Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 62

Outline - Essay Example There, Michelangelo learned the technique of panel painting for a few months. He was supposed to stay there for not less than three years, but an extraordinary opportunity opened to him. At the recommendation of Ghirlandaio, he moved into the house of Florentine ruler Lorenzo the Magnificent. One of the powerful Medici families, where he studied classical sculpture in the Medici gardens (Poeschke 26). This is a great time for Michelangelo; his experience with the Medici group, permit him access to the social elite of Florence, which allowed him to learn under the respected sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, Donatellos pupil, and introducing him to prominent poets, Humanists and scholars . Piero de Medici initiates Michelangelo to the Augustinian friars from the Church of Saint Spirit in Florence, who was hosting the young talent within their convent. He was given a special permission to learn cadavers for insight into anatomy; through the introduction to corpses he had an adverse effect on his health. These combined factors laid the basis for what would become Michelangelos unique style: a muscular concept and reality combined with a touching beauty. As a sign of appreciation to the friars, Michelangelo made a wooden Crucifix, which is still inside the Church of Saint Spirit. Slightly before the Medici family were banished from Florence, Michelangelo moved to Bologna hosted by Gianfranco Aldrovandi and then to Venice, where he continued his studies of literature and sculpture practice. He returned to Florence in 1495 where he begun the work as a sculptor, modeling his style after masterpieces of classical antiquity, In 1496, Michelangelo moved to Rome because of the famous Sleeping Cupid affair that had made him a reputation. He hoped to find new donors for his creations. He started modeling a marble Bacchus, under the patronage of the banker Jacopo Galli. On August 27, 1498 Michelangelo signed his first break

Don Quixote Essay Example for Free

Don Quixote Essay Fiction and Metafiction in Borges Ficciones and Cervantes Don Quixote dela Mancha Unbelievable and amazing may perhaps best describe the literature that the world has as of the moment. It is unbelievable because who would have thought that the wide spectrum of literary works would be so great in number? At the same time, it is amazing as the progress and history which literature has gone through are truly marvelous. The literary works which are within humanitys reach are incomparable to what people back then had. The literary works of the moment which are within humanitys reach is a compilation of history, art, language, the sciences, and politics of every generation, culture, and nation. Truly, literature has such a monumental scope within its pages that sometimes, a person may be lost with so many things literature has to offer. Literature is both fact and fiction and is inspired both by history and creative imagination. The elements within literature are all reflections of the realities of society, but these things can still be considered as fictional—after all, fact is fact and pure truth—nothing more. But what if something fictional seems so real that it seems to be factual and true? What if a person or a character which is just imagined seems to be a real person of this world? What if the line between reality and imagined is confusing and seems to be separated by nothing at all? Two authors by the name of Jorge Luis Borges and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra are the answers to such questions. Saavedra who wrote (or â€Å"supposedly re-wrote) the famous adventure of Don Quixote dela Mancha and Jorge Luis Borges who wrote the seventeen literary pieces contained within Ficciones are fictional writers. When a person talks about fiction, it usually pertains to one thing—created by the imagination. Thus, it means that any work of fiction is merely invented by any person and that any fictional work is not true, is false, and can never be a fact. Yet, Saavedra and Borges have created literary works which are fictional but they seem so real and true that a person is left to believe that they are indeed the truth—metafiction. Metafiction, according to Patricia Waugh, is â€Å"a term given to fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality† (qtd. in Liu). Thus, metafiction is indeed fictional and from the imagination, and it aims to confuse readers about what is real and what is merely created by a person. How does a person achieve this? Again, according to Patricia Waugh, â€Å"such writings not only examine the fundamental structures of narrative fiction, they also explore the possible fictionality of the world outside the literary fictional text† (qtd. in Liu). Thus, an author creates a fictional world and creates another fictional world within the already imagined world—creating a metafictional world. In Borges Ficciones and Saavedras Don Quixote dela Mancha—this metafictional world is truly what they have conjured up. Ficciones is a book which contains seventeen fictional literary pieces that seem to be real. Each piece has its own world, own elements of characters, settings, and even at some point, its own mind and language. There are pieces such as the Library of Babel that appears to be real and true that a reader also wants to believe that such place is true. In that particular piece (from Part One of the book), Borges describes a library in length and in awe. The whole thing seems to be an introduction to a novel of some sort, and yet at the same time, it also seems to come from a real book full of factual evidences that such a library exists. In the following excerpt, Borges describes the library and the people who are fascinated with it: â€Å"When it was proclaimed that the Library comprised all books, the first impression was