[46]

Lawyer and House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, Virginia, where Jefferson served 1769–1775
Jefferson was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767, and lived with his mother at Shadwell.[47] He represented Albemarle County as a delegate in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 until 1775.[48] He pursued reforms to slavery, with legislation in 1769 to give masters control over the emancipation of slaves, taking discretion away from the royal governor and General Court. He persuaded his cousin Richard Bland to spearhead the legislation's passage, but opposition was strong.[49]
Jefferson took seven cases for freedom-seeking slaves[50] and waived his fee for one who claimed that he should be freed before his minimum statutory age.[51] Jefferson invoked natural law to argue, "everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will ... This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance."The judge cut him off and ruled against his client. As a consolation, Jefferson gave his client some money, conceivably used to aid his escape shortly thereafter.