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Name:
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Yankee06
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Subject:
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Thomas Jefferson
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Date:
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11/19/2010 8:13:32 PM
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-I'm a big fan of jefferson. I know he had many faults. Overspending his means was one of them. However, the large amount of his debt at the time of his death was due to more than just self indulgence. Jefferson had inherited a lot of debt and he also assumed a lot of debt as a result of cosigning notes others eventually defaulted on. I have been unable to determine just how his debt pie should be sliced. Most scholars say his inherited and assumed debt was way more than half of his total.
-Here is a selection that kind of sums it up:
---Debt
Thomas Jefferson bore the burden of substantial monetary debt throughout his life. It was his reputation in large part that kept creditors at bay. While debt was not unusual for Virginia planters of his time, his eventually grew so ponderous that his family were forced to sell much of his property, including Monticello, after Jefferson's death. His grandson and executor of his estate, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, posted an advertisement for his estate sale, indicating that Jefferson's debts at his death amounted to $107,000. Converting this figure into a modern estimate is an inexact process at best, but it would probably be somewhere between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000.
Many factors contributed to Jefferson's indebtedness, many of them beyond his control. These are only a few reasons behind the accumulation of his debt:
-1)Jefferson inherited a great deal of debt from his father-in-law, John Wayles, when Wayles died in 1774.
-2) Although Jefferson was wealthy in land and slaves, farming proved to be an unreliable and inadequate source of income.
-3) Also, although Jefferson himself was a major creditor, payments owed to him were unreliable and inadequate as well.
-4) The financial panic that occurred in 1819 added a substantial burden onto his already-substantial debt.
-5) Also, he acquired debt from a friend in particular late in life. In 1818, Jefferson endorsed a $20,000 note for Wilson Cary Nicholas. Nicholas died in 1820, and Jefferson was forced to take on his unpaid debt.
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