one of extravagant joy. All men felt themselves of a secret, intact treasure. The universe was justified, the universe suddenly expanded to the limitless dimensions of hope† (83). However, further in the Library of Babel, Borges even talks of mystical books such as the Vindications which are â€Å"books of apology and prophesy which vindicated for all time the actions of every man in the world and established a store of prodigious arcana for the future† (83). What Borges has created is a fictional world, but a reader may find that world to be so palpable and genuine that it appears to be impossible that it is just imagined. The same conclusion can be given to Saavedra and his work on Don Quixote dela Mancha. In Saavedras work, the book is divided into two parts—one is the tale or adventure itself of Don Quixote and the second part is the metafictional work wherein the author talks directly to the readers and even to the characters that they all seem to be real people when clearly, they are all imagined. The ridiculous adventure of Don Quixote and his â€Å"squire† Sancho Panza is so preposterous (as with the example of the enchanted peasant girl or the basin turned into a knights helmet), far-fetched, and humorous that a person will not for a second think that the entire tale is true. However, when Saavedra writes the second part of the book, doubts and hesitations replace the earlier convictions. For example, in the first part, Saavedra writes about a Dulcinea who was believed by Don Quixote to be a princess in disguise of a peasant girl when in fact, she really is a peasant girl. Later on though, Saavedra explains this turn of events in Don Quixotes life: â€Å"I have reason to think that Sanchos artifice to deceive his mater, and make him believe the peasant girl to be Dulcinea enchanted, was in fact, all a contrivance of some one of the magicians who persecute Don Quixote † (369). Therefore, Saavedra has created two worlds—one that is entirely fictional wherein the character of Don Quixote resides, and the other is metaficitonal wherein the character of Don Quixote does reside still but which it is explained why he has such ridiculous notions of chivalry and enchantments. In conclusion, though metafiction may seem to be such a complex and wondrous thing, it cannot exist without a person knowing first what is fictional. Metafiction exists in the world of fiction—a person cannot write or create a metafictional world without going into a fictional one. That is like a person wanting to break the rules without knowing what were the rules in the first place. Literature is truly complex but at the same time unbelievable and amazing—Saavedra and Borges can attest to that. Works Cited Borges, Jorge Luis. Ficciones. New York: Grove Press, 1962. Saavedra, Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quixote dela Mancha. New York: Penguin Group Incorporated, 1957. Lui, Kate. â€Å"Theories of Metafiction. † Postmodern Theories and Texts. 1998. Department of English Language and Literature, Fu Jen University. 4 Aug. 2009.

Impact Of Social Networking On Customer Relationship Management Marketing Essay

Impact Of Social Networking On Customer Relationship Management Marketing Essay Abstract-Dealing over the Internet is becoming extremely important. Now the organisations have a tremendous opportunity through using the internet by specifies how to increase revenue and how it can reduce the cost of sales through using the Internet power. Internet at the present time is not just an additional business channel, but even more, it is a strategic business channel through which organisations can showcase their products and services. E-Business Relationship Management, Customer Relationship Management is managing of all customers and business partners through the Internet and social networking. It is not anything else but the management of customer relationships, which contains two of the scenarios, Business to consumer scenario and Business to Business scenario. Customer Relationship Management is the strategic process to put the customers in the middle of the business world. CRM is the solution that will give the organisation all the necessary information for successful managing the customers. Index Terms-Customer relationship management, E-business, Social networking. INTRODUCTION THE Social community sites have now become available to the mainstream and individuals as from over the world have adopted this new phenomenon in the making and sharing of content. When this phenomenon started, the small online communities were the leaders of social community sites and are partly responsible for their extraordinary growth. Nowadays, social community has become one of the most popular applications on the Internet since the burst of the dot-com bubble (Chan, 2007). Also many social community sites surpass even the great Google in page hits in 2006. In addition some social community sites are targeting the business community. This tendency makes viable new business models that are semi-private and by subscription only. New e-commerce benefits to the side, the popularity of these sites have seriously heightened the threats of criminal elements, such as predators, hackers and copyright violators lurking in them. Introduction to CRM in the context of e-business Organisations are facing rapid paced changes in their business environment and this change relates to evolving customer needs, evolving technologies for meeting customer needs. Change is the only constant in an organizations life (Drucker, 1992). using technology able the companies to applied the automation in trading area this new technique leads the markets to create new policy to customer relationship management in old days markets used face to face trading thats mean you should be in the store and the body language and speaking with the worker will motivate you to buy or not, put in the now