clearly identified with a particular social class. However, in the case of cricket in England and baseball in the United States, nothing could be further from the truth! Each sport is the national pastime of its respective country, enjoyed by all classes, and the two sports are often compared. But is that “cricket?” Is baseball “just like cricket?” The popularity of this sport in England is attested to by the creation of the first and most influential cricket club in the 1760s, during the lifetime of Martha Jefferson.
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