Part one of term paper
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson is a American leader and political philosopher, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. (1801-1809) Jefferson was among the most brilliant American exponents of the Enlightenment, the movement of 18th-century thought that emphasized the possibilities of human r ...

Part two of term paper
... Theoretician of Independence During his 20s, Jefferson read voraciously in Enlightenment philosophy, 17th-century English history, political theory, and law. Drawing on this learning, he drafted in1774a Summary View of the Rights of British America as instructions for Virginia's delegates to the First Continental Congress, which met to consider the colonies' grievances against Great Britain. Virginia leaders instead adopted a more legalistic set of instructions,, and Summary View was publish ...