trading approach no need for being in hand, its the on-line business method. Now by changing the over all paying method from physical to virtual thats mean you should change your CRM policy and create now aides to managing customer relationships by using technology in e-business. Customer relationship management has many definitions and thats referred to the researchers or organisations view; Customer relationship management is neither a concept nor a project. Instead, its a business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate and manage the needs of an organisations current and potential customers. It is a journey of strategic, process, organisational and technical change whereby a company seeks to better manage its own enterprise around customer behaviours (Brown, 2000). In general from the definitions, CRM created to managing the customer files which contain basic information about the clients to understand and predict the customer needs and the customer behaviours. In accordance to Gefen and Ridings (2002), Can be divided the CRM into three functional categories and that is operational, analytical and collaborative CRM. Operational CRM category, as well-known as front-office CRM, Enables and simplifies communication and areas which involve direct contact with customers occur, such as e-mail promotion (Romano, 2003). Operational CRM efforts to provide smooth integration of back-office processes with customer interfaces and described CRM products on the market. Analytical CRM category, as well-known as back-office CRM, regards understanding the activities of customer that happened in front office and enable an organisation to analyse customer relationships using data mining to increase loyalty and profitability (Gefen and Ridings, 2002). Collaborative CRM category, a centre of communication and coordination network that provides the tracks for customer and supplier (Schubert Koch, 2002); It can also mean the channels of communication such as the Internet or e-mail or voice applications. Customer Relationship Management, which contains two scenarios, Business to Consumer scenario (B2C) and Business to Business scenario (B2B). From compared B2B scenario and B2C scenario will be noted that B2B closing with a supplier-vendor relationships based on history, performance and trust as well as after-sales service is of great importance; B2C market may a small but fast growing and require different kinds of relationships, information and communication approaches (Zeng and Wen Yen, 2003), B2C relationships are usually of shorter duration with shorter sales cycles and more transactions driven. B2C consumer may be seeking a combination of comfort, price and capabilities of product. The information collected around the consumer usually include demographics, past and present purchase behaviour, psychographics and preferences. A new expression for taking care of customers over the Internet, eCRM, is applied lately by some organisational and academic societies (Ragins and Greco, 2003). Social networking revolution and implications for business Humans in all cultures form complex social networks; the expression social network at this point means ongoing relations between people who are engaged in the group, either for particular reasons (such as fantasy basketball, diabetes support groups) or for more general expressions (like families, friends, social clubs). Membership of these networks may be relatively permanent (like extended families) which couldnt be changed. Or flexible (like club support groups) which may be changed. Studying social networks, makes interaction between individuals, has been considered as a main research topic in sociology (Wasserman, 1994). Many theoretical models were built to study such models and later on and Based on computerized data capability of managing large data, it is possible now to analyze real social networks that were purely theoretical researches. Boyd Introduced the following description for Social Networking Sites as, Social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system (Boyd, 2007). Building online communities of people who wish to share interests, knowledge and/or activities, or who are concerned in exploring the interests, knowledge and activities of others. Social networking websites not only allow the ability for persons to communicate with each other but too enable persons to find individuals with the same of interest. Once they find out each other, members can form specific societies On the basis of their mutual interests. Social networking websites continues to growing up in popularity, companies can no longer only rely on traditional methods (print, radio, television, etc.) to impose the public perception of their products. On the contrary, these new channels of communication too provide organisations means to discover and maintain a persistent contact with their constituents of the most vocal. This information can be harnessed by organisations to use social networks to help consumers identify the most influential and participate in the campaign of product development, and improve the feeling of the brand. Finally the organisation marketing and services efforts can be enhanced by social networking. But to take advantage of social networks in a manner consistent, sustainable and open for analysis, the organisations need to customer relationship management solutions that present the right capabilities. The organisation that will enable individuals to build relationships and societies at the most easily way with other they trust, that organisation will win. The powerful idea in social networks is the concentration on making geographic place irrelevant. Social Community recognizes that people love to connect with people similar to them. But it may be more powerful if people use these communities and making them. Relation between Social network and E-commerce Sinha and