Using the biographies of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, fill in a Family Tree chart as you gather information on their families.  You will need to use other resources to help locate the information.

Follow these links for printable versions of a Family Tree chart for Washington and Jefferson.  Fill in the names and dates of birth and deaths for each person.   Expand the Family Tree of Jefferson and Washington to show who they married and their children and children’s children (two generations).  Fill in the names and dates of birth as well as who they married and dates of marriages.

Using the same type Family Tree chart, place yourself at the center and fill in the names of your parents, siblings, great-grandparents and great-grandparents.

The Julian Calendar (Old Style Calendar) was switched to the Gregorian Calendar (New Style Calendar) by Pope Gregory XIII when he decreed the day after October 4, 1582 would become October 15, 1582.  This new style calendar was the solution offered by astronomers to get the calendar back in sync with the solstices and the equinoxes.  As the centuries had passed under the Julian Calendar, the seasons were inaccurate with that calendar. The Catholic countries of Italy, France, Spain and Portugal complied with the degree by omitting 10 days from the calendar and conforming to the other reforms established.

It is not until 1752 that the Gregorian Calendar was adopted by England, the British colonies, and Ireland, with the day following September 2, 1752 becoming September 14, 1752, omitting 11 days from the calendar.  Both Jefferson and Washington were born under the Julian Calendar.  If their New Style Calendar birth days are February 22 for Washington and April 13 for Jefferson, what are their Old Style Calendar birth days?

When did the other European countries adopt the Gregorian Calendar?

Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were farmers/planters.  Using the biography of each man what other occupations can you list in the chart below.

See if you can match these colonial occupations with their job description.  Draw a line from the occupation to the correct job description.  

Do any of these jobs still exist today?  If so, does it have a different name?  Create a chart similar to the one below to record your answers.  

Washington’s mother opposed his career choice of “going to sea”, so with his proficiency in mathematics Washington becomes a surveyor.  What tools would he have used in this field?  What tools do surveyors use today?  Create a chart to show your answers.   Washington would have used large trees and creeks for reference points.  What reference points do surveyors use today?  Put this information in a chart showing reference points Washington used compared to today’s reference points.

Washington's Interview with His Mother Courtesy, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia

Why is it almost impossible today to retrace the measurements of surveyors of Washington’s era?

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The map on the left is a survey of Virginia drawn by Thomas Jefferson’s father Peter Jefferson and Joshua Fry in 1751.  What reference points did Fry and Jefferson use in creating the map.

The map on the right is in George Washington’s hand and is a map of Alexandria.  What reference points did George Washington use in creating this map? Print the Fry-Jefferson map and place an X on it to show where Alexandria is located in Virginia.

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An Englishman described Washington as the “foremost farmer” of America.  What do you think he meant by that? 

Washington invented a 16-sided treading barn.  What was its purpose?  How did this treading barn work?  Demonstrate the process using illustrations on poster board or in a computer power point program. (Left) Close-up of flooring in barn  (Right) 16-sided barn at Mount Vernon

Washington calculated that a bushel contained 13,410,000 seeds of timothy (grass).  Why would this be important for a farmer to know?  

	Jefferson was also a progressive farmer and invented a moldboard plow of least resistance.  What does a moldboard plow of least resistance do?
	Jefferson's drawing of his plow

Use Jefferson’s map of the fields at Poplar Forest (shown at right) to determine what crops he was growing.  Highlight the crops on the map in red.   Locate the word “rest” on the map.  What did Jefferson mean by “rest”.  What features do you see on the map that would be important for farming?

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Flax is one of the oldest cultivated crops, dating back 3,000 B.C. or earlier.  Flax fibers were used for clothing and flax oil taken for abdominal pains and as a cough remedy.  Jefferson grew flax and even modified a flax break machine to aid in the efficient separation of the outer stalk from the inner fibers.	Jefferson's drawing of a flax break

Flax was also used to produce rope, sailcloth and canvas.  In addition flax seed taken from the plant after harvesting was milled into flour and squeezed for oil, with the resulting mush being fed to the hogs.  Seeds were also saved for the next season’s planting.  

Research the process of turning the plant flax into cloth/linen.  Based on your research use the images below to re-create on poster board or in a computer presentation the process of flax to cloth/linen. (Click here for printer-friendly version of images.)

• Which country today produces the largest flax crop? 

• Which country today produces the highest quality fiber for fine items such as damask table linen? 

• What other countries produce flax today? 

Image Credits:

White House Collection, White House Historical Association (T. Jefferson)
Washington-Custis-Lee Collection, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia (G. Washington)
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division (map)
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-H814-T01-1420 (Alexandria)
Mount Vernon Ladies' Association (Washington in field)
Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Papers (plow drawing)
Monticello/Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc. (plow replica)
Private Collection (field map)
Massachusetts Historical Society (flax break)
From Channing, Marion L., The Textile Tools of Colonial Homes. Massachusetts:  Reynolds-DeWalt Printing, Inc., c1971, p. iv., illustrated by Walter E. Channing. (flax process)
The University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin (world map)
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-74107 (surveyor)