Category: History & Historiography, Text, Independence
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Thomas Jefferson (1742-1826) was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), Governor of Virginia (1779-1781), the first Secretary of State (1790-1793), second Vice-President of the United Sates (1797-1801), the third President of the United States (1801-1809), the founder of the University of Virginia (1819), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers. Four letters from the University of Miami Thomas Jefferson collection have been digitized and are available online. A full description and listing of all materials in this collection are available in the Thomas Jefferson (ASM0569) Collection Finding Aid
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers.