Swearingen (2001) found that customers are more likely to accept recommendations and suggestions from other people they know and trust, for example family members or friends, rather than from automated systems in E-commerce websites. In reality, people decision when buying a product is strongly affected by his or her friend and business partner more than strangers. Also communities on the Web allow the users to express their personal choices and to share their recommendations. Social network sites become an opening point for Web users who are interested in E-commerce. Therefore, E-commerce corporations may take this advantage to increase their sales and support consumer relationship management. Many social network sites have been so attractive recently for a huge number of people. For example Facebook site has gathered around 47 million very active customers in the last three years, according to Shuen (2008), who argues that Facebook is the social network advertising platform. The importance value of these installed base over 47 million free users is immediately monetized via target advertising revenues. The writer maintains that the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 has been marked with the dynamism and interaction of participants. She rightly notes that Techniques, architectures, and technologies that combined to trigger a phase transition, from a Web 1.0 technology collection of static websites to a Web 2.0 technology platform for anew generation of social dynamic web applications and services. The author further argues that Billions of clicks per day contribute to the collectivist Web and a rethinking of ourselves via sharing, collaborating and trading. THE Impact of social networking on e-CRM A main topic of debate between customer management and business, attention process leaders right now is making sure the business value of social CRM. The techniques and technologies of social are proliferating rapidly. Recent survey of 286 companies displays that while only 21% have established, for instance, customer community interaction sites, an amazing additional 42% are piloting or interested in executing customer communities (Forrester, 20009). Another Forrester research also spotlights that the ROI for social media applied to specific use cases, like customer service, can be attractive. (Forrester, 2009) Cutting through all the hype, companies are challenged to make difficult decisions around the level of investment they should work in Social Computing technologies such as wikis, blogs, forums, tools for customer feedback, social networking websites and customer community platforms. And they need to know how these advanced capabilities should be and how it can be integrated and structured with their transactional CRM systems. To understand this, Forrester defines e-CRM to the key of technologies that support the business processes and procedures for targeting, acquiring, retaining, understanding, and very importantly collaborating socially with customers (Forrester, 2008). The phenomenon of the social networking which is forcing business process to expand the thinking beyond the target of optimizing a two-way relationship between the companies and customer to also include the synchronise interactions that customers have between themselves. CRM is improving from its traditional concentrate on optimizing customer-facing transactional operations to include the strategies and technologies to evolve collaborative and social relations with customers, suppliers, and even competitors See the below figure (Forrester, 2008) Fig. 1. Old world and new world (social relations with customers, suppliers, and even competitors). In this new world (simultaneous and collaborative relationships), traditional CRM solutions will continue to gathering data for customer, analysis that data, and automate workflows to improve business processes. But business process must search for new and innovative solutions to engage with emerging social consumers, enhance the customer experience and knowledge through architect solutions and fundamental community-based interactions that are flexible, support and foster strong intra-organization and client collaboration. So in order to innovate the e-CRM and make the benefits of the social community, the following points may be used: Initiate e-CRM experiments immediately, specify a near-term opportunity to apply e-CRM viewpoints to a customer-facing challenge at company; Building some practical experience that will get out of old mindsets. Refine the strategies later as new insights emerge. Define social customer objectives, of the most important decision is not what the technique or technology to use; the most important is specifying what are trying to achieve and how the plan to modify and change relationships with customers. Map out e-CRM capabilities-building plan, the social CRM plan should be tightly related to business objectives, focused on customer benefits, clearly determine the processes and procedures that will be affected, and identify the associated information and capabilities required. Social networking application with exploring opportunities, benefits and risks The future of the advertising is personal. This not only means personalised in the sense that companies can prepare of custom messages to individual customers, but also personalised in the sense that product recommendations, tips and notes come directly from friends, for friends. The early examples of this new type of advertisement are called virtual marketing campaigns on the World Wide Web: the company may leak some apparently unauthorized pictures, videos, or specifications of a soon-to-be released product such as blog, that is mean the information will spreads quickly by word of mouth on all over the world. Companies such as Amazon, Netflix, ebay and Tripadvisor have popular and powerful marketing tools in the case of