Thomas Jefferson was not a Native American. He was a white man of English and Welsh descent. He was born in 1743 in Shadwell, Virginia, which is now part of Charlottesville. His father, Peter Jefferson, was a surveyor and planter, and his mother, Jane Randolph Jefferson, was the daughter of a prominent Virginia planter. Jefferson had a privileged upbringing and attended the College of William and Mary. He later studied law and became a successful lawyer. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 to 1774 and in the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1776. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Jefferson served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He died in 1826 at his home in Monticello, Virginia.