Jefferson, Thomas
Jefferson, Thomas( 1743–1826),3rd President of the U.S. (1801–9), was a member of a prominent Virginia family, studied at William and Mary, and practiced law (1767–74). After he entered the House of Burgesses (1769), he was almost constantly in the political service of Virginia and of the nation until his retirement from the presidency. At the outset he identified himself with the aggressive anti-British group, and he made an important contribution to the Revolutionary cause in A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774), a brilliant exposition contending that Parliament had no authority in the colonies, whose only bond with England was allegiance to the same king.
As a member of the Continental Congress (1775–76), he was almost wholly responsible for the spirit and phrasing of the Declaration of Independence, his great monument in literature and political theory. In the Virginia House of Burgesses...
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