the Amazon website it concerns books and videos, in the case of Tripadvisor concerns hotels and restaurants, where customers write the shows of the products they liked or disliked. In that way, additional to advertisement and the mission of marketing department the company can rely on first-hand experiences through previous customers. Social networking websites take this approach additional one point: instead of receiving reviews and other information about the products from third parties is not known, consumers receive related information about the product such as experience reports or buying decisions from people they know like a friends. Facebooks Beacon program was attempt at implementing such a word-of-mouth or whats on your mind? campaign tool in a social networking website: As soon as a user of Facebook would buy an item from online shop such as buy a book at Amazon all of her friends on Facebook would be told her friends about that in the form of a status message. This allowed to easily staying up to date about friends shopping behaviors. The Facebook developer launched the Like button, Visitors may now declares their sympathy with a company or product simply by pressing the (conspicuously placed) like button. This predilection is then communicated not exclusive to the visitors entire social network website, but also to all the companies participating in the Facebook advertising platform. So the Companies may take advantage of this property by create application on the Facebook website and that will publish on all over the world and the users can see that and press on Like buttons or participate in the group and be a member and this allows the visitors to feed information into Facebook. According to Nicole, et al. (2007), in these days social networking websites have become powerful tools for customer through acquisition and retention, employee recruiting. And these form one of opportunities and benefit for social networking. Virtual Marketing also enter new dimensions through the use of social networks, With social networks, a virtual marketing campaign can rapidly and easily establish interest groups for recently launched products or upcoming events. So far, few commercial heavyweights can bear not to have appearance in these social networks (Livingstone, 2008). The customer relationship management based mainly on information and data customers, providing social networking sites a huge database can be managed through CRM. Through the social network website may the companies advertising that is product and that will reduces the cost and reach to all customer in easy way. According to Fogel and Nehmad (2008), of the most important things that constitute a risk to social networks is the information privacy and perceptions about the security of personal data, lack of interest in the field of technology from some of the people and belief that it is only for young people, perceptions about its value, truth of the information or lack of it, lack of understanding how to use these websites and lack of interest in contacting and sharing knowledge. Conclusion The most important for CRM in e-Business objectives is reduce the cost and time-saving and that happen through using the technology revolution such as social networking website and knowledge sharing and understand customer buying behavior by collect and analysis the information of customer. eCRM is not created to change the marketing however instead to enhance it, eCRM tools available to marketing manager to help them to achieve their goals and objectives. eCRM and marketing manager together can successfully carry out new products and launch new marketing campaigns to satisfy customer needs and wants. With many of the features intrinsic of embracing social networking websites and other social media channels of communication, companies need to carefully assess not solely the opportunities of such a move, but must also face the risks.

How to Write a Synthesis Essay :: Synthesis Essay

1. What is a synthesis? A synthesis is a written discussion incorporating support from several sources of differing views. This type of assignment requires that you examine a variety of sources and identify their relationship to your thesis. 2. Synthesis is used in: Analysis papers to examine related theories. For example a comparison between the theories of evolution or who shot JFK. Research papers to incorporate multiple sources. For example looking at economic and social effects of proposed legislation. Argument papers to compare differing views and support a coherent claim. For example, is Turn it in a violation of student’s rights? One side may argue that the company steals students’ papers while others claim that students agree to have their work archived. Business reports to examine differing ideas and blend into a coherent plan. For example, what are some of the plans to improve Toledo’s waterfront to attract more visitors and increase business opportunities? 3. Tips for an effective synthesis essay: Establish your purpose to shape the way you want to argue and form your thesis. The thesis is the main claim or idea of your essay. Select your sources and become familiar with them so that you can discuss them in relationship to your thesis and supporting argument(s). If you simply quote sources without evaluating them then the sources will control your paper and your audience will may misinterpret the information. Develop an organizational plan. Arrange more than just one source per point; multiple sources will increase your credibility. Look at how sources may agree or disagree with one another and evaluate which source has better logic or more credibility. Evaluate or interpret each source, then show the relationship between the sources and your thesis. Document each source; note the author and page number as well as listing the source on the Works Cited page to avoid plagiarism.

Gst in Malaysia

Goods and Services Tax (GST) GST is a consumption tax based on the value-added concept. GST is imposed on goods and services at every production and distribution stage in the supply chain including importation of goods and services. The GST implementation is part of the government’s tax reform program to enhance the capability, effectiveness and transparency of tax administration and management. The Government has not determined the implementation date of GST in Malaysia. Presently, the Government is actively involved in providing awareness and knowledge on the concept and rules regarding GST implementation.If GST is implemented, the Government will provide ample time between 18 to 24 months for the businesses and industries to prepare themselves for the implementation of GST. At the moment, the government has not fixed the GST rate to be imposed in Malaysia. Nevertheless, the social and pricing impact studies conducted by the Ministry of Finance indicated that the suitable GS T rate is in the range of 4%. GST is a more comprehensive, effective, transparent, and business friendly tax system. GST can overcome the various weaknesses inherent in the present consumption tax system.The inherent weaknesses under the present tax system are the cascading tax, double tax and pyramiding tax, tax erosion and leakages through transfer pricing and other means. Besides that, GST is expected to increase tax compliance and is easier to administer in view of its self policing method. Besides that, the businesses are required only to submit simplified tax returns based on prescribed formats. All records and documents relating to the relevant transaction are required to be kept in the business premises for audit by the GST auditor.How does GST work? GST is charged and collected on all taxable goods and services produced in the country including imports. Only businesses registered under GST can charge and collect GST. GST collected on output must be remitted to the governmen t. However, businesses are allowed to claim the input tax credit through the following mechanism and method:- i. GST collected on output (output tax) is deducted against the GST paid on input (input tax). ii. If there is excess, the amount shall be remitted to the government within the stipulated period. ii. If there is deficit, businesses can claim for refund from the government. GST can only be collected by persons who are registered under GST and the tax shall be remitted to the government within the stipulated period. In principle, the GST is not a cost to business as the GST paid on the business inputs can be claimed as tax credit. As such, it is estimated that the cost of doing business will decrease by an amount of RM4. 3 billion inclusive of a saving of RM1. 4 billion by exporters on their business inputs.The reduction in the business costs will make the local products and services more competitive in the domestic and international markets. In addition, the GST is expected t o improve tax compliance and is easier to administer due to its self-policing feature. With GST, bureaucracy in the government’s delivery system will be significantly reduced. Based on a GST rate of 4%, it is expected that there will be a price reduction between 0. 08% to 2. 71% in respect of eight components of goods and services.With this price reduction, the rakyat will benefit from the cheaper goods and services such as clothing and footwear, basic food, communication, furnishings, hardware and maintenance, transport, housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel. The tax burden borne by the rakyat and consumers is expected to be lower compared with that under the present tax system. This is due to the reason that various basic needs such as rice, sugar, flour, cooking oil, vegetables, fish, meat, eggs, and essential services such as public transport, private education and health, residential properties and agricultural land are not subject to GST.What are the measures undert aken by the government to ensure a smooth GST implementation? The government will give the businesses ample time to be ready for GST implementation. GST awareness and education programmes will be conducted on an on-going basis until the GST is implemented. In its effort to disseminate GST information to the general public, the government has set up a Customs call centre which will be operational at Kelana Jaya, Selangor.In addition, various industry guides will be issued as guidance to the industries relating to the GST treatment and procedures pertaining to specific industries. The Customs Department will conduct visits to business premises to provide assistance and advisory services to ensure that businesses fully understand the GST rules and procedure. The government will also ensure that the GST computerization system is fully operational before the GST implementation. The test run for the pilot project relating to the early registration process will be conducted six months befo re the GST implementation date.

Biography of Thomas Jefferson, Third U.S. President

Biography of Thomas Jefferson, Third U.S. President Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743–July 4, 1826) was the third president of the United States, after George Washington and John Adams. His presidency is perhaps best known for the Louisiana Purchase, a single land transaction that doubled the size of the United States territory. Jefferson was an anti-Federalist who was wary of a large central government and favored states rights over federal authority. Fast Facts: Thomas Jefferson Known For: Third president of the United States; Founding Father; drafted the Declaration of IndependenceBorn: April 13, 1743 in the Colony of VirginiaDied: July 4, 1826 in Charlottesville, VirginiaEducation: College of William and MarySpouse: Martha Wayles (m. 1772-1782)Children: Martha, Jane Randolph, Unnamed Son, Maria, Lucy Elizabeth, Lucy Elizabeth (all with wife Martha); a rumored six with his slave Sally Hemings, including Madison and EstonNotable Quote: The government is best that governs least. Early Life Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, in the Colony of Virginia. He was the son of  Colonel Peter Jefferson, a planter and public official, and Jane Randolph. Jefferson grew up in Virginia and was raised with the orphaned children of his fathers friend, William Randolph. He was educated from ages 9 to 14 by a clergyman named William Douglas, from whom he learned Greek, Latin, and French. He then attended Reverend James Maurys School before matriculating at the College of William and Mary. Jefferson studied law with George Wythe, the first American law professor. He was admitted to the bar in 1767. Political Career Jefferson entered politics in the late 1760s. He served in the House of Burgesses- the legislature of Virginia- from 1769 to 1774. On  January 1, 1772, Jefferson married  Martha Wayles Skelton. Together they had two daughters: Martha Patsy and Mary Polly. There is also speculation that Jefferson may have fathered several children with the slave  Sally Hemings. As a representative of Virginia, Jefferson argued against British actions and served on the Committee of Correspondence, which formed a union between the 13 American colonies. Jefferson was a member of the Continental Congress and later was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. During part of the Revolutionary War, he served as the governor of Virginia. After the war, he was sent to France to act as a foreign minister. In 1790, President Washington  appointed Jefferson to be the United States first official  Secretary of State. Jefferson clashed with Secretary of the Treasury  Alexander Hamilton on how the new country should deal with France and Britain. Hamilton also desired a stronger federal government than Jefferson. Jefferson eventually resigned because he saw that Washington was more strongly influenced by Hamilton than himself. Jefferson later served as vice president under  John Adams  from 1797 to 1801. Election of 1800 In 1800, Jefferson ran as the Republican nominee for president, with  Aaron Burr  as his vice president. Jefferson ran a very contentious campaign against John Adams, under whom he had previously served. Jefferson and Burr tied in the  electoral vote,  leading to an electoral controversy that was ultimately resolved in Jeffersons favor by a vote in the House of Representatives. Jefferson took office as the countrys third president on February 17, 1801. Thomas Jefferson called the election of 1800 the Revolution  of  1800 because it was the first time in the United States when the presidency passed from one party to another. The election marked a peaceful transition of power that has continued to this day. First Term An important early event during Jeffersons first term in office was the court case  Marbury v. Madison,  which established the Supreme Courts power to rule on the constitutionality of federal acts. From 1801 to 1805, America engaged in a war with the Barbary States of North Africa. The United States had been paying tribute to pirates from this area to stop attacks on American ships. When the pirates asked for more money, Jefferson refused, leading Tripoli to declare war. This ended in success for the United States, which was no longer required to pay tribute to Tripoli. However, America did continue to pay the rest of the Barbary States. In 1803,  Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory  from France for $15 million. Many historians consider this the most important act of his administration, as the purchase doubled the size of the United States. In 1804, Jefferson dispatched the Corps of Discovery, the expedition party famously led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the new territory Reelection of 1804 Jefferson was renominated for the presidency in 1804 with George Clinton as his vice president. Jefferson ran against Charles Pinckney from  South Carolina and easily won a second term. The Federalists were divided, with radical elements leading to the partys downfall. Jefferson received 162 electoral votes and Pinckney got only 14. Second Term In 1807, during Jeffersons second term, Congress passed a law ending Americas involvement in the foreign slave trade. This act- which went into effect January 1, 1808- abolished the importation of slaves from Africa (it did not, however, end the sale of slaves within the United States). By the end of Jeffersons second term, France and Britain were at war and American trade ships were often targeted. When the British boarded the American frigate  Chesapeake, they forced three soldiers to work on their vessel and killed one for treason. Jefferson signed the  Embargo Act of 1807  in response. The legislation stopped America from exporting and importing foreign goods. Jefferson thought this would have the effect of hurting trade in France and Great Britain. It ended up having the opposite effect and did more damage to America. Death After his second term in office, Jefferson retired to his home in Virginia and spent much of his time designing the University of Virginia. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Legacy Jeffersons election marked the beginning of the fall of federalism and the Federalist Party. When Jefferson took over the office from Federalist John Adams, the transfer of power occurred in an orderly manner, setting a precedent for future political transitions. Jefferson took his role as party leader very seriously. His greatest achievement was perhaps the Louisiana Purchase, which more than doubled the size of the United States. Sources Appleby, Joyce Oldham.  Thomas Jefferson. Times Books, 2003.Ellis, Joseph J.  American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.â€Å"Thomas Jeffersons Family: A Genealogical Chart.† Thomas Jeffersons Monticello.